I wonder out loud how ofter the term "the most powerful man in the world" is used with Trump compared to it being used when Obama was our President.
5
I dismissed Trump as a serious candidate after watching just one question/answer round in the republican campaign debates. He was obviously uninformed, incapable of critical thought, and clearly projected that he didn't care that his answers were so, well, stupid.
Like us all, I then watched in horror as he actually gained support from those who simply revel in the same stupidity.
Peter Lynch once said "invest in businesses any idiot could run because someday one will".
About 30% of our electorate is incapable of informed, rational thought, and Fox news has used them to deliver the presidency to a useful idiot, but our checks and balances should contain the idiot.
The lying is another matter. The press, other non-governmental institutions, and the citizenry are stridently proclaiming the damage to our democracy, while Congress, formally charged with checks and balances, does NOTHING!
This is the most disturbing thing, and the surest sign we are in very serious trouble.
For Mike Pompeo, I have one question. As a west point validictorian, you swore an oath to adhere to an honor code stating "I will not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do". How do you square that with going to work for a pathological liar?
64
The President of the United States has customarily been called "the leader of the free world." But 22%. Sounds like there's a vacancy at the top.
2
Washington never told a lie. Nixon never told the truth. Trump doesn't know the difference, or care.
21
"This is lying for sport, for the thrill of it, because you can and feel that there is no penalty for it."
So true. For the craven power of it all.
And it runs in the family, too. Switch "lying" for "killing endangered animals" and that's the Trump brothers right there.
7
In answer to John Smithson...
Running a nation, especially The United States is serious business. The person elected to run the United States must be serious.
We shouldn't have our president browbeating the leader of Canada (or any other country) & then say he was joking...
BTW... he's not much of a joker. But if he wants to be a joker, he should try his hand at stand-up comedy & leave the White House to more worthy citizens!
7
The problem is, he's made us un-America.
11
How about the UnAmerican Congressmen.
He is the final result of their 8 years of just saying NO !
11
Not just un-American, anti-American.
13
The Ugly American times 100.
13
Mr. Blow, as an op-ed columnist for the "Paper of Record" and a supposedly erudite individual, I am surprised you are unschooled in the correct meaning of extremely simple words. A lie is a statement made that you know is false. To make a statement that you are fairly certain is true may turn out to have been a false statement, but it is certainly not a lie.
2
Trump is un-American in that he is the antithesis of the ideals that our Founding Fathers embraced, the opposite of America's better angels.
Trump is supremely American in that he is the apotheosis of America's dark side: racist, cruel, angry, ignorant, bullying, jingoistic, materialistic, narcissistic, and empty at his core.
We have struggled between these poles for our entire history, from slavery on the City on the Hill and the 3/5 compromise enshrined in the Constitution (defend that, originalists) to stop-and-frisk and Access Hollywood.
6
There are Trump fans under rocks everywhere, even in Canada. They are, however, a tiny minority. Personally, I am aware of one such individual; most people think Trump is a fool. The US is seen as a dysfunctional country with a leader that is untrustworthy, amoral, vindictive and mendacious. The biggest puzzle is that anyone down there still supports him, but as I say, there is a handful of his fans roaming around loose up here too, so insanity knows no borders. I can tell you with a measure of certainty that a Trump would never have been elected in Canada.
14
Trump was a known quantity eversince he rolled down the escalator. During the campaign, he introduced himself fully and completely. Anybody with half a brain would have comcluded that he was a compulsive liar who would say anything toget out of a tight corner or please his audience. It was evident that the man is totally clueless about not only running a country but running even q mom and pop shop business as he did. he had no prowess in business nor did he have any negotiating skills as he claimed to have. His dealings were all based on deception, lies, hype and arm twisting. He has no business achievements to talk about. Everything that he has touched in the legitimate business arena has failed miserably. He could not even manage a cash cow machine like a Casino!!!
His only success has been in the "shady" dealings with the kings of such deals as the Russian Oligarchs. They soon saw his appetite for wealth and picked him as their Agent to launder their money. he was paid handsomely for that by his Russian Bosses. But then the Russian saw another opportunity, one that would put their Agent in the Oval Office, and the rest is History! Sixty two million Idiots got excited when a racist demogogue joined the ranks of candidates and promissed to make America White again!! that was the only message that the 62 million Idiots wanted to hear. Everything else including the destruction of the American Democracy and Justice did not, and still does not, matter.
25
God save America!
4
Trump----the unrepentant, unrepentable liar.
8
The purpose of this lie seems obvious to me. The president was caught looking ignorant. Rather than accept it, he pretends he wasn't ignorant -- he was just lying on purpose! In his own mind, this makes him look powerful. To everyone else, it looks even more ignorant.
7
“there will undoubtedly be others that draw a different lesson from the Trump philosophy ... a debauched character and a hollow place where integrity should exist.”
Many will recall the well-publicized campaign story about a male student who grabbed a female classmate by the crotch and used the excuse that Trump said it was okay.
2
so JFK was an "American president when he started the Vietnam War?
Was Lyndon Johnson an "American" president when he rained down napalm and Agent Orange on millions of Vietnamese and Cambodian civilians?
How about Eisenhower? How "American" of him was it to order the CIA to topple the democratically elected Mossadegh regime in Iran?
Bush II, the dumber one, and Cheney, were they being "American" when they illegally invaded Iraq? How American is yellow cake?
Clinton? Was he being American when he bombed a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, just because he could?
I won't even go into the senile racist muppet Reagan or the outright crook Nixon.
Americans' definition of "American" is way way too optimistic. Wishful thinking really.
Trump is 100% American.
10
Great Britain was complicit in many of the examples given.
Toppling the democratically elected Mossadegh regime in Iran was indeed orchestrated by Kermit Roosevelt of the CIA to aid British Intelligence, SIS, in preventing actions against British and American oil interests see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
Britain Helped in The Persian Gulf Wars 1 and 2. In 2 Brits occupied the area around Basra.
British and Australian troops helped out in Vietnam.
2
OK. Here is the logic involved in the abomination we have in the WH.
W. either lied or incorrectly asserted there were WMD with the Iraq war.
The loan companies either lied or engaged in dishonest practices to help cause the housing crisis and the Great Recession.
Clinton lied about "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
Obama supposedly lied about "crossing the red line" with Syria, had trouble with the health care website in its rollout, couldn't stop the BP oil spill in a timely manner, and supposedly told an untruth about "you get to keep your health insurance."
Because Trump called these mistakes lies, he must be telling the truth. Because he calls it "fake news" it must be so, and he is to be trusted as a source of truth. Because Hillary is grating we must have Trump, who while obnoxious himself, is at least brazen in letting him lie whenver he wants, which passes as being more truthful, or less onerous than "the witch." This is the level of logic present in America today.
NICE WORK, AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5
I often wonder what Mr. Blow would have written about this past year if Hillary had won the election.
1
I love you, Charles Blow. Marry me! (I'm married already, so forget it.) But I still love you.
7
There's one Democratic slogan for 2018 and 2020: The Truth Matters.
Remember how Trump bragged about restoring our standing in the world, which he claimed had suffered under Obama? Does Fox News tell Trump that respect f and trust for America has never, ever been greater? By far, the hardest thing to figure out is why Trump supporters believe a compulsive liar. Trump has zero credibility. Why would anyone believe that there was just cause for McCabe to be fired, especially when Sessions won't release the IG report until we've all forgotten about it. When a compulsive liar tells you something, why believe it?
10
There's been a saying about people like Trump for as long as I can remember: he lies when it's easier to tell the truth. All he had to say was "I don't know for sure Justin, let's find out."
2
Hey! Over here! Are we making America great yet?
Asking for a friend.
5
Trump, the Kremlin Candidate, has always been un-American. The media enabled this monstrosity to occur. Now we have a deep hole to dig out from. God Bless America indeed...
2
"Trump: The Un-American President"?
What a joke that is. Anybody who's followed his career in New York knows too well that he epitomizes many traits and ambitions of the American character.
2
It is ironic that the politicians who once argued that President Obama did not talk enough about "American exceptionalism" now fail to speak up when President Trump damages what made us exceptional. America is based on truth, the democratic ideal, and our respect for law and societal norms. Trump has attacked all of these. Do only Democrats believe in these ideals, or have Republicans abandoned all principle to support a nominally Republican president and to avoid having to explain themselves to their "base?"
1
I'm Canadian. I have a very clear impression of what is "American". Trump is a part of that fabric.
8
Trump is not tarnishing America's image, he is corroding it...tarnishing just needs some buffing to fix. What Trump is doing cannot be easily fixed.
9
Disgusted as I am with this contemptible president, Mr. Blow's columns strike me as repetitive and increasingly problematic, as do many comments BTL.
We liberals are confronted with the fact that millions of Americans still applaud Trump because they like the way he tears down political ideologies and processes that have done ever so little to make their lives more bearable in this ruthlessly postindustrial and globalized society. Many of these people actually voted for Obama hoping he'd shake things up. but then that turned out very different.
Too many of us liberal intellectuals have been preoccupied with all manner of microaggressions, identify politics and the like whilst the lives of millions of working-class and rural Americans have been ripped to shreds beyond recognition by debilitating deindustrialization, opioid addiction, the incorporation of US agriculture etc.
If those of you writing BTL were to spend a day or two with Trump supporters, you'd quickly realize that many of them actually know that he's lying all the time, but then so did Obama when he promised change and then delivered for the fat cats. All we do with our rants is add a little extra entertainment value to this substandard reality show.
2
How is it that in a country where values are so important, because values mean something and reflect a person's ability to do the right thing, we elected such a self centered, lying, ignorant, man-child? This really is a question. Trump is not the problem, he's just a symptom of a much bigger problem.
3
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” Stephen Hawkings
6
Trump is worse than un-American. He has become an enemy of our Democracy, of our freedoms and of most of our citizens.
He proves every day by his tweets, his insults of Government employees and his contempt for our allies that decency has no place in his life. And he has the Republicans in Congress enabling him
Trump needs to be removed from office.
4
The GOP just loves to stick it to the democrats with the loudest, most vulgar and disrespectful voice: thus Trump, the charlatan. But, Trump's base also loves a great story, like we all do, so will republicans stay home come November just to see if Trump could actually resurrect like a phoenix if he goes down in flames?
Impeachment is far too good for him.
3
We consider our country to be a democracy, yet we do not have a “one person, one vote” method of electing someone to the most important office in the United States. I have been trying to interest people in a Constitutional amendment to eliminate the Electoral College since Bush 43. Unfortunately, many voters have an incorrect understanding of the Electoral College. I have heard many say, “it protects us from allowing ignorant people to elect the president.” Yeah, we are seeing how well that works.
Eliminating gerrymandering would be a good start to making elections fairer and more representative, but that too is difficult since many do not understand that either.
3
Far from it be for me to wish to try to defend a malignant narcissist, pathological liar and scam artist. Nevertheless, it's not only Trump who focuses on the value of goods and ignores the value of services. All too often, services are overlooked when discussing trade and commerce.
For example, depending on the jurisdiction, the consumer may have the right to a refund when he or she has received faulty or unfit for purpose goods *or* services. All too often this right in law and in equity is not understood by the consumer, the provider and by the regulator.
Here in Queensland, many years ago, I fought and finally won a long fight to force all schools, colleges and universities to stop telling students up front that they were never entitled to a refund if the education service they had received from the provider was not fit for purpose. First, I had to convince the pollies, then the regulators, then the providers' chief honchos. The consumer law in Queensland didn't need to be changed – it just needed to be enforced.
Because services are intangible, their value is frequently not assessed correctly. The other aspect of services is how often an expensive service proves to be a scam – in effect, to be worthless.
The American Scammer in Chief also happens to be the current so called President. Not only Trump University but his presidency itself will go down in history as the greatest rort ever unleashed on the western world.
1
Seen from the outside, it seems your country is devided. Both sides in this Trump-situation dig trenches. Its so easy to point fingers at Trump. He is obviously incompetent in many ways.
I wonder if the fact that your prevailing political ideology since the 70s has primarily helped the elite. You do have a very elitist country. That seems from my perspective to be part of your problem. It devides your nation. And even Clinton is partly to blame even if it started with Reagan. I see why so many long for shaking up the system.
I dont pretend to know what goes on, but listening to both sides, you seem very far apart and I wonder why. We dont have a division like that in Denmark and we dont have as significant an elite as you do. Rich and poor kids here some times go to the same schools here. They dont have to be strangers to each other. And all educations here are free. You even get paid to take an education. This minimizes differencies in our society and yes, we have a higher living standart than in USA, ... maybe because of that.
To me it seems there are many tools at your hands to unite your great nation. In stead of shouting at each other, you should unite.
3
It's a measure of how destructive, corrupt and dishonorable Trump's behaviour has been that people no longer evoke the ascension of the creepy Mike Pence as a reason to not remove Trump from office. With the Mueller investigation closing in, Trump is hard at work laying the groundwork to burn the place to the ground and otherwise bad actors look almost benign, at least in comparison. Strange days, indeed.
3
The story makes Trump "look small and ignorant and unprincipled" because he IS small and ignorant and unprincipled. With very few exceptions, the Republican members of Congress do not stand up to or repudiate him. Those Republicans who remain silent or on his side are hurting the Republican "brand". In the long run, they are destroying their own party.
3
Donald Trump reminds me of Bernie Madoff, who also rose to great importance in the USA by lying and deceiving his way to the top.
2
We are all lucky that Charles doesn't advise either major party on its choice of political candidates. People this angry have he poorest idea of what regular voters want.
Yes, that’s it! Donald Trump represents the worst of America! Well said. Thank you.
2
Trump appears to have the mental and moral capacity of a 7-year-old raised in an abusive home. He tells a lie; caught in it, he either denies (unaware of the existence of videotape) having said it, decrying the reports as Fake News, or goes on repeating it, trying to use the power of his office to bend the truth.
In my opinion, he won solely because of his gender. Clinton, too, had baggage, but nothing like Trump's multiple bankruptcies, three marriages, numerous extra-marital affairs, &c. Republican presidents from Lincoln to Ford are spinning in their graves, seeing to what depths their once-honorable party has sunk by electing this Know-Nothing to public office.
2
Maybe someone with access should tell him these popularity abroad are the new international Neilson ratings and that they are the true measure of being liked.
Instead of watching in unnerving horror at the Trump train, I try to look at it as the final wrecking ball of the Republican Party. With three more years to go, they will be exposed and destroyed. I sleep better now.
2
Please start naming and shaming the Republicans who presently have the power to stop this debauch. Tell us and them what they can do to stop this damage, this humiliation, this danger to us all. They are, by their silence, permitting and encouraging and supporting this debasement.
5
Witnessing the sham of the election in Russia makes me think that Trump is president of the wrong country. He's a Putin wannabe. Let's find him a nice banana republic to rule over. He may bite if we can get Mueller to let him off the hook in exchange for his exile.
2
Trump is not just the un-American president, he is the propaganda president. He hired a foreign propaganda company, Cambridge Analytica, to help him get elected. He has hired a propaganda spreading attorney, Joseph E. diGenova, to help him stay in power and out of prison. And, when he is not golfing or watching television, he spends most of his time on Twitter, in meetings, and on the phone spreading propaganda that he sees on Fox News or makes up off the top of his head.
1
I think that the damage Trump has done in our global relationships will last a long long time. Even if we can replace him in the future with a President who has a moral compass and doesn't lie every 5 minutes, America will forever be known as a country who elected a despicable buffoon. And other countries will wonder if they can trust America, because we could do it again.
3
The damage Trump has done to the fundamental idea that truth matters is beyond measure. Timothy Snyder pointed out in his book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century , " To abandon facts is to abandon freedom.If nothing is true,then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so." Trump,like many fascist dictators, is a practitioner of desecrating the truth for his own benefit and power.In that way,he has become a true "enemy" of our American ideals ,and,by implication,as Mr.Blow states, an un-American president.
1
Why are you all not in the streets or at city hall every Saturday, protesting? Do something instead of agonizing
3
As an Australian with many American friends I am so saddened by what your country is experiencing. I watch the way Putin is interfering in countries all over the world and wonder what previous presidents, who stood up to the old Soviet Union, would think of Trump’s response. Australia like many other countries has many American companies owning our management, computing and engineering consulting services. When I see Trump introduce tarrifs on commodities, I wonder how Americans will react if we all introduce tarrifs on those services. He does not seem capable of thinking through the myriad long term consequences for his behaviour. Trust is easily lost and extremely hard to regain. Letters to the editors of Australian papers are already raising the idea of boycotting American products, which is a shame, because this kind of animosity debases the the quality of life for all concerned.
9
This new post truth society being created by Trump and his progeny will create havoc in legal dispute settlement. As a retired attorney, attorneys and judges always knew the few local attorneys that could not be trusted to tell the truth and therefore could not be trusted to agree to a reasonable solution or agreement. Settling and resolving disputes involves weighing competing facts or interpretation of those facts and coming to a reasonable solution for both parties. With the understanding that both parties had to give a little, most civil disputes could be settled so both parties could live a compromise. If the truth according Trump takes hold, I see the ability to have reasonable solutions to factual disputes seriously damaged. I really can't imagine being a judge or attorney in the post truth world where you have to base a settlement upon opposing litigants and attorneys representations when they have been schooled in the Trumpian version of truth and facts. It reminds me of negotiations with people from other countries where Trumpian version of the facts is the norm, such Vladdy's version of facts behind Russian meddling our election. If we do, none of us will be able to rely on anyone's representations of anything.
11
45 said he would shake things up. We need someone to shake things back to restore national and global credibility. Until then we need Congress to step up and do their job especially now that the GOP is complicit.
12
Trump would not be where he is if 1) one of the two major American parties, representing more or less half of the voting population (only way in which a two-party system can be justified) had not chosen him as its candidate 2) Trump would not be President if America had not set up, and chosen to maintain, a system by which the numerical majority is not the defining factor in a Presidential election 3) Trump would not be President now, or would not have a chance to finish his term, if the Republican Party would not condone his actions.
14
With reference to point #2, the same issue exists within the Westminster parliamentary tradition as well. I've twice seen majority governments produced while the governing party lost the popular vote in provincial elections in BC in 1996 and Quebec in 1998. Indeed, the FPP system of elections inherent within said parliamentary tradition has often been criticized for this.
1
If this is Trump's idea of "making America great again", I say "no thanks".
19
What is troubling is the R's are complicit within their ranks to co-sign and endorse Trump's flagrant lack of morality, his utter disregard for truth and honesty, while we, the people, watch and wonder, if McConnell & Ryan will stand up to this metastasizing disease that is DJT. It's every obvious that Trump was never taught from early childhood, any standard of recognizing and maintaining faithful to all elements of contained in facts and the truth.
13
As usual everything Charles says is true. But the problem is not Donald Trump. The problem is the brain dead people who elected and still support him. And rather than point out the problem, other contributors to the NY Times point to tribalism and equate the grievances of both Trumps supporters and his detractors. This equivocation does no one service. Trump supporters are simply wrong. They are morally wrong, logically wrong, materially wrong and on the wrong side of history. Their support for this monster may not be treason, but it is a complete betrayal of everything American.
39
"They are morally wrong, logically wrong, materially wrong and on the wrong side of history."
Excellently said.
2
Is it better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved?
Ask Jesus. Or Herod.
Who would you fight best for in a war?
Prison will be good for Trump and will also have the triple benefit of helping the nation heal and act as a deterrent for those who try this stunt again.
15
Trump and Madoff should share a cell.
Where are you Barack, W, Jimmy, Mitt, Bill, Tim.....
Why do you stay quiet? What are you waiting for? I may not agree with your politics, but I have always respected you. I'm losing that respect. You cannot and must not stay silent any longer. This is not just about Trump being Trump. The world order rapidly is changing. This man is simply incapable of leading our country when we most need competency, rational thought and integrity. Right now we are no match for the functional evil whose influence and power grows worldwide.
14
Yes. It is time for all to speak up.
The fact that Mr. Trump is a liar matters only to you and to Mr. Fred Rodgers, rest his soul. To the people who voted for him he is a saviour. He is the provider of tax breaks and steel jobs and rat catcher all rolled into one.
You should be spilling ink about the next Democratic Presidential candidate who will continue the economic recovery and do it without offending Captain Kangaroo and others who hold truth in politics above paychecks and democracy.
Really, spending your life writing about Trump just has to be soul-crushing.
4
What is your point, Sir?
1
Does the woman who got a tax cut of $1.50 per week feel that Trump is her savior?
1
It is for the children that I speak out against the grifter from Queens. I believe that children need to grow up admiring principled and moral role models. This is why I think this generation will be our light- we have offered them very little in dreams outside of pop culture or the grifter and his family. They are shining right now, in need of something to hang onto and believe in. I. Support the kids of this generation in their quest for a truthful and morally responsible world!
6
An evangelicals embrace this lack of morals. Shame, shame!
16
Let's just ignore Trump for a couple of weeks and see how that works out.
He's an easy subject/anti-hero/topic, but there's no news in this column. Mr. Blow will miss him when he's gone.
2
Trump is IN ALL WAYS The UNAmerican president.We deserve much better than him. Remember...Trump makes America ashamed. Rpbert W. McIntire. Please use my full name in my comment.
10
Let us now refer to him as:" Trump the traitor" or"Donald the DICTator".
7
One should always add to any article about Trump’s insane behavior that it is being sanctioned by the Republican Party Leaders. He wouldn’t be doing this if they stood up to him or at least he would be self destructing faster.
13
I love your candor Charles! If only our Republican congressmen/women would have the backbone to do the same. And although I look forward to John Brennan's prediction I cringe at the prospect of Pence or Ryan or... taking Trump's defiled place.
8
Who cares what people think of Trump? His vitriol to the opposition creates the very "fake news" he screams about from his soapbox (twitter) On the other hand we are doing much better economically and we are seeing a resurgence in manufacturing that most economists thought was dead forever. We are seeing his policies working on many fronts. The Saudi king is comparing Iran's leaders to Hitler. The "rocket man" blinked. The South Korean government is working on tweaking our trade agreement. I get a bonus each year but this year I got stock as well. We pay for on-call now and we see lunch for free quite a bit more. Small differences that were always on the back of workers minds as unfair. I think if you lift the veil of hating his initial behavior you see his crazy ways are actually working. I truly wish he was more Presidential but then would the rocket man have blinked if he was?
1
Global Warming
Support for Education
1
Trump wants to be the rogue, the swaggering loose cannon, but in the end, he's just bar stool braggart without the bar stool, a bad mixture of "know-it-all" with "know-nothing." All that is hurtful to our country, yes, but far less hurtful than Trump's blatant dismissal of the rule of law, of the Constitution, and of respect for the institutions and people who stand for a strong, democratic republic. So many have given and sacrificed years of service and loyalty to this nation. Trump and his family have willingly feasted at that table but have given nothing in return. We should be ashamed of putting up with that. We need to remove him from office. Otherwise, things will only get much, much worse.
8
Grandiosity and impaired reality testing are not a good combination. "I alone can do it" should have scared the bejesus out of anyone with a brain in their head.
7
I could not agree more -- in fact, I'd use the word traitor.
6
That's because Trump is small, ignorant and unprincipled. He's been that way all his life. He is so used to pulling shady deals and engaging in unprincipled business deals and getting away with it he thinks he can continue under the spotlight. He can't. He is a serial womanizer and liar. We can count on him to do the right thing for himself and the wrong thing for the nation. What would you call that?
5
To everyone, especially comments from people in other countries, who keep saying they are shocked that "we" (Americans) elected Trump -- please understand -- we did NOT elect him! Trump didn't come close to winning the popular vote. The election was hijacked by an outdated, manipulated electoral system, campaign finances from corporations and organizations with a vested interest in influencing government for their benefit, and Russia. Money and Russia placed Trump in the Oval Office; we the people did not.
12
Rigged voting machines - unable to verify results. You forgot that laughable travesty. Somalia probably votes more accurately then we.
2
Imagine the New York Times acted as a proper newspaper all these years: all these people who are complaining about this charlatan who is ruining our country we're busy writing love letters to Hillary last year. When you don't do your job, you get what you get and you don't get upset. This is the price everyone is paying for supporting Hillary unconditionally...
2
I agree with this assessment with only one exception: Mr. Blow calls Trump a "pathological" liar. Let's not give him any more excuses than he piles up for himself. Therapists can work to remedy some types of pathology. The remedy deserved by this liar, whose lies, willful ignorance, and vindictiveness have endangered and defamed his nation, is life behind the bars of a federal prison. No excuses for Trump's evil.
8
Keep writing, Mr. Blow. We need it in this increasingly terrifying world. In 1937, Ernest Hemingway addressed the League of American Writers in Carnegie Hall, saying, "Fascism is a lie told by bullies." Trump is a bully who lies 24/7 and surrounds himself with people who lie 24/7. Reports of his senior staff being forced to sign non-disclosure forms before being appointed reinforces this. The fact that his attorney general lied to Congress but is still allowed to "serve" amazes me (last I heard, lying to Congress = 5 years in prison). And that Andrew McCabe, a truth-teller was fired by a LIAR is really...disgusting.
4
It's hard to disagree with his sustained, unchanging premise--that Trump is a charlatan, morally reprehensible, and bad for US and the World--but I just wonder whether Mr. Blow gets tired of writing the same column every week.
The three most recent prior columns by Mr. Blow on nytimes.com:
-Melania Knew (Trump's marriage and misogyny)
-The Worst People (about Trump's staffing of government)
-Trump: King of Chaos ("The president's reality always seems to return to delusional narcissism")
Personally, I'd prefer to see a more substantive use of Mr. Blow's Op-Ed space than simply redundant rants against Trump, however warranted they may be. I realize it feels good to write (and read, for many) and gets lots of clicks/comments (including this one...), but it's hardly journalism at this point.
3
Despicable— and not the cute Pixar kind.
1
Its what you gonna still get and more with President Russia until Humpty Trumpty has a great fall.
1
Nexus: Trump, Russia, Wikileaks, Cambridge Analytica. Collaborated to take American 2016 election.
4
Trump lies and brags about it. Okay, the bragging part is different.
I was in the military during the Vietnam "conflict." I remember well the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution - even at the time I strongly suspected that "incident" was a lie. And it was proven to be a lie. Millions died because this lie was used to justify escalating the war. Overwhelmingly those who died were civilians.
I could cite countless other examples - ask any Native American about US Government lies, if you can find one.
So please, tell me why lying is un-American. Because of some myth about the US being the good guys? I'm writing this from a portion of the planet that the US stole from Mexico. The entire history of this is not taught in public schools. To do so would be un-American. So, while Trump has taken this to fascistic levels, lying is anything but un-American.
1
Politicians and lies are easy bedfellows.
This is true the world over.
George W Bush indelibly soiled America’s reputation with his lies about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and lowered the bar to new depths.
Fox News, Breitbart and the GOP are recognised the world over for their propensity to lie and their utter lack of honesty and integrity.
Their willingness to drive America away from fact-based social discourse has enabled Trump to fathom previously unplumbed depths of dishonesty in a US president without being called to account.
The 2018 mid terms will provide the American public the opportunity to right the ship by handing Democrats control of the House and the Senate so Trump can be impeached.
However, having failed the test once by electing Trump in the first place, there can be little confidence that the rot does not in fact pervade American society in general.
6
Late last year, Australia’s conservative government put out a foreign policy white paper. It was quite blunt: the US can no longer be relied upon, so Australia had better shift its thinking.
That’s Australia, formerly one of the US’s staunchest allies.
5
"a pathological and unrepentant liar." Whaddaya expect from a real estate tycoon who made his money misrepresenting facts (most of us call this lying) to investors, and cheating suppliers. Evidently, this is the American ideal for some.
1
Donald Trump is unable to tell the truth. When he lies, the USA lies because, hw represents the USA to other nations.
Thank you Charles Blow for having the courage to speak the truth.
2
Mr. Trump has found real jobs for close to three million workers - a concept that was clearly a negative for Mr. Obama. He preferred for the poor to be dependent on gov't assistance.
Mr. Trump is also trying HARD to solve the NoKo nuke issue, school shootings, and other things Mr. Obama only used to peddle more big government and federal control of people.
Mr. Obama spoke very sweetly and calmly when he wasn't spying on the media or using the NSA & FBI to spy on the Trump campaign.
So whether you think that Presidents exist to solve problems or pose for pretty pictures, you can tell one of these two men is our most un-American.
Many more jobs were created during the Obama administration than the Trump administration -- normalized for duration. Do some nonpartisan reading.
These are the silly things you are asserting, "L'osservatore:"
"President Obama was against creating real jobs?" I suppose this must relate to the notion that such jobs are only done by real, i.e., white, Americans.
"Mr. Trump has found three million jobs?" President Obama gave us an eight year economic recovery, and rescued us from the last Republican economic catastrophe. In the real world, this is still President Obama's economy.
"President Obama wanted poor people to depend on government and not have jobs?" If you had evidence for this conventional Trump Republican (probably racist) lie, I suppose you would have included it.
"Mr. Trump is trying to solve school shootings?" Trump--who has reversed all of his proposals on gun control after the NRA opposed them?
"President Obama spied on the media?" I suppose this is yet another Trump Fox Republican conspiracy theory.
"President Obama used the NSA and FBI to spy on the Trump campaign?" Yes, Mr. Trump tweeted this. But it has long since been proven to be a despicable lie.
"Mr. Trump is trying to solve North Korea?" First he promised a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula. Subsequently he agreed, without talking to anybody else, to unconditional talks with the North Korean side. Don't you think things would be better if he weren't "trying" at all? If he simply wasn't involved?
Cool aid.
I suppose that the Canadian prime minister well knew the true numbers when confronted by our lying president but was willing to let it pass and show the world the honesty of the leader of the American people.
I'm reminded of Obama's state of the union speech when a republican member of the gathered representatives of the people of America shouted "You Lie" after a statement made by the president. For a moment just think if the prime minister had done the same thing; what would the international reaction have been? This may show how Trump is able to do what he does, relying on the reserve of other countries leaders' and their diplomatic senses to not howl "You Lie". Could a fist fight follow or at least end the both national leaders stalking out of the meeting.
It seems that this is the secret of Trump's success and his reliance on others' good manners to let him get away with his lies. But, does anyone really want international relations become shouting matches of falsehoods against truth, with the loudest voice taking the day as the truth?
At least Trump didn't spend any time prowling around behind the prime minister, which we know he loves to do.
Jesus said, "The truth will set you free," not you will be set free from the truth. That, apparently, is Donald Trump's motto.
1
I'm surprised Blow did not call out Trump on his big fat lie about the Japanese bowling ball test that they use to determine what cars can be imported into their market.
Oops
Sarcasm.
That's right.
Remember, back in the day there were American businessmen who didn’t go against Hitler because of their selfish greed. Currently, republicans are still supporting Trump who General McCaffery said is a threat to America’s national security. He said Trump is not protecting us from Putin attacking our democracy and our energy infrastructure and that Putin must have something over Trump! Anyone still supporting treasonous Trump should never declare they’re still an American patriot ... not believable !
4
As a Canadian who lived in New York for twenty years and have many close friends and relatives throughout the states, I don't see Trump as un-American at all. I see him as completely and utterly American - he is The Music Man, he is Barnum and Bailey, he is Roy Cohn, he is a mob boss, he is corrupt to the core, venal, and base, and as American as the violent culture the nation revels in.
The culture is sick. And that can only be fixed by adopting new values and doing the hard work of building a new, more enlightened, less violent, less profane, less meaningless culture.
Trump has just revealed the nation itself has no clothes.
7
Stated so Republicans can understand it: Take "The Fountainhead" & completely remove Howard Roark. Have the story end when Trump marries Melania.
1
You are too kind in your description of the president. He is a liar, a coward, and a traitor and is only using the United States as a piggy bank to fatten his wallet.
5
"But in fact, the story makes Trump look small and ignorant and unprincipled."
Actually Blow's columns which consist of nothing but a weekly rant of name-calling and attacks are making himself look small and unprincipled. Any pretense of actually practicing journalism has been jettisoned a long time ago.
2
Trump is, as Mr. Blow says, an unrepentant liar. He lies all the time, about anything and everything. I wouldn't care if he were still only in private business, even though his lying and breaking of contracts is the prime cause of the multitudinous lawsuits against him. His private conduct though is a wide-open window into how his lack of trustworthiness prevents him from being able to deal with the world on any basis other than his own, and other than with his own mendacity.
There are other players in the world He simply can't bully his way through his lies as he does in his business. China, among others, simply will not allow it if it is not in their interests. Trump is a loser, and his lying erodes our economic and national security.
4
"Pandemonium," the capital of hell, is the best name for the White House. It is the place where chaos and evil collide and where everyone in it lies.
2
I'll tell you what, Mr. Blow. If you are as smart as you think you might be (I happen to think you're pretty smart) then figure this out.
Instead of continuing to preach to the choir about Trump, you and the other NYT writers and editors figure out a way to get into the heads of the people who still support and believe in this guy.
If you can do that, even to a small extent, you will be really accomplishing something.
7
Many of the high school students I teach are unclear why it might be unethical to use the presidency to promote one's private business, or why working with a foreign government to affect the outcome of an election is wrong. They think it's 'bada**" that Trump is so rich and making himself richer while president.
They expressed some surprise that news organizations like this newspaper don't routinely publish 'fake news'. They assumed they all did; they heard it from the president.
How will these views affect their adult behavior? And how can the damage be undone?
2
Are you saying we are doomed. Sounds like it.
The strength of America has always been its pursuit of an ideal....All men are created equal, etc. The world (and we Americans) has been willing to accept our imperfect movement towards that ideal as long as we slowly continued towards it. We now have lost the ideal. Instead we see our President lie, manipulate, castigate to pursue a political agenda that belittles equality and justice and to cover his ass. Parson Weems wrote that Washington could not tell a lie and people thought it was a laudable goal. Trump brags that he lies and his followers revel in the idea of how the ends justify the means.
1
Another splendid piece, thank you. For all that you've written, so very well and very true, the saddest part of this tragedy is two-fold: (1) not only are these not impeachable offences; but (2) he can still get re-elected.
4
And what does this say of the 60 million people who voted for him? Of the fanatical followers who cheer him at his rallies? Of the Republicans who give him an approval rating north of 80% when no one else does? Trump has plenty of help wrecking America's image.
16
Welcome to the bottom of the American political barrel, Michael.
As long as their racist, philandering, prevaricating, white spite-filled fake Christian, career scofflaw and draft-dodger says it, America's whited sepulchers will cheer this anti-Christ.
Nothing says lowlife like America's 'heartland' and fake Bible Belt.
32
I might suggest that the most whacked-out Americans are the genius=poet-philosophers who can't decide whether Hillary Clinton or Louis Farrakhan should be the Democratic candidate for president in 2020. Anyone still buying what either of these bitter people say needs to undergo some sort of health check.
"And what does this say of the 60 million people who voted for him?"
If by "him" you mean Trump, "this says" that they voted for a better negotiator than Clinton would have been.
If you bother to read Trump's tweet more carefully than Blow did, you will see that Trump uses the word "negotiating" in it. That means that Trump was NEGOTIATING with Trudeau.
Do you have a problem with Trump negotiating with another head of state?
1
Among the many things that I don't like about Trump (there seems to be a new thing every day) is the way that his devotees call themselves "patriots" and accuse his critics of hating America. These people seem blinded by their reluctance to admit that he makes America seem crude, reckless, and unstable, not to mention his relationship with Russia that threatens our national security. I guess the image of America we grew up with--admittedly with rose-colored glasses, for it was never as virtuous as we wanted to believe--is boring a lot of folks who would love to go back to the Wild West or enjoy a good war. But most of us prefer a peaceful civilized administration that lets us choose our own battles.
22
America has no business being a world leader. Almost half of those voting in the last election voted for Trump---a lying incompetent con artist who, before the election clearly showed himself to be a racist and a sexual predator. How could anyone ever trust such a nation? Plus, we have an 18th century poltical system that twice in the last 18 years installed the loser of the popular vote as President. Why should anyone look to us as a leader?
25
"One of Trump’s most lasting legacies will likely be the damage he’s doing to the fundamental idea that truth matters."
No, one of Corrupt Donnie's lasting legacies will be WHY the truth matters. It will just take a little time. His successor, along with his predecessor will serve as contrasting examples.
10
One can only imagine what it must be like to be in close proximity with a thoughtless tyrant that only believes in "win" not "win/win". Where even his kids are separated into winners and losers. Where you grind the most vulnerable under your expensive footwear. Where loyalty is expected but not granted. One must present the perfect exterior and march in total lockstep with the cruel master. And now we learn that Trump has insisted on NDA's from not just his "romp of the week" but employees of the White House paid by MY taxes. I am exhausted and find myself sympathizing with people with people I never would have expected.
16
Trump and his minions in Congress, the business world and evangelical churches should all have a sign on the walls of their homes and offices, and that sign should read, “The Ends Justify The Means”.
15
The Dude writes that Trump and his minions should be identified by a sign which reads, "The Ends Justify The Means”."
Unfortunately, that would not tell the whole story. To tell the whole story, the sign would have to read, "The Ends of our winning absolute power justify any Means we choose to employ".
1
Unfortunately for our country, a culture has emerged from the far right that truth does not matter & that an alternate reality can be created. This "realty" will then be used for any purpose they deem necessary to squash any and all who are different than they--primarily culturally, and feel that if you're not part of their culture then you have no place in America.
Trump just happens to be one manifestation of this phenomenon.
For further evidence i put forth Steve King (R-Iowa) and today most notably Kris Kobach (KS Secretary of State) who falsely has put forth the premise of massive voter fraud and is being sued by ACLU Last week his "expert" witness testified that the method used to determine illegal voter registration was to look for "foreign sounding names" on KS voter rolls. When in fact the majority of voter fraud (12) was committed by older white Republican men who voted twice.
17
So, here is my question. Who can and will hold Trump accountable? Every day my heart sinks a little more. Obviously Congress is not going to do anything. What will happen if Mueller is fired? I keep hearing that no one, even the president is above the law. But it appears that he can stuff his cabinet with corrupt morally deficient people just like him. He has filled the US court system with Trump sycophants. And, he has Fox news spewing out pro-Trump propaganda 24/7. Washington DC has become "Moscow West". Even if we have a "blue tsunami" in November, how long will it take before we can truly "make America America again?" The American people need some hope that we will regain all those values that made us the envy of the free world!
17
You should visit the rest of the free world some time DisillusionedDem !!
It’s better here and we don’t envy you at all.
1
I have many times...and would love to emigrate to New Zealand...unfortunately, you have an age restriction :-) And I am happy that you are happy! Most of us are pretty miserable under the current administration!
Sadly, I think most of us will not see our nation return to integrity within our lifetimes. That is the depth of the damage he has done. His lies will echo for decades, hanging like a foul stench in the air, as other countries wonder why they should place any trust in our government.
"...he was unencumbered by an allegiance to the truth."
Yes. Trump was and is unencumbered by the truth. So, I could well ask if someone can be a liar when they literally don't care whether what they are saying is the truth...or not. Isn't a liar defined as someone who "knowingly" speaks a falsehood? What about someone who says whatever comes into his pumpkin head and doesn't know or care whether it's true?
Trump and his base has decided that THE TRUTH IS FOR LOSERS. Trump and his base want to win at all costs. Trump and his base want power. Trump and his base will use any means to obtain that power...and lying is the least of it. There is no lie they won't tell to obtain power. None. There is no action they won't perform to obtain power, including walking out on 5th Avenue and shooting someone. Trump was correct when he said he could do so and not lose support, because his supporters want power and they will accept ANY means to that end. Russian interference with the election...just ask Trump's base...they have zero problem with that.
Trump and his base would allow Putin to send in Russian goons to man election booths across the USA if they thought they could get away with it.
The problem we face in the USA is not just Trump. How many times do I have to say it. The problem is Trump's base is just like Trump. They have no concern at all with telling the truth. None. They want power at all costs...and if they have to step on each and every one of us to get it...so be it.
16
It is sad that as a functioning human being in this world that Trump cannot find the beauty of everyday life and the joy of honesty. The hole that he is digging, the lives he has destroyed, his family name in tatters, and his hatred. These and many more traits will go down in history to describe his time as president. All his achievements and the end of the Republican Party will mean nothing as he doubles down. The wave is coming this will be your finest hour get involve and vote
12
How do we reverse this? One possibility (I suspect probability) is that we don't. Beyond Trump and all of the things that he is and isn't is the fact that he was elected. The world now knows that we are capable of electing someone like this, so we can do it again. Even if in 2020 we elect a decent, intelligent, honorable person (looking at your Cory Booker!), they know we can come up with another Trump. Our "brand" may well be done - and maybe that's a good thing, maybe it's time we dropped the facade of "exceptionalism" and acted as a responsible nation in the world, not a leader (or bully).
9
The world’s disenchantment with the ability of US voters to make informed presidential choices began to take hold with the election of George W. Bush and firmed up considerably with his re-election. Events before, during and after the 2016 elections have fully confirmed the earlier doubts. Regardless of the extent of remedial actions taken by subsequent administrations, global confidence levels will never be restored. As if the actions of this rogue president were not sufficient to exacerbate the crisis of confidence, the inability/unwillingness of the Republican-led Congress to discharge its constitutional responsibilities fully justifies the perception that our system of government is on the brink of failure.
3
Despite its own troubles the Euro still has more confidence than our dollar.
All that you say is right. He's quite nuts and incompetent. My only hope is there some big behind the scenes plot to take him down. But I fear Congress is lame,cowardly and a big part of the problem. If I were younger,I'd leave this madness.
11
Trump protests his innocence, but he and his legal counsel behave as if he is guilty. The lying and the chaos are little more than distractions. Am hoping that Mueller will soon crush the head of the snake masquerading as POTUS.
10
Every every thing he says, every thing he does, every thing he tweets leaves a trail of destruction behind him. He is beyond any support from reasonable citizens or from countries around the world. He has damaged the image of the United States everywhere. But, he has had help from a congress that is complicit of what he does and deserve the fallout of their actions or lack thereof.
There has been a complete lack of integrity in congress and the electoral college that can only be corrected at the ballot box. So let’s get on with it in November.
16
The Electoral College can only be corrected by direct popular vote for the only elected office in the US representing a national constituency.
4
Ron Chernow's biography of President Grant depicts a man the exact opposite of Trump: a disciplined truth-teller whose weakness was ascribing the same virtue to others.
11
If another country's distrust of the United States persists beyond Trump, it will not just be because of Trump himself. It will also be because a large enough swath of American voters demonstrated, by electing Trump, that they do not believe integrity matters either. That's what worries me the most.
15
You don't get it. Trump's supporters love him because he's a bully, a liar, and a misogynist because it's what they want to be, and can't. In the politically correct world we've made for ourselves, there are a lot of people who feel left behind, and Trump has given them reason to live. So too do opinions like those expressed in this piece: Isn't it possible that all the liberal complaining about Trump is just propelling him toward more outlandish behavior, for the entertainment of his flock? Haven't you ever tried to fight back against a bully only to endure more abuse?
In fact, I'd guess that the Trump administration has given columnists like Mr. Blow and others an embarrassment of riches from which to write their columns. So just as his supporters draw comfort from Trump's actions, his detractors benefit as well.
As with any bully, the way to inflict the most harm is to simply ignore him. Let us be vigilant and let the laws of the land be enforced.
8
Not speaking against him and his egregious speech and behavior is not an option. It would by no means remove the dangers he and his followers bring if they were to be yielded to or placated. Your idea of ignoring a bully only works if you are not being damaged or other people hurt in the meantime. You have to stand up to bullies, friend, and bullies this dangerous, active, and radical, stand up in every way.
14
Alocksley from NYC. Your faith in the “laws of the land” might be a bit naive, given that Trump and his Attorney General are working day and night to subvert our nation’s law enforcement agencies and, by means of the far right controlled House of Representatives and Senate, to change the very laws that you feel are a bulwark against authoritarianism. Think of Trump’s wish to change the libel laws or his demand that people in the Justice Department and F.B.I. swear allegiance to him. I personally don’t give a fig what Trump’s supporters reaction is to criticism of their beloved leader. I no longer argue with these people and I no longer really care whether they “feel left behind” or “intimidated by liberal elites”.
18
While I agree with you that the best thing to do to a bully is to ignore him, when that bully is the POTUS, to ignore him is to be complicit in allowing him to destroy not only the fabric of our nation's character, our international reputation, our national security, and the lives of individuals he considers to be his enemies. When the bully sows such widespread destruction, he must be dealt with - in this instance, at the ballot box.
Keep speaking truth to power, Charles. It's too easy to just sit back and accept things as the new normal. We must remember every single day exactly what's at stake here.
1
Mr. Blow, please write your next essay on Congress: The Un-American Abettors of Trump the Un-American President.
28
Yes, DT is clearly the unAmerican president, since he is serving the interests of Russia, a hostile foreign nation. Chief among those interests: to destroy democracy. A cruel, ignorant, tyrant wannabe who attacks democratic institutions on twitter, lies constantly, is the most corrupt person ever to inhabit high office in 200 years, gags his many sex objects, and abuses the judicial system turns out to be the perfect agent to destroy democracy. His sick ego and personality disorder are almost beside the point.
20
Our "president" is a sociopath, plain and simple. His lack of remorse, living in the moment, win at any cost, etc etc. go look it up. In the past, his money, charm, and good looks let him "pass" the smell test but he's stinking to high heaven now.
23
When Trump was voted the worst president of all time, that title didn't go far enough in the worst ever category. He'll never beat his idol Putin because Putin doesn't care if anyone likes him.
Donnie, on the other hand, craves approval from the mainstream, the "fake news", liberals, intellectual elites, tree-huggers and everything progressive. He's stuck with neo-nazis, white supremacists, greedy old rich men, and a porn star or two.
That's why he's trying to destroy the country.
11
Trump is a traitor !
24
I do feel that it's possible that the U. S. role in the world is permanently damaged. The rest of the world probably finds it hard to believe: That the American people could be sucked in by such a clearly absurd person; that the members of Congress, those who are supposed to be a check on executive power, are more worried about keeping their jobs that protecting the country from such an unhinged charlatan; that our much heralded "rule of law" can be violated so easily with only token resistance from those in position to do something about it. Like when your betrayed by a trusted friend, the affection and closeness felt for that person can never be recovered. You might be able to get along but will never have the trust and affection you had before toward that person again. That's where America finds it self, yet so many feel that were making America great again. Sad.
15
Ironic, isn't it, that when Trump decides to tell the truth it's to admit that he lied.
The phrase "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" shows that these three things are of a piece. Trump trashes them all every time he opens his liehole.
13
Blow: The single issue, can't get over Hillary 2016 columnist.
6
Detective Sam Spade, in the style of the classic troll commenter, assumes that the ONLY reason one might criticize President Fibsalot is because one can't get over Hillary. Oh good sir, just because you reduce every complaint about Trump to a single issue, don't assume other people do. In fact it's very clear from Charles Blow's essays that there are lots of problems when it comes to the Fibber-in-Chief.
You’re going to find out exactly how over 2016 we are in November.
1
But Charles, you are all wet. Mr. Trump is the very essence of AmeriKa in the early 21st- Century.
6
Mr. Blow. Do you truly believe our “pathological liar” in the WH cares about respect and trust? Conceptually, Trump does not even consider these to be facets of human communication. If he did, he would not have turned into the king hell prevaricator he has proven to be. All Trump cares about is manipulation of people and ideas to his benefit.
7
"This is lying for sport, for the thrill of it, because you can and feel that there is no penalty for it."
Lying is Trump's opium. Something he does, not just for a thrill, but because it is his addiction. An hour without lying creeps in glimpses of reality, which expose who he is to himself. That frightens him. He is a junky. But, he is America's junky. Foisted upon us by the Republican Party.
While Russia aided his theft of the presidency, while many Americans contributed by voting their gut hatreds, ultimately, it was the Republican Party that legitimized a junky for president. It is the Republican Party that keeps him in the Oval Office and it is the Republican Party that is destroying America's integrity, values and reputation.
Never forget that Trump is not just the face of the Republican Party, he is the inner Jekyll of the Republican Party. Trump is doing to America what Republicans have always wanted to do but couldn't find a way.
Republicans have always wanted to roll back the human rights and protections of the American people. Social Security, Medicare, Workers Compensation, Medicaid, child labor laws, UNIONS! These were/are travesties to the Republican Party elites like Ryan, Mitchell, Chaney, Reagan.
Republicans have always wanted a militarized America First, the world be damned. Allies are like Democrats, use them when possible otherwise trash them to stay in power.
Trump is delivering on the Republican ideas of American greatness.
19
Now I am reading " Fire and Fury ", by Michael Wolff and I am on chapter, Jarvanka. The book is a page filler and is highly entertaining is still the best seller in it`s 10th week in NYT.
trump is really inhumane and cruel dealing with people and there is a special place in hell for this moron. Bob Mueller might get to him before the moron gets to Mueller. If no one else, Stefanie Clifford aka Ms. Stormy Daniels will get to trump before anyone else. Mike Pence will be so easy to beat, a man with squinty eyes and no personality !
12
I've never seen anyone so proud of his stupidity as Donald J. Trump - the President of the United states of America.
12
" We have no idea just how damaged the American brand has become under Trump." Bull! The ugly American has existed thru many Presidents before Trump. This OpED is biased and vicious. At best it tries to portray Mr. Obama in a good light. But, Obama, despite his charisma, was no saint, no more ethical, and no better American than Trump! ThisOpED is nothing but myopia. If you are looking for liars, take G.Bush, who lied in front of the whole World community (UN) trying to make a case to start a war in Iraq. How embarrassing was that? Nor, was G.Bush, the first President to lie and imprint the image of the ugly American around the world - see Reagan, Nixon, and Kennedy before him. Wake up America!
If you are trying to explain this to your children, you should tell them that Presidents are ordinary people like themselves, but as Politicians, they resort to lies when it's convenient for them to do so. Face it; the American Brand was damaged the moment when America discarded G. Washington's advice: " Friendly Relations and Commerce with all Nations, allegiances with none." However, you should note that Foreign Relations has nothing to do with a popularity/altruism contest, but everything with the fact that all Nations act to further their selfish interests! Bar none!
You are talking about your own values not traditional American values.
10
Trump is to politics what porn is to sex. He does not #MAGA, but #SATA: Stop Allies Trust America
4
The "Un-American" card being played by Mr. Blow is the lowest form of smear journalism. It's a smear tactic when used by the Left - and, it's a smear tactic when used by the Right.
Mr. Blow's virulent hate for President Trump has distorted all of his writings.
It's time for Mr. Blow to be assigned other topics to write about - topics about which he can be objective and not driven by Hate.
5
You don't respond to the article's arguments, preferring a shallow ad hominem attack on its author. That's telling, and what it tells is that you resort to fallacies because there are no arguments you can adduce that counter Mr Blow's excellent points.
10
"It's time for Mr. Blow to be assigned other topics to write about ..."
As a columnist, Blow chooses his "topics".
"... topics about which he can be objective and not driven by Hate."
That's uselessly vague. Suggest some other "topics".
1
If you want objectivity, you shouldn't read opinion pages, here or anywhere else.
1
This president follows closely Josef Goering doctrine on lying .
Do I detect a Nazi inclination or just a childish stubborn toddler behavior ?
Whoever elected this man to the highest office of the United States demonstrates total lack of wisdom and total ignorance.
10
For a while I was thinking, Charles Blow, damn that guy needs to write about something else, I'm not saying write about the opioid crisis, but maybe Black Panther at least, people love that movie. I remember when Blow left the building for a Trump sit-down with the editorial page. Good on him, he's got a backbone. When was that though? Before Trump won?
But I think the sheer dedication to weekly Trump evisceration over what feels like a decade of degradation is starting to work on me (a reader from Sydney... Australia). This kind of focus is not normal. And I think that's the point. Trump isn't normal, either.
10
First I think we should clarify the " class" of liar Trump is. Not necessarily a pathological liar but even a congenital liar. It was in the man's DNA from birth. Let's list all the people Trump wants everyone to believe is lying, while he is telling the truth.
Comey
Mueller
McCabe
The 12 to 20 women who accused Trump of sexual misbehavior
Hillary ( Crooked)
Cruz ( Ly'in Ted)
Stormy Daniels
The Playboy bunny
NBC
CBS
ABC
MSNBC
CNN
FBI
Department of Justice
Department of State
CIA
Now the list of people Trump believes are truthful.
V. Putin
President Duarte
President of Turkey
Everyone on FOX news except Shepard Smith
21
Only a moron lies and then brags about lying. People who are adept at lies stick to their lies and never admit they lied. Trump is a moron.
12
America.....my beloved country is being run by a bully tyrant. Joe Kennedy as Abassador to England proclaimed in 1939....”The great experiment of Democracy is over! Hitler and Germany will rule our world! Oops, Kennedy got it wrong!
4
Look, Trump is an evil human being. He is evil. Evil. There is nothing in this incredibly amazing and wondrous world that means anything to him. Not the sun, the stars, the flowers, the trees, the birds, their songs, or any of the infinite miracles that surround us. Neither does the suffering of so many people in the world, and in our own nation mean anything whatsoever. For Trump, everything is about his personal gratification.
Then he calls other people dishonest and accuses them of lying, I look out at the world around me, and wonder why in hell people don't fall on the floor laughing at the utterly obscene irony.
This is an evil man. We must not be afraid to speak this truth.
15
I think all these young leaders like Trudeau and Macron think Trump is an idiot and a dummy/dinosaur who you have to humor -- and they are allies! The others who are not allies are out to take advantage of this incredibly weak link and point of vulnerability in the US.
13
Will Trudeau ever again believe anything that Trump says? Of course. Neither will anybody else. Trump is a lying fool.
3
What is to be done about the sex life of porn star Donald Trump?
3
What do these people who know the information think when Trump is giving them a load of manure? Does Trudeau just bite his tongue to not give trump the scolding he deserves?
1
{If you like your healthcare, you can keep it.
Benghazi was caused by a YouTube video.
I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
Is this what you mean by "the nobility of the presidency," Blow?
5
That's all you've got--and over a 20-year time span? Trump does worse in 20 minutes.
11
Trump is the Jim Jones of American politics -- follow me blindly while I lead you to the poison, drink it and then die. Unfortunately he's attempting to do this to the entire country.
Each time I see some demented fool wearing a MAGA hat, I just wonder how stupid, ignorant and flat out deplorable a person needs to be to want to advertise that they are aligned with the lying, dangerous, deranged, treasonous Trump.
14
So how many Americans are happier to be the laughingstock of the world instead of the last superpower and world’s policeman? To have a porn star scandal instead of an intern? It’s the White Trash House now.
To have a bully as president, one who brings no real intellect or power to the equation rendering all his attempts hollow bluster? To have Russia explore ways to shut down our power grid while poisoning people in Great Britain, traditionally our closest ally? And to have a president who just doesn’t care?
Republicans were so galled to call what they viewed as a black man Mr. President, white mother from Kansas completely ignored, that they took a sleazy poor excuse for a man, from NYC no less, and raised him to be “the leader of the free world?” And now they smirk and laugh at his revolting antics that literally put our nation in peril?
I don’t want to hear about morality from the right wing of this country. I don’t want to see your stupid flag lapel pins proclaiming your non existent patriotism. I don’t want to hear one more word out of any of you about morality as you have shown yourselves to be amoral. You wouldn’t know morality if it came to you tattooed on a porn star’s posterior.
I’m done with republicans.
16
Trump is a cancerous tumor on the collective American mind.
Never again.
9
Did Charles Blow become the first NY Times columnist in history to discover that -- horror of horrors -- that Donald Trump is the first president to lie about something?
Quick I'm having the vapors. I mean who knew such a thing was possible?
3
Ray Cohn taught him well.
9
Simply put....a FAILED ILLEGITIMATE wannabe President...Dump-Trump Now
6
Trump is the ugly American.
7
You obviously have no idea who the Ugly American was.
I suggest you read the 1958 novel and study the protagonist. Far from representing an obnoxious stereotype of Americans abroad, Homer Atkins was a champion of the local people.
When China and Russia have become de facto dictatorships and the world needs a strong USA to counter them, we have Trump leading the country - and the world - into the spit-hole.
1
Donald Trump, the growing stench of necrosis from the White House.
8
Captured the non-essence of the man here. He has been trashing America for the longest. And Americans: businessmen, ordinary residents, his neighbors, the institutions that have served us well, etc. He is just truly despicable. We can all see it in his face. He is miserable. Misery loves company, it is said. We want out and off of this trip with this nut job. He doesn't represent himself well-- then again, what we see is who he is. A miserable, arrogant, unhappy individual unless he is doing a one-up on someone. He makes up stuff in order to accomplish it when he has not knowledge to achieve such. His lack of knowledge is astounding-- Wharton doesn't want to claim him. He spoke poorly of President Obama who was adept, competent and professional at all times. Trump can't carry a bag compared to him. We've seen nothing of this man's credential, but we can tell they are as hollow and shallow as he is.
With one additional word, I agree with this commentary by Mr. Blow. Thank you. Trump: The Despicable Un-American President.
3
Impeach! Convict! Imprison!
9
Wasn't "we create our own reality" the motto of the Rove-Cheney bunch? When Palin sucked the air out of McCain's campaign, I told a friend she, Palin, reminded me so much of that ghastly Berlusconi, who at the time was making a laughingstock out of Italy. Now we have our very own laughingstock creating his very own reality hour after hour, but it isn't very funny up close. This man is SO dangerous, he makes me glad I'm an old person!
5
No one hates the POTUS more than Charles Blow. Sad.
3
Not true, I'd like to think I hate him more than Charles.
1
I do not know whether he has the mental capacity to know he lies, since he know so little. He's boasting about his stupidity. Putin helped us elect a total idiot. But we've had them before- Reagan, Bush Junior. We weathered those storms, too.
3
Hey Blow
I am sure you know that all politicians lie, contort the facts and shade the truth. I call out BO and Hiliary for their lies and coverups.
Trump is not your President and I am glad.
Donald again in 2020!
Here is your crying towel !
5
Trump knowingly lies and brags about it, while admitting not to care about ignorance of basic facts. It isn't that Trump is un-American. Trump is simply a psychopath.
2
He’s been un AMERICAN since daddy sent him to military school with no intention of sonny boy ever serving his country. Coward!!!!
6
Feel better, Mr. Blow?
Man the phones in 2018, or put a sock in it.
Please.
3
Your president is a sick joke.
2
Fake President!
4
The problem is not that Trump lies; it's the stupid people who still believe him still., especially when he asks them "believe me"
With Trudeau he was not sure what he was saying; attitude was more important than facts. Trudeau knew that, but he was too polite to argue and Trump thought he had won again, even though Trudeau knew Trump was just proving his stupidity as usua.l Even Trump knows he stupid because he has to keep saying how smart he is, another lie. We have no idea what his school grades or SAT were.
1
The underbelly of hatred toward our leader and our President which oozes and drips from every Blow column gives one serious pause. The disdain, the hysterical musings, the vitriol is over the top and disturbing. Blow is a hate echo chamber inspiring only other haters as is his wont. His columns are copy and paste...nothing new from the tired old pen of Blow.
2
He personifies the ugly American.
5
Mr Blow doesn't speak for everyone and certainly not for the world
3
When this obscene man is out of office, hopefully along with Pence and all appointments, it will be surprising how quickly we reconnect with the world. There will be a breath of fresh air across civilization.
4
Not only a pathological and unrepentant liar, but also incoherent. Leaving aside what Trudeau being a "good guy" has to do with anything, I defy anyone to make sense out of "and that's how I know." A pathological liar AND a raving idiot who can't frame a clear thought - if he in fact ever has a clear thought.
4
NATHANIEL BROWN
" and that's how I know." out of context.
I agree with an earlier comment that Trump represents America because so many of its citizens are just like him. He is a reflection of the population that many in this country don't want to believe exist, but they do and in massive numbers. So now the world is seeing firsthand how awful Americans can truly be without the disguise that masked the blatant ugliness for so many years.
5
Therein lies your opportunity, Charles. You can take up Obama’s mantle and set upon a worldwide apology tour for America and all things Trump. You can apologize for the silly and offensive idea of American exceptionalism as well as all the atrocities American capitalism has inflicted upon the peoples of the world. Go now.
4
"...the Trump philosophy: Create your own reality; populate it with “facts” of your own creation; use lying as a tactic; remember that strict adherence to truth is a moral barrier and morality is a burden."
I'm curious how the parents who support this man deal with their own children. Do they teach them that they are supposed to tell the truth - that it is the moral thing to do? Or do they allow their children to run with the tRump philosophy? I'll bet the former. They may think it OK for the president to lie to us and the world, but their children better not lie to them! And what are children to think when they see their parents supporting this liar and his lies? Do they then think it's OK to act like him?
6
Donald Trump was lying from the beginning of his candidacy for president. Where was the news media then with the hard hitting stories about the malignancy of this behaviour? Let's be honest, the news media was trying 1) to be fair, and 2)sell as many newspapers, magazines, get ratings as possible. And let's face it, all of President Trumps lying and creating a circus atmosphere in the White House is making a lot of cable news programs millions of dollars. I have a great deal of respect for the press. Journalists put their lives on the line every day to get an accurate story from dangerous parts of the world. They put in long hours to make sure their pieces are factual.
So yes, it galls me that we have a president who got elected because so many people wanted so badly to believe his lies. This doesn't make these people bad, just human. Trump uses his lies to divide people. He's probably lied all of his life, because that's what he learned worked best for him. It does no good hating the man. Hate the behaviour; fight against what it's doing to our country.
1
The "new" American is apparently reflexively dishonest.
1
The two things that have become increasingly viable options for problem solving in America this past, chaotic year are the lie and the gun. Why wouldn’t our standing in the world suffer? Our president is both ignorant and arrogant, an extremely bad combination that the rest of the world seems to understand quite a bit better than we do.
2
Trump is only one man, albeit the President of the United States, but still, only one man. I worry more about his legion of believers who continue to rally around him and support his lies with “unconditional” allegiance. Therein lies the broader and more disconcerting destruction of that just and open-minded American ideal the rest of us are watching fade into memory. To quote a very famous shameless, shallow, shyster; “SAD!”
4
Not only is Trump un-American in his pathological lying to the American People, but so isn't Mike Pence. His stoic demeanor while he steadfastly lies as well means then when it is time to rid America of the worst Pres and VP in American history, let's impeach both. They lie, they have no sense of what is right. They are profligate liars that we don't want to speak for us in any way. FIRE TRUMP, FIRE PENCE. Uphold Truth. Impeach that which is ugly craven indifference to our forefathers wish for this Republic. Get rid of the 2 serpents, Trump & Pence. They are a combined corrosive corrupt administration that Lies continuously to us, the Americans who were lied to before and during this corrupt administration. Just because Pence has been quiet does not mean that he was ignorant as to how Trump and Putin tricked the American Voters. Fire Pence. Fire Trump.
2
The entire G.O.P. is the un-American political party.
Once a modern Republican, never again a loyal American.
Once a modern Republican, never again a decent person.
5
Yes, Trump is un-American and serves the dark side well. It will, however, not end well for him as the layers and layers of his nefarious actions are revealed.
3
In all seriousness, where is that person who has enough integrity to come forth with information that will end this presidential (NOT) charade?
2
Trump: "... Trudeau ... doesn’t like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S. (negotiating), ..."
Blow: "A pillar of his [Trump's] campaign was to renegotiate Nafta."
Blow misses the significance of the word "negotiating" in that Trump quote.
In fact, Trump's bluster IS negotiating. Trump was TESTING Trudeau's knowledge and strength.
"But it is this damaging of truth, this injuring of American identity, this undercutting of American credibility that will be the hardest to reverse."
And yet Republicans want Trump to campaign for them for 2018. Republicans could care less about American credibility or Trump's lies.
1
Bone spur Trump is not fit to lick the boots of wounded-in-action Marine Viet Nam vet Mueller.
11
Obama as president had style, class, and grace. On top of that he was very smart. Needless to say, Trump has none of what Obama had. What amazes me most with Trump voters is how any women could ever voted for the man. You would have thought that the Access Hollywood tape would have sealed the deal and even women who didn't especially care for Hillary would have voted for her. Trumps lying, crassness, vulgarity, and stupidity will hopefully end his presidency.
6
Trump's run for the office of POTUS never had anything whatsoever to do with service to country. There is not and never was a desire to defend, protect and honor American democratic ideals and values.
Trump is a very malignant narcissist who many years ago simply thought that because he is the greatest man ever born, he should be POTUS because it is the highest office in the land. He deserved the power and prestige because he is he.
So no wonder a man who lies, cheats, bullies with vengeful glee has brought the office of POTUS down to his level. He's got this whole gig figured out now and knows he doesn't need to change his ways or even pretend to. He can now go forward doing what he has always done best. Grift, con, fraud. Lie, cheat and steal. He's greedy and needy. Nothing else matters.
America is merely the stage set for the Trump Show.
5
I don't believe he ever planned or expected to be president. He can't think that far ahead. He ran because his lemmings fawned and cajoled him into it. Don't forget how shocked he was when he won. It was never his plan because he has no plan or any ability to make one. Flattery will get you everywhere in Trumpville. The ones who are surviving in the White House are the ones who know how to grovel and appeal to his narcissism. Tell him his hair looks good and you'll be chief of staff in a heartbeat. Tell him he has a possum on his head and you'll be the next dead possum in the middle of the highway.
Vote Trump's enablers out of house and senate.
6
We are caught in a web and can't find a way to get out. No matter what we think, Trump comes up with something that makes us feel petty for criticizing him. He is shameless and a shameless person cannot be reasoned with.
3
Take your guns without due process, eliminate your pension and benefits, remove you from a reputable life, and the approve numbers go up? Go figure.
1
Well YES, Trump is the "un-American President" BUT those Neanderthals that voted for him? Those brain-dead minions? They are ALSO "un-American" and they will continue to live in this forsaken land after the orange defiler of the presidency has gone. THAT is the real problem and I don't see a satisfactory answer to it save eventual dissolution of the "united" states because, after all, I have NOTHING in common with those (especially below the Mason-Dixon Line) who cast votes for our national leader and despise the idea of having to live under one flag which those mindless ones are a substantial part.
3
America's credibility and likability always shrinks internationally whenever we have Republican presidents, which is most of the time. Despite human history people are inherently liberal and like the world to be a liberal place. Aside, there should no longer be anymore doubt nor anymore psychiatric books and discussion about whether or not Trump is aware of his constant lying: the Trudeau incident PROVES the monster KNOWS WHEN HE IS LYING. No he does not have dementia, he's not senile or has a brain tumor: Trump is as he seems, an utter dotard with a black hole for a soul.
3
Donald Trump embodies how many large businesses in this country treat their employees and their customers. They lie, cheat and steal. They are racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, etc. Big business helped to elect one of their own. Why is anybody surprised by his behavior?
3
This traitorous, lecherous president and his supportive, treacherous Congress is a freak of American politics due to the perfect storm of rampant gerrymandering, an antiquated electoral college system, and a perverted ruling by the Supreme Court that corporations are people. This freak show will continue until all decent Americans stand up and speak out against it. Thank you, Mr Blow, for being one of our patriotic leaders to speak out for sanity, honesty and integrity.
4
Unfortunately Donald Trump lying pathologically has become so routine that we does so blatantly to our closest friend, Canada, it barely makes the news.
1
Trump has left a lifelong wake of lies and unaccountability, gaining magnitude and toxicity with his degradation of the presidency. His sociopathic tendencies have been unleashed by a complicit GOP and a gullible base (voters who don't recognize his duplicitous behavior, still reveling in his inflammatory boasts). A would-be dictator or king in his own mind, a man entirely lacking the necessary diplomacy, intelligence, knowledge, curiosity and empathy required of our highest public servant.
Incapable, unfit — and defiling our Constitution and democracy.
Fascism wrapped in a flag.
1
Trump lies because throughout his life no one has confronted him strongly enough, thus enabling him to not only continue, but get pathologically worse. He sees no pain in his lies anymore, only success, because Congress has proven itself to be utterly impotent.
When a person decides to ignore civility, they do not then get to lecture anyone else to be civil. So far, everyone else is being perfectly civil to this grossly insulting human, even while being insulted! Yet not until some hard hitting, slap down, in your face conversations by a few hard-nosed politicians come to fruition with this man will Trump ever stop his bullying and overt crass mendacity.
You do not beat a bully by taking the high ground. You call him out and belittle him so badly in front of his peers that he will crawl back under the rock from where he came. I'm not holding out much hope for that day, however, given the craven cowardice we're currently witnessing in Washington.
3
Trump is our worst characteristics in our highest office. Shameful this generation.
The Republicans, conservatives, evangelicals, right-wing media, billionaires own this guy: he is theirs. Keep saying that truth until November, and beyond. Not to be mean, but to be clear.
We tell kids not to lie, but our President does. We tell children not to be a bully, but our President is. We tell children not to be arrogant, but our President is so full of self-love, of vainglory that he can't stop talking about himself.
The serial-adulterer, the serial-bankrupter, the serial-war-avoider. Never forget who we elected. Says 'women' were his Vietnam, and that McCain and POW's aren't 'his kind of heroes'. How much can 'conservatives' really stomach with this guy?
He loves Putin, oligarchs, autocrats, money. That's what he loves; not America. He's a treasonous charlatan that has no care at all with what he's done to the morality and honor of this country. He's never really had morals. He'd cheat the small contractors working for him, and threaten them with lawyers. He'd cheat on every wife with numerous women, and buy their secrecy. He'd cheat on taxes, not paying for the military he 'says' he's so proud of, particularly if they vote for him, with his sycophants saying he's a 'genius' to not pay his taxes. This is Republicanism: government is the problem, and billionaires that hide their money well and avoid taxes should lead this country, I guess because greed is our guiding light?
1
In this particularly case ONLY, it sounds to me as if Trump didn't set out to deliberately lie; at least, not in the beginning. Rather, he's so ignorant about American commerce that he truly didn't know the answer, and didn't bother to prepare for the meeting. When faced with a comment from Mr. Trudeau that he simply couldn't respond to, he blustered and spoke from his own dysfunctional point of view. In other words, he guessed, and he was wrong, to no one's surprise. But, like others of his ilk who absolutely must be right all the time, he doubled down on his factual error and will now defend his statement to the death. Meaning that he just looks all the more stupid and egomaniacal.
Well I have never seen this man's birth certificate nor his college degree and no one has asked to see it I wonder why. I clearly believe he was born in Russia who else would carry on this way but a believer in dictators. Never has anything so unreal been in the White House. Yes, we have had bad actors in Washington but this one is beyond belief. What's fascinating is his ability to demean and twist the GOP into pretzels for a few trinkets of gold, i.e. a judge, rollback of rules etc. throw away your character to be embraced by a dictator. Those individuals will be remembered in future history class as members of the treason clan who voted against the interest of the country. Even though no one wants to speak on it but what do we really remember Ken Starr for? the impeachment hearings? or the fact that he was President of Baylor College and allowed young women to be sexually abused by college football players and did nothing because the team was winning. No moral compass and that is what the GOP during this timeframe will be remembered for. No one will forget there names and how they sold us off to the Russians. A old white corrupt businessman who I wonder is really an American once again where is the birth certificate, and his college degree. He is a disgrace to all of the dead Americans who went to Viet Nam while he didn't because of his poor rich feet.
3
From Europe. I find Trump's and his lackeys' behaviour so disgusting that I now avoid buying anything American whenever I have the choice. Small scale boycott, I admit. But I think your readers ought to know.
6
"... I now avoid buying anything American whenever I have the choice."
What had you been buying that is "American"? In particular, do you subscribe to the New York Times?
That Trump is a compulsive liar is beyond question. That he is an appalling representative as POTUS is undeniable. That his is totally lacking in integrity is patently obvious, even to a blind man. But he is not alone in culpability. The leaders of the GOP, notably McConnell and Ryan are equally culpable. So too are those others, from both parties, who have taken the dollars and shekels from powerful corporations, individuals and associations to corrupt the democracy that America so proudly boasts of. Wake up America before the last shreds of human freedoms are lost to the corrupt and the corrupting.
2
And yet, he is the most American of Americans. Not intellectually curious, xenophobic, proud of being illiterate—these are, unfortunately, very American traits. Re-read The Ugly American. Even though we’re a nation of people who have immigrated from around the world, a great majority of Americans have very little knowledge or curiosity about the rest of the world. And to make things worse, looking at our voting statistics, are not even knowledgeable or remotely interested in our own history or politics—which makes American voters malleable to real “fake” news.
2
"...small, ignorant and unprincipled" indeed. Also, I believe, deluded to the point of mental illness. Not to mention venal and petty, as witnessed by firing McCabe via Twitter, hours before his pension would kick in. Then he twisted the knife, and reverted to illiterate, pre-adolescent name-calling.
On the comical side, he has Ted Baxter's intelligence and gullibility, and all the charm of Montgomery Burns.
To quote Firesign Theater; "And you can believe me, because I'm always right, and I never lie".
He was prescient during the campaign, when he said that the world was laughing at us. They surely are not.
There are so many deficits and surpluses Trump does not or anyway will not recognize, and most of them have to do with his own wretched being. He clearly has a deficit of truth-telling, and a surplus of lie-broadcasting. A laughable deficit of knowledge, and a plentiful surplus of ignorance. A disgusting deficit of humility, and a dangerous surplus of arrogance. An astounding deficit of compassion, and a vicious surplus of meanness. A frightening deficit of justice and an outrageous surplus of injustice. The massive, invasive surplus of Trump continues to be a horrible, heart-breaking deficit for our country.
We are numb, and that is dangerous.
3
"Rather than preserving the nobility of the presidency, he is debasing it." So says Charles Blow in his latest fit of the vapors.
Mr. Blow is correct in noting that Trump is a stain on the history of the office, but he's hardly the first in recent memory. Mr. Blow was born two years after Richard M. Nixon committed treason by sabotaging LBJ's Paris peace talks with North Vietnam.
He was ten years old when Reagan was elected. You know, the guy who frequently got mixed up and couldn't tell the difference between reality and scenes from movies. The guy whose minions committed treason to keep Jimmy Carter from being re-elected and sold arms in exchange for hostages to fund an illegal war in Central America - that Ronald Reagan.
Then there was George H.W. Bush, affectionately known as Poppy. He was a one-term wonder whose presidency only survived because he pardoned the four men who could have revealed his own treason in Reagan's Iran-Contra affair.
Blow was thirty when George W. Bush stole the presidency from Al Gore with the help of Bre'er Jeb and the SCOTUS. Who could forget his wonderful administration?
Trump is hardly the first blot on the White House. Blow might do better to point out that since 1968, the GOP has not once won the presidency honestly and fairly. The only thing that makes Trump worse than the rest is that his help seems to have come from a hostile foreign power.
5
Hey kids, remember that if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth, especially if you can get others to call your lie fair & balanced.
1
George Washington: I can not tell a lie. I chopped down the Cherry Tree.
Donald Trump: ‘I didn’t even know. … I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.'”
We’ve sure have come a long way. I hope we left enough bread crumbs so we can go back.
2
Donald Trump may well be the greatest hacker of all time, hacking his way through the checks and balances of the Constitution, our country's operating system. He intuitively understand it flaws and has, through brute force, exploited them. The designers of our country understood the temptations of power,and tried to firewall us against them. When he goes (and he will) he will leave us a system that's be corrupted and, perhaps, can never again be trusted.
This is why Trump and his minions need to be voted our of Washington. Please, please everyone vote this November. We need to stop this train wreck!

2
As he apparently told Billy Bush, just say what you want people to hear and they will believe it. It's the same reason he tweets so much - no fact checking before publication. He lives by one principle only - Trump Uber Alles.
1
The sooner we impeach this corrupt man... the better. It will come to that in the end so why wait?
2
I don’t watch Fox, listen to Rush, or play around with (not-so) “Bright” Bart, or infowars. So I may have missed the defense of a man with no redeeming qualities. Can any of the very few defenders of the man that comment here please point to even one wholesome character trait of this abomination of a manchild, describe one moral thing he has done, or explain why they believe he is the kind of person we want to be America’s representative to the world? And don’t say it’s because he is a tough and successful businessman, because you can’t prove that. Besides, it is possible (and I believe necessary for the long game) to build business relationships based on shared ethical principles, and I just can’t find any in this man. Anybody? Just one moral thing?
2
It's been often said that people get the government they deserve. A little over a year ago America elected a known liar and panderer dressed up in a clown suit. We created him and now we are stuck with him until we vote him out.
"But in fact, the story makes Trump look small and ignorant and unprincipled."
In this case, appearances are most definitely not deceiving, witness the McCabe firing.
Does America win by becoming the bigger bully, led by a bigger bully?
1
He thinks lying is fine as long as it makes him "win".
He forgets that we're not at war with Canada.
Where the H are the Republicans?! How much damage are they going to let him do to our alliances and standing in the world?
2
The nobility of the presidency? That went the way of the dodo bird.
So. Lying to an ally, directly, with no regret, and actually bragging about the lie, is Trump's idea of foreign policy. Does he think Trudeau - and the rest of the world - are so unprepared as to believe his lie?
So cavalier with our name and reputation. With the truth. What did he think this would mean to his protestations of innocence with the porn star? Give him credibility?
And just why would Kim Jong-Un, or any other world leader, believe anything he says?
Lying is a vice. Most of us try to avoid it, and we teach our kids to tell the truth. Lying, for our President, is a daily habit. He cannot be trusted, by us or anyone in the world.
I don't care if you are Republican or Democratic. 2020 cannot come soon enough to get an honest person back into the White House, our house.
1
It's not just "debauched behavior" being displayed by the man posing as President. The level of depraved indifference he displays for the consequences of his actions go beyond deplorable into the realm of the pathological.
2
Once again, Mr. Blow, you have completely covered the subject in a very few words. Unfortunately, such reasoning will not avoid the coming "tribalism" of Dems and GOPs which will lead to a new Civil War. I am glad I am very old, Mr. B............
The untruthful story that Trump told the leader of Canada "makes Trump look small and ignorant and unprincipled" because he IS small and ignorant and unprincipled. He's been like this all his life, and now he's our president with the power to start a nuclear war on a whim and very few of our congress people seem to care. WHY?
1
I am so sick and tired of media using "unprecedented" to describe euphemistically Trump's vile tantrums. "UN-AMERICAN" is the operative adjective we should be using from now on to pin down this fraud of a president, no human being.
1
Trump the 3rd grader will tell you 2 2 = 6, then say the math teacher was "very mean to me and should be fired". Trump Country. Are you not as exhausted, sad and ashamed as the rest of us? This is your country he's destroying.
1
Oh, for heaven's sake. The man was joking, Charles. Joking. Some people do joke, you know. And Donald Trump is one of them.
2
The the worst part of thisis that we have no clear policy on national defense when it comes to Russia. Trump is not a world leader and is not focused on threats to our country. He’s only focused on protecting himself from Muellers investigation and building his stupid wall. We are in trouble with him at the helm. More than our brand is at stake. Our nation as we know it is at risk. Trump is so far out of his league on the world stage. Putin knows this and he just won six more years to undo what America has achieved for democracy since WWII.
6
The irony is that Trump, the notorious liar, finally told a truth. Unfortunately, the thing he told the truth about was that he was lying.
4
At least the fellow goes to church every Sunday.
A great line and book title: "I Have Abandoned My Search For Truth and
Am Looking for A Good Fantasy" by Ashleigh Brilliant. "President" Trump
seems to have elevated his chronic Sociopathic Personality Disorder into
the redefinition of Truth.....hence a "Presidential" answer to the age-old question....."What is Truth?"
Does anyone believe that Trudeau took Trump’s words as truthful? The world knows he’s a lying clown. Ringling brothers folded. Now we have the White House circus.
Americans still have a chance to redeem at the ballots whatever dignity is left.
Congratulations once again to voters who elected this lying, deceitful, preening narcissistic egotistical slob -- an embarrassment to the Presidency and the United States -- a perversion of leadership, a disaster of international proportions -- and a disgusting, deplorable disaster that will take decades -- at least -- to repair. Congratulations also to his enablers -- the gutless, cowardly, mewling, fawning silent Republican majority, who seems to thing their complicity will go unnoticed as they are re-elected again and again.
1
Usually successful sociopaths are intelligent but Trump is an exception. His transparent lying gives himself away to anyone who bothers to look.
Europeans and other developed countries see Americans allow Trump get away with dissembling and assume we're all liars too.
The longer we allow Trump to stay in office without a strenuous efort to remove him, the less respect the world will have for American character and diplomacy!
1
Reality? Who needs it? It's just a crutch.
1
I wonder if there is any effort to temporarily rename the Oval Office "Offal Office" for the period of Trump's tenure? The purpose would be to prevent permanent contamination of the historic name.
"Wake up and smell the Offal Office."
3
" We have no idea how damaged the American brand has become".....Yes we do actually because it is starting to show in economic statistics. In the first 6 months of 2017 tourism to the US dropped 4% over the same period the previous year. That's $4.6B and could cost 40k jobs. Get the NYT reporters to do some more digging and you will find out what price you are paying for Mr Trump.
3
The U.S.: “Don’t believe our bets.”
I believe I read this in a play once, "Nothing to be done."
Yes the world is watching and thinks this administration is most bizarre. A recent European trip proved that to us. We need to impeach him now!
1
Donald Trump is insane. I don't mean that in any pejorative sense. I mean he is insane. Do we understand that? Our outrage is a reasonable reaction to a rational person we disagree with. Trump is not rational. His wholesale corruption is beyond financial and moral. It is psychological. The gravity of our situation as a nation cannot be overstated.
3
That Trump wouldn't know such a basic fact when discussing trade with Trudeau is incompetent, that he would wing it with a guess and insisting he was right when wrong is scary but that he would brag about it really indicates he is deranged.
I read the transcript of his speech at the fundraiser and it was erratic, incoherant at times and full of lies. I hope that some of the people listening realized what a fraud this person is.
Can you imagine the potential disaster if Trump is left unchecked talking to North Korea?
1
President Trump has shown the nation and the world that he is not to be trusted. That's a common thread among despots.
More than ever: VOTE on 11/06/2018!
2
Say that again after he declares 1. A national disaster (Florida shooting would have been enough). 2. Tells the military (his saviors) to take over. 3. Suspends the Constitution (last done in WW2). Then the elections will be first postponed, then canceled. Oops there goes our democracy. Get ready to kneel to your knew ruler, head on the pavement. Many of you will like it. No decisions to make, ever again.
Maybe Mr. Blow and the NYT can buy 30 seconds or a minute on Fox News and put the most important points of this article on during "Fox and Friends." Because that's about the only time Trump and the rest of his minions with their fingers in their ears when it comes to differing viewpoints will be in contact with Mr. Blow's well-presented opinion and facts.
Putting it another way, Mr. Blow, right now, you're preaching to the choir.
2
And now the rest of the story ...Justin Trudeau left the Trump meeting say "Wow was Rex Tillerson about this guy". Trump confuses politeness with credibility. Trump has none.
2
While this is a very fine column, and I agree with 99.9% of what Mr. Blow says, I take exception to one statement he makes.
Blow proclaims that the lie that DT told Justin Trudeau makes him (DT) look "...small, ignorant and unprincipled." I contend that the lie doesn't make DT *look* "small, ignorant and unprincipled. DT *is* "small, ignorant and unprincipled."
DT has not availed himself of the myriad resources that sit (or stand) within arm's reach of his person. He enjoys lying, existing in chaos (as he has boasted), and flaunting his ignorance, because these actions and behaviors serve as a cover for his incompetence.
He thinks he's being "clever." He thinks he's "getting over" on the opposition. He thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. Because of his narcissism he believes that everyone else is at fault. These are the traits, behaviors and performances of a mentally unstable man. And because of his mental instability, he has put our very fine nationa at risk in all matters recognized (and not yet recognized). We are indeed living in perilous times.
4
Damaged, or all but destroyed?
After having made their Faustian deal with the devil for that Supreme Court seat, they think they have no choice but to support this Un-American president. Sad.
5
I strongly believe that trump's behavior is exactly as if Putin won our election. Everything he does, lying, cheating, destroying democracy ..is what Putin wants for our country.
Under trump, our democracy is crumbling. When a president blatantly lies and the Republicans go along with it, we are falling victims to the worst propaganda
We've been duped and the sooner we all act outraged about trump's lies, the faster he leaves Washington.
3
Trump is truly the stereotypical ugly American. He’s the guy I’ve seen on vacation in France, hoofing it roughshod over the locals in his large white sneakers and ball cap, with no filter on his mouth, demanding, deriding, and dissing the very people he is visiting. Or the guy in Italy, who argues with every hotel clerk or waiter over prices or service or why they can’t speak English like he does. Or the guy in Quebec, who sits at an outdoor cafe, making rude comments about everyone who passes by his table, in a loud voice to ensure that everyone else can hear him. Or the guy in Greece who tells the tour guide that they should just tear down these old junkyards (also known as ancient ruins) and build something “nice” in their place. I’m hesitant to travel abroad again because I fear all Americans will now be tainted with the same poisonous brush as Trump.
2
Is there no one willing to call Trump a PSYCHOPATH? Lying is what they do — huge, outrageous, provably false lies. They do it for sport, just to see how far they can go. If they get caught, they lie some more. Rarely does anyone stop a psychopath in the early stages of their destructive game. For some odd reason, we let them roll until it is too late. Why? Because we are too horrified to accept we have been conned.
2
I agree with everything said about Trump; I despise the guy more than I can say. But, aren't we a little to blame for his behavior? He's admitted he thrives on chaos and uncertainty so why don't we try just writing him off and ignoring his tantrums.
What would happen if the media just ignored the press conferences and stupid tweets? I think most parents have learned that from their children's tantrums. Maybe if he found he had no audience, he'd crawl under a rock where he belongs.
4
Your column is incisive, as usual. I do NOT take your work for granted!! But here is an illuminating angle on the situation: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/how-the-science-of-blue-...
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, plays the Prime Minister of Canada for a chump and brags about it to his Republican pals, who yuk it up along with him.
Why would any world leader want to have a relationship with this man? And since there seem to be no repercussions for this kind of vile behavior, why would a citizen of another country have any reason to think that he does not represent the people of United States?
1
That Trump looks small and ignorant and unprincipled is simply because he is. In "Fire and Fury" Michael Wolff states that all of Trump's business associates knew that he had no scruples, that he didn't play by the rules. Tony Schwartz ("Art of the Deal") has said many times that Trump is a pathological liar. What's new here? Trump lives in an alternate reality of his own making. It's only when the GOP stops enabling him, that his base turns away from him, and possibly the Russian investigation reveals any impeachable offense can anything be done about this, but I wouldn't hold your breath. It's more likely that we have almost three more years of this behavior. Trump is unequipped to deal with anything of any import requiring any deep thinking and knowledge. We are stuck with his off-the-cuff "management" style, poor judgement, and lack of discipline. To him, lying is all part of the game to win, regardless of the consequences. So for Trump, to lie is as natural as breathing.
1
Trump disgraces himself, our country and the world with every word he utters, almost all of which are dishonest. His entire administration is a cancer that must be cut out for the good of the country and the world. It will take years if not decades to unravel the evil he, his corrupt offspring and his fetid enablers have sewn into our national fabric - if unraveling it is even possible without a major upheaval like a new revolution or civil war. Bob Meuller, as even-handed and well intentioned as I assume him to be, is a slender thread upon which to hang the future of the nation. I salute Charles Blow for continuing to call out the desecrator of true American values. May Trump's odious reign be short and the price he pays for his crimes against the country be high, and may those who can effect this change - Meuller and Congress - do so speedily and without hesitation. God save America from its "leaders."
1
Americans knew this two years ago and enough still voted for this man. We need to stop blaming Trump for his lack of good judgement, his lack of truthfulness, his lack of integrity, and start holding ourselves accountable. Good or bad American his a moral obligation to ensure this man is not re-elected to this office. If he is re-elected than it will be American that has lost its judgement, its will to seek the truth, and its sense of integrity and character. America has been on this path of backwardness since the tea party movement, since a black man become president. It is time to end this train of thought and come back to our senses. Maybe Hillary was not the best candidate, but there is no excuse for electing Trump. Fortunately there are signs that voters are finally starting to see their folly that began 9 years again and will hopefully get these criminals out of our government.
Of course what you say about Donald Trump is completely and terrifyingly accurate, Mr. Blow. The problem with your piece is that it is like responding to someone in a hospital ward for the insane who claims to be Napoleon Bonaparte by saying that he is clearly too tall to be the French Emperor. All you need to do is listen to his assertions to understand that he is psychotic.
People forget that Trump is a New York real estate guy. Telling lies means putting food on the table. And the bigger the potential stakes the bigger the lies. We should be ashamed as a nation the Trump was able to be elected to the presidency. the United States is not a REIT.
Beyond any specific policy fiasco or any one lie of Donald Trump's, the fact that America and each of us as Americans are represented by this pathetic shell of a man has already caused damage which will likely not be repaired for another generation.
1
fault trump as you will, he's giving you lots of help, but please, let's not overlook the depreciation of the brand under a number of recent presidents, obama, ("let's talk more vlad after the election") and bush 2 (whose "shock and awe" still lives in its infamy)...to do less does not help the cause...putting the republic right will take an aggressve effort by its citizenry to sharpen its critical skills and overcome the drug of media persuasion...the same for you, c.b., this kind of whining, your stock-in-trade since trump, does nothing good for the brand.
1
Thank God that "the world's children" have the unrelenting free media to call trump out on his lies. So we are not completely fooled. But, with an obviously pathological father like Donald Trump, one must wonder what values he taught his kids. I say this because there's a saying that: "when mother cow is chewing grass, her young ones watch her mouth." Those kids must really be damaged.
3
Each and every one of us must do what ever is needed to stop this clown and ensure that it never happens again. The founding fathers got this very, very wrong.
1
Trump is such a scourge, such a capital D Disgrace, that every foreign dignitary that has to share the same space should refuse to shake his hand.
(The same reception should apply on the domestic front.)
As long as Trump remains in office, let this be the standard protocol.
2
Aren’t you at all concerned the OBAMA Administration spied on the Trump campaign during the election and continued to spy once he became President - Elect?
Surely you must understand what the bigger evil here is.
1
Trump has made being an American a shameful experience. My wife and I, long retired, travel frequently, including abroad. Friends of course enjoy giving us a good ribbing. It's all in jest, to be sure. But as the saying goes: there is a touch of truth in humor.
When the laughter subsides, and we get down to serious discussions, the talk often turns depressingly morbid. Sarcasm aside, any serious dialogue concerning Trump goes beyond the boundaries we previously held with past presidents. which go back to FDR. Since WWII, I believed the lessons we learned then, of the atrocities committed by sadistic brutal dictators, would prevent the United States from ever succumbing to the rantings of some populist misogynistic bigot like Trump.
What we find unbelievable is the sheer chutzpah this ignoramus has in casting aspersions. He has no self-control whatsoever. A spoiled, petulant, child now resides in the White House. His deplorable supporters continue to blindly support him. Add to that a be-hind kissing compliant Republican-controlled Congress.
We the people who patiently await Trump's departure will have to bide our time. We hope and pray Robert Mueller will be protected by someone who exhibits a profile in courage. Until then, we must at every opportunity afforded US remove Republicans from office. We must elect a Resistant Front to halt the further ruination of this nation by Trump. That needs to happen ASAP.
DD
Manhattan
1
The awesome irony of having to endure such a beast as this President is reflected in the phrase that he devilishly utilized to gather “just enough” American citizens to support him.
Make America Great, Again was a lie.
It was always only a banal tool. A tool to squeeze out resentment from the amalgam of generally Caucasian people living here, who were seeking a foil for what they perceived as a national quest to relegate them to irrelevant.
Their perception was correct, of course. It was their manufactured foil that was wrong.
Their enemy, and ours is and always has been the American Oligharchy, a relatively small grouping of absurdly wealthy who control every aspect of American Life, including our government.
2
“Destroyed” is more true than “Damaged”.
1
Trump lies as he breathes, on matters large and trivial, often for no particular reason. It just seems to be his default position. Today, no one can believe any statement that begins, “The White House says...” Sad!
From the upcoming elections in 2018 and 2020 we shall see how American or unAmerican our duly elected president is. As Americans we may still harbor our doubts. In the rest if the world, however, the jury has rendered its verdict: Trump is a serial liar.
The evidence comes from the president's own mouth. He boasts to cronies about his clever nendacity. This being so, why would any other world leader waste time even listening to Trump, let alone actually undertaking to conduct business with him?
1
But Trump's lying makes him as "American" as the lies told the people by Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Bush (41 and 43). Different presidents from different parties in different times, the lying is there as part of our political system and the two parties that control it for the big money that bought it. Trump is just more brazen and more clumsy at the lying game than those he succeeded.
This maniac has been a liar for all his 71 years.He has an innate antipathy to the truth be it about his education, his alleged fortune or his relationships with ex-wives or trysts.
The Congress of the United States is as much to blame, if not more so for their silence or corroboration.We are truly diminished in stature and respect from our allies since our poseur/president cannot be trusted. Probably most anger-generating is the utter hubris, the blatancy and that smirk on his face when he's daring anyone to contradict.
This man cannot enter into honest negotiations with friends, let alone a North Korea or Iran when his word isn't trustworthy. Why should anyone be foolish enough to sit across the table from someone who is purposefully out to deceive.
1
An extremely well written piece Charles, thank you.
Yes, our stable genius continues to strive for new lows. Now he is lying and admits to lying and is even proud of it.
Why would any leader of any country execute a treaty or negotiate with us?
Our government now has achieved zero credibility and lying is a trait to be admired.
Pathetic.
I remember when President Obama welcomed newly-minted Canadian Prime Minister to the White House in 2015. Photographs taken showed two men at the height of their powers, leaders and allies, embracing and vowing to strengthen the ties that bind both of our nations.
President Obama was genuinely happy for to have Mr. Trudeau as a partner after having a "Cold War" with Stephen Harper. First Lady Michelle Obama and her opposite, Canada's Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, became fast friends. Their visit to Washington was full of sunshine in the fall and smiles in the waning months of the year. It was all so right: presidential and diplomatic.
Donald Trump met with friends behind closed doors in Missouri when he opted to regale his audience with the tale of how stabbed Prime Minister Trudeau in the back. It would never have occurred to the "president" that he demeaned himself and the United States as well. It was conduct unbecoming of a pool hall hustler, but It's just how Trump rolls.
There was, of course, no public outcry from Capitol Hill about this appalling breach of etiquette. Rex Tillerson's head was about to drop into a basket beneath the Trump guillotine. Trumprashed Mexico's president Enrique Peña Nieto on numerous occasions, completing a dubious "difecta" of insults to leaders in this hemisphere.
He now has the rest of the world to "conquer". Like Alexander, he'll probably weep because he hasn't very much time left to shove a pie in everyone else's face. Boo and hoo.
Mr. Blow: In my opinion this is the most profound statement you have made in all of your columns.
"It is an awful fact that the most powerful man in America may also represent the worst of America. In a way, Trump is the un-American president."
I would only edit a few words. Delete "may also represent" and change to "tragically represents." Thank you for your enlightened commentary.
1
There is rather too much being written about the threat Trump poses because he is such an awful person. and not enough about why he currently enjoys a 43 per cent approval rating.
That's what shocks the rest of the world. Trump didn't come out of thin air.
Fear. Fear is the reason Donald J Chaos & Co. are in power right now. Millions are fearful that sharia law is being instituted in some of our courts. Millions are fearful that our economic standing in the world is being destroyed by globalism. Millions fear that their own government has a secret plan to break into their homes and take their precious guns. Millions fear that North Korea is going to launch a suicidal nuclear strike against the US. Millions fear that Black Americans are all basically criminals, except maybe Oprah. Millions fear that if we punish overzealous cops for shooting innocent Black Americans we will render all cops impotent. Millions are being fed a steady diet of fearful fantasy "news" by many on the right. Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones and many others just make stuff up as a result of these fears. They sell them to their fans as truths that "could be true." These people are afraid of their own shadows, why is anyone following them? Democrats need to go back to simple higher purpose positions. The Four freedoms. Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
Trump is the epiphany of what it means to be unAmerican. He’s also quite deranged and should be removed from office before he compounds the damage he has already knowingly inflicted on the Presidency and the Constitution. There is no excuse under the sun to allow him to continue unabated.
The revised title for your excellent piece should be: "Trump:: The Un-American, Un-Presidential President."
I have spent many years living overseas working with and for the USG and I can tell you the president who was least respected was Barack Obama. Trump may be a jerk but at least people understand he is looking out for America. Obama overly apologized for America and through his globalist policies transferred America's wealth to mostly Asia.
Just the fact that 40% of Americans STILL stand by every word that Trump says says little of the ability of many people to use rational, logical thought. Trump is the anti-politician; he's the TV personality who can 'drain the swamp' for them. Yet he's creating a more vile cesspool in its place, embarrassing us among our allies (and foes) in what will undoubtedly go down in US (and perhaps world) history as the most corrupt and inept presidency of all time.
I worry more about the spineless Republican enablers of this lying sociopath than I do about trump, small t, disrespect intended. What kind of elected officials would continue to defend such an unethical immoral embarrassment? Are tax cuts really worth that much to them that they sacrifice the reputation of the nation that they claim to love so much for whom one German visitor described to me as a “ a clown”. How can any self respecting teachers in this country point to this man as a role model?
This essay doesn't go far enough. We have an un-American Congress in that nearly every Republican on Capitol Hill has fully endorsed Trump. Their hypocrisy in criticizing President Obama every inch of the way for 8 years, on topics for which under Trump they remain silent, is more than stunning. It's unreal - no surprise under the current reality bending liar-in-chief.
The awful display of Republican hypocrisy we will have to endure when a sane Democratic President returns to the White House, and Republicans return to their self-righteous criticisms after giving Trump such a free pass, will be stomach-turning.
Trump is a rich white man who has imposed his will on everyone around d him for his entire life, and not only has he consistently gotten away with it, but he’s also had many enablers, admirers and supporters along the way.
As pointed out in a different column this weekend, Trump is a product and enforcer of a brutal social hierarchy, which puts men like him at the very top.
He lies in the moment because it suits his agenda - to always be the smartest and dominant person in the room. Nothing else matters to him literally, nothing else.
I am Canadian. Donald Trump is the most contemporary American President of my 70 years. Trump is the mirror I have begged Americans to look into in my more than a decade of comments.
There are 326 million Americans and there is no one American, it strength is its diversity yet those who yell the loudest about their patriotism are the ones who yell most vociferously want to destroy its greatest strength.
America ended with Reagan who was the most unAmerican President. Reagan ended the American struggle to claim the future and to most intently claim an imaginary past. Reagan emerged in the McCarthy era when America was about exceptionalism. American was about working together form a perfect union and Reagan brought in a cult of personality and putting profit above integrity. Reagan betrayed his own union members and sold cigarettes even as he didn't smoke and portrayed integrity beyond reproach.
Donald Trump is the end of Reagan's 70 year legacy. He is "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing."
Trump is the portrait of Dorian Gray finally removed from the closet and showing the ugliness of greed despoiling the globe.
America is a beautiful country filled with beautiful people who like people throughout human history preferred myth and legend to truth. Trump is the character in Aesop's fables who killed the goose that laid the golden eggs.
If America survives Donald Trump it will be because he gives America reason to confront the truth.
2
Alexis de Tocqueville noted in 1835 that “the greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”
Can we survive Trump's attacks on democracy?
He's attacked judges, freedom of the media, is against diversity and has racist views on immigration.
His continued attacks on intelligence agencies & justice department staffers are Banana Republic despotic. He has no respect for our institutions.
He is literally trying to turn the country against the FBI.
Trump's obsession with, and hatred toward Barack Obama is one of the most un-American outrages I have ever witnessed in my life.
1
As bad as DT is, he hasn‘t started a war or instigated waterboarding. But he has a few years to go.
“Our relationship with our allies around the world depends on some degree of mutual trust and respect.”
Not happening as long as 45 is “President”.
No one can trust anything our Liar-in-Chief says. Not our allies. Not Americans. No one.
The other countries "liked" Obama because he gave America away. No magic in that.
Trump is destroying America; around the World and at home. GOP is now part of Trump cult and will not oppose him. Protect Mueller; vote out GOP; impeach Trump after mid terms. Ray Sipe
Billy Bush on Maher Friday said it all, ““He’s been saying No. 1 forever. Finally I had enough,” Bush explained, noting how he would frequently interview Trump on-camera for NBC. “I said, Wait a minute, Donald, you haven’t been No. 1 in five or four years, not in any category, not in any demo. He goes, Well, did you see last Thursday? Last Thursday, 18-49, last five minutes! And I’m like, No, I don’t know that stat. He’s like, I told you. And later, when the camera are off, he says, Billy, look, you just tell them and they believe it. That’s it. They just do. Ah, okay. And from that point forward Access Hollywood was always number one, even if we were actually number two.”
Sorry Charles Blow. There is nothing Un-American about Trump. Trump is as American as the apple pie. The Donald is a star player in the 4-year ritual of election madness. Democracy American Style is a rotten political system. Donald Trump is the legitimate winner under its play rules.
Americans are so brainwashed about their Exceptionalism. The so-called "Democracy" is fraught with corruption, unequal playing field, waste of money and energy, blind ambitions, incompetence, moral decrepitude, conflicting interests, partisan bickering, and government paralysis. As such, the ideology called "Democracy" is nothing but another "Opinion". But opinion is no match against facts and evidences. Donald Trump is evidence Exhibit A for the obvious sickness of this thing called Democracy. The wisdom of the founding-fathers are overrated. The whole old system, including the ridiculous Electoral College and 2nd Amendment, should be taken down piece by piece, overhauled and rebuilt. Impossible? Yes.
1
I can only hope Trump represents the worst. I can't conceive of anyone who could be worse (in this country, as it is now). I've struggled to coin the best moniker: appalling, horrific, grotesque, repulsive, repugnant, reprehensible... I'm not sure one word can cover it.
The world knows a charlatan when they see one, even if many Americans don’t.
The biggest deficit that the US has is none other than President Dotard.
This is the persona of the President. He has been extremely successful in using this technique to swindle a tragically large percentage of American voters. People who themselves do not lie without feeling a negative impulse.
The cringingly painful after affects are that we as a people will become slowly more tolerant to accepting lying as normal and even worse, more willing to accept the lie to the truth.
In the world of reality TV, which is more pitted on the notion of looking good on camera an sounding sincere, lying is a means to an end. Unfortunately, the "end" is less about "truth, justice and the American way" but more about personal "victory". And here, ratings best determine what "victory" really feels like.
There are long lasting impacts the more that this saga runs. We will see the impact for many years to come. The ungluing of a nation so to say. There was a time when next to astronaut and fireman, being President of the United States of America was among the "top-ten" childhood dream jobs. How long do we let this infection of lies to fester before it becomes the childhood dream of children that love to tell lies and untruths.
Mr. Blow blows all of horns when he presents the latest in international "lying" from Trump. But that is how he is wired. It is his DNA. His comfort in doing this is the ultimate problem.
1
I'll go you one better, Charles. Trump is more than merely the un-American president; he is the inhuman president. The man possesses not a nano-gram of humanity, humility or honor.
Any sense of fairness eludes him. Only when he wins is a contest fair. The playing field must always tilt in his favor.
Trump is our Caligula and our Nero combined. The Roman Empire lasted over 500 years, centuries beyond the deaths of both these tyrants. America, unless it rids itself of this autoimmune disaster, will not last half that time.
I agree that Trump is pathological liar and will no doubt go down as the worst president in American history. However, although he lied about our trade deficit with Canada, it doesn't mean we don't have a problem. Our surplus in services is driven by intellectual property rights. This doesn't mean a thing to people who have lost their jobs due to foreign competition and not all these jobs are in dying industries such as coal. This may balance out in dollars our deficit in goods, but it doesn't do anything to balance out the loss of jobs in manufacturing. This is an issue Democrats need to deal with.
1
Vote November 6th.
For those that don't , don't complain.
Democrats. It's high time to vote in the mid term elections.
If not now , then when?
Wishful thinking about impeachment notwithstanding, Donald Trump will be our President for the remainder of his 4 year term. Mr. Blow and every other NY Times columnist is urged to focus on upcoming Democrats at local, state, and national levels. With hard work and a good turn out Democrats can take back the Senate and House. Only then will there be a counter balance to the power Trump has a President.
It is well past time that whenever the NY Times quotes the President, they refer to him as pathological liar Donald Trump. This will remind readers that anything Trump says should not be taken as having any relationship to reality.
The other day, pathological liar Donald Trump said, "We have a trade deficit with Canada."
This would be objective reporting of what occurred the other day.
1
So many nails in the coffin of my utter revulsion. This is just another one.
All of what Trump is doing and saying speaks to the glaring need to truly understand a candidate’s background, worldview, and mental state prior to voting. 26% of the eligible electorate put this vile ignorant narcissist in power and now we’re all living the nightmare. Those who care about true integrity wait to see if our nation can weather this Storm and produce statesmen able to guide the ship of state back on a course that again inspires the nation and the world. In a world that is increasingly muscled by rising nationalist authoritarians, we need a principled leader who will stand up for real democracy. For the sake of this country, we need to know exactly what Mueller knows. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Trump’s campaign to discredit Mueller will become intense. I can’t wait for this entire disgusting cabal to be gone.
1
After hearing Hillary Clinton’s comments in India which demeaned all who chose not to vote for her I believe President Trump is the lesser of two evils.
She would’ve been a deplorable President.
2
After traveling to Mexico recently, I can say that our friends to the south understand that Americans are, on the whole, honorable and good people, but that our President and many of his supporters are loco, and that they can see the forest for the trees.
Ah, Charles. You just don't get it. Winning is everything. Whether you are lying to the prime minister of Canada, a business competitor, a bank from which you seek a loan, or the suckers buying a Trump University course, it's all the same. The base doesn't care what norms are ignored, what facts are distorted, who gets hurt , or whether the guy at the top is humiliating anyone, including his own wife. All they care about is what is on the right side of the equal sign for them. So they are just as much to blame for debasing the presidency as Trump is.
Spanish speakers have a term for "having no shame" : sin vergüenza. Such people do not belong in polite society.
" In a way, Trump is the un-American president."
Not in A way, in EVERY way.
1
Trump should be in jail. He is the perfect case of why “checks and balances” are necessary.
1
President Trump is an American original in the mold of the “robber barons” of the late 19th century. He is ruthless and unscrupulous but he succeeds at everything he sets his mind to.
It is only modern history that has not seen the likes of Trump. His kind were commonplace among leaders of the dark ages. Ignorance brings suffering and most of Trump's cult know this and desire it. His supporters are a specific type within the death cults. His supporters hope to make it to heaven by suffering in this world. They believe we should all desire the same. To them life is cheap because heaven awaits us. All cruelty is forgiven for those who believe in Jesus, or whatever other delusion the cults may offer as a remedy for the inevitability of life, which is death.
In reality, the cult followers are weak and fearful. They are mentally incapable of facing the reality of their own mortality. They disgusts me with their whiny little squirming, and their penchant for authoritarian dictators. They long for the dark ages when madness reigned and the magic powers of God were our truths. That is why the religious love Trump. He is bringing about the times when magic is real again, where truth is what you want to believe.
If only the women in the U.S. had voted the way they really wanted to. Instead they voted the way their husbands, sons, or bosses wanted them to vote.
Sigh.
Are there any stairs around here I can go fall down?
2
We knew he was a liar, and the collective WE elected him anyway. In this respect, the US has shown itself to the rest of the world that we are indeed an unreliable partner.
More than un-American, a blot on humanity.
1
It must be difficult to negotiate deals with adults when you are already known to be ignorant, a liar and someone who will not honor the terms of any agreement. The point is not just that he is unfit, but rather than he is incapable ... to discharge the duties of the President of the United States. How can he represent the country when he is so delighted in his own untrustworthiness?
"When caught in the lie, Trump did what Trump does: Repeats the lie, louder, stronger, and more stridently."
Per FIX News howling baboons, this is exactly part of a too much-winning strategy.
The deplorable base love it!
1
The only image trump is and has ever been concerned about is his trump brand. When he leaves the WH regardless of how and why he will go right back to selling his gaudy image and there will be people lined up to partake. It is our nation that will be left to pick up the pieces, dust ourselves off and to start all over again rebuilding trust and friendships with former allies.
To our many friends in Canada, the majority of Americans are deeply embarrassed by this crass vulgar man, we value Canadians as neighbors and friends and trading partners. We apologize for those Americans who put trump into office, unfortunately we cannot do anything about stupid.
1
Often, trump will 'lie' because he is concealing his ignorance with a claim which he believes he can sell to his profit....he is the quintessential con man. Consider yourself conned, America.
From the git go he has been such: the worst human being ever to sit in the White House. And he will continue to be because of his host-parasite relationship with the GOP. We have arrived at the crossroad to disaster. Which fork we take may determine the fate of our progeny. Good luck on this coin flip.
Hey, all you Trump people out there! Does the following bunch of words make sense to you?
"P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn't like saying that Canada has a surplus vs. the U.S. (negotiating), but they do ... they almost all do ... and that's how I know."
Really, can you parse that? Can you explain it in your own words? (Calm down, I'm not asking you to write anything.)
If you can't quite get that one, maybe you could just tell us what you think this means: "I said, 'Wrong, Justin, you do.' I didn't even know ... I had no idea. I just said, 'You're wrong.'" Or maybe not.
Poor, poor Trump people.
1
I guess we can only conclude that Trump is a clear reflection of the absolute disgustingness of millions of Americans. Who knew?
I would like to see past GOP leaders: former presidents and guys like George Schultz, Bob Dole etc. get together and condemn this trump sicko of a president, and take down the current GOP leadership for aiding, abetting and benefiting from this insanity. Show some patriotism folks. This is a disaster.
Despite any semblance of "character" or "integrity," the real truth why "Trump is the un-American president" is not that he's a compulsive liar, but that he is, as Hillary Clinton claimed, "Putin's puppet" and has and is committing treason. Trump has yet to say a bad word about Putin, has tried repeatedly to undermine and revoke sanctions imposed on Russia, has refused to acknowledge the unanimous opinion of our intelligence community that Russia meddled in our election to help him, has not acted to protect us from Russia's continuing cyber attacks, and has just fired his Secretary of State after he strongly condemned Russia intervention in the West. This is "un-American" well beyond "debauched character;" it is something the nation has not seen since Benedict Arnold plotted with the British to kidnap Gen. George Washington.
The worst damage done to the USA is the fact that we HAVE elected someone like Trump, who changes established policies on a whim, lacks mental curiosity for the truth, and lies without shame. Our worst potential has been confirmed to many who have had this opinion of the USA, and now to others who previously had respect for the USA. Trump is not a good human being and he now represents this overwhelmingly to the world; the face of the USA has become Trump.
I consider the US and Russia to be literally “at war.” (The need for a congressional and or presidential pronouncement in the age of cyberwarfare should be null and void. By example, if the Russians lobbed an atomic bomb at us—that would arrive in minutes—do you think such an “official” pronouncement of war would, or should be necessary. Further, I have no doubt whatsoever (i.e., ZERO) that at least Kushner, Don Jr., Manafort, Flynn did not “collude,” but *rather* “criminally conspired” with the Russians to abrogate our election laws and as much as possible to steal the presidential election. (We don’t yet have direct paper or testimonial documentation of this, though Mueller may have it. But, the circumstantial evidence I now consider *far* beyond overwhelming. In my view, no logical observer could deny this.) Likewise, I have zero doubt that Donald Trump knew about it all. The testimony is, at least, that Don Jr. tells him *everything.* Trump is then necessarily a legally liable accomplice in a major crime. Joe Biden literally said when confronted with what was known in the transition, “if this is what it looks like, it’s Treason.” My view is that, by now, with all our new findings, it’s *exactly* what it looks like. And, considering we *are* at war, treason deserves a death penalty.
Our parents are our first teachers. What do Trump's supporters tell their kids? "Say anything, lie if you have to, repeat the lie over and over and people will believe you." What does Ryan tell his kids? "We're Republicans and even though our President is a liar and a con man, Daddy has to act like he doesn't know that because the most important thing is to keep Republicans in power." Hillary, who had pneumonia and doomed herself with with the "deplorable" comment can hold her head high as a model for her kids and grandkids. At least she told the truth.
The people voted him in. And, let the people reap what they sowed.
The biggest lie that Trump has ever told is that he is a successful businessman. Nothing could be further from the truth. He is a successful thief and con man, but not a successful businessman. Every business (besides his current branding business) he has ever started has gone bankrupt. Casinos? bankrupt. Airline? bankrupt. Steaks and vodka? bankrupt. Actual property development? bankrupt. University? Criminally charged felonious scam. The Apprentice? Created by Mark Burnett.
Trump is not a billionaire and he knows it, which is why he won't release his taxes. His father *was* a successful businessman. Trump took close to 200 million dollars from his father and even then had to steal from banks and working class contractors to balance his crooked books.
The fact that Trump has lied and conned his way to the Presidency is quite astounding, but it says more about his abilities as a con man than it does his abilities as a businessman.
As always, BRAVO!!
Please! I don't want to ever hear again that the United States is the leader of the Free World, while Trump is President!
Everything mr. Blow writes is true.
However, this is not new! The line "Create your own reality; populate it with “facts” of your own creation; use lying as a tactic; remember that strict adherence to truth is a moral barrier and morality is a burden." was equally applicable to R Reagan and Bush the Lesser, as to this current monstrosity.
By accepting 'welfare queen' & 'ketchup is a vegetable' and 'Iraq has nuclear arsenal & was behind 9.11', we set ourselves up for the current POTUS.
The fact that Trump is apparently incapable of distinguishing fact from lie, or, is inclined to lie whenever it serves his purpose, is understandable: he's a narcissist and thug, poorly read and pathologically self-centered.
But what of Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnel and the other Republicans who have set this charlatan loose on the American people, and let him run amok day after day, trampling values and allies in a rush to be first at the buffet?
They have no such excuse. Their choice is deliberate, calculated, cynical - and given the President's present trajectory, flaunting the Constitution with impunity, careening into treasonous territory.
Enough with bemoaning an alcoholic is driving the school bus - it's time to do something about the folks who know it, and daily hand him the keys.
228
They behave that way because they view party power as more valuable than the good of the country. They have sold their sole and integrity to a con man who lies every time he speaks.
So, whatever happened to Ryan's and McConnel's pledge to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic"?
1
Yes, vote them out!!!
"In a way, Trump is the un-American president"....That's right he might be Putin's water-boy reveling in Putin's goal of destroying us.
1
Nice try to further disrespect the President. Un American I am sure to fringe groups, anti-white, and entitlement folks. Very American to hard working, responsible and intelligent Americans. Is this MAD magazine or the NYT?
1
No surprise to see here. Move along.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/welcome-to-the-post-truth-presid...
The Great Negotiator does not negotiate. He only accept win/lose deals where he wins, only. Pathological? A congenital liar? Many labels apply.
So, he is destroying any possible way anyone can trust the US, that goes for citizens of all countries including the US. His followers, and congress, are complicit in this dangerous charade. And, it is possible that his followers are just like him: Mean, petty, stoopid, racist, and deliberately uninformed.
God bless the young who are standing up to these white, robotic, dogmatic, congressmen, and Trump as well.
2
Retired four star General Barry R McCaffrey have said trump is serious threat to US national security” . There arn`t that many four star generals around. Of course General Kelly sadly have become trump`s mouthpiece.
This is a sad day in America !
Nail on the head.
Thank's Charles.
2
Another way Trump is an un-American president -- His nauseating fealty to Vladimir Putin and all things Russian.
2
"It bears repeating that Donald Trump is a pathological, unrepentant liar. We must state this truth for as long as he revels in untruth." Proud that the NY Times explicitly called Donald Trump a pathological liar.
3
Hillary Clinton spoke the truth — Trump and his followers ARE a basket of deplorables.
6
It is simply that Mr Trump is stupid. He genuinely does not understand the trade figures. His bullying nature turns to bravado, most of which is lying.
Mr Blow's points are otherwise well made. America is diminished around the world by this President, who is dangerous not only for lying.
1
How can the President insult one of our closest allies and then ravel in his "accomplishment"? Do you need to graduate from Kindergarten to realize this is very stupid? We include in this all his astute "advisors" and the ever silent Congress who together can't recognize the stupidity and danger?
2
Not just un-American, but a traitor who belongs in jail.
3
It's time to invoke the 25th amendment and remove this mental defective from office. America's credibility and honor are at stake.
1
If, but only if, you believe that the world is entirely populated by liars, thieves, cheats and scoundrels, the idea that success consists in being a better liar, thief, cheat and scoundrel than anybody else makes perfect sense, especially if you have no conscience at all. ( The totally unexpected discovery of consciences in themselves was the downfall of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. ) And yet, what a miserable way to live, believing all individuals to be your enemies, and all countries to be your country's enemies ! Surely no recipe for happiness.
1
Our demented, brain damaged prez is no longer living in reality. His reality is simply what he wants it to be, regardless of whether it is true or not. When he has his final, total break with reality, it will not be a pretty sight to behold.
Trump has claimed the mantle of Liar in Chief and unabashed leader of the despicables--AKA Republicans.
1
Trump is a mobster. No more to say.
3
This editorials from Charles Blow have lost all meaning or significance. Every NYT reader can predict each future column from Mrt. Blow until the end of the Trump presidency.
1
Thank you for an accurate and excellent column to which I would add that Donald Trump is a sociopathic cult leader and his supporters are deluded cult members behaving as any cult members behave. Nothing at all that he Tweets or does will alter their opinion of him. Every member of his administration along with the spineless GOP leaders on Capitol Hill and elsewhere are smarmy sycophants and venal power hungry hollow men and women who have put party and personal interests ahead of their country. All of them are as un-American as Trump himself is, and all are amoral and without integrity. How will we ever recover from this infection is the question.
1
And Hillary Rhodham Clinton would have been better? Give me a break! Anerica is in need of leadership but Trump is the least evil of the choices.
1
Where is your excuse?? lol. Yes, Mrs. Clinton would be better. Trump is laughably unqualified.
1
The point I just can't follow is trump's supporters cackle with glee when he reports he's lied to Trudeau (but it can be anyone). They stand and cheer like they've been let in on an inside joke, "the Prez just told a whopper and the rube bought it, he done good. MAGA!".
I don't understand how they can't see through his shill, and where Justin (and the rest of the free world) recognizes and addresses his lies with a sign and a shake of the head at the fool in the WH, knowing and expressing that "No, Donnie, what you say isn't true", his followers can't see the obvious, that he's lying to them as well, just as blatantly and making them the "Simps" in his 3-card Monty game.
1
Trump is not only "un American", he is un civilized. He is like a barbarian, who has no knowledge of truth because he has a non reading and incurious brain, that simply reacts without thought to his own impulses, which are greedy and selfish. Thomas Hobbes called this kind of life in 1651, "solitary, nasty, brutish and short". The bold and sassy attitude displayed this past weekend, is who he is and it ain't pretty. Policies formed based on poor impulse control are even more dangerous, then at least pretending to be informed and allowing others more informed to do the bidding. He is now just reacting, unfettered from anyone's truth and unrepentant of any illegalities. Some may think this brave, as Trump fans are said to do. I think it is just plain stupid. As Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is, as stupid does". HE was never properly vetted to be a viable candidate. The Republican Party never should have allowed him to even be a candidate. The Russian campaign donations through the NRA and Mercers donations to Cambridge Analytica to use and abuse the use of Facebook data got him elected illegally and it is time for the good Congress folk to call him into account before he destroys any credibility our democracy still has or our independent branches of government can muster against this out-of-control executor who can be the ruin of us all.
1
And yet one more column by Mr. Blow, speaking the absolute truth. We know that Trump is a disgusting, mentally unfit man who should have never been let near the White House. Half of us knew that before the election.
But we need not lose sight of this fact - he is where he is because he continues to have the rock solid support of some forty percent of Americans. He knows it and they know it. And as long as he's in office, they'll never leave his side. There is no depth to which he may fall in his conduct or behavior that would persuade them to leave him. None.
And why would they continue to support such a man? Because he is a reflection of who they are -- bigoted, ignorant, xenophobic people who want to lay blame on everyone else but themselves for their own problems.
So what we really need to see are columns calling out Trump voters, because without them, Trump would not be where he is, more than one year on. Congress would have started impeachment proceedings had his poll numbers started to tank. It's time to take the gloves off when talking about Trump voters. They are the worst among us. They are bigoted, willfully ignorant people who have no problem with trashing our country or its international standing. They're proud of Trump's worst traits -- their traits, too. And some fifteen months on in this disaster of a presidency, it is clear that they will never change. They need to be called out for the damage they've done to this country - every single one of them.
8
Damaged, indeed—and desperate to replace it with the Trump Org brand-ludicrous, terrible toddler with a lifetime of zero self discipline, just keeps screaming & throwing his food from his high chair: the White House, shame on the Congress for letting this manbaby carry on-way beyond embarrassing.
1
It is abundantly clear that Despicable Donald AKA David Denison is more than Un American.
1. He is a traitor
2. He is a perpetrator of serial infidelity infidel
3. He is a liar.
4. He is a coward.
5. He is a bully.
6. He is a criminal and a leader of a criminal enterprise.
7. He is a sexual predator and an abuser of women.
8. He is a racist.
There is no doubt that he is a psychopath, a narcissistic ego maniac who is devoid of any ethical fiber. He has broken in his own life every core value good people hold dear and he is engaged in a campaign of splitting America apart by the seams. Everyone who has a fundamental sense of right and wrong knows this to be true. Look at his treatment of Sessions, Tillerson, and McCabe and now Mueller. He manipulates media to pretend he is the victim of some "bias" in order to discredit investigations. Yet his sycophants and collaborators like Ryan, Nunes, Mc Connell et al continue to allow him to destroy the basic checks and balances that are meant to hold criminals like him in check.
Mark my words he will fire Rosenstein and whomever else he must to fire Mueller. Will Lindsey Graham and the other castrated Republican co-conspirators do what the Republican heroes of Watergate did and vote a bill of Impeachment? I hope and pray they find the moral fiber to stop Terrible Trump the Tyrant from turning the US into a Russian Oligarchy as he plans to with his best buddy Vladimir. God Save the US.
R Neborsky LCDR MC, Ret
2
Actually, Charles, Trump reflects the dark, ignorant, self-serving underbelly of America - the immoral hypocrites who loudly claim their enormous virtuosity but actually lie, cheat and seek nothing more than gratuitous power over the lives of others. From the so-called Conservatives and evangelicals who espouse their moral superiority over the so-called liberals and elite to the Republicans who support and condone the intrusion of an enemy state in the election of an abhorrent, amoral, racist, demagogue as president. This is the dark underbelly that for 20 years we, our Nation, thought we had overcome only to find that it still exists, in the uneducated, in the disenfranchised, on Main St and on Wall Street, in a Party, and in a man that represents the worst of America . This isn’t the America our fathers and sons fought for or died for on the battlefields of Europe or the streets of Selma. Trump and today’s Republican Party is a cancerous tumor that must be removed before it kills the American Experiment. To remove this cancer, Americans must use the scalpel of their individual vote. Every vote against Republicans in November is one vote toward the impeachment (or resignation) of Trump and the end (hopefully a generation or longer) of a national nightmare.
2
De ja vu... A year ago I wrote this in my chapter for "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump": "Other-Blamers (sociopaths/narcissists) and abusers lie so frequently partners often do not know what to believe. How can a relationship of any kind withstand the betrayal of a constant barrage of deception, excuses, and denials? Humans have a survival-oriented need for trust in relationships: “Can I really count on you when it matters? Do you have my back?” With repeated lies, interpersonal partners (and national allies) will learn the answer is “no.”
This is exactly what is causing distress for many Americans since Trump’s election. They sense, correctly, that he will impulsively betray us to achieve his aims, even if it is not in the best interest of the country."
And: "Just as the trauma of witnessing domestic violence damages children, we have an emotionally immature president affecting the future of our nation regarding moral behavior, cultural stability, and psychological wellness."
We must continue to resist against this deeply disturbed sociopathic person in the White House and his band of enabling followers in the GOP who take glee in violating social and moral norms, destroying our country, destroying our relationships with allies, and debasing every basic human moral code.
If you are not disgusted by Trump's words and behavior, then your moral compass needs readjusting.
1
Mr. Blow, you all in the press spent not years, but decades hyperbolizing everything. Yes, Trump is a liar. According to MSM, so are all other politicians, a false equivalence that allows the majority of Americans to pretty much dismiss the brazenness of this president. We are stuck with not only a huckster and sloganeer, therefore, but a complicit press that still hyperbolizes while denying any role in this insanity. Sorry if I laugh at rather than take you seriously anymore.
3
Trump is a vile man, a moral degenerate and a pathological liar, but let's not lay this entirely, or even mostly, at his feet. He has enablers in Congress, he has a stable of talking heads and he has his supporters, tens of millions of them. Most importantly, he has a propaganda apparatus that has been spreading anti-liberalism for decades, long before Trump became the leading racist conspiracy theorist (birtherism), which was his ticket to the top tier of Republican politics. The anti-liberal propaganda apparatus (e.g., Fox News) is the crux of the problem. Without it, the Republican party would be a weak force in American politics.
3
Trump is a sociopath. The "thrill of the lie" is a form of pitiful dominance for Trump's fragile creampuff ego that he must recreate every single day of his life. He needs to be thrown out.
3
Well, Charles, you are just no fun.
C'mon, chill out. Play some golf, get half in the bag, tell some off-color jokes that make mincemeat of your enemies, real or imagined. Talk about and ogle some good-looking MILFs at the country club. This is America, where anything goes. Let it all hang out. You only live once.
In life, ya just gotta keep attacking your accusers, the poor schlubs that dare to challenge you. Most of them will fold like tents; and many of your supporters will love and defend you forever. It's all about attitude. Ya gotta act like a winner to be a winner. Here, follow me and watch how it's done; I should charge for this service.
Your old pal,
The Donald
P.S. Now, let's rewrite this column and see it from my point-of-view. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, if you know where I'm coming from. Enjoy a drink while you're doing it. Later, dog.
Mr. Blow, just a reminder from someone who shares your concerns about Donald Trump that you've written about nothing else for months and there are other subjects out there that merit attention.
3
Why don't you recommend some of the subjects that you are referring to. Perhaps he will write about them.
Trump is a traitor to democracy itself as are his enablers in the Congress.
1
Blow apparently is blind to his own political partisanship which distorts his views of reality.
When he declared his commitment to Trump resistance and daily attacks on the legitimacy of the duly elected President of the United States does he believe that he was "burnishing the image of America" rather than "tarnishing it"?
Behaving like an attack dog undermines the credibility of anyone including Blow.
2
Trump is a cancer that needs to be removed, but also the right seems also to care not for democracy. They shill for a narrow constituency that cares not for our nation of laws or the rights and well being of the individual.
The truth of the Conservative Movement is laid bare, there is no principle at play other than greed.
"Rather than burnishing the image of America, he is tarnishing it."
Wow, you sound like the liberals decrying the US abdicating it's position as world leader in the fight against Putin and recalling the good old days when the US led the West in the Cold War.
Let's put a pin in this, we'll get back to it in later articles.
Very well written and oh so true I'm sorry to say America, but your image is being badly tarnished by this man. Trump the boaster. The guy at the party who drinks too much and won't shut up.
Good luck.
I am so sick of talking, hearing and knowing about this racist Misogynist liar who occupies the White House now.
Can’t we just ignore him?
Stop writing about him. Find something new, more interest that will give us hope please.
1
When all the books are written and movies produced, this epic failure of a man and a president, will be obsessive discussion for decades to come. From the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations, Vietnam and Watergate, we have yet another political disaster which will continue to play out on the world stage. The difference? This time it's a tsunami that will take no prisoners. That it is due to a petulant, narcissistic psychopath residing the WH makes it all so unbelievable, and in some respects, will make The Godfather look like a bedtime story.
Charles, Charles, Charles, as usual you're absolutely right but aren't you getting tired? Everything that could be said about President Trump has been said dozens of times and let's now stop trying to understand his behavior. As long as he has the support of his base and the Trumpian (formerly Republican) party, Trump will go on being Trump. The country knew what it was getting when they elected him. So, now is the time for us to suck it up, go about our business, and wait for November 2020.
2
I miss the old days when the treasonous President colluding against America was just a plot twist on "24."
Trump is simply the epitome of the "Ugly American" squared.
1
Donald Trump is a cowardly, infantile, narcissistic lying bully who preys on the weak and brays at the strong, and who passionately believes in his ability to strong arm or shout down any opponent. His ilk have been observed and despised in every playground throughout history. The depressing question remains: Why do some 30% of our fellow citizens give him their unthinking support? They see him for what he is; they, too, hated his kind on the playground, but they loudly rally behind him. What kind of person sees this loathsome specimen as their champion?
His supporters love him because they see a kindred spirit: virulent, bragging, bullying, racist, lying, cheating - and unlike many of them, he gets away with it! So they love him more. Even if he goes away (doubtful - he's here for the long haul), his supporters aren't going away - they'll keep looking for a fuehrer. And I fear someday they'll find one (if they haven't already, McConnel/Ryan willing).
If there is any justice in the world, the word "trump" must be given a new meaning in the English language: lie (noun), or to lie (verb).
In a sentence:
"The boy was given detention for telling a trump."
Slang:
"Are you trumping me?"
I can't wait for Charles Blow's next hard hitting expose covering whether or not George Washington lied about chopping down that cherry tree.
1
Well said Mr. Blow.
Another variation on what is so obvious, and what the majority of American have said or thought over and over.
Again, the guy is a malignant sociopathic narcissist.
To put it another way- he is bonkers.
c
2
Trump is the Ugly American, personified.
3
'Trump is the un-American president'. Indeed he has changed our image, so quickly, from a country that was evolving and progressing to one that is lead by a willfully ignorant liar who is pushing us back to darker times. We now live in Un- America, in the upside down where lying is good and funny, where no one effectively stands up to the bully, where morality has become debauched and our sense of right and wrong upended. This is no longer the America our allies knew and trusted. It is no longer the America most of us knew and trusted.
A wise man said, 'elections have consequences' (President Barak Obama).
We must vote in masses so that not even Russia tinkering can impact the results. And the press must continue to drive home the realities (unrealities) of this president so we don't forget! So we can reclaim our America, our morals, our progressive path to uphold truth and continue to evolve toward a more perfect union.
3
Everyone and therefore every nation has good and bad within it. For every Adolf Eichmann there is an Oskar Schindler. For every Andrew Jackson there is an Abraham Lincoln.
Today we suffer Donald Trump, but we yet do not know who will redeem our nation’s good name. Part of the stain of Trump will not wear off or be cleaned up. He is working his poison into the very gears of democracy. His love of only himself is predicated on his belief that all light emanates from him and him alone. There are no fellow citizens in Trumplandia, only acolytes and enemies. There is no civic virtue, no service to others, only to him.
America has often failed to live up to its ideals, but at least can feel shame when those failures are pointed out. But it has always—from the declaration of its birth—identified universal human ideals even when it was not able nor ready to grasp them.
Trump sullies the very notion of an American ideal. His greatest damage is to replace the call for human dignity and respect with “greatness”. For him power is an end, not a means to something truly greater.
2
As a pundit in Ottawa said, to negotiate with the Trump Government, the Canadian Government should sent psychologists instead of diplomats
4
Hello, listening to all of these comments has honestly made me sick to my stomach. Do you realize out of the other at least 40% to 50% of people in America there would not be 1 supporter of trump in these comments? And then you have the utmost authority to say anything he does is a lie and a fallacy? Every comment on this website goes through a filter of weather or not it is right or wrong for the NY Time's image. Then you go on and on about how "little" he is don't you think you are doing the exact same thing you accuse him of doing?
Trump lives for adoration and constant validation that he is the best, the smartest, the biggest. And he has found a constituency in his base that fulfills that primal need. Ultimately everything he does and says is directed at feeding that base, and he is astute enough to realize that the harder he pokes his fingers in the eyes of tradition and convention, the more tasty the meal he provides. His brazen lies and astoundingly unpresidential behavior simply reinforce his disdain for the status quo. The more offensive and repugnant this pattern of behavior is to the "elitists" of the world, the more appealing it is to his base.
Of course this cycle of immediate gratification without regard for (or. in his case even a basic understanding of) the long term consequences of his words and actions represents the runaway train barreling toward the huge crash that most of us anticipate and fear.
Our anger and frustration is frequently misdirected toward trump - he is a seriously ill and deeply flawed human being for whom change is simply not an option. Our anger is more appropriately directed toward those in congress who not only have the power to intervene, but the sworn obligation to do so. Yet for their own personal gain, they refuse to speak out.
4
Mr. Trump is the laughing-stock all over the world. But he is a dangerous un-American man who behaves like a dictator. The American people and the rest of the world will pay a big prize until he is removed from office.
2
Trump loves to be outrageous . And he loves when people respond negatively to what he says. It almost always pays to ignore bad behavior. However Trump’s behavior is over the top.
He needs to be pulled off the stage before he does more harm. Impeachment ? Or ....????.
Please Get er done !
2
Wake up! No matter what your race, religion, income or political affiliation...WAKE UP! The future of our country is at stake...the future of our children is at stake. Donald Trump and his enablers must be stopped. We are not a nation of fools. We know the difference between right and wrong. Pray for Mueller and our nation. Protest for Congress to stand up for us. Proceed to the polls in November to elect those who will. Vote as if our children’s lives depend on it..they do. Keep The Faith America!
2
The continuous devaluing of America by Trump and the GOP will continue as demonstrated by:
management by whim,
irrational decisions,
spurious thinking,
plain awful willful and offensive language and behaviors,
ignorance as demonstrated by the twittering bumbler,
lying and incompetence,
Plus, making money from tax cuts, lobbyists, PACs, non divestment of business. Until someone, anyone in the Republican Party majority decides to stop it.
But, there is no will to do so, because the Republican Party is achieving their goals.
The Republican Party has decided that they are complicit with Trump and all his rotten values which are not American, by:
Supporting Putin's Russia and the chaos and propaganda generated there,
by neglect and omission here
Dismantling our complex and delicate trade agreements,
Neglecting our NATO treaties,
Encouraging authoritarian regimes to ignore human rights issues
Promoting racism, by gerrymandering and voter suppression, altright approva
Tolerating mysoginy as demonstrated by the liar in chiefs denial of culpability of behaviors towards many women.
Denying and disparaging scientific facts about: global warming, CO2 emissions, water and air pollution, diseases, evolution, women's health, affordable healthcare, sexuality, ( make your own list) nutrition, housing and medical needs for the poor, incarceration of minorities, torture..........
Demoralizing and disparaging, daily, FBI, our Fourth estate, any minority, Robert Mueller, the rule of law!
2
What Mr. Blow, you don’t think the export of our biggest “contribution” to the worlds citizens, “endless war”, has sullied our reputation just a tad. BTW, that “gift” seeking to force our version of democracy and capitalism on the World did not begin with Trump.
1
Worse yet is the stunning silence of the “patriots” in the Republican Party. Never Again!
2
Integrity is not in Trump's vocabulary. To him it is a tawdry, dirty word to be tossed aside and squelched. Honesty? It is an anathema to him. Why should Trump be honest to his administration, to his wife, to his followers? They look through the rose colored glasses of money and love listening to pseudo John Wayne lingo. Trump has done the will of someone who controls him. He has ruined the once grand office of the presidency and his cohorts Ryan and O'Connell have handed him the tools of greed to aid him. How can we be trusted and believed with a liar in chief?
2
"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." -- Samuel Adams (Letter to James Warren, October 24, 1780)
Where are our patriots? Are we on the road to ruin?
2
Trump is the symptom of a Republican Party that lost its bearings long ago. It started with the Tea Party and has now culminated in a presidency that should be an embarrassment to every thinking American. The good news is that Trump will take down his enablers and leave the GOP the irrelevant party it deserves to be.
3
Seriously? Un-American? I'm sorry, but I see Trump as super American. He is the living embodiment of the a great America archetype, the "Snake Oil Peddler". Trump is the choice of America's white Christians. He is the choice of the flag-waving, cross-pumping Republican Party.
The problem with Trump is that he is too American. He is the choice of an America that, in my life-time, has killed millions of poor peasants from SE Asia to the Middle East for what? To defend the kind of capitalism that made Donald Trump. America is fundamentally unfair, as every tax structure in the country is regressive in favor of the wealthy.
I could, really, go on. But, Trump is an American creation. SAD.
1
The media needs to stop saying things like “He is the most powerful man in thefree world”, “He is the leader of the most powerful country in the world”. This just feeds the man’s ego & delusions. We are no longer the most powerful country on the planet & we need o wakeup to that before Trump totally isolates us into a walled Trump estate.
1
The "Ugly American" now lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The damage being done to the office of the President will have lasting impact. Lie for the sake of lying, humiliate anyone who dares to challenge you, on any issue. As my grandmother used to say "know the difference between death and acne" would be beyond this individuals ability to comprehend.
There is no reason to believe this generation of Republicans will have the 'come to Jesus moment' of 1974 when Goldwater and Scott told Nixon 'the time has come'. God help us all.
1
This man cannot be ejected from office soon enough. His total disregard for the truth and his abuse of power, make him the most dangerous man in the world. He has no concept of service and his enablers are losing control of him. The checks and balances ABANDONED by those who are charged to implement them and as designed by our forefathers, are critical to protect our Democracy. There is no defense for his lies and total lack of ethical standards, or his cruelty toward others. He clearly revels in others conflict and suffering. He feeds off of it. He blatantly uses his power to attack others he sees as enemies threatening him personally. He is a dictator, not a leader. He runs this country based on his TV show. He is unable to see it any other way. His position and power are meant protect the Constitution and serve the people of this country, not to be used for personal gain. He cannot comprehend anything that does not provide him with personal gain. That anyone except the rich, believe that he has done anything for them in for their well being and security, is incomprehensible. I have no empathy for those his voters and who still support him. His actions are a total abandonment of our ideals and history. He will sacrifice us all for his own survival. His total lack of respect and regard of the office, the people he serves and the constitution he swore to protect, is egregious. His enablers must be held responsible for the damage he does to our nation and to the world. VOTE!
5
I'm sorry to spoil the theme but Trump is only too American. Everything he does is a reflection of real, everyday, de facto, American values (and forget the nonsense about something so abstract and narcissistic as "real" American values.)
Where were the real American values in going to war against Vietnam and bombing Cambodia? In going to war against Iraq? In Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib? In lining up against Iran and with the Saudis... in siding with Israel in its abuse of human rights and its illegal land grab? You see these de facto values everyday in every way. On the street, in reality TV audiences, in the Senate and The House. In the churches and businesses. The hypocrisy, shallowness, me-first values that mean that not only can they not see Trump is a fraud, they don't care !!
He is where he is because he is reflecting those values back at the people who hold them. Want to bet on his re-election?
Attack Trump by all means and try to bring him down but you can't do it by saying he's not reflecting American values. On the contrary, he is the logical conclusion, the embodiment of an America that has, by a large, lost its way.
3
I could not agree more. He is also poisoning our culture with his lies and generally unethical behavior. People are following his lead, and it leads nowhere positive for Americans or our future.
4
While Mr. Blow has done a credible job in describing Trump as the wretched and loathsome man he truly is, it might also be instructive to examine how similar in character was his 2016 opponent and how the left's unwillingness to call out their own contributes to the general degradation of our society.
Secretary Clinton - like Trump - has an almost otherworldly sense of entitlement; she really believed that the Presidency was owed to he. Never mind that she was under investigation by the FBI, that the early polling showed Joe Biden as a much stronger candidate and - once Trump was clearly going to be the Republican nominee - that the fate of the Republic was in real jeopardy.
Further, Hillary's obvious and now publicly-declared disdain for large swaths of working class and poor White Americans is identical in character and vileness to Trump's obvious antipathy toward everyone who is not White. Her and Bill's greedy grabbing of every dollar available from every source for the pursuit of the lavish, celebrity-filled lifestyle they've chased is also as Trumpian as it could be.
Perhaps this time around, the Democrats will offer the American voter a principled choice. Maybe someone like Conor Lamb.
1
Donald Trump is the one and only Article II President of the United States of America that we have. Thu Trump is the 'Make America Great Again' President for all Americans. Unless and until he is not. Trump being the Un-President by impeachment by the House and conviction in the Senate, resignation and death is all that matters.
Thanks to the votes of 63 million Americans in 50 separate state elections that delivered him a meaningful Electoral College majority right to occupy the Oval Office of the White House. About 58% of the white Americans including 62% of white men and 54% of white women voted for Trump knowing who he was to represent them. They are our fellow Americans.
1
Charles Blow's piece (and others) brings to mind the lyrics of the
Gil Scot-Heron song, "Winter In America":
The Constitution
A noble piece of paper
With free society
Struggled but it died in vain
And now Democracy is ragtime on the corner
Hoping for some rain
Looks like it's hoping
Hoping for some rain
And I see the robins
Perched in barren treetops
Watching last-ditch racists marching across the floor
But just like the peace sign that vanished in our dreams
Never had a chance to grow
Never had a chance to grow...
(Gil Scot-Heron, 1973)
I don't think there is a sentient being on the planet who doesn't understand just how badly damaged the American brand has become under Trump. But Trump's damage goes far beyond our borders. We just don't know yet how badly the rest of the world will be impacted by his reckless, ignorant and potentially catastrophic actions. For a man like that to have the ability to launch nuclear weapons means that the entire world is living under the Sword of Damacles. We just don't know if and when it's going to fall.
2
Trump quoted in the Wash. Post: "We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and timber."
Trump raises an important point -- There is no one right number for the "trade deficit". There are multiple trade deficits that depend on what is and is not counted as "trade".
In particular, trade deficits do not account for illegal goods and services, such as drugs and prostitution.
Blow and the media should point all that out before accusing Trump of lying.
I truly believe most of the world can hear how loudly we're protesting. And any smart and compassionate person would feel concern and amity for a populace under the thumb of a dictator-wannabee.
1
Trump's 40% base - those who claim to be fed up with lying politicians, Evangelicals and the like - don't care.
"Fly-over America" and "the deplorables" simultaneously feel slighted by the terms but vindicated by a champion for their cause. All at the expense of our dignity and integrity. Trump degrades us all. We risk become an entire country of deplorables viewed through any lense, within or without, unless Fall elections change his despicable calculus.
the demolition of the truth really began under Bush. Remember Rove's, "...we create reality now"? We got stuck in the quagmire of Iraq by not only lies, deception, and fake news, but by the egregious and sickening exploitation of 9/11 and the Bush Admin's relentless conflation of 9/11 with Iraq. Now it is TrumpCo's turn. The irony is that it is also the right wing and FOX hollering about fake news and liars all the time, when I think it's pretty safe to say that they are the most prolific purveyors of lies and fake news, and for truly dastardly ends.
1
When will we begin to write about Trump's actions of behalf of Russia as TREASON ? His efforts that we already know about to aid and abet an enemy are treasonous. Just think of what we don't know. Time to describe his actions for what they are.
I am dumbfounded as to why stations like CNN still address him as President Trump? They need to start addressing him as Mr Trump and for good reason. He does not act like a president. They are still being respectful by addressing him as Mr instead of President and secondly that will really get under his skin because it sounds like they are delegitimizing his presidency just as he delegitimizes them as fake news.
Trump the ultimate destroyer of truth is like the Beast foretold to us in Revelations let loose in our WH to defame, debase, debauch, and demolish American justice and freedom who rancorously divides us from within and isolates us from all our allies without.
His 'American' presidency to date is like a long running negative charge of energy. The only thing he does well is hate. He is not a good or decent man, and he is even worse in his mock-up of a U.S. presidency.
Trump is not only an un-American president, he is the first 'Russian' president America has even had as he fits the Putin Prototype of a leader as described in a NYT Sunday Review article I just read. He is a danger to America and the world just like the other dictators he adores and emulates in Russia, Turkey, and so on. He is shaping America to become Russia.
1
Trump & Friends continue to perpetrate a propaganda attack on Western democracies, of which this Canada trade white lie seems to be only a tiny piece. The reality is that the truth now depends on whom you ask. I'll cast my lot with the NYT but many don't know who to believe.
1
To lie is bad enough but to boast about it is unconscienable. Lying for sport, the thrill of it is a perversion. We are watching the debasement of your good country.
2
My Italian friends and neighbors are incredulous!
Yes,tourism to the USA is down and I don't blame people one bit for not wanting to visit the USA. We have a toxic situation right now.
A maniac in charge and a bunch of people running around with guns!
It is TOXIC!
2
Charles you have been principled, honest and fair in your criticism of Trump. I would still suggest that this latest episode does not make Trump “look small;” he IS small (and weak and venal). He is not “in a way” the un-American president, he is simply un-American.
1
There are lies that don't affect me and some that are significant and even costs lives .Obama drew a line in the stand about Assad's use of chemical weapons and did not follow up.That costed lives.Encouraging the rebellion against Assad and lie about American help costs lives ,plenty.Obama's lie about" if you want to keep your doctor you can"gave us Obamacare.On the campaign trail he said Jerusalem should be the Capital of Israel then he reneged.Obama also miss represented the Iran Deal that is a significant lie.The perception of the size of the crowd when Trump was sworn in makes no difference, it doesn't affect me .Obama blaming Bush for the slow rate of recovery instead of his own anti business policies is significant.Parsing the elements of our trade deficit with Canada is just your anti Trump position.The point that we need our blue color jobs back is lost on you.
14
When will Trump supporters come to understand that "blue color" jobs are not coming back? By now they should realize that Trump is not and has not done anything significant to help his supporters. Case in point, the tax "reform" that primarily benefits the richest Americans and is, by the way, so full of loop holes it's like Swiss cheese. Republicans are now madly rushing to rewrite the unbelievable mess they've made--to give Trump one "victory" is his first abysmal year.
15
"The point that we need our blue color jobs back is lost on you."
Government cannot get those jobs back. They are gone and not the Government's fault. Can't bring back buggy repair shops, nor blacksmiths either. If you support "free enterprise" then you support businesses using cheap foreign labor instead of keeping businesses in the USA.
For your information, your savior Trump himself sides for foreign labor in his hotels over hiring local people.
16
Blue collar jobs ain't coming back, especially those in manufacturing, and those that do will be performed by machines. I hope you don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. Those jobs were off-shored because it was cheaper to do so and if they come back it will be because the labor is cheaper here (cheaper is mechanized).
13
I want to suggest a strategic way to encourage and allow Mr. Trump the opportunity to calm down and begin acting like an adult and a world leader. (Whether or not he is actually capable of these skills remains to be seen.) Here it is: STOP FOLLOWING ON TWITTER. Twitter is NOT a useful tool to discuss complex national and international issues. Our President and frankly every and any effective national leader needs to be able to express complex issues and challenges with concrete, succinct, knowledgeable, accurate and non-biased and respectful responses. Twitter is an inappropriate venue. STOP FOLLOWING Mr. Trump on Twitter. Do you think Mr. Trump is up to the task? Let's see what happens if WE THE PEOPLE refuse to allow our President to behave like an off-center B grade celebrity game show host! If we all stop listening to his current, inappropriate and inaccurate Twitter babble, what happens?
1
Trump is writing us out of the world. No treaties, no ambassadors, lies and insults all around--except for the fraternity of demagogues and dictators he aspires to join.
1
The smell of mendacity is strong with this one.
1
Trudeau doesn't have a record of Trump complaining about the trade deficit. So we now have an example of Trump lying about lying. The actual people treated as fools were the crowd listening to him tell the Trudeau story.
His lying to Trudeau illustrates what I believe anyone who has made an effort to learn the art of negotiation figured out quickly; lying ultimately blows up in your face, because skilled negotiators on the other side quickly figure out you are lying and decide everything that comes out of your mouth from then on is suspect. There is only one real exception to this rule; when the other side has no leverage. This is rarely the case in international relationships, but trump has not learned this. His style of lying has worked with contractors and tradesman in his real estate empire, why would he change?
Former CIA head Brennan is absolutely right when he says that Trump will land in history's dustbin.
Yes, Trump is like trash to be thrown away. He should be cast aside and we must move forward. We must ignore him and his childish tweets. He is not worthy of the time we waste talking about his latest lie and deplorable antics. The Mueller investigation will reveal to the world his true colors. The country must put him into that historical dustbin, and not give him another thought.
We are a great democracy. Let us behave like one. Let us focus our thoughts and efforts in identifying one who can really lead us out of this abyss and make us truly great again. Somebody who is apolitical, someone who can be trusted, someone who will put her/his country first, before self and party, and above all someone who is NOT un-American. A POTUS who will uphold the dignity of the office and make us proud again.
1
Talking to Trump supporters (those who voted for him and would again), I've heard this over and over: "He's a lot better than Hillary would have been." They've bought into Trump's bullying "Crooked Hillary" nickname. As a former middle-school teacher for 32 years, I've seen this sort of support for bullies over and over. The bully is "cool". The bully is brave. The bully has guts. "If I keep my mouth shut, the bully will leave me alone."And it's these people who should be held accountable for Trump's behavior. Trump wouldn't be president today without their support.
I gather you don't like Trump.
However, trade reciprocity has been over looked for sometime. Elon Musk cristilized it best with his comment that we charge 2.5% tariff on imported Chinese cars and they charge 25% on imoprted cars from the USA. Their goal is all China by 2525.
As the rust belt was being deindustrialized by lobbying in Washington D C Members of comgress stood by and did nothing. Now we have a huge task to undue 40 years of neglect and rebuild a work force that can contribute to the world. The man for this job will not win any popularity contests.
1
Some here in this comment section relating to another fine and 'Truthful' article about the blatant 'Lier-in-Chief' are trying to point out that "Goods" are in fact the rationale behind the $25billion plus "Deficit" argument that the donald's remarks are based. The trouble with this concept is that it's just not a truth trump used.
A complete reading of this article and along with the original news story published by the NYTimes or the Washington Post tells quite a different story. The donald proudly boasted to whomever wanted to listen that he "just "made up the whole story"; right on the spot. He frankly admitted that he "had no idea what the dollar amounts were." He then expounded on this quip with, "I just made the whole thing up."
This drains the blood from the brains of honest men and women everywhere. It's sickening and hails from the days of the 'Ugly American'.
One downside of Trump's addiction to lying is that many people give zero credibility to anything he says. He has never acted as a leader, but at this point, who can listen to him and not wonder how much of what he says is pure fantasy? As always, the GOP remains inert and accepting of a mad king.
1
It will take a generation for the country to move past this horrific presidency...
2
Trump has a talent that is unique: it seems that he can't say ten words without making up twenty lies. He does it even when it is unnecessary, just to keep in practice.
A nation gets the government it deserves, and the United States as we knew it no longer exists.
If any other country in the world was experiencing the chaos, the firings, the lies or the instability that our country currently has we would be saying that a coup was taking place. Impeach!!
2
Yes, Trump has sullied the 'American Brand' by imposing his own.
And what is his brand? It is Trumphoma, not 'Trumpism" or "Trumpocracy,'
which suggest an articulate program. No, Trumphoma is a malignancy
in the body politic. And every day the Republican leadership as well as
rank and file enables this President and his Russian enabled thuggery
and corruption, the United States as we knew it is fading in a miasma
of tweets and media over-attention to diversionary scandals.
Sinclair Lewis's "President Windrip" is alive and well with Trump, one
meaning of which, in Partridge's "A Dictionary of Historical Slang," is
"to pass wind." Talk about branding.
Cure Trumphoma: vote! And remind the Republicans and DJT that everyone
is accountable so long as most of the country demands it.
3
Yet again it must be said:
The real story here is no longer about Trump, and hasn’t been for quite a while. Trump is Trump. He’s what he always has been. His behavior has always been fairly predictable and inevitable, as he devolves. It’s ugly, and will only get worse. He’s ignorant, illiterate, narcissistic, and more like a mob boss on a power trip than a solvent human being.
However, the Issue is not Trump. It’s the Congress and all other Government Leaders who took Oaths to Faithfully Serve, and to Protect The Constitution - who are either ignoring him, actively cheering him on, or who are plotting to discredit any and all who would restore Decency, Reality, Truth, and Simple Accountability. He is One. They are Many. One Trump putting Self Praise and Self Interest above Country is a Tragedy. Many who know better enabling him... is a national catastrophe like we have not seen since the Civil War.
Every Day Trump Remains Is A Bullet In The Body Of The Nation! Our national shame will only increase as long as this continues.
3
I agree with this all but the argument that one might not tell the truth to a friend when "there is no penalty for it" misses the narcissist take on friendship. Narcissists are never friends because they do in fact weigh the benefits of friendship and decide accordingly. Friends are friends despite the benefits and penalties. This man is a sociopath.
1
I agree that Mr. T is a terrible dishonest liar. I am relieved that many of Americans including Mr. Blow despise his presidency.
But I must say Mr. T represents terrible parts of Americans: hooligan-type that just gets high when they destroy or see somebody destroying respected norms.
American voters made a big mistake by putting him into the White House democratically with help from Republicans. They (as well as respectable Americans) are paying the price. However, do they, hooligans and Republicans, care? Not much, I observe.
They love Reality Shows and are addicted to hooligan like highs.
1
The sad thing is Trump does not care. At all. Ever.
6
Even before Trump was nominated, let alone elected, people in other countries I visited were asking me how Americans could stand him. They are all aware of his lack of character, including frequent lying and boasting about his lies. He remains an embarrassment to this country every day he remains in the White House.
2
Trump is a joke as a human being. He has no idea and his base has no idea. But those who he would impose tariffs on, including China, and those he would "negotiate" nuclear deals would, including N. Korea, Iran, China and Russia understand all too well. Even the relatively small but strategically important ally, Panama, understand this. You did not see its government intervene to save Trump's Hotel.
1
One of my right wing high school FB friends has been saying that Trump is president because Obama was president. In some ways that underlines your last statement "It is an awful fact that the most powerful man in America may also represent the worst of America". This is the worst of the worst's retaliation for those 8 years. My own deep down feelings is that some time in our earlier history, a slave must have put a curse on this country so profound and hate filled, that it infected our population and unless we can overcome that curse, it will destroy this country.
1
I agree with everything in this article except three words: "In a way . . ."
All American Presidents are elected to represent and serve the people. Donald Trump is only interested in serving himself. He will bully, lie and deviously manipulate to serve his interests. Repeat after me, he is NOT my President.
2
Amen! But does it matter? As another commenter noted, what scares me most is Republicans in Congress that empower his immoral lying self-serving behavior. He is a disgrace to this nation and they tolerate it because they think he will help them obtain short-term political objectives. In the meantime they ignore their oath to uphold the constitution! A resolution should pass both houses of Congress tomorrow making it clear that the Mueller investigation must continue. True Congressional leaders would then go to the White House and tell Trump he will be impeached if he fires Mueller. Too bad this won't happen!
1
I am sick of these constant rehearsals of Donald Trump's incompetence & dishonesty. Of course he's a con-artist, in politics for his own profit & gratification, completely incapable of respecting any standard or value except his own whims. BUT anyone who was surprised by his election, or who is surprised by his supporters' obstinate loyalty, simply has not been paying attention for the last 20 years. The Republican party has based itself on con-artistry, on promoting corruption, on selling-out civic values & public assets, on bribery & individual profit, for a long time now. The MSM and most Democrats either go along for the ride, or at least remain determined not to recognize what's happening. The beliefs that were widespread among Republicans during the last administration--that Obama was an America-hating, police-hating, lying, embittered extremist--were not one whit less dishonest or idiotic than Mr.Trump's daily blather, and not even President Obama stood up to them directly. A country--including Democrats & the MSM-- that can accept Fox and Breitbart and their cohorts as legitimate journalists, or the GOP as anything but very successful form of organized crime, is a country that can imagine Mr. Trump as president. We allowed this situation to happen. Stop throwing tantrums and imagine a way out.
1
very disappointed to see our great neighbor to the south treat us as pawns in order to score points with the assembled choir of sycophants in yet another ego-boosting rally. In a political landscape that has been scorched black by endless untruths, lying to a fellow head of state and then bragging about it to your fawning peons is yet another sign of a weak, immature and ineffective showman.
So while our strong and resilient but quite dependent economy tries to sort out the impact of this simpleton's mindless ramblings upon our future trade across the border, we look on in sadness and dismay to our once great friend and neighbor as it appears to be slowly imploding and eroding from within and from the highest levels. We are sad for you neighbor, and we want the best but fear the worst and what that might mean for us as well. Sad.
1
As always, thank you Mr. Blow for your work. Your sentiments are mine and many others. I pray the stench of Trump, his odious cabinet, and his corrupt and craven GOP enablers can be cleared, but the damage they are doing may be irreversible. The "American brand" such as it is, reeks like a dead fish, which rots from the head down.
2
Lies have been Trump's fuel: the bonespur lie kept him out of the military. The birther lie got him into successful politics. The tax return lie protects him from enquiry. Lies work for him at the cost of the lives and values of those who fought in his place and the minds of those who believe him. The end will come when Mueller shows that lies entrap the liar.
1
Do his supporters have a conscience or do they just hate our country as much as that person in the White House, since he has done what appears to be irreparable damage. It's so hard to believe that we have a (fake) president so vulgar.... among all his other short comings but they are too numerous to list.
Sorry, but its true that our country in disparate shape as this president has destroyed the truth and its very meaning with his constant lies to cover up his failures !
Nothing that this President does should come as a surprise. He was a known quality when he rode down that escalator to announce his candidacy. Yet many pulled the lever/punched the button for him. America, look into the mirror and search your soul.
1
The non-stop bunko from our sad, failed artist - burnishes a clock's face into my brain.
I see it approaching midnight, and the sound of the door hitting him on the way out - is all I want to hear.
1
Yup. The major problem of this guy lying is that he is the pres. If he was some shame of a salesman using 'bait and switch' or some other shady sales tactics, he would still be doing damage, just not at the current level. And if he was the loud obnoxious drunk, at the end of the bar at the local tavern, spouting nonsense, he would be of little consequence. And the latter is where I would prefer him. Have a drink, Donnie. And then keep drinking until you pass out (of our lives).
1
Note that the Trumpsters cannot deflect the obvious truths here.
2
I'm afraid the American "brand" has been declining (although not in a straight line) since well before Trump.
We can probably start with the Vietnam War, although I think the worst post-World War II decline was with George W Bush and his reaction to Sept 11: the Iraq war, the fake WMDs and especially Guantanamo and torture.
We got a bit of a respite with Obama. He was a former law professor, eloquent, knowledgeable and intelligent, and dignified. His policies were open to criticism but he upheld the dignity of the Presidential office.
What the election of Trump has done is accelerate the downward trend. He did not start it.
4
George Washington I cannot tell a lie
Donald Trump I cannot tell the truth and I don't care if what I say is true
or not.
181
Much as our country looks to its president as an exemplar or role model to follow or emulate, so do we look to (and learn from) our parents to impart standards of ethical behavior. I don't know much about the president's parents, but what I've heard -- racist coding on rent applications, for one -- gives me more than a parting glance into the president's moral background. I pity and fear for young people growing up today who look to this leader as a person possessed of integrity and principles and whose example they should follow simply because he is our president, only to find in Mr. Blow's words, that hollow place, devoid of both. My fervent hope is that wise and loving parents can direct their children's moral compass in different, more honest and humble directions until a more admirable, less disgraceful, more truthful, less bullying, more suitable, less embarrassing, and more mentally stable role model occupies the Oval Office.
2
It is rare to encounter a person with absolutely no redeaming features, who becomes uglier, in all definitions of the word, on a daily basis as Trump. He would be incapable of working as a cashier in a Dollar store, the stress of surviving on that salary and this morally corrupt ignoramous holds our date in his hands. it's beyond depressing, we live in fear.
11
Trump is America's first "Bad Deal" president. If he is impeached the new president will likely pardon him using Ford's historic pardon of Nixon as a guide. However, Trump deserves a special creative pardon exception that bans him from golfing in the U.S. and its territories just for spite. He needs a dose of his own medicine.
6
I am not a president, but I play one on TV. And at rallies. And on Twitter.
5
"Malignant Narcissist" is the clinical diagnostic personality of Trump. "Those who interact with malignant narcissists consider them jealous, petty, thin- skinned, punitive, hateful, cunning, and angry."
Trump will fire Muller he can not help it ....put money on it.
"a syndrome characterized by a narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), antisocial features, paranoid traits, and egosyntonic aggression. Other symptoms may include an absence of conscience, a psychological need for power, and a sense of importance (grandiosity)."
This of course is also the exact definition of entitled -out- of -control Wall Street.
7
I wonder how some adults, who shrug their shoulders and say all politicians lie, would feel if their own spouses, children and other relatives outright lied in their faces and then openly bragged about it to other people?
Does the president really think that he’s pulling the wool over the eyes of other world leaders? The rest of the world is not as ignorant and gullible as trump thinks they are.
What has been lost in just one year, in world regard for our country, won’t soon be regained.
oes
4
Who can believe anything the United States says or stood for while Trump is in office?
7
We REALLY need to begin understanding that Trump is not right in the head. Our exasperation of Trump stems from the assumption that he is rational and as demonstrated by all accounts thus far, he is not.
A friend recently found out that his mother has Alzheimer's. Before the family got this diagnosis, they were tearing their hair out thinking that she was lying to them about all kinds of things, big and small. But instead, it turns out, she was losing it.
Could it be that while Trump was in Russia he was kompromised by more than just prostitutes? Heaven knows that certain STDs and chemicals can result in derangement. How great for Putin (a former KGB spy) to install someone into the Oval office who is deranged. It may read like a spy novel but I wouldn't put this idea past Putin, who is willing to poison and murder point blank.
Several Republicans have whispered their sentiments about Trumps mental fitness. It is now time to go beyond just whispering it, to declare that we need to seriously look at the 25th amendment, for our country's sake. The cybersecurity of our electrical grid is at stake as much as our Constitutional democracy.
6
Trudeau has come into his own, with the election of Trump.
4
Yes, we will be continually humiliated and scorned by our allies until we are no longer held hostage to the Orange one and fellow GOP treasonous protectors.
The criminal corruption will continue as long as the people allow it by their silence.
Are they all playing from Putin’s playbook? A little over a year ago, we could recognize ourselves and be proud to be Americans.
Are we proud now to have a criminal occupying the highest office and to know that the congressional majority is somehow compromised too?
Those who travel abroad can hang their heads in shame before the citizens of other nations who now recoil from us. How long can we allow our once great country to remain a tin pot dictatorship?
4
Trump's behavior is the way a pathological narcissist behaves. He may look and sound "normal", but everything he does is explained by his disease. He doesn't care about objective truth because he is basically talking to himself, posturing to himself as he likes to appear to himself. He doesn't care what others think because the only one that matters to him is himself, as he likes to think of himself. He is inclined to paranoia because when others do not conform to his image of himself, he can only understand that as an unjustified attack against himself. How others may think and feel or act does not matter to him—everyone and everything appears to him only in reference to his monstrous ego.
5
...lest we forget the whopper that Bush and Powell served us up and the nonmaterial damage it did to the reputation of the US, the material damage it did (and continues to do) to the Middle East, and the collateral damage it's doing in Europe.
1
The sad thing is, Mr. Blow, that a large number of Trump supporters either do not care if he is lying or do not have the critical faculties to determine whether he is lying or, probably, both.
Come November 7th we will know just how large a number that is.
7
Keep in mind that this dreary episode is nothing to do with 'the Presidency' and everything to do with him. It's ALL about him.
2
You all wanted a businessman in the Oval Office. This is what a so-called businessman is like. Most organisations are sales driven. Salespeople all too often rise to the highest offices in business. Their stock in trade is the decay of truth and the control of perception in pursuit of money. They often fail to deliver. In modern American business they aren’t even responsible for delivery, that is something another department has to do. The salesperson has moved on to their next victim, all too often their greatest and most constant victim is their own company. These are the people the American public has feted and accepted being overpaid vast multiples of the salaries paid those who execute on their promises, or try to. You wanted such a person leading the country. You wanted government to follow those “principles”. You got it. This vile man is FAR from unAmerican.
6
The emperor has no clothes!
There, I've said it.
3
Mr. Blow, I agree with about 75% of your opinions overall but 100% of your comments on Trump. This is a surreal presidency; my disorientation is approaching a 9/11 level and surpassed the Nixon level (I was in high school then).
4
I agree with you about this lie, and his other lies. But I also want to recall that Trump eroded the US brand with other key partners in the intelligence realm. He gave Mossad intel to Russia (in that Oval Office meeting) and lied about it. He also gave up UK terrorism intel and lied about it. If the Mossad and MI6 cannot trust POTUS, that's mortal to the brand.
2
I have learned that children from alcoholic and dysfunction families tend to lie. They do create their own more acceptable "normal" reality and this behavior invariably continues into adulthood. I imagine that Trump's childhood was one of lack of love or affection and most likely he is the product of alcoholism and dysfunction. We have a very sick man in the Whitehouse and we are all suffering from it. The only remedy is to remove him. He is not going to get better.
6
Damage to the "American brand," whatever that's supposed to mean, is the least of Trump's offenses. How about laying off the marketing jargon?
1
And for the kids who start to pay attention to Presidents and things, they may take our fruitcake POTUS as normal, not having anything else to compare. He is not the new normal, he and his followers are the new deceivers, not caring to work together, only that they get their way all the time. Witness soulless McConnell and Ryan, Nunes and Pence, gawd that list has no end. So many "fail to launch" babies in Congress. I'm reminded of Harry Overstreet's comment in THE MATURE MIND something along the lines of "...if a person does not gain empathy and sympathy for their fellow human beings as they grow older, we will end up with 'adults' who are nothing more than big children with a lot of power. " And so here is the Trump playground for big kids. Today's young children should be protected from such contagion.
3
If Trump is creating the impression that America is a nation that prizes lies, double-dealing, promise-breaking, thoughtlessness, crass immorality and pettiness in its leaders -- it's because we do. We elected this man to be our President knowing full well exactly who and what he was. We've got to own what that choice says about who we are as a nation.
If this presidency were a marriage, we would have annulled this a long time ago.
2
Mr. Blow, when you say this, "One of Trump’s most lasting legacies will likely be the damage he’s doing to the fundamental idea that truth matters." , you couldn't be more correct. The only way to reverse the damage trump and his band of criminals has inflicted upon the American people is for Mueller to prove that trump did not win the election fairly, that in fact he was a Manchurian candidate selected by Putin to undermine our democracy, win or lose. Only when trump is convicted of treason and we recognize that he wasn't actually elected and therefore everything he's done has been sequela of his illegal taking of the office of president, can we effectively undo the damage he's done. That means every judge he's nominated will be removed, every legislative or executive action he's undertaken will be nullified. Then we can get on with restoring our good name and our place in the world.
3
A Strangelovian freak occupies the Oval Office where lies, distortions, threats and evil actions are now leitmotif's, with surprises and shocks appearing daily. Governance is revealed as farce. The Marine Corps band should begin playing "Stormy Weather," during White House soirees, a prelude to the consequences bound to come from the most craven action of all, the firing of Rosenthal and Mueller. There are hints (fears) that our leader of the free world will never leave quietly no matter any action to remove him. He would surely entertain a banana republic-style military junta.
2
What shall I say? What shall I say? Let me think? Oh, yeah; less booing, more voting.
2
Right.
Citizen - A resident who votes.
Civilian - A resident who doesn't vote.
Free speech to Citizens; otherwise go buy a latte and shut up.
So we have established beyond any reasonable doubt standard that the President is a pathological and vindictive liar. Yet he continues to hold 35-40% of the electorate and the majority of his party in thrall in fear and loathing and fealty.
One explanation is that this so many people live trapped in lies of their own, 'facts' that they hold dear and when they are called out in their own lives by spouses, co-workers, kids, they have to deal with their reality.
Trump does not. If anything lies are his rocket fuel.
He is a fantasy superhero, an Ironman whose superpower is lying and getting more powerful with each one.
2
If Congress were a normal American body this "Ugly American" would have been impeached long ago. As it is this Russia-favoring congress is a total mystery to we in the public. They have denied their vows and avoided their sworn duty to protect this nation. Indeed they seem to be partners in this betrayal of America. Benedict Arnold was child's play compared to what is now going on in Washington.
2
The Baby King is unfit for office. He is an unethical, unprincipled man. His every word and deed regarding Mr. Mueller's investigation reeks of desperation and guilt. I have faith in our rules of law and do not believe that trump will complete his term of office. We will survive trump. But what of his "base"? Those who support trump in the face of his dishonesty and vile behavior will still be poisoned by Fox Newz when the ashes are swept away. Wrong is right. Down is up. They will angrily vote against their own interests, corrupted by propaganda and fixated on the shadows that dance upon the wall of the cave.
5
For Republicans have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if it shall yield, the foreign powers shall swallow it up.
1
For too many of Trump's supporters, what they like is that he is anti-liberal.
Doesn't matter what else he does good or bad.
What is truly sad, is that the Republicans are hurting Americans and America with their tax cuts for the wealthy that is loading up the debt on our credit cards.
And at the same time, it is those "terrible" liberals and Democrats want to help them with education, job retraining, health care, unions, minimum wage, etc.
3
Indeed. The Trump set are those who are obstinate and viscerally reactive, like most two-year-olds.
Well he's surely a blessing to all former Presidents! He's even making Buchanan, Harding, Nixon, and Tyler look good! Even G.W. Bush's Iraq blunder is looking excusable! Non of them were trying to subvert the Constitution.
My goodness.
2
This is a bit absurd but I find myself defending Trump here. It could be that he was talking about the goods deficit, things like steel and coal always seem more important to Trump than services like say hospital workers. As far as the truth goes, facts and figures aside, it seems like a fair statement to say that the US is not the manufacturing juggernaut we once were. It seems like there is a legitimate debate to have as to whether or not the goods deficit is a good thing. As ridiculous as it is that he has no grasp of the specifics I think we all know the basic argument he is making
1
But he is ignoring the numbers. While coal mining jobs are trumpeted in the news (a fairly small number and will remain so), why are the job losses at Toys-R-Us and Sears not receiving attention? The American mythos of the heroic farmer / coal miner should not be allowed to overwhelm the reality that most jobs lie elsewhere, and technology will continue that trend in agriculture, mining and manufacturing.
3
"It could be that he was talking about the goods deficit ..."
Exactly. There are multiple trade deficits that depend on what is and is not counted as "trade". Indeed, illegal trade, such as in drugs and prostitution, is not accounted for in the trade deficit.
Blow and the media are so eager to accuse Trump of lying that they fail the public by not reporting on the inherent ambiguity in trade statistics.
People like him used to be called the "Ugly American" and he's making this country "Ugly America" to the rest of the world. Not that we haven't had image problems in the past but now he's pulling us out of our natural alliances and accords. I think we can restore this but we better choose wisely in 2020. I don't think Pence will make any progress if he finishes this term although I hope he tries.
3
Will this come up on Ryan's radar? Stormy Daniels didn't. What needs to occur before Paul decides this President is bad for America and that he will do something about it?
4
When trump opposes getting rid of social security and Medicare and revives TrumpCare.
1
“It is an awful fact that the most powerful man in America may also represent the worst of America.“
What we see now is a testing of traditional values of honesty, integrity, fairness, and justice across the world, not just in America. And why? Trump’s own life is one very public series of stories in which the “good guy” does not win. He gets beaten by the rich powerful guy who lies with impunity, does not pay his bills, cheats people of what they have earned, excludes and disadvantages various minorities, churns out ugly defective products that fail, pollutes our air and water, plunders our natural resources and escapes all consequences. So, as one distraught eighth grader asked when Trump was elected, why should anyone bother with being good? In such a world why not aspire to becoming a strongman yourself? Quite frighteningly, it may be that we must all suffer once again as we re-learn why humans settled on the values of honesty, integrity, fairness and justice in the first place not just in the United States but around the world. Scary times.
2
Dearest Mr. Blow,
I must finally send you this wholehearted Thank You for your courage and faithfulness in your vocation as witness and wisdom writer, especially now in our present darkness. These last months, since the worst-ever terrorist coup on American soil, have been bloody hard on all of us; but I especially pray for those of you who must constantly watch, analyze and report so that evil is exposed and opposed. You continue to do this with a clear, strong voice, speaking truth and wisdom to the very worst and to their spectrum of ignorant-unto-hatefilled followers. Your carefully wrought writings are important in the life and death struggle going on everyday in the world. Wisdom is nothing if not practical and life-enhancing.
Wisdom writings throughout human history name our severely limited, finite human condition and our need for healing and growing into greater consciousness --- a pattern I see echoed in your columns: you name the lie or the trespass and its consequences, then you carefully name reality, the truth and the healing which must be championed everyday if we are to survive and thrive.
I hope you are renewed each day and inspired to persevere in your calling. You have a large and loving Family depending on your truth-telling and serving of the Light.
God's Peace.
1
Thank you Mr. Blow for articulating what I can not.
The truth of this man that this country has elected, leaves many of us feeling ashamed, disillusioned, shocked and impotent. The blatant hypocrisy and twisting of all that we hold dear is, still, too much at times to take.
The only good is in our rising up he has spurned. I and many other women have stepped up to respond to this degradation of what and our identities as Americans of fairness, intelligence, inclusion and opportunity. The basic idea that we should take care of each other, not pit stereotype against stereotype, undermining our solidarity, but embracing our differences and working to the common good, not division but unity.
I and many other women have attended Emerge Democratic Training for Women in record numbers here in Arizona. My Emerge sisters are running for office. Dr. Hiral Tiperneni, an immigrant Emergency Room Physician in CD05 in the special election April 27 to replace Trent Franks. Joan Green is running in CD05 as the first openly LGBT candidate to replace Andy Biggs. Jen Duff will tip the balance of power to 4/7 progressive votes in Mesa, the third largest city in Arizona and known as “the most conservative city in the US”. We are on the cusp of electing progressive women Democrats here. If we can do it here we can do it everywhere. Please counter the damage done by our “president”. Support and elect the changemakers. We can take our country back. Our votes our our voice.
2
For me, this is the truth of the Trump presidency. " . . . why does the president of the United States not know whether we have a trade surplus or deficit with Canada?" Our president is terribly ignorant and doesn't care. He refuses to be briefed in depth and doesn't listen to others. And yet this is the man who will be going to North Korea, who has fired those in the State Department who could brief him on history of the Korean Peninsula because he knows better than anyone else. In this and all his undertakings, we are represented by a man who simply doesn't know anything outside the world of New York real estate--and he went bankrupt several times there.
1
Unlike Obama, Trump's untruths are usually obvious negotiating tactics. Obama's '04 speech reflected basic American values ,yet as president he did exactly the opposite,turned hard left and abandoned middle America. Deceptive indeed.
Trump is doing what he said he would do...and wild roller coaster ride aside, getting tangible results without flowery professorial platitudes,lines in sand and reset buttons.
Lane, if Trump's untruths -- better known as "lies" --- are usually obvious negotiating tactics," then how can you believe that he is going to do "what he said he would do?" Wouldn't whatever he said he would do also be one of those untruths that he's using as a negotiating tactic to confuse you and other misled folks like you?
I would love to hear how Obama turned "hard left," because frankly I didn't see it.
Trump is the personification of a society that increasingly devalues the arts and education, ethics and morality, civility and grace.
He didn't appoint himself president.
4
While 100% true I can't wrap my mind around the fact that 38 to 40 percent are still with him and he has an 80 percent APPROVAL by Republicans. This is not just about Trump, but the party in charge that has enabled and even encouraged this lack of morals.
5
Blow is spot-on again. "Overpowering" attempt is based on Trump's caring only about winning and defeating, so morality has nothing to do with his behavior. And he remains shameless. One reason why? People in that audience can be heard in the background *laughing* at that intended flippant remark. He gets rewarded by his ilk -- the sheep in "Animal Farm." Maybe he's making fun of them, too, because he sees them as so easily manipulated. But that would be too deep for his thinking--sorry! The only saving element of all of it is that Trump is such a special case of bad. (I qualify it with knowing that people around the world would also point to the voters who put him in office.) Once gone, we may be able to recover, like when a hurricane has passed. Not easy, but there are then heroes who come through it to help.
2
What I'm stunned about is the Trumpians ability to forgive this clown forever. On NPR, they intereviewed the president of the soy bean association of the U.S. He said the latest tariffs could possibly cost that industry $2 BILLION in losses. The inteviewer rightfully asked the question about whom he voted for (Trump, of course) and that a lot of farmers voted for Trump. The guy said, "Well, he's doing a lot of good things, like the tax break." My friend quipped, "Really, save $50 to lose $2 billion dollars?" Wow. This is how these people are wired and it's frankly amazing.
5
Let's not forget that there's only one reason why this horrible human being is president: Enough people either voted for him because they were suckered into thinking he would do a good job or failed to vote for his Democratic opponent because they foolishly disregarded the threat he posed to the country; and enough people in positions of influence either promoted him as a safe choice for the presidency or badmouthed Clinton as equally bad or even worse.
The endless stream of scandal and outrage that has characterized his presidency is therefore a reflection of something rotten in the character of the American public. We're bequeathed with the right to vote and speak our minds, along with greater access to information than any generation before. But instead of becoming more informed and rational, we've done the opposite, turning our brains off to believe conspiracy theories and be led astray by demagogues. What this tells me is that we've become lazy, taking the enormous rights and freedom we have for granted.
Trump may be damaging our brand, but ultimately the fault lies in ourselves.
2
A year ago, most Australians were as incredulous as anyone that the repulsive boor from reality TV, the rich "ranga", was elected President of the United States of America. Nonetheless, only the very prescient amongst us were uneasy; the rest of us held great confidence in the both the people and the meaning of America - surely, Trump was a mere hiccup in US history, the joke du jour.
However, as Trump erodes the very meaning of truth and normalcy, Aussies have long passed uneasiness, and are moving into full-blown panic. From the outside, it appears that the Trumpian era is washing away the American era. And the American era has been the stablest, most prosperous we've known.
Aussies aren't laughing anymore. I don't know anyone who is.
3