My son is reading Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
As he nears the end of this masterpiece, I told him to especially note the Duke and the King. Two ugly charlatans who prey on the ignorance and gullibility of the people of the Mississippi River towns of the 1840s.
Eventually, the people realize they've been taken, used -- and turn into a vengeful mob. They seize the Duke and the King and proceed to mete out river town justice by tar & feathering these two scoundrels.
Metaphorically, this is where Trump is headed. Kicking and screaming into well-deserved ignominy.
88
Refreshingly straight; so much so, that this column strikes a blow for contextualizing what is wrong with our better organs of information. It isn't politeness. It's the ignobility of unreasonable doubt. We know these people now, this column seems to say. Who ever expected to live so long?
19
Low oil and gas prices hurt Russia. Increase access to world markets for North American crude oil and natural gas. NYTimes, rethink your editorial opposition to pipelines and LNG export terminals.
3
'What Trump and Putin Have in Common?'... Sham Elections.
46
One more thing, if you want to launder money, get into the construction business where there are so many invoices and subsequent order changes that it can be near to impossible to track it all BUT Mr. Mueller has the people on his team that can do it!
Great article in The New Yorker where agian, follow the $$$$$
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal
29
Too many Americans just either have no concern about these facts or ignore them. We are fat, dumb and happy folks as long as our own little corner of the world allows us look the other way. Many are amused by Trump's antics because they aren't being hurt personally. The more outrageous he is and the more he infuriates you and me, the more they like it. I'm 63 years old and never thought I'd see a USA like this.
83
tom friedman is the greatest writer in all america..
he simply told us what we have to do..
america find the turkey
43
It's simple, we are doomed.
10
What do they have in common?! That’s easy. They both LOVE Putin.
13
What Trump and Putin have in common is that they are both intellectually and morally corrupt criminals. The GOP in their deliberate silence and blindness are at least as morally corrupt and certainly complicit in the debasement of democracy. They are all no better than vermin who deserve nothing beyond the rest of their life in a dark damp cell.
48
Thomas Friedman is always on target and this opinion piece is superb. It reminds me of a story our grandmother told of a young man finally jailed for stealing and lying. His mother visited him in jail one day and he asked her to come close so he could whister something in her ear. When she did, he bit part of her ear off. She screamed to him, "why did you do this?" He said, "because you should have stopped me from stealing and lying when I was a child, then I would not be in jail. Head Mr. Friedman's advice and find the turkey before it's too late.
19
Yeah, the Bedouin chief and the turkey.
1938, Munich, "Peace in our time", the same pattern occurred and there was one outcome, the most destructive war in human history. Hitler could not be appeased, he had to be stopped. Hitler acted exactly as Friedman describes the subjects of his article. There was only one way to stop Hitler's Germany once it became confident that France and Great Britain would not risk going to war and so could go to war with great confidence of victory, a desperate and long struggle. Trump and Putin are both the kinds of people who are indifferent to the harm that they do to others, and both must be handled firmly and without any hesitation to keep them from taking advantage of those unable to resist them.
35
Theodore Parker said "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." But arcs are not straight lines, and even the most superficial glance at the past reveals that history is contingent and progress without change is impossible.
Kakistocracy has supplanted democracy in the USA, and the question for Americans in November is simple: do you -- or do you not -- want to mirror your current leaders? Do you want to further entrench -- or do you want to drive out -- kakistocrats?
Come December, do you want to continue the refrain of “We didn’t elect this government, it was elected for us”? If the answer to this question is no, vote to restore and strengthen the policies and institutions that have made democratic progress possible. Your votes won’t be cast for you.
19
Here is how this went down:
Cambridge Analytica (founded by Bannon, funded by the Mercers) illegally snatched up data on 50M people from Facebook.
They used this data to identify people who could be influenced either to vote for trump or at least to stay home and not vote for Clinton
(and in the process also to vote for republicans for House and Senate, or at least to not vote for Democrats).
The trump campaign (funded by the Mercers, managed by Bannon) contracted Cambridge Analytica.
Kushner organized a digital campaign platform to use the information from Cambridge Analytica, which then passed this information on to the Russian troll factories, funded by Putin.
Contacts to Putin's trolls were made by Manafort and also via the people in Russia for whom the trumps, including Donnie Jr. and Eric, have been laundering money over the years.
The Russian trolls then targeted those US voters, in key states, and edged out a narrow win in the Electoral College for trump.
This is how trump conspired ("colluded") with the Russians to steal the the Presidency (and also the majorities in Congress, and as a result the majority at the Supreme Court).
Anything trump touches gets corrupted and dies.
55
With Putin, you could go a lot farther back with red lines, but in recent history, you could go back a bit further than the downing of the Malaysian plane: you could go back to the annexing Crimea--his most recent turkey. His camel would be the invasion of Ukraine. But we can also look at all the election hacking he's been getting away with for years. Putin has stolen many turkeys.
22
The evangelicals I read on Facebook have a tribal allegiance to Donald Trump. They seem to believe that anything they do or say that saves even one innocent unborn baby is justified.
7
Brilliant!!
11
What do you mean "when we did't respond"? Lots of "we" responded.
11
in my lifetime the greatest erosion of the norms took place under cheney/bush. yes i said cheney (first) bush (second). bush was/is merely a useful idiot. first the 2000 partisan decision by the supreme court to stop a florida recount and appoint bush president. followed up by an organized campaign of lying to get us into a war in iraq. a war that is still going on..... oh, and we can lay the blame at their doorstep for the endless war in afghanistan as well. this magnitude of dishonesty has not yet been equaled by trump..... although i am sure he'll get there if given enough time.
26
What if the turkey stealer was a turkey to begin with? #birdsofafeather
6
I am waiting for the tax return information to get leaked some how some way. Follow the $$$$ and we wlll then know everything!
13
Nice try -- too bad our current GOP has the inability to read or comprehend words like these. Please vote against every GOP candidate in the country.
25
The crux of the issue is the the default of the GOP leadership beginning in the campaign to tolerate Trump excesses. Invasive species equals rotting in the sun. Not one leader has stood consistently against the transformation of the GOP into a dying carcass. If the GOP looks in the mirror and does not like what they see, what then? Repudiate Trump or say the devil make them do it? While tempting to anoint Romney he flamed out when the need for a voice of reason was most in demand. The Trumpeteers will be a broken wing of the GOP given repudiation. Without it change more difficult to achieve. Can anyone imagine Paul Ryan saying anything in the aftermath of Trump that would not be contemptuous? Ring hollow or sound disingenuous? The GOP brand is in serious trouble.
5
It is not enough to defeat the fake conservative Republicans. Americans also need to overhaul the fake liberal Democrats:
The Democratic party whose political leaders voted in large numbers for Bush's irresponsible tax cuts and who enabled Bush's reckless folly in Iraq. The same derelict party which was too chickenhearted to really fight Republicans, even when it had Congressional majorities during the first two years of all-talk-and-no action Obama. The same spineless and deceptive Democratic establishment which lined up in unanimity behind probably the only presidential candidate who could not beat Trump. And, the same party that is too wimpy to press Trump on his tax returns, and keeps hoping for someone else to rescue them instead, the New York Times exposing the Facebook corruption, or Mueller uncovering whatever he ends up uncovering.
6
Look, these two megalomaniacs were evil long before they got away with the specific acts mentioned in this article. Each of these two rotten eggs, first and foremost, have obviously never possessed a conscience. They have never cared one bit about others or following laws, and they are a matched set when it comes to overarching egos. The biggest difference is that Putin is tons smarter than DT.
I certainly respect Friedman, but to assume these evil guys got where they are today because they were not appropriately socially sanctioned in the recent past is too simplistic. Sociopaths find it very easy their whole lives long to do the nasty deeds that enable them to succeed where others cannot.
12
I agree completely. When I lifeguarded, as a teenager, there would always be a bully at the pool. A spoiled, mischievous brat that I would spend the first few weeks of the summer putting in his/her place. Eventually, the bully would be “sanded” down to a nice average kid. All would be fine, unless either they or I went on vacation. Then it would start all over again.
Trump is a bully that has never been “sanded”. We can only control him at the polls. Please tell everyone, regardless of opinion, to vote. AND please support these brave young adults who march this weekend. We have failed them, let’s not fail to have their backs.
18
Another example of turkey stealing: Mitch McConnell stealing a Supreme Court appointment.
31
".....But this G.O.P. is not a conservative party and it is not healthy. It’s an intellectually and morally corrupt coalition that sells its soul to whoever will energize its base ....." and as it is currently constituted, the [lower case] republican party and its [lower case] president represent the greatest threat to Freedom and Democracy in our country. We are in danger.
7
This is the most serious column I have read since the man made his first political appearance and stole the turkey. I have been claiming that the problem is not the guy who steals the turkey but the voters who choose him. Your final appeal is the right one: the only way to repair the damage made by the voters is voting to correct it!
10
I really liked how the author found the perfect example of how to shape politics with a simple little story. In this article, it is possible to capture very well all the lies and corrupt actions that politicians make every day. The lies are especially during your campaign, which is when you want to earn the trust of the people. Once they have the power, they start doing all their corrupt actions.
President Trump is exhausting, and I do hope Mueller has his taxes. But let me throw this out there for thought - is Trump's Russia, Obama's Iran?
It's my only positive thought I can fathom in explaining the actions of this president.
I was a registered Republican for over 25 years. I voted for Reagan, Bush, Dole, etc. etc. I voted for Republican candidates on everything from Governor to Family Court Judge - often donating to local candidates. Well this evil being that occupies the White House has soured me so that I cannot, and will not vote for another Republican in ANY election. I have ZERO confidence in the party's ability to govern and cannot support them until Congress acts like honorable men and REALLY investigate this pernicious President who's only goal is to enrich his clan and subjugate all others!
18
Funny that you end with a quote from Mike Tyson because it's come to the point where one can actually say in all seriousness that he'd likely make a better president than the one we currently have.
10
Trump’s turkey has a long Russian bank account number that is in the billions.
6
donald's turkey was stolen by the Russian's years back and are now holding his turkey as hostage. One false, undesirable move or when Putin comes to the conclusion no need for donald the turkey will be released in the form of file cabinet full of scandalous behavior by donald while in many business trips to Russia. donald once warned is staff thereafter, about conducting themselves while in that country warning that Russian hotel are bugged. It's a good bet that donald found this out and is now comprised by Putin. donald will always find ways to appease the on who stole his turkey.
1
The Republican Party enabled and tolerated and condoned Trump when they should have renounced his candidacy during the campaign. The sexual tape, the inappropriately coarse behavior, the demagoguery, the egregious performance in the debates should have disqualified from the office of President.
But the Republican Party looked the other way and exploited his slogans for their benefit.
Trump not only has to be defeated electorally, but the Republican Party must be routed in the polls and then dismantled as the rotten corrupt entity it has become.
It needs to be replaced by a moderate Conservative party interested in formulating policies that help the average person and stop serving their donor class, the religious right, and the NRA while avoiding dealing with
the real problems of the average person.
They are demagogic and amoral phonies just like Trump.
.
8
Dear Mr. Friedman, readers don't see enough of you these days. Your elder wisdom is irreplaceable. Please "post" more.
And by the way, is anyone asking why Putin is so keen on supporting Assad? Of course, he's desperate for allies. But all the refugees forced into Europe as fanned the flames of right-wingers, stoked chaos in EU politics, figured into Brexit and bolstered Putin's stance against democracies.
7
Here's the thing that gets my back up, Tom. I believe you when you say that you've been told by "reliable" persons that Trump said, "Can you believe I got away with that?" But those persons, while they may be reliable with respect to that particular report, are not reliable citizens. How could one continue to work for a President who said such a thing? . . . How could a responsible moral actor not make everyone who matters aware of such a egregious breach of the public's trust? . . . The fact that we can only get the truth from off-the-record, spineless accounts is disgusting. It's not your fault -- but it is really discouraging.
4
Easier said than done, Tom. Voters, rightfully lack motivation in our corrupt system. Campaign reform and congressional term limits are needed now to restore power to the peeps.
Thanks though for great quote at the finish - prompted a much needed chuckle during these not so bright times.
1
Thank you, Tom. The turkey story is a good one. It raises several questions:
What is the particular relationship between the turkey phenomenon and the cult-like behavior of the Trump supporters? Trump's supporters would tolerate almost anything at all from the figure they apparently regard as some kind of a messiah.
What is the special connection between the turkey phenomenon and the many opportunists who have set aside common sense morals and ethics in order to made their deal with the devil? They avert their eyes as Trump steals turkey after turkey.
Why is it that the turkey phenomenon is so pronounced among right wing politicians but absent on the left? Is it because we have already come to expect broad dishonesty and bottomless bad faith from the Republicans?
4
There is another area in which Putin and Trump can be hurt. How about severe restrictions on their money and where they may launder it and travel. Refuse the oligarchs travel visas.
If we are going to put an end to this behavior, IF the democrats get control, THEY need to somehow KILL CITIZENS UNITED and pass legislation that gets the money out of elections. ONce the money is gone, [eople may actually return to some sanity, but the MEDIA will not be behind that move. They stand to lose a fortune.
2
Donald Trump will reveal the absolute essence of Donald Trump as president.
Or, give a man unfettered power and he turns into a tyrant.
As uncertain as the findings of Mueller Russia investigation are at this moment, perhaps its more important role is that it represents the first line of defense against a ranting tyrant in the making
It was unclear to me why a 71 year old successful businessman would want this job. The endgame is he aims to be King if the Universe. We have to stop this in its tracks
1
Trump looks at Putin and thinks he's looking in the mirror. This is who he admires and relates to most in the world. I hope somebody will be able to dissect him psychologically someday because I really want to understand how he became this person. Hurry, please, I'm not getting any younger.
2
It's been reported but not verified that Mr. Mueller already has possesion of Trump's 1040s. Is it likely that Mueller & Co. would stay silent on the bodies they've found? It's hard to imagine that Mueller would stay silent on the worst of what they have uncovered unless it all comes out in the final report showing stuff so ghastly incriminating that impeachment and removal won't be enough. Trump and his confederates in orange jumpsuits? If that's a dream come true, be prepared for the pardon shortly thereafter by President Mike Pence. Someone is already writing the screenplay.
2
You start with the tax returns? Yes, it would be good to get them but that flipflop was hardly the first instance of outrageous, never-follow-the-rules behavior that leaves all the rules-followers stunned and frozen. How about 7 years of birtherism? How about the threatening and defaming tweets and exhortations to violence, even before the primaries? And your belief that the American voters can bring about change: What has been done to prevent all the things that subverted the preferences of the voters in 2016: the hacking, gerrymandering, voter suppression - both de jure by state laws and de facto by dirty tricks during the voting period, propaganda bots churning out tweets and likes, and so on? Maybe you know something the Times has yet to report. I hope so.
4
I think tyson said, “everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face”, not the mouth, which makes more sense
Trump and Putin are eroding nothing. They are empowering people who have no morals, no ethics, and no respect for the rule of law.
The rest of us are biding our time.
2
It is chilling to read every day about the atrocities that Trump and Putin commit. What is worse is they are aided and abetted every single day by those who surround them and the voters who put them in office
While Russians have just voted to let Putin serve another six years, I am hoping that our voters will vote the Republicans out in November.
And before November I am hoping that Mueller has enough evidence against Trump and his cronies to find all of them guilty of Treason
6
Another thing Trump and Putin have in common is incredible GREED. GREED for money. Being President just facilitates the money grab. Putin uses his position to become the richest man in the world. He operates just like a mafia don and thug. Nobody knows how much he has stolen and he has gotten away with it.
Trump did say during the campaign that he could be the only POTUS to make money while in office. Well he seems to be doing exactly that without one iota of pushback from anyone. Of course, Trump has more obstacles than Putin right now but he seems intent about removing those.
Both men want more money and busy themselves toward this greedy goal. At least we actually know that Trump doesn't do much else.
1
I knew this and did what I could, microscopically, to warn all those who would listen. The blame goes to the ruling class of GOP congressional leaders, sanctimonious religious people, Wall Street bankers and NRA members who remain willing to tolerate everything.
2
Mr. Friedman would do well to enter the following search string into Google: "Teddy Roosevelt's favorite insults."
We've had presidents who were pieces of work before and the world didn't come to an end.
Most of what one reads these days on opinion pages and elsewhere is little more than a display of a stunning ignorance of history.
2
I grew up in a tough neighborhood where we all understood that once you give the bully your lunch money, he owns you--until you prove to him that he doesn't. Getting your lunch money back is not sufficient. You have to make him pay for having taken it in the first place.
My father once asked, after a bully picked on me, whether I was more scared of the bully or him. Turns out I was more scared of him--so I 'confronted' the bully, and won.
The point is that you shouldn't start fights, but if someone else starts one, you have to finish it. The time has long since passed for us to give Putin the bloody nose he desperately needs. The same is true of Trump.
6
Does anyone think Donald Trump could get a security clearance?
6
I love how this article ends with such an appropriate quote from Mike Tyson.
Sock it to them Krugman. The nonsense must end. It starts with putting this President back on a reality tv show (for those who actually care to listen to him), and out of the White House.
There are really only two forces at the heart of all bad human behavior, greed and paranoia. Trump and Putin are the world’s most consummate experts at tapping into both. They are brothers in arms.
3
Friedman is right about his turkeys and he may himself be a turkey, but you ignore his turkey at your peril.
I think many Americans have been living with their heads in sand for quite some time. It seems many are not yet aware that the President after all his aberrant behavior has a sizable base that are as loyal as ever.
As so many people are repelled by Trumps authority they are blind to his support.
The story of the stolen turkey is precisely story of Trumps growing imperialist confidence that should frighten us to the core.
The future of our children is at stake and no less, I hope people will vote for their children and with that vote they will rid us of this thief.
1
Thank you tom! This 'guy' in the white House is the worst President this country has ever had. If he gets elected again in 2020 we can kiss this country goodby. I'm not over reacting either. I doubt you will ever see the United States
of America ever return to its former greatness even with its 'warts and all'.
1
Fully agree. This is yet another case of a moral hazard. Failing to enforce standards, undermines other standards.
Can we not also learn this lesson not jailing, executives, CEOs and Boards of Directors for the crimes committed "by" the corporations they run?
2
Well said.
More scary is that the Republicans may actually get a smart version of trump into office next time.
3
Friedman: "But this G.O.P. is not a conservative party and it is not healthy."
You are so right, Tom Friedman, about the GOP: it "is not a conservative party and it is not healthy." Instead, it is the Putin-Trump Party, and the Republicans in Congress are little more than party apparatchiks.
6
Spare me the equivalent of Putin shooting down a plane (and taking Crimea) to Trump not releasing his tax returns.
And as for stopping Putin, what do you suggest Mr. Friedman? The prior administration let him run rampant on his eastern border and in the Middle East - do you suggest those experts who allowed that to happen be the source of more great ideas today?
4
As General Mc Caffery today said, it is time to stop describing Russia’s attack on the West as “meddling” or “mischief”. It is cyber warfare. Putin is carrying out the kind of hybrid warfare described in the 1999 book “Unrestricted Warfare” by China Liberation Army colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. It is time for the West as best as we can in this time of “populism” to find a leader who can rally nations to severely contain Russia and Putin. Sadly, we must forget about American leadership in-such coalition building on account of Trump. And we cannot wait until 2020. Absent Brexit I would have said the UK channeling Churchill might have risen to such a leadership role. Who among us could rise up and take up the mantel of leadership to build a Cold War 2.0 containment coalition? Is there a latter day George Kennon somewhere?
4
Can Robert Meuller subpoena Trump's tax returns? Has he? If he can and he hasn't, shouldn't he ? If he can't, how can the American insist that they now be made public?
3
What if tax payers did not pay their taxes until he turned over his tax returns?
I permanently deleted FB this week because I am not going to give Trump or Putin or tech companies help in the continuous assault on our freedoms. We need to have guts to stand up to these people and money is always the answer.
Find Trumps secret that Putin has on him and lets get this country on a higher ground.
6
In the case of Russia, they really did not have an established democratic tradition to preserve. But for the U.S. it has been a disturbing couple of years. From the tax return issue, to inappropriate harassment of political enemies, to interfering in the judicial process, to collaborating with Russia in corrupting the electoral process, etc., etc., Trump has established abuse of presidential power as the new norm. What remains to be seen is whether this is a brief, embarrassing blip for the US, or whether our democratic institutions have been permanently damaged. There are already signs that the rest of the western, democratic world is beginning to view the U.S. more as another China or Russia, rather than as their big, shining, leader.
5
Lovely writing and compelling thinking. A lifelong republican, my husband resisted 46 years of my articulate and compellingly supported arguments to change parties. The past two years of turkey thievery overwhelmed his resistance this month.
14
Those who have enabled the catastrophic unfolding of Trump's regime are like the proverbial frog in the pot of comfortable water that is slowly heated to a boil. It tolerates the incremental changes and by the time it realizes its fatal misstep it is too late.
7
FANTASTIC opinion piece!! It really does a superb job on explaining the current situation with a metaphor that most will understand.
18
There is an important difference between to fate of DT and Putin. Democracy and the constitution will put an end to DTs madness whereas Putin will forever be in the limelight. The US therefore has the ability to reform itself, which is what makes the country greater than the man.
9
The American people will not stop Trump. He has too many faithful supporters. Like most politicians, the Republicans in Congress want to be re-elected and to retain their power. They will not vote against Trump's base.
The only thing that can stop Trump is the law, in the form of the Mueller investigation, the FBI, civil servants, "the deep state."
7
Important essay, I am grateful.
21
Any parent (or lawyer) knows this is how people progress from little acts of misbehavior to larger acts of crime.
As bad, if not worse than this, though: When OTHERS see that someone who is high profile "gets away with it," the bad act is replicated throughout society. That's certainly happening in our country right now.
17
Mr Friedman, How do you propose that we work with our Allies to counter Putin? Clearly not possible while Trump is president. And even after this dark phase in American history, it will take a generation to rebuild trust with our post war Allies that have concluded that a divided American is no longer a reliable partner.
5
Not only is today’s U.S. under Trump not a reliable partner but I cannot see us as able to lead unless some “Churchill” rises among us. Unlikely.
Indeed, both Trump and Putin have been emboldened by the belief that they are invincible and can get away with impunity, no matter what they do.
What the two really have in common is the fear of being removed from office. For Putin his political survival is crucial because his office protects him from prosecution, or even death.
Trump wouldn't resign voluntarily. As a narcissist enjoying the trappings of power, he loathes an inglorious end of his tenure. But much indicates that he got elected with Putin's blessing and he is deeply indebted to Russia - morally and financially. Mueller must know more about Trump's business dealings with Russia than we do.
13
The Democrats under Obama let the country down to a lot of people because of the meager economic recovery. Wall Street was bailed out, but Main Street was left to wallow on its own. Before that, we had eight years of disaster under Bush. The fact that both parties disappointed may be why Trump was able to get elected. The Democrats seem concerned with issues like the rights of illegal immigrants, while the Republicans spew "moral values." Neither party seems tuned into the concerns of the middle class, what's left of it.
7
Mark, Obama's Jobs Bill was meant for Main Street. Do you remember what the GOP did to that Bill? It was loaded up with "poison pills" to the point where it had to be tabled, rather than give the GOP their wish list. Now, we have the GOP in power. Perhaps it should be obvious to most of us that the "wish list" has been granted, starting with a huge tax gift to the richest among us. The middle and lower classes got a small tax bump which will sunset in 2027. The big tax gift to the rich is permanent, unless an honest, probably Democratic, Congress is elected and repeals it. It is also necessary to repeal Citizens United which defines corporations as "people", rather than the financial entities they actually are. Corporations are not "people". GE doesn't live next door to you in an ordinary house with a front lawn.
7
Apparently you don't remember Republican control of both houses of Congress, blocking everything Obama. They refused to invest in our economy or our country.
6
With a Democrats at war with themselves over center-left and far-left candidates, don't expect a Republican rebuke at the elections. Democrats won't vote if their 'chosen' candidate is not running. Republican vote for anyone with a (R) by their name.
4
I think our kids are already growing up in a different world. It takes a different America to elect a base creature like this president. If he does not dismantle the democratic institutions completely and make truth obsolete, he has already set a precedent and someone after him will complete what he started.
Putin is a monster, but for Russia that's how the people like their leaders. The majority of the Russian population aren't intellectuals, but babushkas and their mostly alcoholic offspring. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, anyone who had any grey matter between their ears left Russia. They may have done business there, but they certainly do not live there. The one way that Putin and Trump are similar is that they both love power, but they go about it very differently. Trump has no clue as to what he's doing, but Putin has amassed political power and respect very methodically and in a very calculating manner. Further sanctions from the US and Europe can slow him down, but he's a persistent weasel, as for Trump, it's not him that we have to stop, we have to look in the mirror and do something about it.
8
A truly insightful and well reasoned column. I think Mr. Friedman has revealed much in his comparison of Putin and Trump. They are demagogues cut from the same cloth.
10
Putin is an experienced and very smart Tyrant. Trump is a green and very dumb Tyrant. Other than that they are two peas in a pod.
21
I think the turkey for Trump predates the tax returns. He got away with questioning Obama's birth certificate. Maybe that was his turkey. The Republican sold their souls long ago to bullies and conspiracy theorists like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and Wayne LaPierre well before Trump came on the scene. There were any number of lies and misconceptions that Republicans let their base believe because it served their ends. Trump is more of a parasitic opportunist who fit right in to the environment created by the right wing media.
The question I have is why the press let Trump get away with not showing tax returns. Just remembering how much ink was spilled over financial dealings such as Whitewater and Hilary's futures trades, and how every failure to submit every possible scrap of documentation from said transactions was seen as a huge cover up. It's time for the press to admit that they too were unacceptably susceptible to Republican manipulation and speculation on Clinton's character.
34
In Common : superannuated white males, trying to relive their glory days, spreading destruction and chaos in their wake. Megalomaniac, and entirely overconfident in their " appeal ". Just saying.
10
Who didn't know during the campaign that Donald was a stain on the Republican Party? The day he won his first primary, I thought the GOP was done for a generation.
10
Who didn’t know? Many of the 60M Republican DT voters didn’t know because they chose not to know. And most still think everything is OK with DT and the party.
3
Every once in a great while, Friedman writes a good artical. This one is great. Thank you!!
9
I was amused but admittedly also disappointed to read the many responses fighting over what was the "first" turkey. Was it when Trump refused to provide his tax returns? Was it when McConnell refused to allow a vote on Garland? Was it when Bush claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction? Was it when Clinton (a lawyer) lied under oath about not having sex with Lewinski? Was it when Clinton abused his vastly greater power to seduce a naïve intern? Was it when the Democrats first used political ideology rather than ability as criteria for rejecting a Supreme Court nominee (Bork)?
While each of these positions has some merit, I would suggest that the answer is not singularly provable and in any case is irrelevant. This entire argument reminds me of the Arab-Israeli impasse. "It's our land now." "But it was ours before you stole it." "OK, but it was ours before that." "OK, but God gave it to us."
What DOES matter is what we do going forward from here. For far too long, people in BOTH PARTIES have been unwilling to voice criticism of individuals from their political party or ideology, even for what any objective person would recognize as completely outrageous behavior. (I would suggest that each of the examples I cited at the beginning warranted such a universal response, but didn't get it.)
So, are we now finally ready to demonstrate that non-partisan courage for the good of the country or continue to criticize only those of the other party???
No, I didn't think so.
3
Bork disqualified himself for the Supreme Court when he carried out the Saturday Night Massacre for Richard Nixon. His nomination was rejected by a bipartisan majority of the Senate. Republican senators like Warner, Stafford, Specter, Chafee, Packwood, and Weicker joined Democrats.
Bork's rejection was an instance where senators acted in a bipartisan manner for the good of the country. That's exactly the kind of bipartisan courage we need now.
3
Since you mentioned the IRS, I have to bring this up: If you want to get rid of Trump, all you have to do is follow the Stormy Daniels money to its source. The real story there is tax fraud. Not campaign contribution issues, which are more gray. Why is no one talking about it? It's so obvious. It's exactly the type of sneaky move Trump would try to pull off, but only through several layers to make it hard to penetrate. My bet is that somebody characterized that $130,000 as a business expense -- if it came from a legitimate source at all. That's tax fraud, period. If the money did not come from some business or personal account, then it may have been worse than tax fraud (maybe it came from the Trump Foundation or a bunch of Qataris). It's all about where the money came from. Follow it. Please.
Seriously, does anyone think Trump would spend his own money to hush up his paramour when he could pull some shenanigans and get someone else to pay or at least get a tax break?
21
When you think about all Trump has gotten away with all his life the idea that Trump would turn down help from Putin is simply laughable. I'm sure Mueller is operating on exactly that premise.
This whole opening up a new wave of attacks directly on Mueller and backed up by Fox News is a telegraph message to all that Mueller has to be and will be fired. Trump knows what he has done and if Mueller is left to do his job he knows he is toast if he fires him there is the high likelihood Ryan and McConnell will do absolutely nothing. It will fall onto the shoulders of Americans to do exactly what Thomas is calling for throw out every Republican from the city council on up the party has to pay a price.
9
Putin has stolen every turkey in his country, and is well on his way to acquiring all the camels, etc.
Trump is trying to do the same — with the help of all the stupid, self-serving turkeys in government who have handed themselves over on silver platters.
15
A porn star, an ex bunny and an Apprentice contestant walk into a bar to talk turkey. Despite a bad comb over they know he lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. They're going to get that turkey.
11
You’re not wrong about the national Republicans.
Wish I had good reason to like and respect the national Democrats and some of the influential factions of the D base more than I do.
1
Thank you Mr. Friedman. I agree and do hope others will vote as you suggest.
3
I figure if Trump fires Mueller that there has to be at least one true American patriot that will release Trumps tax returns. In this age of nothing being secret this can't be so hard.
8
Where are all the former living Presidents? Why haven't they come out with a joint statement long ago condemning this President's action?
It's getting worse day by day.
20
Love the Mike Tyson quote at the end, best boxer ever, and I was thinking, maybe all this Trump GOP Russia Face Book mind boggling revelations are a blessing in disguise. Maybe we should thank Trump for stumbling and exposing all our American vulnerabilities. Really, thank God Trump led us to this snake pit of Russian cyber manipulations, global money laundering, corrupt banks in Cypress, Panama, Europe and Park Avenue. The depraved world of people like Manafort, presumably patriotic generals swindling the government, oh you get the idea. Thank you Mr. President, for the first time in my life my eyes have seen the glorious light.
7
Mike Tyson as best boxer ever? Sugar Ray Robinson won 93 in a row!! Back when the best athletes were not in the NBA or NFL.
I think Friedman has it backwards. The American people have been stolen from for the last 50 years through government policies that have hurt the middle class working family while giving handouts to the rest of America.
Trump, and possibly Putin in Russia, may be just the folks to stop the thievery.
The turkey got stolen when Trump started the birther movement. A legitimately elected president was subjected to a constant never ending lying racists conspiracy by Trump that the president was not born in America. And the media covered it like it was news not a ploy by Trump to test the water to see if lies sell to a portion of the population as long as it was wrapped in racism. Trump demanded proof of the president's birth place and to this day 60% of Republicans believe that this president was not born in America. It didn't matter that Trump is/was a racist liar this was an old KGB/Putin modeled to cause as much cultural division as possible. If you want the turkey back don't stop at tax returns use everything including facts - Trump is a lying racist. It should be repeated so many times that the world refers to him as LR Trump.
13
Trump`s authoritarian anti-democratic instincts are reinforced each step he takes away from humanity, each billion he gets from Russia. The kleptocrat-in-chief just follows each lie and robbery with an even bolder one towards Russian fascism begging only approval from his trainer and owner, Vladimir Putin. Americans will lose their bizarre form of democracy as kleptocracy succeeds plutocracy.
These are dangerous days as neofascism is validated.
5
You have put your finger on the big advantage Trump and Putin have on most of the rest of us-- they are willing to cross every red line, every norm of civilized behavior and public opinion while we sit in denial, thinking that we've finally hit a boundary they would not cross. There is NO such boundary! That is why we need legislation to protect Mueller, and implementation of sanctions against Putin that have real bite to them, despite Trump's unwillingness to enforce them. Putin and Trump not only can and will blow by any norms, they are addicted to doing so. And like any addict, they will chase the high, needing more outrageous transgressions to get there. Protect Mueller now, vote Democratic in November, and enforce sanctions-- the only ways to preserve what is left of our democracy.
4
The IRS has Trump's tax returns. Under the circumstances (the importance of determining the extent of Russian interference and conspiracy with the Trump campaign), I find it hard to believe that Mueller's team hasn't obtained them since that would put all power to release them in Trump. Surely, there are law enforcement exceptions to this. Be patient. Mueller has to fill in all the holes before going public.
3
Tom, any apologies on the 15th anniversary of the Iraq debacle? Anything?
4
"How did we lose our soul?"
Thanks, Mr Friedman, I needed a good laugh. If the Republicans ever had one, it was exiled long before now.
While I couldn't agree more that the GOP needs to be turned out, I'd like to suggest that Donald Trump has not "taken over" the Republican Party but rather is the apotheosis of where the GOP has been steadily moving since Ronald Reagan took office. Trump has merely removed the thin veneer of faux respectability GOP politicians have tried to hide behind.
6
Bravo Mr Friedman! This insanity has to end and before it’s too late. The Trump Crime family must face the law and the consequences for their corruption, Putin pandering and cynicism.
2
As I have been writing for years, like-minded developed economy democracies have to join together in sanctions vis a vis Putin's Russia and Xi's China.
I am not optimistic on that front. Corporate lobbies in the "West" are just too strong.
1
Brilliant. And true.
1
"this Republican Party, which Trump has taken over like an invasive species". You are right, Mr. Friedman. Even more apt perhaps is the scene in "Alien" where John Hurt leans over and the alien inside the egg bursts out and crashes through his helmet. It is taken inside the space craft where it explodes out of his belly a few scenes later and then--one by one, murders the members of that crew until Ridley--Sigourney Weaver--stands up to him. Like the Alien, Trump is infecting all aspects of our national life. Who will save us? Who will be our Ridley?
1
The first big US lie of this XXI century was delivered by W. Bush government. It was about mass destruction weapons in Irak fifteen years ago; the origin of the present mess. Trump is just the product of that stolen Turkey.
6
It started with the appointment of Scalia to the Supreme Court; the elder Bush made that appointment. Scalia rewarded him by stopping a vote count in Florida and appointing "W" to the Presidency. Scalia went on to give us the infamous Citizens United Decision which defined corporations as "people". That Decision was based on an error in an old Superior Court Decision. The transcriber heard the word corporation and transcribed that as "individual". The error was never corrected. Scalia knew it was there, and used it to re-define a financial entity as a person. That Decision needs to be repealed by Congress. Then, we can stop the buying of elections by corporations masquerading as "individuals" with legal huge amounts of money.
1
Great point, well made, but I doubt it will convince the Trump base. They are people who think more concretely, in large part, and who enjoy seeing Trump bully people whom they believe are responsible for their problems. Only when the base recognizes that Trump is also responsible for their problems and has no intention of fixing them, only when they take charge of their own lives and work to make them better, will they give up Trump and finally admit he stole their turkey, as well as their jobs, their votes and their sense of ethics.
2
Another excellent article by Friedman. Problem is, no matter how well he illuminates the issues, we just go back into our little cocoons and hope it all goes away or solves itself soon! It’s just crazy. Yes, we can show up at the polls but we need to do so much more to get people we want and need on the ballots who can’t be bought and sold on the open market. We’re seeing more women start stepping up. Are there too many men still in love with the NRA and its $$$?
1
Great Great article just spot on and I would like to add one additional thought. Register Republicans voters are around 24-26% but they vote lock step around 86% of the time. So the joke on us Democrats and Independent is if you feel that your vote doesn't count so why vote then Republicans win time after time. So get involve watch the voting booths and vote
1
When faced with the bald truth about Trump, shift the attention to Obama.
3
Trump never gets the consequences he deserves; his enablers are like the mother of the kid exonerated by “affluenza.”
I keep waiting for the first case using Trumpfluenza as a defense.
We MUST not allow these behaviors to become normalized!
2
Thanks for the wonderful article, Tom. I greatly value your important voice. We can begin to get back that turkey with the action of students, such as those at Parkland who recently spoke at a Harvard forum. They are highly intelligent, knowledgeable, articulate, persuasive, and determined. These kids and the powerful movement they've started give me hope for this year and the future.
4
Great article; one issue. American citizens aren’t exhausted, they just don’t have any power. The GOP loyalists has coopted all three branches of govt.
We’ll see what happens in November. Given where the power now lies, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
6
Bullies have been our Presidents for a long time, long before Trump moved into the White House. Notice the portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office, slave holder and chief architect of the "Indian Removal" policy. Jackson was not the first bully in power and Trump will not be the last.
It remains for the American Citizen to stand up to a bully just as the bully in the schoolyard is eventually ignored by the rest of the class.
We cannot wait for the November elections and hope that reason will prevail. We must continue to speak out against this particular bully every time he shows his true nature. We should not be gulled by his occasional seeming lapses into normalcy as that is part of his theory of control by chaos.
Speak out now as M. Freidman, Krugman, Bruni, Leonhardt, Collins and many others do. "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson.
12
This interpretation is a little simplistic. Now we're all going to spend our days trying to figure out what was the metaphorical turkey. It can't be done. What I wan't to know is what the hxll was wrong with the sons.
5
And what turkey is MBS missing?
1
We will have our turkey stuffed come November.
6
Well someone is finally waking up. The truth of 'it's the economy, stupid' has become the truth of 'it's the republican party, stupid'.
Now get busy. Spread the word.
Educate, resist, march, register to vote.
Vote the republicans out of office in November!
10
The real problem is that we have too many turkeys in in both counties. Seventy five percent of Russia voters and forty six percent of US voters.
3
Yes, parables or fables do teach something about human behavior. In this case, we are talking about a professional thief, a thief who steals for the thrill of being able to do it. With each success, they had to do better next time and aim higher and bigger. They believe that they are smarter and invincible, in reality, an addict. They no longer care about the value of the object but rather the thrill of doing it. Now, how do you stop someone like that?! Put your best blood hound on his tail and follow every scent left behind until you catches him red handed. We have a such hound, but a vulnerable one, and he is getting close. We need to make sure that it is not removed for any reason! Congress won't speak; so only voters can decide how they want to protect their hound. All the children of the Bedouin Chiefs son showed up in competent. The chief needs help. Can we do that?!
5
Where is Mueller? Mueller has to find the Turkey. Hopefully soon.
10
For the past 10 years, McConnell has been a cancer on our democracy and it has now metastasized to Trump. It's late in the game but hopefully we can marshall our country's immune system to stave off death.
14
But the GOP, most Evangelicals, AR-15 lovers, and certainly Fox News have sold their souls to Trump. Are there enough decent Americans left?
9
We will never forget the Kursk submarine tragedy in August 2000. 118 human beings were inside and the initial response of Putin was not acceptable. Read history in order to know what to expect.
4
I wonder if Robert Mueller can subpoena Trump'a tax returns as a part of his investigation? That would be an interesting way to get to the bottom of this issue!
8
Mueller would need to convene a Grand Jury to get a warrant for a subpoena. It is not easy to get tax records. Mueller knows this. He is methodical, and he also knows he will eventually need to seat a Grand Jury and get a warrant.
Mr Friedman your story is a perfect analogy of how mostly republican politicians have not spoken out against Trump's disregard for the constitution. They have never said enough is enough! A few republicans who are retiring have spoken up but those who are trying to stay in power are as quiet as church mice!
If our president doesn't understand that he took an oath to the constitution and not to himself and his family then he will never stand up to Putin. Donald assumes he can and will get away with anything he does whether legal or not.
Decency doesn't even enter this president's mind. We are now in a very dangerous place.
Let's hope that Mueller will cook his goose!
Americans must run to the polls November to stop this madness!
9
2010 redistricting was the Democrats' turkey. Let us see if they can get it back.
3
Well the Republicans are all owned by their donors
and so are the corporate Democrats, so unless orders come
from the Koch brothers and their fellow rats, our
bought politicians must be mum and look the
other way. The uncorrupted progressive Democrats and
Bernie are doing their best and we must do our
best at the ballet box and strike when we need
to as the courage teachers in West Virginia
did, and protest as the high school student did.
There are many more of us than the corrupt
donors and their pawns. It was they who stole
our turkey with by getting corporate and
wealthy money into politics. I hope our turkey
scratches and bites them causing deep
wounds and infections, and flies away home.
12
Dear Tom,
The ship you are talking about has sailed away from the port together with a stolen turkey long ago.
The politician that destroyed all the moral norms here in America wasn’t Donald Trump but Obama Barack.
The former has just stayed on the course created by his predecessor.
Who cares about the Trump tax returns if a couple of the politicians directly responsible for launching two longest wars in the American history have not received even a wrist slap as the punishment. Afterwards all the gates were lifted and the rushing waters have flooded Washington D.C and turned into the swamp.
Being personally responsible for getting several thousand US soldiers killed and wasting several trillion dollars on the useless and counterproductive wars was an act of high treason.
If even the treason gets unpunished everything else will fly…
Mr. Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize for bluntly lying and the promising the things he couldn’t theoretically fulfill to get elected.
Mr. Trump was just the best student of professor Obama.
Obama has his hands bloodied to the elbows by destroying Syria and Libya, the only two remaining semi-socialist countries in the Arab world thus creating the safe haven for the ISIS.
Are we really talking here about a Bedouin’s turkey in spite of all those crimes committed against the humanity?!
The fact that Mr. Trump failed to imprison both Bush and Obama proves that all of them are made of the same cloth…
No patriotism at all. Where is it?
2
There isa similar lesson in the movie, Lawrence of Arabia: Sherif Ali (played by Omar Sharif), a devout Muslim, would not refuse any person water from his well, provided the person asked for his water. He would, without hesitation, kill someone poaching from his well. Taking his water without permission showed a lack of respect. (If you steal my water you would not hesitate to steal my sheep, my camels, my favorite horse.) Trump has poached on our environment, our schools, the poor, the health care system, and, most importantly, our respect for the institution of President. He has shown no respect even for his own voters. He has, in effect, sneered at his wife, his employees, the body politic, our allies, our democratic institutions and the Constitution. He has already worked his way up to abducting the chief's wife. The persons in our government analogous to the chief's sons, Ryan and McConnell, are complicit in every act of poaching and every sneer.
Putin is simply Trump with more brains and fewer constraints. Both men are, in effect, trying to tear down the pillars of our civilization for personal gain.
23
Yes indeed! So vote, vote, and vote! If we do not vote them out, they won't go away! So Republicans beware the voters are coming!
8
There need to be sharp consequences not only for the GOP, but for anyone who voted for Trump, too. I think a 10 year ban on voting in all Federal elections on any American citizen who voted for Trump should suffice. I'm not even kidding.
4
thanks again for your common sense writing.
13
All true, but I can't help but think that Putin and Trump are just acting like any successful and powerful corporation would; you maximize your profit and influence. (See Facebook) You have a phalanx of lawyers and henchmen that constantly litigate, threaten, lobby, and obfuscate. You engage in shady practices, if you have to. Otherwise you are a loser. Maybe its just a "guy thing",. but also it's a systemic problem, and these two men are toxic symptoms. Once they go, what kind of person is next in line? Time for some grassroots reform!
4
This is the best thing I’ve ever read on these two monsters. Post this article on every street corner!
14
Another great article by Tom Friedman. However, there are significant differences between Trump and Putin that need to be taken into account. Trump's ascent to POTUS was abetted - and continues to be - by the once great Republican Party. Putin on the other hand was a mid-level KGB operative who cleverly used the thieving oligarchs to quietly amass power. In the long run, Putin will fail and Russia will once again suffer as it has continuously in its long history. Trump too will fail but I don't believe that we Americans are ready for the damage he and the Republicans would have done.
10
Here's a thought for all to ponder. WHAT IF THE 2018 ELECTIONS DON'T HAPPEN!! All i hear is that the people have to come out and vote to stop tRUMP. Don't you think he's fully aware what lies in his path? Doesn't it seem possible that he will do anything to stop the election process?
Sounds crazy? What that has happened the last 2 years with the Dear Leader isn't unprecedented and crazy?
WAKE UP AMERICA!!
4
But there is no legal requirement to disclose tax returns, is there? If the people were stupid enough to elect him without seeing the tax returns, what recourse woould we have?
2
The rot is in the Republican Party. They can't govern. They never could and they never will recognize the stupidity of their policy position. They are anti-demoocracy. What is the point of anti-government. Throw them out. Nobody wants them anymore.
11
Unfortunately a majority of white men in this country still love them some Republican. Fortunately they’ve lost just about every other social category you can think of, other than evangelicals. And Trump is managing to erode republicans’ standing even among white guys. That leaves evangelicals who are too caught up in their own bubble to realize that their embrace of Trump will completely destroy whatever credibility they had left with those of us in the reality-based community.
The quandary is, how do we ensure that whatever rises from the ashes of the Republican Party when this national nightmare ends isn’t even more monstrous?
2
What I will never understand is that there isn’t one red blooded patriot anywhere near this traitor that will save our democracy. Not even one!
6
There is one: Tom Steyer
I would never put Trump in the same category as Putin.
Trump is a buffoon.
Putin says the same thing.
6
I presonally believe the turkey was stolen in November of 1963
7
Well, the Republicans lost twice to Obama and their vengeance is what we are still enduring, led by McConnell, Ryan, now the courts, and of course Trump.
I have yet to see Republicans become more self aware after losing. It only seems to excite their viciousness.
10
Maybe Mr. Friedman is the turkey.
2
IMPUNITY OF PUTIN AND ASSAD
When the turkey of a Bedouin chief was stolen,
his sons told him: “Your sorrow is absurd.”
Without concern or steps any gesture of consolin',
They said to him: Who needs this silly bird?”
Soon after this the Bedouin also lost a camel,
and asked his sons to find it, but they said:
“Who needs this most ridiculous, Arabian mammal?”
and quashed investigations re the quadruped.
Although the Bedouin chief had told his sons to get him back
his animals, his sons did not obey.
Lines were not drawn in red, nor were there ones in black,
to stop the thief---not even ones in gray!
Noticing there were colored lines, the scot-free thief
decided next to steal the Bedouin's daughter.
Ignoring red lines doesn't give the victims real relief.
To deal with them is what victims oughtta.
Putin and Assad were treated with impunity
for crimes because they learned all lines
opponents drew to stop them were not drawn in unity,,
as useless as for felonies mere fines.
[email protected]
1
The lessons Friedman draws concerning Trump and Putin could also be applied to Hitler. Churchill was one of the few in the 1930's who was saying "Get me back my turkey" about the first small transgressions by the Reich – but they were met with appeasement. What Friedman is pointing out is another, modern day example of appeasement. And we all know what that got us the last time.
2
Thomas Friedman for President!!!
4
"The Big Lie": The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." Source: Wikipedia
6
The GOP stole the turkey a long time ago. Now Trump steals democracy.
6
Kudos to Friedman. This piece is spot on. I think the Republican party will lose the House in the next election,and maybe the senate. I don't want them to get a wake up call. They are an anachronistic, myopic, immoral party stuck in the stone age. Their agenda puts party over the people of America. They are full of fossilized fools. The democrats also need a sea change. The two party system is somewhat outdated. At the very least we need a modern, compassionate party that is not beholden to lobbyists. As far as Trump, he's just parroting Putin. Putin is his role model. Trump has gotten away with bullying and lying all his life. But his time is up. He has no Trump card. Mueller and Stormy Daniels will be the catalysts for his demise, as well as his own hubris. The only thing he will be able to launder will be his orange prison jumpsuit.
4
There are stirrings around the globe of people awakening to what Tom writes about here and others have penned recently. It is crucial for all of us to promote and discuss the core concerns raised here. Our continued existence as we would prefer it is at stake, if we shrug off this looming threat we deserve what ever may befall us. Think about whatever you can do where ever you live to press for action. This needs to be a Global awareness and movement.
2
If it can be done legally, why hasn't Mueller subpoenaed the auditors of Trump's tax returns? Cuts to the chase, doesn't it?
2
I'll bet one of the first things Mueller did was subpoena the IRS. If it shows a couple of turkeys, we should find out.
6
Naaaa..Trump and Putin are NOT cut from the same cloth but both are horrific leaders. Trump is incompetent as a politician. Putin is highly competent but an old USSR type, hellbent on recreating not just the geographic reach of the USSR but re-instituting its worst human rights abuses. Both Trump and Putin have no qualms about lying but Putin does it almost credibly. Trump's lying is obvious. No, not the same cloth but the world will hopefully be a better place with both have exited office. My guess is that both will retire from office, not be pushed from office though I think Trump has a small risk of being impeached.
No, not the same cloth but both are despicable.
5
Both Putin and Trump are hated by the bipartisan (neocon/neoliberal) establishment for precisely the same reason:
They fight for their countries, their people, and their cultures. Not for the soulless homogenizing bonobo globalism of the plutocratic elites and their minions in government.
2
they fight for themselves. the end.
7
50 years ago The Republican Party created the Southern Strategy, the conscious effort to appeal to the segregationist Strom Thurmond and George Wallace Democratic voters.
In the 1980’s the Republican Party gave us the culture wars and Reagan and the dog whistle politics of welfare queens and States Rights and created the Reagan Democrats.
In the 1990’s we got the Newt Gingrich House of Representatives take no prisoners confrontation, the Clinton impeachment, Whitewater, and Vince Foster murder conspiracy.
With Obama, they created the Tea Party and gave us the birthers, death panels, and support of the Confederate flag.
They coopted Christians with abortion instead working to get women birth control.
And all these years, the Republican politicians have been using the Reaganomics talking points of small government and tax cuts for the job creators coming from the right-wing think tanks.
For thirty five years, the rising tide of Trickle Down Economics has mostly helped the wealthy at the expense of the rest.
And the Republican establishment is sick, just sick I tell you, to think of Trump representing the Republican Party.
They can’t understand how the Republican voters, who have been losing their manufacturing jobs all these years as Mitt Romney and his Wall St. colleagues sent those jobs to China, these same voters who have been listening to talk radio and Fox all these years, how they can blindly follow Trump and not listen to reason.
10
Why is this possible? It is because a key demographic group, less than half the white population support him no matter what. They, along with their accomplices, being Republican-only voters, brought him to Presidency. Now, why do they support him? It is decades-long resentments that boiled over in 2016 because Trump ran against a qualified, though unpopular candidates like Hillary, with no specific message other than "If I am elected you'll get me" !!
1
Thanks to the mass awakening of several groups (The liberal/progressive wing of the Democratic Party, young, new voters, and women responding to the #metoo movement.), I do believe that the GOP will "get punched in the mouth" at midterm time. That should serve to put the brakes on the Trump Train. If not, we're in a real pickle.
Plato said it - "The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men". Our voter-percentage is proof of our apathy; Trump in the White House and Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress proves Plato was correct.
3
Unfortunately for us all the fact is that the Republicans were handed a "resounding defeat" in 2008. Did they look in the mirror then? No, they broadcast lies about the legitimately elected president, Barack Obama and waited to scheme and cheat their way back into power again. This isn't a human monster, it's a vampire and only a stake through the heart will terminate it's corruption.
6
The GOP never looks in the mirror. They didn't do it when McCain lost and they won't do it now. There is zero hope for us as long as they are in charge.
2
As to applied to the Bedouin, this sounds right, but as a crime prevention policy it resembles James Q. Wilson's Broken Windows policy. You fight criminality at the level of graffiti on the subways. Rudi Giuliani tried this in the 1980's. I know because I once got a ticket for riding my bicycle on the sidewalk in NY city. The problem is that applying it the policy across the board generates too many possible suspects and thus gives the police too much discretion to discriminate on the basis of race.
As for Trump and his tax returns, we all should have known that this was a scam. He obviously has corrupt business interests. There is no discrimination against him because he has flouting the law all along.
3
I have lived in the DC area for 40 years, and one of my pet peeves is "diplomatic immunity." I find it especially egregious when an individual from a foreign country flagrantly breaks minor laws, such as traffic laws, and flaunts his privileged standing by repeatedly breaking those laws. It doesn't become an issue, per se, until that individual kills someone in a traffic accident and walks away with no repercussions.
We are allowing Trump and Putin to do much the same thing. They both feel privileged and above the law. It won't become an issue, in the eyes of many Americans, until they both kill someone, which Putin has done, and Trump has threatened to do. It's time that the "diplomatic immunity" we afford these two madmen be rescinded and they are both shown that they are not above the law.
3
How to hurt Putin and those who keep him in power? - boycott Russian diamonds. Anybody who buys one is complicit. Same for all Russian-made luxury-items. Perhaps Mr. Friedman has some explanation as to why this hasn't happened before now. Hurt the 0.01% of Russians who hold power. And, perhaps most-importantly, shame them.
2
Every President is tested by the world - for Bush there was 9/11, for Clinton it was Bosnia, for Reagan it was the Beirut bombing, among others. All were fast moving events that (literally) exploded in front of our eyes.
Russia's belligerence is Trump's test and history is likely to describe it so. But it is a slow moving storm, and more reminiscent of the fable about the frog boiling to death in a slowly cooking pot. Yes, Mr. Trump is in that boiling pot, but he has dragged American citizens and our institutions into that pot. We are all boiling with him. And Putin keeps turning up the heat, as Tom Friedman so aptly describes.
Perhaps we will wake up and get out of the pot before it boils. Or it will be actualization of this fable that will undo this fable loving president - and us all.
2
I'm encouraged by Conor Lamb's victory in Pennsylvania. He ran a campaign that was for the most part in the middle, maybe just left of center. I'm troubled by the many people who feel the cure for all that ails us is found in the total defeat of the people in the other party. This, to me, is how we descend further down the path toward some type of crack up, a civil war, revolution, coup or authoritarian take over of government by an elected president. It's how we got Trump in the first place. The goal should be to elect people who can govern in accordance with the Constitution, not to elect people whose goal is to prove that their side won and the other side lost. We need to elect people who can make our democracy function again.
1
Thank you Thomas for this outstanding column. One of your best ever. The line of amorality is so clearly drawn between Trump and Putin, it’s scary. Your vision if this continues of our children’s children living in a very different world is spot on.
8
It's surprising that Trump's tax returns have not found their way into the light of day - which is a double tick for the internal security at the IRS... but perhaps Roy Cohn's ultimate lesson for Trump was 'Never Cheat on Your Tax Return'. If Al Capone had paid his taxes he could possibly have become President. Lesson learned. Aside from revealing the financial underpinnings of Trump's businesses and the international money-lenders to whom he is indebted - perhaps he is nowhere near as rich as he claims. Perhaps US bankers have seen his tax returns and based on those have declined his loan applications. Other than that - what is he hiding? One thing is certain - Trump will say, do or destroy anything and anyone who threaten him or his businesses - and that would seem to include the sovereignty of the USA.
6
Can I recommend Netflix's Occupied? It's chilling to watch how easy it is to let things slide until it becomes the norm and all of a sudden,usually too late, people are "woke" and living with the consequences. We are living with that now. The Trump "normal" that we have come to accept has changed our country in harmful ways we will be dealing with for a long time to come. We let it happen because "how bad could it be"? Well....we are going to find out.
6
All of the GOP are a bunch of cowards and hypocrites. Democrats stand up and VOTE AGAINST THIS DISGUSTING GOP .
9
Thank you, Nancy!
2
We now know that like pre reformation popes evangelicals are selling dispensations for sins. They call them mulligans and can be bought with power. Therefore, Trump can no longer sin in their eyes.
8
What makes anyone think that Trump will vacate the office in 2020 if he looses the election? What makes you think he will even allow an election in 2020?
Fools. It is already too late.
4
In America, the version of this is called 'Broken Window'. It was used in NYC, debatably, to clear the streets of petty crime. It's also called "Domino Theory", if anyone remembers. In China, it's called, "Killing the cat to save the monkey"--an ostensible shorthand for terrorizing intellectuals.
In other words, every culture seems to express its own metaphor of this common theme. My own association with the desert dwellers of North Africa--both Bedouin and Tuareg-- indeed demonstrated a high-level obsession with small detail. Although outwardly generous, punishment for petty theft is swift and brutal.
So the author's foray into ethnology reveals a lack of focus: in the typical middlebrow way, he's replacing necessary polemic with folklore. He's far more Polonius than Voltaire--pillow fighting rather than a stiletto in a battering ram.
It's moreover clear that all 'just-so tales' do nothing more than beg an opposite. Supporters of Trump simply revert to a bigger-picture scenario in which he's 'basically' a good guy with faults like the rest of us.
Simply put, to indulge in cliche-mongering, middlebrow amerikan discourse is to play on republikan terms. NYT readers should expect more.
1
The Bedouin story is an obvious parable and wasn't meant to be taken as an anthropological vignette.
5
I agree with the commenters who see that the rot began much earlier. And that Mitch McConnell is pretty much the root of all evil.....
9
Strong evidence is that the Ukrainians shot down MH17 mistaking it for a Russian flight carrying Putin about 200 miles away on similar route at the same time.
UK has not been willing to provide any evidence , just blame.
Tom's Sawyerlike Trumpeting about Russia demonstrates his allegiance to the ongoing Pentagon propaganda rushing us to a war.
1
Worst president ever but what does it say about the america people and character that they elected him? Do we truly get the government we deserve?
2
Republicans were not innocent pre-Trump.
Perhaps the original Turkey was when Reagan said that "Government is the problem." (Still waiting for a response from Democrats on that one...)
The camel may have been Gingrich using scorched-earth politics as strategy—defining Democrats as enemies of the State. McConnell & Ryan have stolen a herd of horses, not least of which is a Supreme Court Justice.
5
Perhaps the sons are represented by gerrymandering and the electoral college then...
It’s the Big Lie theory. Tell a lie often enough and convincingly enough and eventually people accept it. We’ve seen it before on a grand scale not so long ago and look how that worked out. America needs to get its head out of the drunken media coma it is in and respond appropriately.
4
The GOP has no conscience and no patriotism.
Are we doomed ?
Where is our Lancelot ?
6
I just recalled the famous Churchill statement to Neville Chamberlain after Munich: "You were given the choice between dishonor and war. You chose dishonor and you will have war."
3
What the story doesn't mention is that should the Bedouin retrieve what has been taken, the turkey has been eaten, the camel has been mistreated and the daughter has been raped. We'll never regain our full reputation or the respect of the rest of the world. Something very ruinous has taken place here in the US. I fear it's too late to get things back on track.
4
But what should we look for in our next president? I admired and trusted Obama so much for his intellect, steadiness and respect for other cultures; did his best attributes make him reluctant to retaliate for the turkeys? Does this mean even the best president (in my mind and lifetime) can make errors that generated a more perilous course in history? The worst president (in history, not just my lifetime) basks in the glow of the strong economy that the Obama administration stabilized yet untold damage is being done throughout the various cabinets and our foreign policy (since he refuses to listen to his advisors). I miss Obama so much. I always trusted that he considered all angles, listened to expert opinions, and made the best decision he could.
9
Excellent piece. I would argue that Putin’s turkey was the apartment bombings in 1999 that led Russia into the second Chechen War.
1
If we want to get Putin (and his Oligarchs) where it hurts, they must not be allowed to shelter their millions in New York and London real estate. As long as we take their money, our protests are futile.
4
Not only can America voters stop Corrupt Donnie, nothing else will!
The "resounding electoral defeat to this Republican Party" is the precondition to all else.
There are 35% of eligible voters who will vote for the GOP and Corrupt Donnie no matter what. The good news is that number has not grown, it has probably shrunk. Motivating, registering and getting to the polls the 40% of eligible voters who don't vote will not only stop Corrupt Donnie, but will remove Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell from there controlling and complicit positions.
I expect the Dem's will take the house (Senate up in the air-could go either way, but not needed.) Then public hearings in the House on any of the Corrupt Donnie issues. A critical mass of info will become public and, as before, key Republican Senators will take the trip to the other end of PA Ave and tell Corrupt Donnie the time has come for him to resign. Then we will see just how good of a wheeler-dealer Corrupt Donnie is. Will he have to pay retributions? Will he face criminal proceedings? Will he walk with his millions, his freedom and only his reputation in tatters? Inquiring minds want to know.
3
Mr. Friedman, your preaching to the choir is mentally salving but not useful. Pre-election you had a column saying how great it'd be if Trump was thoroughly defeated in every state. I wholly agree, but how did that help? Please, use your vision and talent to help us talk to the other side. I know some decent, intelligent people, who either voted for Trump or stayed home in 2016. Scientists and doctors, who I'd think would be appalled by his anti-empricism, but where not. Your column won't convince them. What will?
1
Convincing description of our dangerous situation with both DT & Putin. With feckless republicans not listening to their conscience we do not know how bad things will get but they will get worse. Coming elections could be our last chance to stop this slide.
2
This is brilliant; a clarion call. Thank you.
2
Like this excellent, lucid, and convincing article, democrats need to counter the constant WH and Fox lies with equal daily doses of facts and truth. We need constant daily push back. Old rules of kid-gloves journalism should not apply until after this nightmare is over.
2
It started with 9/11. Buried in the 9/11 questions is " what happened to Building Seven" You never asked the question. Not even when a group paid $8000 to question 9/11 it on a billboard just outside your offices.
1
All his treachery has been enabled and allowed to endure by a corrupt Republican Party. While I never expected an iota of patriotism from Donald Trump himself, I expected some from the Republican Party which has waved the flag and waxed poetic about their patriotism for years. To say that the Republican Party has betrayed America is inadequate, it has betrayed the ideals of democracy itself. In 2018 and 2020 let's redeem Americas soul and cleanse her government from this detritus.
6
The original turkey happened way, way before Trump ran for president. When he was personally on the line for a billion dollars with the banks in the early nineties, and couldn't pay them back, the banks let him off the hook. They didn't pull the plug on Trump. I can hear Trump saying for the first time: "Can you believe they let me get away with that?"
It's been downhill ever since for the rest of us, and uphill for Trump ever since. He's still saying the same mantra: "Can you believe they let me get away with that?"
5
The points Friedman makes are evidence of why the Democrats need to find new voters. To the white trumpeteers, as long as he beats up on Mexicans, gays, women, African Americans, and Muslims, he is free to do whatever. So, maybe the best strategy is to not forget them altogether, promise to stand up for them, which may peel a few votes off this bloc, but to aggressively look outward to the future, and not be apologetic about it. And attack, attack, attack, every single day, in every format available.
2
Republicans like Flake need to take another act of courage; become independents, caucus with the Democrats and ensure Congress uses its investigative powers
2
Was Obama's turkey his "red line" on the use of chemical weapons in Syria? After that, the Russians became active in Syria, took Crimea and waltzed into the Ukraine. Then Obama transferred billions of dollars to Iran in exchange for an agreement that Obama thought would make him look like a hero but which Iran had no intention of honoring.
2
Iran has honored the agreement according to the IAEA. The funds transferred to Iran belonged to Iran that were frozen after the 1978 revolution.
2
Great article. Trump striking at Putin would only draw attention to his own thieving. It is one reason that Trump as partners in crime will not attack each other.
Trump is a turkey of a president. But it is also true that he has stolen the turkey of our presidency. After all his life time thieving he has gotten away with what he considers his ultimate prize, the ability to control our legal system and Congress to boot.
If Mueller is fired and he gets away with it shame on us for we will have lost it all.
Observing Trump's many minor violations of norms his voters experience classic cognitive dissonance; They resolve the disconnect between action and belief by adjusting their beliefs about how the world works a bit at a time. Because each incremental change is smaller than the social cost of, say, voting against their usual party the cognitive adjustment is chosen time and again so they can continue to support Trump. Eventually they end up in a very bad place which will, in retrospect, cause them shame.
96
Each day and every day, there is always a news item in the newspaper or on TV, directed at Mr. Trump. Nothing seems to bother him. Life is going on for him. At the same time, he continues to attack and disparage the Mueller investigation, and everything he does not agree with.
Recently, advisers in the WH advised Mr. Trump, with a bold "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" alert referring to Putin's re-election. Mr. Trump paid no heed to the advise, and he decided to call Putin.
Mr. Trump's decisions and behavior are most of the time, acting on his own personal instincts, and not much to do with counsel. We are a country with rich traditions and the rule of law. Perhaps, Mr. Trump feels he does not have to follow them, or are applicable to him. It is we, the people who think and feel differently. and become anxious.
Our political system is corrupt. There are many pressing issues at stake, remaining unanswered. Gun Control, Health care to name a few. Our current elected representatives continue to grapple, trying to seek solutions. It is not that there are no solutions. It is just that their obligations are elsewhere. They are already thinking of the 2018 mid term elections.
Perhaps, it is time for a third party to come into the picture. That would give the people a choice, and confidence to elect the right candidate, to represent the people's needs and the country's interest.
2
Kudos to Thomas Friedman. The way he presents the unfolding of Trump's power grab is reminiscent of that of a German head of state who was elected by a base of about 33% of the population and who, in a similar step-by-step manner, imposed a deadly tyrannical rule over his country that lasted twelve years, from 1933-45. This leader was also the master of the Big Lie -- in fact he was even more proficient than the current US President. Hopefully, the American system of checks and balances will carry the day and minimize the damage to our democracy -- hopefully.
In the March issue of The Atlantic, a complementary view:
"Boycott the Republican Party - If conservatives want to save the GOP from itself, they need to vote mindlessly and mechanically against its nominees.
JONATHAN RAUCH AND BENJAMIN WITTES "
My disagreement with it is they seem to blame Trump for the current move of the GOP against rule-of-law. They cite two major sins, both by Trump, but I'd suggest that the earlier sin that already justified their position is Mitch McConnell's theft of a Supreme Court nomination from a sitting, twice-elected President. To simply decide, with a year left in Obama's second term, to ignore the nomination rather than have the Senate have a vote - one of their jobs - was a profoundly wrong action - a naked party takeover.
15
I'm reading Upton Sinclair's "Presidential Agent," one of his superb Lanny Bud spy novels. This one, set in the mid-1930's and published in 1947, reeks with the dying embers of WWII, speaks of Adolf Hitler in ascendance, a man shocked that he keeps getting away with more or less trifling outrages, turkey stealing, you might say, while the world sees, hears and speaks no evil, while the moneyed class puts property above honor, while governments trip over each other to excuse the Fuhrer's latest encroachment as definitely the last.
Read it. It will keep you up tonight, and for many more to come.
3
Trump appears to me to be Putin's Mussolini, or perhaps his Franco. He has few leadership skills of his own, and less charisma, but is quite eager to follow the same fascist path. Neither Trump nor Putin respect civil law or have any moral integrity. They are predators and sociopaths, out for their own gain. It would be good if Americans stopped Mr. Trump in his tracks this next November, but I won't bet on it. Until the Christian evangelicals stop giving him moral cover, he is likely to be able to persuade other groups that he is acting to America's benefit. That is sad.
7
I voted for Obama twice and Clinton once. I agree with Brennan that once Trump's lies and venality are understood he will be consigned to the ashheap of history. But the way you tell the story, Obama was the biggest turkey. He ignored the two biggest red ines--the one in Syria and the shooting down of the Maylasian airliner by Putin's people. It is not only venal people who have turkeys stolen.
6
Except that none of this is what actually happened. Even if it's convenient to the Right to pretend that they're all the same, and encourage discouragement.
Helps suppress the vote, which you badly need.
Donald Trump is a proud liar, misogynist, bully and is quite open about this. What's remarkable to me is that so many American voters just don't care and would keep him in office for as long as possible. This situation, coupled with the venality and cowardice of the Republican members of Congress and the ineffectiveness of the Democrats, has led to the rise of China's power and loss of that of the U.S. as world leader. Wake up, people, the sky is really about to fall.
1
Good column, but (speaking as a gardener) Trump isn't an invasive species that's taken over the beautiful GOP garden. He is the weed that found a perfect welcoming environment to thrive, in the poor soil of the GOP.
14
Brilliantly Said
3
Very good, Mr. Friedman. The turkey analogy is spot on about our ignoring or our inaction regarding Trump’s and Putin’s behaviors.
I have a belief about this that I have adhered to my entire life in the other direction that informs how the Trumps and Putins of the world become what they are and how you nip that behavior in the bud, in childhood. I call it the “I didn’t do my homework” syndrome. The first time a child doesn’t do his homework or hand in his homework, the punishment should be fairly severe. Otherwise he gets away with it, the world did not come to an end, there were no repercussions, all those other idiots worked at their desks all afternoon and evening and I watched TV and video games, played sports. Losers! And they don’t do it again. Then again.
Extrapolate this to any behavior where consequences for something expected to be done were not forthcoming as you said and what it does to the psyche of the actor. Trump and Putin were created through years of coddling and lack of consequence to KNOW that they can always bully their way through the world, they got where they got doing just that. And a large number of people admire the bullies who they identify as Winners.
(As an aside, Melania, forget it. You have no right from where you sit and with whom, to speak to anyone about anything.)
2
I don’t believe Putin has something on Trump. Trump idolizes Putin. Putin is thought to be one of the words richest people; he got wealthy after he became head of state. Of course Donnie wants to be just like him. It’s not blackmail; it’s hero-worship.
4
We didn't stop the re-occupation of the Rhineland, did not oppose the annexation of Austria, did not oppose the occupation of the Sudetenland, then the rest of Czechoslavakia, and what we got was the invasion of Poland and the start of World War 2. When will we learn?
2
Because of this turkey, I'm anxious to head to the polls in November.
3
It really all does come down to the election in November.
Sadly, I suspect 80% of the people reading this editorial live in safe blue districts where their vote means little. But we must work to win back the House like our democracy depends on it. It does.
8
We can support candidates in other states or organizations that do. I gave money to Conor Lamb's campaign and got to do a little victory dance.
1
There is also the parable of the Good Samaritan. A sick man is lying by the road and time after time passers-by would simply stare at him and walk on. At last a man came by who took him to town to care for him because he believed that every man is our brother. Too many people choose to bury their heads in the sand and say it is not my problem. These people too should be held accountable for the actions of our mad president and allowing today’s Republican Party to serve as his abettors. In the 1950s republicans in those days had a word for this. Fellow travelers.
2
I am sorry to say this but Putin and Trump are not the problem. The real problem is the ignorance of their citizens who seem to think that they really are gods and hence deserve nothing but adoration along with total acceptance.
4
C'est vrai!
All presidents lie to varying degrees but none with such frequency and impunity as trump. His lies and actions have consequences but none can compare in modern times with the Bush-Cheney imaginary weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It is estimated that upwards of a million people died as a result of the 15 year war. A trillion and a half dollars in treasury has been wasted. Oligarchs in the military industrial complex have been made wealthy beyond comprehension. The Middle East has been destabilized. But have these men been held accountable, not even a whisper of acknowledgement let alone an apology.
It remains to be seen just what trump is capable of but we already tolerate war criminals in our midst.
6
Trump has gotten away with about 2000 lies but not the IRS one --it continues to fester. And when it pops it may be the one that reveals the Trump that all partisans will finally see him as the hypocritical demagogue that he his. And it will pop with the completion of the Mueller investigation. The guess is that about 30 minutes after Mueller's appointment as special prosecutor he subpoenaed Trump's IRS records which revealed his Russian financing. This by itself necessitated Mueller's dogged pursuit of a wide ranging investigation of issues and persons involved. Having seen Trumps IRS returns gave Mueller confidence to pursue all leads. The IRS lie alone will turn out to be more important than the other 2000. This is the only thing that Trump fears and explains his attempts to discredit Mueller, -- and possibly as last attempt risk firing him to stop the investigation.
8
Yes, Trump lies often and shamelessly. We really should do something about that. But one other reason he gets away with it is that many voters want to believe his lies. He, and Putin, understands that people will embrace lies if they resonate with their inchoate thoughts and fears. Autocrats have always understood this truth. Republicans in Congress likely see though Trump's lies but comply because they too benefit from the creditulity of their base voters. Even if Democrats win the House back this year, they will face the distrust of many voters accrued during the Clinton and Obama years. And to put Trump's lies in perspective, so far they pale in comparison with the lies told by Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld to start the disastrous war in Iraq, lies that Friedman endorsed in this same space.
3
Thank you Mr. Friedman for the story of the turkey and a reminder of what has slowly been happening in the USA since Reagan. I must say that the Republicans have now realized their dreams of taking control of our government. And, what have they created? An adminstration of lies, corruption, graft, and greed whose only goal seems to be power and money. Long before the lack of Trump's tax returns, we have McConnell's focus on attacking Obama instead of caring for his state's citizens, and before that Reagan's destruction of unions and mental care institutions.
I hardly recognize this country as compared to the 1970's when Congress did their job. There's little hope for erasing the plain evil of the Republican Party without repealing "Citizens United" decision.
7
Mr. Friedman, this is one of your better commentaries. One truly wishes to believe that collectively, America will emerge from this delirium a better country having witnessed what happens when our democracy is subsumed to the whims of a demagogue. One truly wishes to believe that we can counter this ugliness, e.g., Junior exclaiming "I love it", when propositioned by Russian actors offering dirt on the Democrats. And yet, I recently sent a request to my congressional representative, Barbara Comstock of the Virginia 10th district, imploring her to demand the release of his taxes. I received a boilerplate reply indicating that this Congress has no stamina to delve into that black hole. Maybe the midterm elections will bring forth citizens who are willing to delve. More likely, there will be a resounding chorus of trump enablers questioning the very terms of democratic engagement that will last well into the 2020 general election; an election this miscreant may very well win because his base will be dangerously beyond delirium. I am not a trained historian, but I believe History and History does not bode well for the era we are entering.
3
Mr. Friedman is absolutely right, but he forgets that tacit complicity with Putin started when Bush looked into his soul and found someone he could trust, and even worse, when Obama set a red line in Syria and ignored it, and even more insulting, when he said to Romney's response that Russia was our number one geopolitical threat in his presidential debate "“The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.” Obama was dead wrong about Putin and the foreign policy of the last two previous administrations put us on this path. Trump has only crowned it.
"But American voters can stop Trump, and America and its allies can stop Putin — if they act together."
That's a great relief. I was worried this was going to be difficult.
5
Thank you for your clear thinking and the analysis expressed in this article. History repeats itself. We are like before WWII. Losing historical and recent memory, hiding from truth and reality, and experiencing a vacuum in moral integrity and courage at all levels.
4
Mr. Friedman, this is one of your best. I hope America takes your words to heart.
8
Trump is beginning to remind me of Charles Manson. He gets people to do various illegal and unsavory things for him. He disclaims all responsibility for his own actions. He makes up a narrative to fit his world view and tries to sell it to us as fact when the fact is it's not true. He expects unquestioned loyalty from his advisors, the Cabinet, and business associates but doesn't reciprocate. His refusal to acknowledge that what happened in Charlottesville this past summer was horrible and saying instead that there were good people on both sides overlooked the fact that one side came armed and ready to hurt others.
Trump has another 3 years in office. If things continue the way they have been we can assume that Trump will probably leave the country in much worse shape than any of his predecessors have. Given what he and the GOP are doing we could see a civil war because they are successfully splitting the country. All anyone has to do is read the history of the years before 1861 to see the parallels.
In other words this is about more than the turkey. It's about our future and the future of our children and grandchildren.
9
Many people mention the historical significance of the Trump era. Here's the rub: the Trump base could not care less what anyone thinks of them. They don't care what the founding fathers would have thought. They don't care what the future will think. They don't care what YOU think. They don't know history, but what's the big deal? They don't want to know the truth about anything...why should history be any different?
So, what does history teach us about our current situation where a significant portion of the population is bent on destroying the country by electing Trump and compliant republicans to office. Another civil war in the offing? Dismiss it at your peril.
2
If you keep moving your red line to avoid conflict eventually there won't be anything left to fight for. You'll find yourself living in whatever hellhole your opponent has created for you and you'll have no one but yourself to blame. Until the American people say enough and mean it, we'll continue to get more of the same from both parties.
5
More false equivalencies. Congratulations, you've just crossed my red line. You comments come across as someone who voted for the Trump circus, and is now trying to pretend that all politicians are the same. They aren't. And people like you are to blame.
4
We have a angry divided country, based on bigotry, which is why we have a Trump for President.Trump used bigotry to get his base. He started with Mexicans, by calling them drug dealers & criminals. He then picked on African Americans,by defending Police abuse, and mocking Black Lives matter.He found good people among the Nazi;s & Alt Right which has set a record for Anti Semitic activity.He learned this tactic from Hitler, give the people scapegoats & they will follow you to the end.Our Turkey is gone.
11
Shame on you Tom for not holding Obama responsible for what the Russians,
Syrians, and Iranians have gotten away with. Trump's only improved upon
it. And much as I detest him I only wish Obama, an unimaginably better
human being, had possessed some of his spunk.
6
Jack Eisenberg writes, "Shame on you Tom for not holding Obama responsible for what the Russians, Syrians, and Iranians have gotten away with. Trump's only improved upon it."
Shame on you Jack for claiming that Trump has improved on anything with Russia, with Syria, or with Iran. You didn't provide any evidence for your claim...and you won't be able to because conditions with all 3 of those countries have gotten worse under Trump. And your claim that Trump has "spunk" is ludicrous. Congratulations for proving once again that Trump supporters are as big a joke as he is.
2
Bravo! TF is wright (sic) that we (the good guys) must begin to punch our way out of the paper bag in which we keep our head(s)! The only thing these two self-proclaimed leaders respect is when we stop paying excess dues and put some muscle where our mouths are! We need to get out there and vote for folks who will take care of the good old US of A, so we can give our children and their children a chance to be able to breathe, drink clean water eat healthy food, and look forward to a more hopeful future. If we chuck self-pity and fight back, bullies tend to leave the battlefield!!!
2
Mr.Friedman, thanks for nice story. The fact is that our Turkey was not stolen but we gave away our Turkey, camel, horse and daughters with smiling face. The friendship between Trump and Putin is cemented and nobody can break it. Reagan's GOP is now Putin's party. Even the GOP voters are more pro Russian now . Trump congratulated Putin in spite of his National Security team objection because he is grateful to Putin or Putin has something on our POTUS. We do not have that many courageous leaders like McCain, Flakes and Corker. America lost.
6
As the great philosopher Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.” The American people need to "punch" the entire Republican Party in the mouth come November. The "pubs" are complicit in the plan to destroy America. Let's give the GOP a massive punch in November. Vote. Vote. Vote.
9
Thank you, Mr. Friedman, for a superb column.
It is possible (unlike in Russia) for us who agree with Mr. Friedman to do something about Trump ... something more than just posting comments here and in similar venues preaching to the converted. It's up to us to get involved in the coming election by supporting Democratic candidates for the House and Senate, particularly those challenging Republican incumbents. That means sending contributions and volunteering time. Give up that dinner out and the weekend trip, and instead use the money and time to help a Democratic candidate. The election will be close, but if enough of us do what is needed we will have a Democratic House and maybe even Senate next January that can start to put the brakes on Trump.
12
Wow Mr. Friedman! This is deep. Please send a copy of this column to Fox News. They have been stealing minds for years with their manipulative opinions masked as facts. While I know we have freedom of speech, why can’t they be required to state, “the views expressed on Fox are strictly our own and not based on accurate fact finding”.....Fox News stole the Turkey Mr. Friedman.....a long time ago.
9
Trump IS the turkey.
3
Americans for way too long have been lazy and apathetic when it comes to being citizens. Benjamin Franklin warned us that we would remain a republic "only if we can keep it." One reason why the NRA and similar groups are disproportionately powerful is they care about their issues and the rest of us do not. It is time for all Americans to go to the polls, contribute money and in general care about the news of our country.
9
Follow the money!
2
The country can't wait for elections. Unfortunately, it falls to Ryan and McConnell, both of whom have the moral courage of a dung beetle, to deal with it.
10
In response to Thomas Friedman's column, I have to wonder at the irony of the First Lady's mission to tackle cyber bullying while her husband is the most dangerous cyber bully of all. Is this an accident?
8
Another thoughtful analysis of Trump, the Republican Party and Putin. To follow up on Tyson’s comment, all this is shadow boxing. No one seems capable of punching effectively and changing the trajectory of this administration. All the criticisms bounce off him and his enablers while they slowly destroy the country, damage our alliances and encourage our enemies. The turkey metaphor also applies to Hitler’s brazenness in taking the Rhineland, much to the shock of his generals. We know how that turned out.
5
Another "First they came for..." story. Oy!
4
Another excellent column, Mr. Friedman - except for quoting Mike Tyson at the end. Quoting a convicted rapist is a quick way to negate every salient point you make.
1
Not if the quote is apt.
2
All good salespeople know that negotiations begin when the customer says no.
The R's have no courage to say no and since they have command of all government t we will be patsies on the world stage until they are replaced. Resist!
6
The only thing that will break through the collective fog that hardcore Trump supporters are in is if Trump is caught on tape trashing them, something along the lines of “I can say anything to these people and they’ll believe me. I can tell them they’re stupid and they’ll clap and scream USA!”, or “I wouldn’t touch one of those (insert derogatory word of choice here) women at my rallies if you paid me a million bucks. They want me to. Well, maybe I would if you paid me a billion!”. He has already said to them that he likes the uneducated, right to their face, but they didn’t realize he was talking about them so they let it slip by. A recording like this is out there somewhere, now. It needs to be exposed.
3
He has already said that he could shoot them and they would still support him.
I agree with everything this article is stating. We as a country, need to wake up and realize what we are facing now and in the not so distant future. It seems we are becoming desensitized to corruption and also to evil. We are turning a blind eye to these atrocities happening here and abroad. History has proven how this complacency can eventually lead to evil for example world war two and Hitler. We are at a tipping point on many issues, climate change, Trump, Putin, Kim Jong Un,China, Iran, Duerte seems like more and more world leaders are becoming more corrupt than ever before causing one to wonder if it's simply because they are allowed to be a this way because they can.
3
Republicans will do anything to keep power
Who knows what they will pull in the midterms
4
The Republicans are getting their most fevered dreams of the last fifty years fulfilled and we can expect them to stop at nothing to maintain power. It is time for liberals to arm themselves.
Gingrich stole the turkey.
8
Would someone please send a copy of this Opinion Piece to each and every Congressperson in Washington! Please!
3
Maybe it will be the women who cook his goose. Melania finally emerged in New Hampshire to several inept kisses on stage. Trump iis being manipulated by Putin - and probably it’s friend in N Korea. But the taxes are important - someone needs to pay for Trump Tower in NYC. The silence of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell is deafening.
5
It is not accurate to say that "nothing happened" when Trump refused to provide his tax returns after he was elected. I was one of millions of people who demonstrated all over the world on April 15, 2017 about Trump's refusal.
We made a great deal of noise, but nobody was listening. That's on the media, not on us. When I got home from the march that day I tried to find media coverage of the march on TV news. There was almost no coverage. Fox News did not report on any of the many tax marches all over the country (and some in other countries as well).
The public is actively participating in protesting this corrupt presidency. The media covers Trump supporters more than they cover our protests. I can't listen to the radio or watch the news without hearing the disgruntled Trump supporters complaining about the critics of Trump. Since the critics are getting little attention, one wonders what the Trump supporters are complaining about.
The truth has a liberal bias. And along with the liberal bias comes a commitment to tell both sides of the story. The media is leaning over backwards to represent the viewpoints of Trump supporters. They are doing the public a disservice.
8
Mueller needs to hurry.
3
Trump's strong denials of collusion with the Russians during the 2016 election reminds me of the Shakespeare quote "thou dost protesteth too much."
His tax returns may shed light on why he "protesteth too much."
4
In order to end the Trump debacle patriotic Republicans, both in and out of the Congress, must unite and lead the way.
The GOP must recognize/accept that Trump is a disaster in need of solution by way of his resignation by any route possible.
All their leaders can end the ongoing deceptive/dangerous/ damaging Trump actions/attitudes taking place in more than one venue.
Trump damages the country, its citizens, and also the GOP.
He has a low approval rating and is a world-wide embarrassment.
Is the GOP now able to look down the road. It is this failing that has put them and us in our current untenable position.
May the GOP and its best leaders note the following:
Do not become an enabler of the Trump dictatorial juggernaut.
Fall on your sword with grace, sincerity, decency, and dignity.
You will be the better for it, as will we all.
By your patriotic action the GOP and the country you save will be your own. Spare us from any further embarrassment in the world's eyes.
Make this necessary sacrifice NOW.
Prepare for a worthwhile/reasonable campaign in 2020 with a decent/ honest candidate that the GOP can support with dignity.
Take this wise/practical course of action ASAP.
Time is obviously of the essence, given current events.
The behavior of the House of Trump is NOT normal - apply the label of abnormal to all.
Avoid applying the same label also to the GOP leadership.
Consider, attend to, and act upon patriotic duties as a necessity for our country as a whole.
5
Yes, but history dictates that it's not just the behaviors, it's the instability and uncertainty that lead to major world conflicts.
Perhaps worse is the tragic loss of the United States a the leader of the free world that could plunge us into an ear of "dark ages" where the globe is ruled by autocrats (Putin, Xi, Prince Salam, Erdogan, Trump etc.) linked in a crime syndicate with global corporations like Facebook, Exxon, Microsoft, etc. that have no ethics and no allegiance to any country.
We can only hope that the alliance of a free Europe, US, Canada, Australia, etc. survives its greatest teat since WWII; and that relies on American voters coming to their senses.
2
Excellent column! Thank you. Keep up the great work. If not for the NYT how would we know?
3
Bravo! Mr. Friedman. I've never been a fan of yours, but I am now.
1
(1) There is no evidence whatsoever that Russia was responsible for shooting down of that Malaysian civilian airliner, Flight MH17, over Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people onboard.
The airliner was shot down by a missile made by Russian Industry. The Ukrainian Military have this missile and before Russia is blamed it is necessary to have all data on the location of these missiles. If you want an independent investigation you do not allow a possible culprit to be part of the investigation team. Ukraine was part of the investigation team so any conclusions are tainted.
(2) Why not poison a former Russian spy in London with a banned military nerve agent. There is no evidence that the banned military nerve agent was made by Russia. There are many military laboratories that make this agent – including UK, USA and other European Countries.
(3) Perpetrate genocide in Syria? Russia has been fighting and defeating ISIS in Syria and defending the internationally recognised legitimate Government against illegal attack from USA, UK, NATO, Saudi Arabia, Israel and others. There is actually a genocide in Yemen and Russia is definitely not involved there but USA is.
1
Are we being trolled or is this someone who actually believes that misinformation? Facts are essential to reaching accurate conclusions. Those posited in the positions above don't qualify.
4
Only a fool or a Russian bot would assert that the Ukrainians shot down the civilian airliner. The Dutch have investigated extensively...it was Russia.
The nerve agent used in England was developed by the Soviet Union...and subsequently Russia. If you have any evidence that other countries have this nerve agent, provide it. Of course you can't...but why would anyone ever expect a Russian bot to provide evidence.
Also...Russia and Syria, along with Iran are not fighting ISIS...they are fighting other rebels, and killing thousands of civilians in the process. Genocide indeed.
3
My statement above agrees with you that "facts are essential for reaching accurate conclusions".
(1) The investigation into Flight MH17 is flawed;
(2) When Russia intervened in Syria, at the invitation of the Syrian Government Government it showed video footage of lines of ISIS vehicles at the Turkish Border. These ISIS assets were not being attacked by USA air power. Russia promptly attacked them
(3) No evidence has actually been produced as to the origin of the nerve agent
(4) It is true that USA is actively involved in Yemen
Calling somebody a Troll just hides a fear of facing facts
1
AMEN!
1
There should be a consistent and continuous call for him to release his taxes. Any politician not calling for this MUST be voted out of office.
2
Amen
1
Yep.
1
The death of the GOP, once a reasonable political party began with Ronald Reagan's remark suggesting that Government was the problem. This was of course taken out of context by under informed voters to mean that everything the government does is somehow wrong or an attack on their constitutional rights.
Barack Obama took a lot of heat for saying that in difficult times, people turn to their religion and their guns. But he was right.
When Mitch McConnell denied President Obama his constitutional right to appoint a Supreme Court Justice he violated his oath of office. But there was no accountability.
An evaluation of recent Republican candidates for congress is a good place to begin understanding what's now taking place in the country. Whether or not they win the seat or lose, the fact that they've molested children, think that God talks exclusively to them or embrace extreme positions on any issue is now simply overlooked by their gerrymandered constituents who have no understanding of the eventual impact the policies would have on those that support them no matter what. The Republican candidate in Pennsylvania claimed that democrats hated America and God.
These guys will say anything to win and do because they can manipulate their districts or states with nonsense, fear and hatred. It just doesn't occur to them they're being lied to and sold a bill of goods. It's a perfect storm of events and how we got Trump as the president. Morality be damned.
6
Let's face it—our constitutional republic has become a corporate oligarchy.
Corporate oligarchies manage power the same way as Trump and Putin do, who are themselves oligarchs. They are the logical and inevitable strongmen of oligarchies. The apparent similarity between Trump and Putin should come as no surprise—our corporatist system has evolved to producing Trump. And frankly, I doubt that Hillary would've been bulwark against corporatism either.
We've gone to the polls for years, thinking that we were exercising our democratic rights by making actual choices. But the choices on the ballot have been between the Left and Right personalities of an entirely singular oligarchic system.
We've believed the baldfaced lies fed to us by the corporate system for decades now, as they have literally been advertised. The democratic turkey was stolen long ago. But now, the screws have tightened to the point where the 99% are hanging out to dry.
Trump is the logical endgame of an corporate oligarchy. What comes after that? Perhaps that's Tom's next op-ed.
3
Trump traffics in lies and nastiness. He is encouraged by the Republican Party. And every thinking person in the United States is disgusted with him and the party he has hijacked. Incumbents and gerrymandered districts be damned. Get the right candidates, get out the vote, and get rid of Trump.
3
"Only a resounding defeat might get this G.O.P. to look itself in the mirror and ask, How did we lose our soul?" Didn't that happen before, and look what happened - nothing changed. The GOP is now the most anti-American party in history, and if they lose in 2018 and 2020 (we'll see if Democrats vote this time), they will not and cannot learn. Their Koch Brothers puppet masters will forever control them. It's all about the money, and democracy be damned.
1
One of your best columns ever. I never knew that Mike Tyson knew so much about Plato's cave, but DAMN, right on! When one's spine doesn't exist, the body collapses. I dream of the day when $ doesn't atrophy the spine. I know, the smirks are growing as I right this; but hey folks, this isn't the merely obvious- it's the extremely obvious. Please breathe and stare it in its face.
1
"How did we lose our soul?"
We probably lost it a good while before Trump/Putin, but this column takes my breath away. When the soul is lost, it seems to be lost irrevocably. How can we gain redemption?
Pay close attention to the state legislative races where you live. Make sure candidates take a firm stand on requiring release of at least ten years of tax returns before a candidate can qualify to appear on the ballot. Congress won't do anything (even if Democrats take over in 2018, Trump would veto such a measure) but state legislatures can. Also raise this issue with candidates for governor and secretary of state.
2
As a former long-time Republican, the Trump administration and today's Republican politicians just make me want to puke!
Note to Democrats- Here is your golden opportunity to take advantage of this abhorrent situation by putting up good candidates, supporting them with numerous small contributions, and by getting out the vote in huge numbers!
4
Um, actually the turkeys were the Monica Lewinsky and Clinton email server scandals. Talk about, "Can you believe I got away with that!?"
1
Psychopaths see niceness as weakness. If they can get away with a fast one, they will do it repeatedly.
A promiscuous man and a compulsive liar, Trump can not control himself. It's going to take strong actions to bring him to bear. I think most of us know this, but I'm perplexed by the support he still receives. So can we paint a certain political party with the same antisocial brush strokes?
4
I think Netanyahu could be listed into your wonderful Turkey parable.Pull and destroy the farmers groves then build on the land.
Add another stolen turkey, Xi Jinping's claim to the entire South China Sea. Can you believe that he didn't ask his military-"Can you believe I got away with that? Now, let's got get Taiwan since America won't stop us. HaHa"
1
But we found our Turkey---he is sitting in the Oval Office.
I don't really think they are cut from the same cloth. Trump is a charlatan, a con man. Putin is from the KGB. He is a killer. And he has murdered people. The only thing they have in common really is they both are not intellectually curious. But at least Putin learns what he has to do, or looks at a problem, Syria for instance, and makes his move. And it is usually to benefit making Russia a player, or more powerful on the world stage. It may be wrong or amoral, but he goes ahead. Trump does not care about U.S. policy or this country. Or the world for that matter. He cares about himself, that's it. And when he couldn't borrow anymore to keep kingdom afloat, he sold his soul. Putin and his gangster friends own him. He is their boy.
1
Mr. Friedman has joined the long line of columnists who behave as if the Obama Presidency, with its "Lead From Behind" foreign non-policy naivete, did not consistently roll over and watch Putin do as he pleased. Trump is a disgrace for many, many reasons, but laying those eight years at his doorstep is rather intellectually dishonest and lowers all discourse.
39
No, not really. What Obama was trying to do was to get us out of the quagmire of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the "Us Against Islam" mind-set that Bush and Cheney, "Leading from the Front" (with nobody following, unfortunately) saddled us with -- it seems, forever. I guess they failed to read Machiavelli, who famously said, "Wars begin when you will, but they don't end that way." I think it's necessary to point out that the Obama Administration acted forcefully against Russia, while Trump & his minions tried to set up a "back channel" to Putin in order to assure him that sanctions enacted against his country would be lifted or unenforced shortly after Trump's swearing in. Why do you think Putin and Russia meddled in our election to help get Trump elected? The most benign motive is that Putin expected a far better deal from Trump than he was getting from the Obama/Clinton Policy vis a vis Russia -- and him. There are other motives that are far more serious to contemplate. And given the Trump family's character, entirely plausible.
22
I love you, clolim2003 - Of course, if Obama had militarily confronted Putin, you would have never criticized him for getting the US even deeper involved militarily in the Middle East than we already were in Iraq & Afghanistan. Never, never, never, of course.
But, of course, you never criticized Obama's predecessor over his disaster in Iraq, either.
9
Okay. You feel that way, but does not mean that we shouldn't do something to stop this behavior now!
5
Friedman is conflating something that actually happened - Putin's having people who oppose &/or expose him murdered - with Trump's 'IF'. Being able to tell the difference between reality & opinion is important, even if you're a NY Times columnist.
2
The turkey, in fact, was the theft of a SCOTUS seat during Obama's term.
3
Revealing trump's taxes is the key to answer everything that is going on between trump and putin!! I believe putin has something on trump that will be the beginning of his end. It is extremely suspicious trump's continuous servile behavior towards putin since he became president. But it is also awkward that Muller has not asked the IRS to release trump's taxes so he can carefully inspect them. The sad think is that the GOP has gone so low and morally wicked that they are totally mute and incapacitated to act or say something; and when they say something they just mumble incoherence to keep at ease their rich donors. It is astonishing how only a few manipulate an entire nation and no one is capable to stop them. Where is the sense of citizenship to vigorously support our own country? What happened to the citizens of the US? Do they really want to be governed and controlled by the single fascist person living in the WH? This is exactly what putin does in Russia and what trump wants to replicate. Something needs to happen soon. Enough is enough!
1
Thank you for your concise statement of the greatest threat America faces.
When Al Gore, the turkey, rolled over and pompously played dead, if we had taken to the streets in protest over the Supreme Court's preempting the democratic process, it would have set the line in the sand to keep the republic. Get out the vote is how to mobilize the power to right the ship of our democracy!
3
Trump is testing the limits of our government in a profound way. He is as brazen as Muhammad Ali ,of course lacking Ali's morality , kindness, and gift of language. Trump doesn't understand or care about policy. He seeks confrontation. He thrives on it.He has insulted and made fools of the Congress,the Courts, the Generals, the CEOs, and the world . This is deadly serious. At the same time it is grand comedy. There is not a lie he will not tell and he can make the government swallow it whole. It.s frightening to think where it will end, Enjoy the show and hang on tight.
How about Mueller subpoenas Trump's tax returns?
2
Agreed. Will our teenagers have to take on Trump, too? It certainly is not this sitting congress. Shameless.
1
Right on! I want to see Trump’s tax returns and x-rays of the bone spurs!
2
Mr. Friedman, that's what tyrants do for a living.
1
the truth about trump was known prior to the election.....it made no difference to the voters...
so, talk to those people .....
democracy and the constitution spoke.....the electoral college spoke...
grow up and deal with those realities
Yea, verily.
Well and simply and clearly stated...the relentless hyper-normal push push push of some aberrant personalities must be met with an equal and opposite force....or we are doomed to live in their world.
A positive example is Steve Jobs...and in some ways we do live in his world now. Elon Musk may just be another such positive example...to be determined. But the list of bad actors in this category is longer...at least in my spotty cataloging of world history. Hitler (yes, Hitler), Ghenghis Khan, Stalin, Idi Amin, and many more. Relentless personalities happen and they need to be met and matched and if need be, defeated.
3
Well put! Succinct! Hopefully persuasive!
2
I think the stolen turkey is not the tax returns, rather is was his outrageous claim that President Obama was not an American citizen. Remember his claim that his “investigators” have found things out in Hawaii and that he would shortly release their findings?
2
You are partially correct. Trump has been doing this since the seventies. He has never been a great businessman or particularly important, but people couldn't be bothered to ignore him. The fact that no one shut him down, including the GOP for the Obama birther stuff indicated that a whole lot of people were okay with the turkey being stolen and now okay with what came later. Just like the deniers are okay with Hitler's actions.
What a great analogy. Please tell the old Bedouin we found hi turkey. He's in the oval.
1
Outstanding! It says it all about our miserable present state of affairs domestically and globally!
1
It’s not the turkey stealing acceptance but what got the sons to ignore the loss that is the problem. We have accepted all of the Republican and Trump (and to a much lesser extent democrat ) lies and deceptions. We have not learned to own our democracy. Until that learning takes place, turkeys will be the least of our worries.
broken windows, turkeys, the point is we break down one small element and it encourages a push for more. On sexual mores, it was the meaning IS. That was the turkey that led to the immunity the serial turkey stealer has garnered for himself. We cannot hit trump with favoring Russia when the previous administration had a red reset button; and the president famously said, Tell Vladimir that after the election I will be freer to deal. Good for the goose, good for the gander...unfortunately we squander when we pander to either side. Want to start now and forever more do it right. Fine. But remember how we got here.
Well before the matter of the tax returns, Trump was a carney barker peddling the 'birther' sideshow. Imagine where we could be today if McConnell and Boehner and the Republicans in Congress had stood before the cameras and said: "This is nonsense. We repudiate it. Of course we want people to vote Republican -- but for good reasons. Fantasies like this are poison." The best Boehner could come up with was "I'll take [Obama's] word for it."
318
The 66 million Americans who voted for Hillary and the 63 million Americans who voted for Donald in fifty state elections all knew who Trump was and was not. Trump beat 16 Republican challengers. Then he beat Hillary.
2
No, the thought that I and no other thinking person would ever think they would deviate from the path they have been on since Nixon in is so counter intuitive it makes me spew coffee.
Fat chance. These Republicans are amoral. Meaning no morals whatsoever. For them the end justifies the means. They put DeVos in to rob students trying to get an education. There is no end to their lack of scruples. Their so called tax cut robs the everyday citizen. The examples are endless. Sadly those uneducated people who support Trump are also seeming to be endless even when the truth slaps them in the face.
3
Dead on, really enjoyed the simple clarity of the mess we're facing. I honestly think at some point Trump will get punched in the face.
1
We can site several "stealing the Turkey" moments during Trump's presidential campaign. The exact moment doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that politicians and the media let him get away with it at the time. What was the pass they gave him?
He's not a politician but he will change once in office.
It's just Trump being Trump.
Now politicians and the media are constantly calling attention to the insanity that is Donald Trump and his Administration. But this effort lends credence to the saying: "It's hard to put the Genie back into the bottle."
However, Mr. Friedman is right that a wide ranging GOP loss may have a "Come to Jesus" effect on the Party but more importantly a large win by the Democrats would provide the best deterrent to Trump for at least the next (and hopefully last) two years of his presidency.
"Only a resounding defeat might get this G.O.P. to look itself in the mirror and ask, How did we lose our soul?"
GOP = Trump's base = 30%+ of voters who have lost their souls. With the help of FOX and Breitbart and Drudge and Cambridge Analytica. They have lost their souls. Evangelical Christians have lost their souls.
"That steady erosion of norms is what Trump is doing to America and Putin is doing to the world."
Not quite...that steady erosion of norms actually comes from Evangelical Christians who believe they can break every one of the 10 commandments in pursuit of power.
"Their strategy is: keep pushing, keep grabbing, keep lying, keep denying, no matter how implausible the denials — and never apologize. Because when you lie on an industrial scale, it overwhelms everyone else. Normal people just don’t behave that way, and the sheer shamelessness eventually exhausts them."
Perfect description of Evangelical Christians and the alt-right...no wonder that they approve of Russian interference in our election...their ultimate hero is not Trump, but Putin.
6
It will take a Democratic Congress and some chastened Republicans, but it is time for a law that makes the federal tax returns of the President, the Vice President, and major party candidates for those offices, public information to be released by the IRS.
3
Maybe when Estonia is invaded, the world will act.
1
All the comments blaming Fox News are hilarious. I'm a lifelong Republican who voted for only one Democrat in my life...and have never once watched Fox News. I depend on the NYT, Economist and WSJ for my news. If you really believe Fox News is guiding the Republican party, the people who administer Fox News have sold you a wonderful bill of goods. Keep believing.
1
Is it just me, or are there other people who think that the Bedouin chief was NOT thinking of Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump, when he was talking about the the stolen turkey? (I even think he was not thinking of Mr. Erdogan).
Marco Antoniotti
Tom,
Will a resounding trump thumping provide the propellant to drop his repelant and repugnant behavior to the mat?
Will the Evangelical trump lovers claim proximity limelight blindness versus willful blindness?
A GOP thumping lead to mass resignation/ forced retirement of Congressional Leadership?
A concerted economic embargo against Russian state organs, oligarchs provide the shears to clip the eagles wings?
That drop to the mat moment and a KO or TKO, either way America and the World win!
2
When I saw the headline, I truly believed this was an editorial about another former staunch ally now spiraling downwards in to despotism...Turkey.
What applies to Trump and Putin applies to Erdogan.
3
I thought the Billy Bush interview was the turkey for Trump. For Putin, I would have guessed the Olympic invasion of Georgia. For all his moralizing about democracy, George W. Bush sat there, literally next to Putin, and did nothing while Russia invaded a sovereign nation. Smiling no less. Like all things though, the line is hard to draw with Putin. Georgia might have been the camel.
2
I have an idea. Ship Trump and his Tower to Moscow. Then he can have his much coveted ‘Trump Tower Moscow’ and the rest of us can get on with our lives.
2
This is all actually Obama's fault. Syria stole Obama's turkey over chemical weapons and Assad, Putin, McConnell, Trump and dictators everywhere have taken advantage ever since. The "Bright Red Line" was crossed with chemical weapons and the weak response by Obama and Democracy in general showed it was OK to keep stealing.
1
How creative. Blame Obama. All leaders have turkey moments. Some are more dangerous than others. What you don't understand about Obama's turkey was the calculus, could we stand or afford another endless war? Congress was willing to look the other way because America couldn't handle another war.
1
I would extend the Trump timeline back one step further.
When Trump used birtherism, beginning in 2011, to gain a political name for himself, that shameless demagoguery should have been pointed to by all sentient Republicans as the reason why they would not accept or support Trump as their nominee. But crickets.
5
Tom has hit upon a truth that my Dear Old Dad imparted to me back in my wee years: The only way to stop a bully is to punch him in the mouth.
The Donald has surrounded himself with so many toadies that the real World is whatever he wants it to be. Vlad is much more cynical - he knows that he is a plague upon the Earth, but he just does not care.
This era will not be looked upon kindly by historians. Russia we can understand - Vlad stole the country. America was given to The Donald by ignorance and greed.
I am not quite confident that America is smart enough to reject Trump's enablers at the polls.
2
What a ridiculous and completely backwards fable. US has been taking Russia's turkey, and a camel, and a horse, and a daughter (that would be Ukraine, if anybody has missed the point) for 25 years. Until Putin decided that it was enough and Russia itself will be next, if it does not stand up to that racket. But otherwise a great analogy. Because it was not only Russia's turkey that US took, but they treated everybody's turkeys as their own. It was even worse for other countries, where they went straight for the horse or even for the house without even bothering with the turkeys. But the era of free turkeys is over now. Thank you, Vladimir Putin.
1
Thank-you for this excellent column, Mr. Friedman.
Let us use this simple, clarifying idea as the basis for concrete action.
Maybe form a group such as #Where'sMyTurkey with a few specific but assertive propositions on which people of varied political stripes could agree.
Things like "Respect the rule of law" and "show us your taxes".
Then demand that all office seekers declare themselves on the basic demands of the group. Are you in or out? Yes or no.
It's time to cut out the rot.
1
Right on point! We are all guilty! He is a tyrant and needs to be impeached.
1
This phenomenon is terrifying and is something I have long worried about. It is the “normalization” of standards that are egregious. And because they happen over time, when he survives, it makes him “stronger” to his supporters. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
If, on the eve of the election, we were told in one disclosure that his campaign chair is a criminal, his natl security advisor designate is a liar who is compromised by Russians, that Russia manipulated social media to benefit him, that he is equivocal in his support/condemnation of white supremacists, that he attacks the credibility of FBI DOJ and Intel agencies solely because they seek the truth of Russian intervention, that he would publicly suggest firing individuals whose specific mandate is to be a check and balance to his power, that his lawyers would argue that he cannot obstruct Justice because anything he does definitionally must be just, all that and more, would he have been elected? Where are you, GOP?
Midterms are coming. Reap what you sow.
1
Very good points, spot-on. We are terrible at democracy. We are terrible citizens.
We watch, accept, even support the terrible autocrats of the day: Trump, Putin,
Xi Jinping, etc. We're lazy, politically. We see money, property and power concentrating, but really do nothing.
We've never worried about the hegemony of the Communist Party in China: we like their cheap products. We still do. 'Ruler for Life'? So what, can we get cheap stuff from them? Who cares about human rights and a few, well-connected 'communists' becoming billionaires? Same with Russia. Same with USA. Same with India....
Putin & Trump are so much alike; the biggest difference is that Putin is much richer, and that's why Trump wants so badly to be his friend. They're not for democracy or communism: these guys are plutocrats - they want money, that's their allegiance.
Trump is even worse than predicted. And now, since he's a caged rat, with all the corruptions, money-laundering, treasonous electioneering, serial-adulteries & more coming to light, he's now taking us all down with him.
He doesn't care, he's never cared. You're right to say that Trump & Putin are relentless bullies because that's what's worked for them up to this time. Putin wantonly jails & kills his opposition, while hiding his monies in all the corrupt countries that really don't care about humanity (and that list is long, long, long). We're all complicit; & because of that, we will all suffer (we already are).
Democrats must help.
2
Trump failed to condemn Putin after the MH17 plane was shot down. And then did nothing when Russia took Crimea. And barely a peep when it invaded Ukraine. And he refused to sell arms to Ukraine to defend itself.
And Trump failed to intercede when Putin made a sham deal in Syria to rid it of their chemical weapons. And he failed to stop Russia from becoming the major player in Syria that it is now, entrenched and for the first time in a generation. And Trump quietly deported 10 Russian “sleeper agents” after they were discovered here. And, of course, Trump failed to meaningfully stop Russia from interfering in the 16’ Presidential election.
I could go on and on but you get the picture.
102
And what if American voters CAN'T stop Trump? Unless we can ensure a fair mid-term election, could it be that all bets are off?
3
Hate to admit it but BigD’s point really illustrates just how partisan this Russia criticism has become. Great job in pointing that out.
3
I fully agree with the Friedman's argument. Any reasonable person, regardless of political position, can see that a failure to address small offenses opens the door to larger ones.
But, the core of Friedman's argument is nothing new. It is the Broken Windows Theory, which was so successfully applied to NYC policing, beginning decades ago under Mayor Gulliani and Police Commissioner Bratton. Despite widespread initial skepticism, the result was an astounding, precipitous, sustained drop in all crime across the City!
Inconveniently, that progress took place under a Republican mayor and continued under his Republican successor. So, predictably our current Democratic mayor (DiBozo) immediately directed the police to ignore those petty crimes. The result is deplorable subway conditions (homeless stretched out across benches to sleep, passengers playing loud music with impunity, and turnstile jumpers at every station), panhandlers aggressively blocking entrances to subways and buildings, open pot-smoking on every sidewalk. While these conditions may not seem momentous, it is important to remember where these ignored transgressions have led in the past and will eventually lead again.
As I read Friedman's article, I momentarily imagined countless readers across the political spectrum agreeing in non-partisan unity, a refreshing objectivity that transcends the individuals being examined! Can we now all acknowledge that it should be just as applicable to DiBlasio as to Trump?!
Well, maybe instead of a turkey we will have some stray chicks. Maybe, Mother Hen no. 3 will leave without being abducted. Now that would be a first.
As to the other cluck we are forgetting who told his technical people where to find the info. Two words we've forgotten in all the noise -- Edward Snowden. Still out there.
Trump is the self-confessed King of Debt. His returns may reflect that he lives on borrowed money. Unfortunately, this is also the national condition. Trump is the mirror of the nation's worst self. The title of this should be Give me Back my GOP.
What galls me is how Republican voters allowed themselves to be sucked into this vortex that the Extreme Right created for themselves. Eight years of an exemplary Obama Administration are denigrated because Obama's father was a black African. The Chris Matthews-denoted 'Clown Car' epithet for the Republican line-up in 2016 was a perfect storm of utter fools, each claiming to be more conservative than those standing to his or her immediate right or left. Not a patriot in the lot of them. And Donald Trump beat each of them in turn by playing the schoolyard bully, and by exposing the ideological and moral bankruptcy of all of them. The only real surprise about Trump has been that he lacks the guile and smarts of a Vladimir Putin. What's with those voters that they act in ways that would have driven them in armed revolt if Trump's behavior and passivity towards Putin had been a feature of the Obama Administration.
A generation ago, Hillary Clinton would have been a perfectly respectable Republican candidate. But Republican candidates are still running against her, while at the same time hoping that their constituents won't notice that they've been burning our government to the ground.
So, what's with these voters, many of whom depend on governmental services that Trump and congressional Republicans are bent on destroying. Whatever gave them the idea that they're exempt from the viscitudes of life and that what affects the rest of us affects them to the same extent?
2
Without equating Trump with Hitler, we can draw a lesson from the international reaction to the latter's violation of the Versailles Treaty. Hitler's contempt for the allies that defeated Germany in WWI encouraged him to test their willingness to enforce the provisions of that treaty. First, he violated its terms by sending troops into the Rhineland. When the Allies did not react, he openly disregarded the treaty's limitations on the size and armament of the German military machine.
In both cases, British critics of the Treaty of Versailles argued that Hitler was merely behaving as any leader of a sovereign power would. Further confirmed in the low opinion of his adversaries, Hitler marched troops into Austria and forcibly annexed that country. By the time Britain and France threatened him with war over Poland, they faced a formidable foe armed with the latest military technology, an enemy they could have easily crushed only a few years before.
In like manner, Trump's refusal to release his tax returns did not break any laws, so his GOP opponents let it pass. His abuse of women, while a violation of the norms of civilized society, did not affect his stand on policies favored by the Republicans, so again the reaction was muted. Now, in the face of more egregious behavior, the GOP confronts the consequences of its earlier complicity. Will it go to war if he fires Mueller? If so, they could split the party. The clown of 2015 has become a powerful adversary.
1
I believe the Trump presidency will end in a grave Constitutional crisis in a Saturday Night Massacre of firing, Mueller included. When the Republican majority does nothing, my question is what will we (I mean the American people) do? Clearly we can't simply keep complaining. All of us need to start thinking about our personal responsibility to protect American democracy from this assault on the Constitution--not by Trump per se, but by the entire Republican Party, which will be complicit.
2
"...whoever pays the most in votes or money gets to choose." Just as we should stop using the term "conservative" for those who should correctly be called "right wing reactionaries," we should begin to refer to the once respectable G.O.P. as the P.O.G., the "Party of Greed."
3
The turkey parable is a slippery slope parable, and we know where that leads. The propaganda machine is in full swing, telling us the turkey is a lying chicken and deserves to lose.
Addressing the misinformation and propaganda might be a better strategy.
1
I agree with every word of this piece. Yet, millions of Americans continue to stand behind Trump, no matter what he says or does. I see it among people I know. They have been thoroughly brainwashed by decades of talk radio and Fox News. No lie is too outrageous for them to accept. And GOP politicians are so afraid of this base that they refuse to speak out against a man who bows to dictators and denigrates every value of decency Americans once cherished. One has to wonder whether the country we knew can be preserved. If it is, it will be because of a grassroots resistance. Patriots of every political stripe must do their best support that resistance.
1
Thank you Mr. Friedman, this is the perfect metaphor for the daily escalation of Trump's outrageous and dangerous behaviors.
I fully blame Paul Ryan & Mitch McConnell, so-called "Leaders" of the Republican Party, whose job it is to act as a check on, and CENSURE, the President when he behaves in a manner unbefitting of the office of President of the United States.
It is clear Ryan and McConnell have sold their souls to the devil, emboldening DJT, feeding his tyrannical nature and seriously endangering security of our nation.
Ryan and McConnell should be removed from office for dereliction of duty.
1
Trump’s turkey was birtherism. It was an lie unprecedented in brazenness, and should have ended his political career. Instead the lie boosted it.
Tom, bingo!
Unfortunately, I am not holding my breath...
The turkey went missing long ago.
More to the point though; the American public has been missing in action on the left and the right. But the right really stinks as it has sold out its values at every turn in the road. Add to that McConnell the Rat blocked a legit supreme court nominee and the Dems did nothing.
I don't think that the stolen "turkey" that started this debacle was Trump not filings tax his returns. The system became corrupted by the combination of steadily more egregious gerrymandering in combination with obscene amounts of money pouring into electioneering.
Modern computer assisted gerrymandering can make some votes worth much more than others by creating left or right leaning constituencies. That, in turn, makes primary challenges more or a threat than general elections. That, in turn, makes raising money to fend off primary challenges more critical to political survival.
In Canada, constituency boundaries are set by a panel of judges. Boundaries must normally be either straight lines or follow some geographical feature dividing a community such as a river or train tracks. The result is constituencies that regularly change MPs' parties in general elections. That election turnover, in turn, is very healthy for a democracy. In order to be electable, candidates tend to be much more centrist than in the hyper-polarized USA.
Centrist Congressmen representing districts that are much more likely to"throw the bums out" would be much more likely to assert their constitutional prerogatives than the hyper-partisan bunch now serving in Congress.
As it is, a political system based on checks and balances fails readily when "blind party loyalty" predominates.
5
Dude. You are missing the point of "it starting with a turkey".
It is "here is a simple point where we should have said enough, but didn't; leading to all other kinds of problems".
The whole point of an allegory is TO SIMPLIFY...and your take it back to gerrymandering. Sheesh!
Gerrymandering can ONLY ever effect races for Congresspersons, who elected from individual districts.
It has no effect whatsoever on Senate races, which are statewide nor on the Presidential race, which is NATIONAL.
Also, Democrats have been gerrymandering FOR YEARS and love it.
As a Canadian citizen in Canada, you clearly do not understand how our system works.
I think I do understand your system.
My point was not that Republican gerrymandering was wrong, it was that all gerrymandering results in the devaluation of some voters. It should be stopped. The fact that Democrats did it when they could does not make it right. It illustrates the progressively thinner foundations of American democracy.
The House of Representatives is populated by much more partisan politicians than your Senate - witness Nunes' and his committee. As you pointed out Senators represent a entire state while Representatives are accountable only to their (often gerrymandered) districts.
The Senate works much better for the reason you cite. Senators must appeal to a broader swath of state wide political opinion.
Finally. the amount of money in the American political system is corrosive. Raising money for re-election takes far too much time relative to time spent thinking and acting about policy. This gets to the extreme when lobbyists bring large chunks of draft legislation into committee rooms to drop into key bills. Money gains access - and that corrodes the political system
1
Trump is only doing to America what America has been doing to the rest of the world since WWII. Acting imperiously, being arrogant, insulting, lying, grandiose, ... The quintessential ugly American. Generation after generation we selectively remember only our virtues and good deeds, while disregarding the rest. In the end, we get what we deserve. Perhaps we'll learn from the mess we've created. But then again, we may choose to forget - is just so easy.
4
This op-ed is a reason to subscribe to your paper.
I only add that the most effective disinfectants to Trump are -
1 - not stoop to his level. Don't mock, shame, debase, lie
2 - talk directly to the American people, and do it calmly and earnestly.
Trump talks into the camera to his base. Democrats talk to cable news
interviewers. They should talk directly to Trump supporters pointing
out what Mr. Friedman does.
10
It would be a waste of breath and time to follow your advice. Trump rarely looks directly to the camera. Liars never look anyone in the eye. Why would his supporters listen to anyone who followed your advice?
"All the world's a stage,........", thus wrote the Bard. We see these emboldened acts committed daily in every day affairs among the populace. It is child raising 101. It is much more serious among adults. On the world stage it is even more serious and even more difficult to discern when the turkey was stolen initially. Was it when Ike denied that our U2 with Gary Powers aboard had flown high above the Soviet Union or when Khrushchev lied about Russian missiles in Cuba?
Putin most likely was quite angry that Russia was implicated in the airline incident. Unintended consequences of his Ukraine adventure. On the other hand, we have been on adventures that were accompanied by far, far more innocent deaths than the airline incident, as horrible that it was. The Iraq War certainly comes to mind, regardless of its merits in some quarters at the time. There is no doubt that it could have been avoided. It was a War of choice.
Suffice it to say that National Interests are not always in everybody's interests.
1
I like this Tyson philosophy.
Sometimes some decent violence is needed albeit a peaceful heart.
1
Don't wander, Mr. Friedman. The real QUESTION is who would lend money to a serial bankrupt - and what do they really expect in return. Only Deutche Bank and Russian oligarchs know the answer.
Follow the money.
Subpoena the tax returns.
Nail the Big Bluffer.
7
At the time they lent him money, nobody could have possibly predicated Trump would be President -- heck, it was highly unlikely he would even make a showing in the primaries. The easy money predicted he would be the first candidate to drop out of the race for lack of votes -- he was a rank amateur with no experience and no backers.
If the Russians KNEW years in advance that Trump would win....they are psychics!
Concerned, this has nothing to do with Russian prognosticators and everything to do with possible money-laundering and susceptibility to blackmail. When Trump won the primaries, the Russian disinformation campaign went into high gear to (1) get their stooge elected, and (2) to sow discord in our democracy (as they have done elsewhere in Europe).
3
TY Mr. Friedman for a simple, honest breakdown of what's gone wrong here, so now let's finish it & name the turkey-- Bill Clinton. When Americans became persuaded that a president's poor personal behavior was divorced from his public job performance, we gave up our rightful claim to the expectation of integrity, in any future inhabitants of the office. "Integrity" is the structural soundness/"wholeness" of character-- a match-up of thought, word, and deed. Historically, it was valued as a "civic virtue" requirement, for fitness to hold & keep high office. Well, we de-valued it, & we're now seeing that virtue, once dumped, is not easily regained. So enough handwringing-- we've put an unfit personality into the most powerful office in the world, & Friedman's right-- only thing to do now is minimize his powers by removing GOP's from their offices. Start now by planning your own votes in whatever elections are upcoming for you, & by establishing the "standard of expectations" among your own friends/fam that all serious adults must vote.
65
Of course it’s clinton’s fault! Everything is! Even today’s east coast snowstorm.
10
Hello, Dra-- with respect, if all you got out of the above was 2 words, Bill Clinton, may i suggest you re-read all of the other words, to locate the main idea?
1
Ridiculous. Clinton is not the first nor the worst to have sexual indiscretions while president. Enough with the Clinton bashing. Democrats need to stop attacking their own if they want to regain control in November.
7
The curious fact was Benjamin Franklin's nomination for a national symbol was not the bald eagle but rather the turkey. It is the small, ordinary and often overlooked things which can make the most difference. Ignoring the turkey was bad for the Bedouin chief. Ignoring the voters now stirring to life in the land will be just as bad for the President who would be king.
1
My gut tells me this is a good piece, but my brain, if any, runs into a problem near the beginning.
You and Donald Trump note that he got away with refusing to release his tax returns: we didn't do anything. But what, exactly, could we have done? Unfortunately, the President of the United States is not required to release his or her tax returns or, for that matter, to put financial holdings in a blind trust. Those are honorable conventions that didn't need to be requirements till Trump came along.
Maybe the idea is that we should have kept clamoring for the tax returns and shaming Trump about withholding them, but it's clear by now that clamoring and shaming have no effect on him.
So -- what might we have done about that particular turkey?
2
A fabulous article. Sadly, I and many others believe that we would be at this same point if Hillary had won too - up to our necks in corruption, payoffs, lies and malfeasance. BUT she would have been able to govern and not trip so easily over the wires we still have in this democracy to humble the unable and unworthy. Perhaps in that we are lucky it was Trump, a man who will destroy himself if we can maintain Mueller in place long enough to have justice work.
John--your easygoing assumption of moral equivalency between Trump and Clinton (supported by no evidence whatsoever pertaining to specific behaviors); suggests that you are a bot with an intent to spread irritation rather than a person with serious concerns about the future of our nation.
1
Hardly. And I am hardly making a case for moral equivalency. More, I am trying to say that our elections and our political parties are at an end point, a crisis. Bush II WMD, Clinton and Monica, Trump (endlessly), and Hillary with emails, a Foundation and all - they are all symptoms of a political system creaking on its last legs. Corrupt, stupid as well as corrupt and stupid is the norm, with guys like Obama being an exception, not a rule. We are at a crisis and the crisis is more than just Trump. Don't you see that?
I don't disagree that the political system is in serious dysfunction and that in Pres Obama we got a far better leader than we deserved. Further, the American system deserves some praise for having elected him. However, it must be noted that Obama was largely thwarted by a corrupt Congress and a mentally disturbed electorate (see the Tea Party). But to identify the Clinton Foundation with the corruption of the Bushes or Trump is fatuous. As far as I know the worst that can be said of the Clinton Foundation is that it accepted Saudi money to be used entirely for the treatment of AIDS in Africa. As for the "emails" are your referring to the ones hacked by the Russians which merely documented private intra-party tensions or are you referring to her alleged carelessness in maintaining a private server (which, unlike that of the State Department ) was not hacked?
So simple.
So clear.
So true.
It is, indeed, up to us.
Thank you again, Thomas Friedman, for the clarity of your insights and your 'plain-speak'. You are a treasure.
3
You really are giving Putin way too much credit for creating this monster. The real kudos actually belong to Roy Cohn, Trump's much admired teacher and mentor. By all accounts, his protégé has done well, using his preferred and long practiced tactics.
2
Friedman is right, of course, but insufficient. We have a nest of traitors in the White House, who owe their positions to Putin and the corrupt Republican billionaire Robert Mercer. Indeed, as Friedman says, Trump has crossed many red lines in the norms of US political behavior. Our democratic institutions seem increasingly fragile and empty, falling away from view like overcooked fish falling off the bone. As a nation, we may well be done for.
1
Excellent points. It's nice when a pundit rakes through the distractions to find the basics of trump's many perfidies. Over the years trump has managed to avoid justice on so many occasions due to the like of spine on the parts of those who were in the position to put the brakes on his transgressions, some of those persons actually having been judges. I don't ever remember anyone confronting trump or a spokesperson directly on the fact that the IRS always sends a letter to announce an audit: "Mr. Trump, will you show us that letter?" Ryan and McConnell are likewise not being called out by the press on very serious matters. McConnell has waved many an incompetent, reprobate and horribly conflicted individual into government without proper examination and debate. Rex Tillerson stood to make over $100 million should the Russians sanctions be lifted and the half trillion dollar Exxon-Putin deal be completed. Exxon withdrew their offer around the first of March; Tillerson speaks out against Russia about two weeks later and is fired the next day, having outlived his usefulness. I'll venture that this is the biggest conflict of interest we may have seen in our political history. McConnell received $3.75 million in a donation from a Russian oligarch, that individual matching that amount to other R's. Stop chasing rabbits, press, and look for the rot at the core.
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There are very significant differences between the methods, nature and nurture of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
Putin was born and bred in modest beginnings in Leningrad, Soviet Union now St. Petersburg, Russia 65 years ago to a World War II military veteran father and an Orthodox mother. Putin grew up with the legend of Czar Peter the Great. Putin's education was in the law and his professional training and experience is in intelligence. Russia is an aging and shrinking nation of 145 million.
Putin craftily smirks and smiles while he denies making mayhem in America, Crimea, Syria and Ukraine. While Putin's foes end up in hospitals, mental institutions, prisons, urns and coffins he never blusters nor threatens. Putin is a confident corrupt cruel cynical straight-up streetwise gangster whose goal is to be the next Czar of Russia instead of the next Comrade of the Soviet Union.
Trump was born and bred to New York City real estate power and privilege 71 years ago. Trump had no government political experience before being elected to head one branch of our divided limited power constitutional republic government. There are 320 million people in an America with a GDP that is 15x Russia and a military that costs 9x Russia.
Trump is a blustering blundering bullying buffoon by tweeting and speaking. Trump's intemperate and insecure open snarling and barking is the antithesis of Putin. Putin is the master. Trump is the pet.
1
Republicans tolerate Trump because if they get what they want (tax breaks and no regulations for corporations) they are ok with it. "By any means necessary!"
2
The philosopher Spinoza observed (back in 1675) that "when a greedy man thinks of nothing else but profit, or money, and an ambitious man of esteem, they are not thought to be mad, because they are usually troublesome and are considered worthy of hate, but greed, ambition and lust really are species of madness, even though they are not numbered among the diseases." Yes, the question really is how far will this disease travel through the organs of this people's constitution? Truly we must rise to repair this body. We each must make more of us than who revel in this sickness. We've got to continue to protest and vote THIS disease out.
2
Very decent comment--it may, however be a different kettle of fish if the "illness" is accompanied by authoritative brutality.
"American voters have to go to the polls and deal a resounding electoral defeat to this Republican Party, which Trump has taken over like an invasive species."
Remember the election of 2000 and the solution was to come up with voting machines? Yeah, machines! That works out really well.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/08/2016-elections-russia-ha...
"With Russia already meddling in 2016, a ragtag group of obsessive tech experts is warning that stealing the ultimate prize—victory on Nov. 8—would be child’s play."
I was a tax agent. My boyfriend (deceased now) was a tax auditor. There is nothing stopping Trump from releasing his tax returns. Trump had to release them to banks when requesting loans, lines of credit. So what is stopping him from releasing them now? He is hiding something nefarious. Possibly money from Russia? I truly hope that if Trump runs for another term he is defeated. Our country is resilient but it is possible we may turn to a civil war. We may be destroyed by Russia or destroyed from within. We must keep our democracy. I don't understand the one-third of our country who still stick with Trump. I was unaware there were that many racist, anti-immigrant, anti-civil rights voters in this country. Be afraid, be very afraid.
2
Billy Bush told Bill Maher show.
Trump lies and expects everybody go along with it.
Billy Bush when is confronted with Trump during their Tv years, Trump came after the scene told him, Just tell it, lie or if we tell it they will believe.
This is the philosophy of Trump, Lie repeat lies again and again, till truth sayers tired and worn out.
Oh, please - do you really think Obama didn't have his returns audited? Do you really think a personal return shows anything about his business dealings?
1
My own guess is that if you borrowed that kind of money -- hundreds of millions of dollars -- you might well do it "on the sly" and not put it on your tax returns anyhow.
john, you are hilarious. The only Trump return any of us ever saw showed a loss of $916,000. Almost a billion dollars. The tax return software the accountant used couldn't even handle numbers that big. Yes, they tracked down the accountant who said he had to make the entry by hand because the loss was too big.
That number on one page of a return may not inform us as to what the business dealings were, but it sure does say Trump wasn't all that good of a businessman.
As for Obama--he released his tax returns. Whether they were ever audited or not is irrelevant.
1
It is beyond belief that Fox News (and others) can be supportive of Trump for an entire four year term. At some point conservative pundits will need to be honest and admit Trump is a turkey thief and worse.
This two party system doesn't have much flexibility to dump bad candidates. Do overs come four years later.
Thomas L. Friedman wrote a thoughtful piece.
We have lost our souls and with it, our conscience. Perhaps a few Statesmen will rescue us and our Country before we succumb to the wrath this Administration has sown.
Give us hope?
6
"Back to the Future II" when Biff found the Almanac - anyone?... Where's Marty McFly when you need a hero. Another day another outrage. lucky we've still got the opiate of Facebook.
I can tell you the names of the men who made it possible for Trump to get away with not releasing his taxes. They are Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell.
I can't tell you the names of the people who have been letting Putin get away with his crimes. They are all dead or in jail.
8
A. Stanton: Ryan and McConnell had nothing to do with that at all.
There are literally NO LAWS whatsoever requiring POTUS or a candidate for POTUS to release their tax returns.
None.
If you want such a law, then you'll have to ask your liberal representatives to propose and pass one in Congress. But so far...."crickets".
Concerned, you misunderstand Stanton's argument. Ryan and McConnell are the only representatives who could "propose and pass one in Congress." That is why he can accuse them of letting Trump get away with not releasing his returns.
Irrespective of the "LAWS", why did Trump promise to release his and then renege on that promise?
2
I think that this principle was once called “the lesson of Munich.” But it seems that that only applied to German dictators who coveted Czechoslovakia.
1
Curious how Mr. Friedman is ready to call out what he calls Russia’s “genocide” in Syria (which it is and he absolutely should), but barely tsktsks the Saudis for what he calls their “overreach” in Yemen. I’d love the hear his reasoning nehind this little bit of hypocrisy.
1
You missed the part where Trump will pardon the turkey ie himself.
2
One of Mr. Friedman's best ever. Bravo.
4
“We failed to contain the egregious behavior of both Donald Trump and Putin”. “We”? Republicans failed to contain the egregious behavior of Donald Trump.
8
"But American voters can stop Trump" So true. Upset the turkeys who put Trump in office.
1
Since we are on the subject of “Turkeys” Thomas I would ask that you quit cherry picking the flock. Why don’t we analyze a few of the worlds major problems, they would begin I should think with Wars raging in the Middle East and the refugee problem that is destabilizing Europe as a result, from there to globalization and its detrimental effect on advanced nations, in particular the middle class; the final top three would include the financial crisis and its aftermath. So my list would be quite different from yours, preferring not to highlight two presumed not proven acts when we are in the midst of a rafter of deranged turkeys who have openly flaunted the world as they went about fueling the fires that advanced their agenda. I in no way wish to point the finger at any one group, but it seems most of our problems with respect to Current Wars and refugee crisis have manifested from the pursuit of oil and
the Palestinian/ Israeli Issues, the financial crisis from Wall Street greed, and globalization from individual greed when decisions are made to shut down factories and off shore jobs to pump up profits no longer being shared with the rank and file. None of these has anything to do with Trump or Putin they may be less than appealing but the conditions raged long before they were on the scene and the continueing diversion allows the real culprits to go on unscathed. BTW, what happened after the visit between Bibi and Trump?
4
Thanks for writing exactly what I've believed yet could not succinctly put into words.
4
I'm not sure even a resounding Democratic victory would clear out enough of these bums. It would need to take out the "leaders," as well as non-Patriots like Nunes and the whole gang of Trump enablers. Don't forget, we still have a population of nearly 40% who are, and will remain, knuckle-draggers. And if we get a Democratic President in 2020, the 2022 mid-terms will just take out the party of the incumbent President, as always happens, no matter how good he or she is. I think it may take a whole generation to fix this. In addition, Trump is putting in a right-wing judiciary of lifers. I am 71 years old. I hope I get the see this all washed away before I go. Racism and sexism have reared it's ugly head, making it difficult to elect a woman President or another African-American, however much I'd like to see that happen. I have never felt
so discouraged about our Republic. Can you imagine what our founding fathers would think of what happened to their noble experiment? And it's happening in all the Western Democracies.
14
Fantastic!
2
Just pointing to the leaders is really lame. 33% of Americans love Trump. A third of our citizens want this. Also why is Putin corrupting the world and Trump only 'America'?
6
Not necessarily. 33% of the voters in the last presidential election did. Not automatically a solid foundation for a sweeping extrapolation. :)
As long as the Evangelicals mistrust Democrats more than Trump/Putin we will slide down the hole. Remember when G.W. Bush could see into Putin's soul, and then the turkey was gone in a flash.
3
Don't like Bedouin parables, but I was willing to give you a pass until the Mike Tyson quote. American voters cannot stop anything. No such thing as American voter. Most don't vote. The ones who do vote for their self interests.
He called Putin. Can you believe this?
He is arming Saudi Arabia to give jobs and money to our arms makers.
6
The stolen turkey was Bush v Gore. It led to the horrors of Iraq. It led to the Republican SCOTUS. It led to Citizens United and the secret financial corruption of elections. It led to the utter disregard for political norms by the Republicans (McConnell v Garland). It led to the acceptance of Trump's racist campaign, the assault on the rule of law and decency, and the coddling of killers in Russia, the Philippines and Turkey.
16
The GOP thievery has always been it's first priority. Efforts to eliminate SS, Medicare, etc, trickle down, etc, etc, with the most egregious the stolen 2000 election leading to the total mess in the Middle East and 2008 meltdown. The supreme court debacle is icing on their cake. Killing their golden goose (US democracy) seems to be something they have no ability to understand.
5
Tom
Well said ...
I am encouraged by the actions in Alabama , Virginia and Pennsylvania. Now lets bring it home in November!
4
Trump continues to run is business as well, another red line.
The problem is two pronged, the Congress and the Voters but the voters can change the Congress. The Voters seem unconcerned, what would possibly be a bridge too far for the Republican base?
6
This is classical propaganda, Mr. Friedman, and you know that.
That turkey may just have escaped. In the real world you need to prove allegations and to put them in context.
Everybody knew that Trump was a liar, a thief and a foulmouth. But his voters wanted somebody who would shake up the system and this was the best they could get. In that context it is irrelevant whether he shows his tax returns.
You allegations regarding Putin are just cheap propaganda. Given all the lies and the evasive maneuvres of the Ukrainian government and the US one cannot evade the conclusion that even if it was a Russian Buk there is more to the story than we are told. And all the hysterical noise about the alleged poison attack on Skripal tells me mainly that real evidence is missing and that very likely the British government is blatantly lying to us.
2
Congratulations Mr. Friedman on a great article on how these two dictators are getting away with murder (in Putin's case literally). We need to stop them before as Mr. Friedman our country looses it's soul (as the Republican party already has). Can't wait till November to start taking our country back.
7
Amen, amen, amen! Somebody finally gets this!
4
This article struck me like nothing else I’ve read to date... several hundred words of raw truth!
6
turkey comparison excellent.well written article.
3
BRAVO.
You just punched your readers in the mouth. I hope that we all get the message.
The American republic needs a check to balance the true insanity that is Don Trump. Voting is the only way that hope can return and that our children and grandchildren will not be brought up in an America of the rich swamp people.
Keep at it Tom.
5
Clearly issues, policies and morality are of no concern to winners, winners like the the GOP leadership of the Ryan & McConnell twins, the evangelical voting block, or the hordes of racists no longer buried in our electorate.
Winners are sometimes infected with bullying disease. Like now.
Winners are beloved by God, otherwise they wouldn't be winning. When you come to think of it, winners are often very religious, like the zealots who now wear Christianity like a shield against their in-your-face hypocrisy.
Winners have more money. Therefore, if you have more money, you are a winner. It's very important to acquire that money. How you get it matters less than having it. Winners are greedy. Greed and winning always show up holding hands.
The only thing winners can't buy or steal or elect are losers. That's the rest of us. We are complicit through indifference.
VOTE. Uncle Sam Needs You Now More Than Ever.
2
The Mike Tyson quote sums it up perfectly. If, during the Republican primary debates, simply one candidate had walked over to Trump and punched him in the face after one of his schoolyard insults, he would have collapsed like the cheap suit that he is.
" As the great philosopher Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.”, Priceless
This column, or a version of it, should be in every Democratic political ad in the 2018 and 2020 elections!
Thank you Tom Friedman!
Good advice BUT maybe the voters who vote for Trump are part of the gang who steal turkeys and believe it is legal moral and ethical
2
Trump got into the position to steal the turkey because Democrats continue to pick the wrong issues and backed the wrong horse. This enabling of vultures will continue until the Democrats get smart and tough. And become both at the same time. The Democrats have still not learned, except perhaps Bill Clinton, that it is easier to make changes from a position of power. Legitimate and lasting power is achieved only by consensus. Economic stability, infrastructure, national security and immigration could probably all be addressed in a manner that satisfies most Americans were it not for the disproportionate distractions of secondary issues. By ignoring those core issues - which are important to a large majority of all Americans, especially those residing beyond the big cities - the keys to the kingdom were all but handed to the current miscreant and his loyal vassals.
105
I disagree.
How any more than 5% of Americans could vote for Trump is still amazing to me.
It is due to right wing media. Fox News went to Canada and gave up after three years. Not enough audience. Canadians are more intelligent.
Trump and Fox News and talk radio is a demand side problem.
5
I don't disagree. When Black Lives Matter addresses facts like blacks are more likely to get arrested for the same crime as whites and more likely to serve time, I listen and support them. When they try to use Michael Brown (Ferguson) or Eric Garner as poster children for racism, they give the right wing extremists ammunition. When the Democrats support Gay rights and Gay marriage I'm behind them 100%, but when they insist that alleged transgenders get to use the locker rooms of their choice on dubious grounds, they give the right wing extremists ammunition. We do need an intelligent and honorable conservative wing to balance things out, but unfortunately the Republicans have been bought and sold.
I disagree. Hilliard Clinton was by far the strongest candidate in 2016, bar none.
By endlessly relitigating the 2016 election in terms of "we backed the wrong horse" instead of pointing the finger at the salacious and powerful Republican propaganda machine, gerrymandering and esp our electoral college system, Democrats disparage their own.
By taking down Al Franken without due process, continually hitting on Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats show a particular affinity for eating their own. It is destructive.
This should not be happening
in a critical time when Dems need to stick together, learn the strategic lessons from 2016, and create a new strategy for winning.
One of those strategies is STOP BASHING OUR OWN.
3
As the great philosopher Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.”
In a column that is spot-on, nothing is more “on” than this. Nothing would hurt the Trump brand more than a resounding midterm defeat, which will lead to what’s left of his support abandoning him and a lame-duck, one-term presidency.
20
Scary, and very sad.
You are actually implying that Trump, following Putin, Araduan and the likes,with the help of his Republican base (and donors), may be able to gradually succeed in converting the remnants of our democratic system into an autocracy.
1
Sean Spicer’s first news conference in the White House was a clear, deliberate signal to the public and the press that the administration was going to lie to public whenever they wanted and that nobody could do anything about it. The
Russians’ brazen nerve gas attack was done with the same intent. Both are acting as if there will never be consequences for any of their actions.
365
Unfortunately, the GOP will continually aid and abet Trump. That's why we need term limits to get rid of them
2
No, the most direct and effective way is vote out the entire orange one cult (formally Republican) members in the House and Senate until they display a basic understanding and adherrence to your constitution, or maybe just start a brand new party with rock solid commitments to the rule of law.
Exactly. Sadly, Putin and Trump might be right: no consequences. Just fawning admiration.
1
...and in the case of Erdogan (of Turkey), which is his turkey? (Here is another dictator that is getting away with everything, and perhaps his "turkey" was not letting the American forces use the American base in Turkey during the Iraq war, or that he was buying oil from ISIS, and so so many others).
Currently, we are in a leaderless world. (Trump did not get the memo that he is a world leader and he should behave as one). We used the Kurds and then we let them get slaughtered by Erdogan in Afrin. Shame on all of us...
...and shame on Erdogan. He could have done so much more for his people, instead of looking at a map and dreaming of old (Ottoman) glory.
6
Donald Trump should have never been elected President. But he was, by the slimmest of margins. The majority of those who voted for him knew the truth, that he was a poor excuse for a real human.
With each day the real trump is further revealed. Come November, we must vote to start the process of really making America Great Again.
10
The majority of the people voted for Clinton. The electoral college put Trump into the White House, not the people. We have to do away with the electoral college. It does not follow the will of the people.
1
"poor excuse for a real human"... Spot on!
1
I have faith Special Counsel Mueller will find America’s stolen Turkey and then, in November, we, the American voters, can hoist Trump and his Republican lackeys by their petards.
A vote against a Republican is a vote for impeachment. So, I’m voting for impeachment; it will be the best vote of my 40 years of voting!
11
Mueller may well find America's stolen turkey but with a GOP-dominated Congress, he's going to need the American people to get in behind him loudly and emphatically if any change is going to be possible.
1
I actually disagree slightly. I think the turkey was the birther issue. That issue was so preposterous that if people believed that they would believe anything.
20
Re: Tax returns. It should be mandated that all candidates for federal elected office (That only is only four. President, Vice President, Senate and House) be required to submit the last five years of tax returns. One could say that after an initial submission of five only the gap years beteeen elections need be submitted. No. Amended returns may have been submitted.
8
yes!
1
one big sanction against Putin would be to boycott Russia through tourism. Don’t go to russia. I wonder how long tour companies go certain countries before they realize they’re dealing with an enemy. Americans continue through their travel dollars to support enemies.
6
Isn't your turkey parable just another version of the "broken window" theory? If you take care of the little stuff, the big stuff will take care of itself. If you do not take care of the little stuff, you invite more problems because you show you do not really care.
7
An intelligent analysis. And shouldn't the same exact points apply to the government of Iran? When prime minister Netanyahu opposed the Iran deal and spoke to Congress to point out the dangers of lifting sanctions against Iran, the black caucus in Congress refused to attend and many liberals decried Netanyahu's gall.
It is Orwellian how liberals can see the dangers of people like Trump and Putin while a country like Iran, one of the leading sponsors of world terrorism, is given a free pass. Thanks to the Iran deal and the lifting of sanctions, that country was infused with billions of dollars of fresh cash so it could purchase billions of dollars of new weapons from Russia and continue its development of a sophisticated ballistic missile system. This ballistic missile system at present can reach throughout the Middle East, and will soon be able to reach Europe and the United States.
1
The deeper question is why they are able to do this. Last Sunday Fared Zakaria interviewed a reporter from Moscow and it was clear to me that 80% of Russian citizens loved Putin. Wining an election on that situation is cake walk - In spite of West cries for rigged election. Same story in America - last CNN pole showed Trump approval rating is 40%. Two clear case of corruption, lies and obnoxious moral characters displayed through violance and sexual behavior. In democracy, citizens are supposed to monitor these character failures and both Americans and Russians failed to do that. You can not blame the individuals - question the citizens. Republican Party supporters are mostly white Americans so specific question to the white Americans. Why this happened - evengdlical, small and medium business community and rural Americans. Most of those people will not want Trump as the role model of their sons, but how they are supporting him. I saw the picture of Trump rally and see the pictures of white Americans cheering the rally - they look very much normal white Americans outside. If you look inside there is no material - no morality, no love for truthfulness, no sense of decency and finally they do not care of their country. The damage America suffered during last fourteen months will take long time to heal. When global economy and power are rapidly shifting and other power is pursuing a clear strategy to degrade the interest of West - America is drifting towards chaos.
5
Putin and Trump chose the people. How to stop them and whether it should be done?
Yes, a fine analogy Tom. Another one: The Barbarians were at the gate and now the gate has been blown. We are in the hands of immoral, ruthless barbarians. Lots of names to throw out there: Trump, Putin, McConnell, Ryan, and the owner of the state media, Murdoch. I would add the 'conservative' members of SCOTUS, especially Thomas, Alito (Corporations are people), and now Gorsuch.
Labels have lost their meaning. Just a word now as the label Conservative has come to refer to a threatening class of 'barbarians' that must be defeated in what remains of a working democracy. When did that start? Some accuse Reagan, Gingrich, and other mad dogs of destroying what the Big C used to mean. Now we have moderates, liberals,and Independents all of whom must band together to recover our 'morality' as The Prophet Bruce tells us below.
Do we have the collective spine? Can the Turkey be retrieved? Looks like the young people may just show the way now.
6
"They each started by — metaphorically speaking — stealing a turkey. And when we didn’t respond, they kept ratcheting up their wretched behavior.."
Well, Democrats responded, McCain responded, I responded. It may be a useful exercise to ask precisely who has not responded and focus more attention on them. Oh wait, elections are coming up soon and their results should focus the minds of the turkey enablers.
5
"Divide and rule" - that is our real problem.
This strategy was developed by ancient generals, the motto is credited to Philip II of Macedon, although Julius Caesar made this explicitly part of his political agenda.
We can't get back a turkey if half of the society consider the victims of a theft as sore losers or even miscreant themself and accept the crime as some kind of retribution.
Trump gets away because he made us believe this is a them against us matter. He get his backing not for the cause, but for the tribal rift, he created.
And stirring up dissent is easier than finding a common inclusive ground.
One way to counter this, and beat Trump, or Putin, is to apply this strategy on themself. Find a way to create dissent in the GOP, or in russia.
And considering Trump, this shouldn't be to hard. Trumps life has been divide and rule, he has created many disloyal groups that distrust each other, fight each other, so they never could step up to challenge him. But they all have something common, deep down inside they all loath Trump. So - just stir them up.
I really would like to see the dems to evolve a little machiavellian attitude.
1
And you really don't think most of us have already figured this out???
Your turkey analogy is spot on, except it didn’t begin with trumps taxes. It began when he continued to berate Obama for not being born in the US. It began with the GOP not shutting him down quickly and decisively but rather enjoying the sport. He realized then he could lead the Republican Party down any path he wanted since self respect and service to country were already long gone. Like the pied piper all he had to do was grab a flute and the rats have blindly been willing and ready to be led anywhere he goes.
7
There's a story to be told in parallel with Mr. Friedman's terrific analysis, about the pervasive lying that both men engage in. A Times story (by David Leonhardt and Stuart Thompson) lists Trump's lies through 12/14/17; a Washington Post story (by Glenn Kessler, Meg Kelly and Nicole Lewis) calculated Trump averaged 5.5 lies per day through 11/14/17.
The lies fog our brains. Investigating them is beyond the abilities of any non-professional. The U.S. systems of government and criminal justice assume that most people mostly tell the truth; the pervasive lies rot the foundations of democracy. Overwhelmed by lies, too many people make ill-founded political decisions.
7
Bravo! The American people need to take this one step further and start demanding answers relevant to themselves (because they know the GOP Congress won't):
Who stole my personal data?
Who stole my right to send my children to a safe school?
Who stole my right to clean air and water?
Who stole my tax dollars for a $31,000 dining room set?
This list could go forever and everyone should determine who these thieves are and then vote against them (with the hope that their votes isn't being stolen too).
5
"As for Putin, the only way to brush him back is with economic sanctions that truly hurt him and his corrupt clique of oligarchs, and an offensive cyber campaign that exposes just how much money they have all stolen from the Russian people."
This sanction is unlikely to happen... for if it does, I would expect Mr. Putin to respond in kind and make sure that everyone in America knows how much OUR "corrupt clique of oligarchs" have stolen from our nation's people through tax avoidance. Corporations and billionaires who shield their profits and earnings from taxation are stealing from the American people as surely as the "corrupt clique of oligarchs" steal from Russia.
1
We should look at America through the Russian looking glass and change what we don’t like before it is too late. Greed, power and corruption may be ones similar that we will not be comfortable with.
"I know what is necessary. American voters have to go to the polls and deal a resounding electoral defeat to this Republican Party. . . ."
This assumes that Trump will not violate another norm, with the supine acquiescence of Congressional Republicans, and try to cancel elections this fall.
2
One cannot steal the Turkey as easily if there are rules that have teeth in place that slow thieves. I believe this starts at home with campaign finance laws. Trump merely walked through an open door that was opened for him many years before he came to town. He stole the turkey right in front of our eyes.
Putin may be cut from the same cloth but he is much less blunt. The entire world is letting him get away with it. And, with the president of the USA in his pocket Putin has the ability to go forth and ruin parts of the world without fear of retaliation or consequence.
What a world.
4
Thank you, Mr. Friedman. Great story about the Bedouin chief. But sadly in our case it's not so much the turkey that has been stolen, as much as it is our democracy -- for that is first and foremost what we have allowed Donald Trump to steal from us, and he shows no signs of wanting to give it back. Ever. Or revealing his tax returns either.
2
As a New York lawyer I look at evidence, that the President stole no 'turkey,' but defeated decisively in 2016 the 'old' Republican Party. Tom also errs in conflating our President with Vladimir Putin, as part of the now discredited Russia probe to the Trump electoral victory. Tom fails to understand not the President but the American people, we deplorables see the President 'is a real person...' and is now achieving, among other things, deregulation, tax reform, the defeat of Isis, standing up to North Korea and valuing life, e.g. judicial appointments. No 'turkey' was stolen by our President but the voters gave him the chance to use his business skills to defeat the DC establishment once and for all. He knows that strategically China and Russia are long term adversaries, but immediately we face a battle of good and evil against Isis, Iran and North Korea. Tom's fantasy of a Bedouin chief reminds me of the dreams of Lawrence of Arabia, he should spend more time in the revived Jerusalem which our President has bravely recognized as the capital of Israel.
1
Our Turkey in the White House is becoming less distinct from Putin, Dutarte, and Xi every day. I look at the headlines in the morning and feel like I need a shower. GOP'ers in Congress with any morality are leaving the place in droves. What does that say? The Turkey is still running amok in the White House.
2
What you leave out is that Trump doesn’t care what goes down with him. Neither does Putin. Both men together are capable of taking down our cherished democracy.
So while we may get back our turkey, our country’s discourse already is barely recognizable
2
This is the most important column ever written in modern America.
It is urgent.
Share with everyone please.
2
tRump consistently harassed Sessions to fire McCabe, after he had fired Comey. Sessions and the GOP let him get by with all of it. It is one very large step to tRump rolling tank-like over Mueller and the entire justice system. He is a dictator and the GOP is enabling and encouraging him. IF he is ever reined in it will be too late. This is man who has absolutely no respect for the law. He once encouraged the police to be "not so nice" to anyone they picked up, he encouraged police to rough-them-up at will. Here's hoping that one day tRump is the one picked up. His assault on the justice system goes well beyond political dealings. He knows that he can proceed with impunity because the GOP, who is in power, allows him to do so. It will end only when they are voted out of office. Can't come soon enough for me.
Yawn. The turkeys that have dominated the last several decades: Viet Nam; the Shah of Iran, Desert Storm, The invasion of Iraq and the subsequent trillion dollar deficit, the economic crisis of 2008 and the Wall St bailout. The American public is so busy sedating itself with Facebook that it can't be bothered to attempt anything that does not yield immediate gratification. We became a weak nation of whiners and self-proclaimed victims and have the government we now deserve because we were too busy 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 years ago to address the real issues. So today we have overdoses as the leading cause of death and school shootings on a weekly basis. We are an unhappy country and have been for a very long time.
While I agree with the overall premise here, and with the observations about Trump, I think Mr. Friedman is in error identifying Putin's "turkey moment" - it wasn't getting away the MHL shoot-down, it was getting away with the invasion and annexation of Crimea. This led in turn to the invasion and attempted annexation of Ukraine, wherein the shoot-down occurred.
That should be MH17, not MHL.
Great analysis, but I would argue that Trump's election win after the Access Hollywood tapes and voters' acceptance of his bullying, name calling ways, made this predictable. Maybe he stole the turkey eggs first.
Getting rid of the present GOP congress depends on an informed electorate. If the last general election is any indication, can we expect a change?
The answer to almost any question about the GOP’s lack of a moral compass on issues is "tax cuts for the rich". "Tax cuts for the rich" is the only inviolable tenet of the GOP everything else can be sacrificed.
25
All true. But unfortunately, here in the backwoods hollows of one of the states that put Trump in office, the folks still have their MGA signs in their yards, on their pickups, and are tuned into Fox news in the barrooms, doctor's offices and hardware stores.
The only thing that might change their attitude is if Trump is taken out in handcuffs for conspiracy, tax evasion, or shooting someone on fifth avenue.
21
Another great article. Yes, Trump can be overcome by the Vote. And so can his minions in Congress.
17
The republican story of going from being deficit hawks to deficit doves shows how they were willing to damage the country in the quest to gain full government control and pass their holy grail of legislation; tax reform.
Deficit spending is essentially fiscal quantitative easing, because it adds to the supply of money and is therefore expansionary. The opposite is true as well.
Economists prefer to look at spending and debt in terms of GDP, which makes sense because it's the ratio of income to debt that determines one's net worth.
Once the republicans gained control of the purse strings starting with fiscal 2011 they consistently reduced the budget deficit in terms of GDP, taking it from around 9% of national income to around 3% by 2016 under the guise of fiscal responsibility. So in other words, during the time the economy was still recovering from the financial crisis, when we should have been doing fiscal quantitative easing we instead were in a tightening mode.
This was done for one reason and one reason only: To damage the economy and therefore hurt the chances of a Democrat winning the White House in 2016.
12
I agree with other comments: Trump's turkey is not his tax returns. For me it was the New Yorker story by Tony Schwartz, ghostwriter of Trump's book "the Art of the Deal". Our democracy needs someone, conservative or liberal, to stand up to Trump, look him in the eye and say "enough". I wonder who that will be.
10
To answer Joewww.
"..... who that will be."
It will have to be the GOP leadership that stands up to Trump and finally says, "Enough".
Otherwise the GOP will go down with Trump and also will go down in history as preferring a Dictator to a President of all the people.
Good hybrid fable. Next time let's go full fable with the story of the scorpion and the frog. An useful analogy to describe the GOP leadership offering Trump a wild ride into political infamy.
Take a three hour flight southwest to spend a few weeks in flyover country sir. Our anger towards our politicians in general, and Trump in particular, is unlike anything I have seen in my 50 years. We're nearing high noon where we'll take to the streets in protest. We will boycott every major corporation to directly impact the economy until our fellow GOP enabling citizens will have no other choice then vote everyone out of Federal office. We won't stop there either. We will hold everyone accountable. No matter the amount of time and cost involved.
16
Oh no, don't take a flight over rural America; get in your car and drive. Select any two "middle-of-nowhere" cities that are an hour or two apart and stay off the interstate highways. Our drive yesterday from Groesbeck to Corsicana primarily on Texas' farm-to-market roads is an excellent example. Take time to stop in a local cafe or walk around a town's Dollar Store (if they are lucky to have one). Admire the number of abandoned buildings in downtown "business districts" but, truthfully, feel the wide openness and beauty in the vast amount of land. You will quickly realize why the people believe to the core that Washington has nothing, absolutely nothing, for them!
5
excellent, accurate analysis; usa and eu must impose draconian sanctions on russia. if we squeeze putin so vehemently, his people will summon the strength to revolt against him. with trump, dem midterm victories; mueller decision; impeach him, remove the entire cabinet.
17
"Long Road Out Of Eden" CD and song by the same name, "Somebody" and "Business as Usual" on Disc Two by the Eagles released October 30, 2007. Musicians are like Magicians that can pull a rabbit out of a hat. The Leaders of the Free World are not the Dictators. The Court Jesters are the Party of the Dictators they represent. Who's Party is it anyway and who's Country is it? The Leaders of the Free World.
USA today is like the Greeks whose Elgin Marbles are in British Museum. When Greece was under Ottoman Empire they lost them. Much of USA is being lost because of Trump Empire.
5
The first step is for solid Republicans to tell their leadership to put America first, stop kowtowing to Trump for hoped for electoral gains, and undoubtedly personal enrichment. Why stop? Because the electorate is beginning to turn a page and Trump will bring down the Republican Party, perhaps permanently, if the Party does not depose him first.
Mueller seems to have proof that Trump and his campaign worked with the Kremlin to mislead the American public and win the election. That is treason, as Russia is our long-time enemy. The threat of a treason charge would impel Trump to resign, avoid a messy and inevitable impeachment.
Time is working against the Republicans saving themselves.
10
What's sadly missing here is analysis as to why "we" didn't do anything.
The fact is, Democrats did what they could. Republicans, knowing they had much to gain by keeping Trump, and little to gain by really opposing him,
did nothing. Friedman conveniently leaves out who the "we" is.
And aside from partisan issues, he neglects to suggest what exactly we were to do. As with the Turkey story, what exactly were the cheif's sons supposed to do, if they couldn't find who took the Turkey? What are we to do if a president goes against convention, but does not technically break the law?
The Republican controlled Justice Department has at least allowed for a special investigation on the most potentially illegal action of Trump.
If you still want the Turkey, then encourage Republican lawmakers to require Presidents and Presidential candidates to disclose their tax records.
18
Trump's turkey was not his tax returns.
Trump's turkey was his birtherism slander, his Central Park 5 slander, and his multiple bankruptcies and marriages.
Character for Truthfulness and Faithfulness matter in public servants.
Forgetting this eternal truth is the GOP's turkey.
40
It appears that Putin and Trump are similar. It seems so simple to me. It's that old saying,"follow the money". Have you heard that one before?
9
Right on the money, just extremely, extremely late.
8
Thanks Tom. I always loved that story from your last book. Before, it was just that: A Story. Now, the reality of it has engrossed our political system, if not the world.
Children seem to understand this more than adults. For sure, animals do. Each will continue to push the limits of restrictions until the adult in the room gives them a swat on the bottom to say NO.
It’s pretty oblivious that no one in the Trump family ever told or showed Donny NOT to steal Turkeys. In the beginning, they probably thought it was cute, like the way so many spoiled children grow up when there isn’t an adult in the room.
Parties are much more difficult to discipline because of sheer numbers. The members can hide behind the party when they steal a turkey and then blame it on “the other party” for leaving it unprotected. To me, that’s what is happening to our political system. Now, the few brave souls within each party are chastised for admitting their party stole the turkey.
How do we stop this? Stop celebrating Thanksgiving Day with a Turkey!
5
Two years ago, Mitch McConnell stole a turkey and got away with it. He blocked Judge Garland from being considered by the Senate as a Supreme Court Justice. The voters did not rise up to throw Mitch out. Instead, the voters gave Mitch and his party total control. The stealing did not begin with Trump, it started with Mitch. We shall see if Voters will hold Mitch responsible for stealing a turkey in the coming elections.
1397
Obama should have asked SCOTUS to rule that he had the right to the next nomination no matter how long it took. SCOTUS would have split 50/50, and you would have a Constitutional crisis, with no one able to fill that seat, and an ex-president sending nominees.
It amazes me to this day that Obama did not fight tooth and nail to defend his right to appoint the next justice. I believe that hurt Hillary's campaign as much as anything else. It certainly eroded my respect for Obama.
5
So what? There are nine Supreme Court Justices.
There is only one President of the United States.
Mitch was not up for election in Kentucky. There are a hundred Senators.
Donald won. Hillary lost.
1
Absolutely agree. When Republican Mitch McConnell violated his constitutional vow to 'Advise and Consent" and all the other Republican Senators followed -- and were allowed to get away with it -- I felt that that was the first major nail in the coffin that was once the American Constitution. The Republican enablers -- who now own America -- continue the practice and allow this disgusting President to get away with -- whatever-- and this aging, Korean vet, now deeply feels that the American "idea" is over. So sad. So tragic.
5
Is Trump all that new? Isn't he just the latest iteration of gangster capitalism that is only brasher, more overt, more obscene than its forerunners in American history? "Who's going to stop me?" has been the successful operating motto of a string of nefarious characters from, just as a few examples, J P Morgan to Jay Gould, John D. Rockefeller, Joseph McCarthy, H L Hunt, the Dulles brothers, the Bush family, Michael Milken, Bill Gates, the Koch brothers, Donald Trump, etc. The common thread is usually-industrial robber baronism. Unfettered oligarchy (and usually oligopoly, too), to put it more simply. (Trump's ego would be puffed up to be mentioned in the same breath as this crew.)
During the New Deal and Great Society, the big money was tempered somewhat from having its way, and its overt crassness had to be muted for social acceptability. But the Reagan Restoration unleashed the dogs (with a lot of Democratic centrist complicity). "Greed is good" was back in vogue; a new Gilded Age was commenced. Real wages have flatlined ever since, as have the real wealth and incomes of the 90%, while those of the 10% advanced strongly, the 1% increased exponentially, the .1% skyrocketed, and the .01% went into the stratosphere.
Inequality? It's oligarch heaven. And with globalization, it went stateless. These people are more loyal to each other than to their nations, witness Trump and Putin. They are accountable to no one. And with money-spiked government, who CAN stop them now?
24
No, the turkey wasn't Trumps tax returns, it started a lot earlier. It wasn't McConnell stealing Obama's Supreme Court Justice. It wasn't Bush starting a war of choice leading to a million dead Iraqis without punishment, and even rehabilitation now. It wasn't relentless gerrymandering and refusal of voters in every election in the last decades. It wasn't the continuing smearing of the Clintons and other Democrats cheered on by the MSM because of "balance". It wasn't the normalization of the filibuster by Republicans. It wasn't the impeachment of Clinton. It wasn't the start of handing over the economy and all its spoils by Reagan, getting even sanctified over it. In my eyes, it was the southern strategy and increasingly overt racism that is the basis of the GOP since at least Nixon, which they got away with for 50 years and counting.
48
Mr. Friedman's points are well-taken. Fortunately, we in America have the ballot box. I'm not sure what the world has to deal with Vladimir Putin.
4
Mr. Friedman, I am with you on stopping Trump by going to the voting booth and sending a message to the bankrupt GOP. I am also with you on stopping Putin by retching up the sanctions against him and his cronies. But an offensive cyber campaign may lead to an all-out cyber war, and it might not end well for the U.S., a society that is much more reliant on the Internet than the Russian. Many private companies and individuals can be hurt in the U.S. than in Russia. So we have to think about the collateral damage here.
2
I meant "ratcheting up." :-))
Take it back to William F. Buckley and his thoughts on Ayn Rand. He would say with a shrug that he never found her philosophy convincing, then drop it. While all around him - and through his own network - the Randian culture developed into what it is today.
Everything you wrote about Trump and Putin are perfectly Randian. All the other Randians in the GOP know this, and that's why they look the other way.
Buckley let Rand steal the turkey.
7
As Bill Clinton said It's the economy and "stock market" that matters. Nothing else. As long as they are strong trump will be reelected and nothing will change. People only care about what affects them directly.
5
The choice was Hillary or Donald. The Republican and the Democratic Party put the electorate in a difficult situation between Scylla and Charybdis. And continue to blame the electorate is not going to help. What is going to help is to give us good candidates.
14
Really--we are still conflating Trump with one of the most qualified candidates ever?
13
Trump and Clinton were the candidates because the electorate chose them in the primaries. We did screw up. This article says that the electorate is the solution in future elections, not the problem. I hope.
Why do we not have a concerted push to use this threat to democracy to get out the democratic vote in November? This is why I have become active politically when I was not before. It seems to me to be the best argument to get apathetic voters who usually don't bother to vote in the midterms (around 60%) to come out and vote. Use your vote or risk losing it. Yet I can find no evidence that the democratic party or anyone else is actively pursuing this strategy.
15
Where is it written that the United States will always and forever be on top? Empires come and go, and weak and useless kings and presidents long before this one have been responsible for the death spiral of seemingly invincible countries. From the Crusades to the Ottoman empire, powers rise and fall, boundaries and territories change, morph, and change back, and nothing on this earth is permanent. Trump is leading his base - and the rest of America - over the cliff. He may not be the last guy, the one that finishes it off, but he is certainly tugging ferociously at the thread that begins such an unraveling.
17
Mr. Bruni tells us, "America needs a healthy conservative party in our two-party system. But this G.O.P. is not a conservative party and it is not healthy."
Amen to that.
American conservatism has been on a quest to regain its power and control since the Great Depression. And they have regularly used anger and fear in that quest.
They cheered on Joe McCarthy and many continue to defend him. The nation rejected Goldwater's states rights view on civil rights, but Richard Nixon slid it in with his Southern Strategy and "benign neglect". Reagan gave us a path back to the Gilded Age with the Laffer Curve and demeaning of government. But as the nation rejected discrimination and Reaganomics serially failed to deliver, the GOP chose division and hatred to maintain power.
At its true core, conservatism battles to slow and temper change, to watch for the land mines. American conservatism hasn't been about that for decades. In the past decade, the GOP systematically purged what few conservatives who remained.
Donald Trump is the personification of the GOP. Yes, the party must be handed its head in November.
But we cannot count on this Republican Party's leadership to do what is best for the nation between now and 2020. They simply don't have the desire and don't have a memory of what it means to put our nation first.
19
This is Thomas Friedman's column, not Frank Bruni's.
Probably before the election this November and certainly before Trump’s bid to win a second term in 2020, we will have a constitutional crisis unlike anything we’ve seen since 1861 and the start of the Civil War.
Robert Mueller is coming for Donald Trump and the ensuing showdown will determine if our institutions can hold up to an autocratic ruler like Trump. We can’t count on the few republicans left in Congress with a sense of justice to launch impeachment hearings if Trump fires Mueller.
If Trump does get rid of Mueller and the republicans controlling Congress don’t meet their obligation to check the abuse of power by Trump, the mid-term elections could be too late and once again, Trump will be boasting, “I can’t believe I got away with this again.”
41
Trump will get rid of Mueller as soon as he is convinced that he is going to lose the House and the Senate in the mid-terms. However he can.
He will probably also start a war, blaming everyone but Putin. He is so far beyond any norms that he is willing to do anything, any thing at all short of admitting defeat and/or suicide, to protect himself and his ill-gotten gains.
And the latest from the GOP is that it's "too soon" to protect Mueller. No, fellas, it's too late. The war has already begun.
The implicit and explicit analogies comparing Trump to Hitler are incomplete. It would be more accurate to compare him to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Treacherous and very close to devastating.
This attack is worse because it's been perpetrated by someone sworn to uphold our US Constitution.
In the face of such treachery, you sure as hell want to insure your country's survival to say nothing of your own. And the time is rapidly approaching when most will be called upon to make a stark choice ... their country's survival or their own. In some cases that time has already arrived.
That's country as defined in the US Constitution.
Also, let the record show, The US and her Allies defeated Hitler and Japan. And until 1944, that was anything but a foregone conclusion.
Shouldn't we assume Mueller has gotten hold of the tax returns? It makes no sense that he is doing this whole investigation and doesn't look at them.
At least if there is money laundering or massive debt to oligarchs, we should find out eventually.
22
We wouldn't need Trump's tax returns if the ownership of the units in the properties that bear his name was transparent. We don't need to blame Russian oligarchs, it was our own home-grown millionaires and billionaires who brought us in this situation. They sold us the fiction that it was normal for property to be untraceable via shell corporations and money funneled through offshore accounts. Pass some transparency laws around corporate property and we'll be able to see the true lines of influence.
62
I think the gist of this article is, "If we allow a person to get away with one thing, he will continue to escalate".
Decent enough article and point about Trump taken. Efforts would be better spent trying to break the two part system holding us all politically hostage. It’s not a requirement and we could change this failed norm. Getting Democrats elected to control Trump doesn’t do much to fix the bigger problems we face. It was the two party beast that got ya Trump. Feeding that beast won’t make us whole.
11
We need to make a few more changes, too. A very basic change would be to somehow after years of brainwashing get voters to try to base their voting decisions upon evidence/facts--not emotions. This may be almost a impossible task for some people who see nothing wrong with a immoral, corrupt president and a spineless Republican Party leadership that backs him up as well as their rich donors.
1
I have to admit I'm a bit lost here. Could someone line out for me the applicability here to the article at hand? :)
We don’t have time to do that this election cycle. We need to vote against this illegitimate GOP in November and then go from there.
1
Thought the column makes a good point, I'm not at all sure that for Trump it begins with the tax return. Trump has been claiming victories which are not his and denying responsibility for anything and everything negative his whole life. He has always operated based upon getting away with things; he has always seen himself as above the law; he has always viewed people who obey things like laws and regulations as weak suckers and "losers."
The difficulty in getting rid of this buffoon is that the right wing & Evangelicals has decided that the ends justify the means. If they can get a right wing judiciary, especially a right-wing SCOTUS, which will over turn Roe, return Christian prayer to public schools, outlaw gay marriage etc., they will be happy to continue licking the boots of immoral, unethical, racists like Trump. Sadly, the Democratic party is now riven by a battle between the moderates and the far (or at least further) left. Such division hurt the party in the last election; it could help to re-elect Trump (God help us all).
641
Dems need to get stop their nonsense and get their act together to shut down this tyrant in the WH before another Justice is needed.
3
True, Trump's first big political lie was the Obama birther nonsense. That gained him a national platform.
4
When the left-wing Democrats looked the other way from Bill Clinton they excused and explained his black mass incarceration, black welfare deformation, corporate plutocrat oligarch welfare and war mongering.
3
This echoes the "prisoner's dilemma" so brilliantly discussed by Richard Dawkins of "Selfish Gene" fame. All behavior has consequences and requires a response - for negative behavior some sort of sanction, for positive behavior some kind of reward. And while Trump's antics occupy center stage now, we should ask ourselves how and why this could happen and start looking at other past examples. The last Republican presidential disaster (in a long chain of many going back to Nixon which covers my lifetime) took a booming economy and transformed it into a huge financial crisis with massive deregulation - sound familiar? He engaged in a couple of wars that have proven costly in both lives and treasure for dubious reasons without ever being held to account.... and there's much more than space here allows to mention.
So how can we be surprised at what's happening now? It's a natural consequence of what we've already tolerated and allowed.
41
First of all, thank you for a great column, a sirens' call to the American people to save our nation. I would like to think it will be heeded, but I am afraid half the country's voters are now thoroughly brainwashed. Time will tell, and I pray I am wrong in that.
Secondly, I have to ask whether it is reasonable to think, with all we now know about the unethical and immoral individual currently ensconced in the White House, that his tax returns are in the least reliable? I think not, and I think the reason he did not release them is because they would expose the truth that he pays little or no tax, the result of tax treatments that his populism-gulping base doesn't even know exist, and could not understand if they did. They would see, however, that taxes are for the "little people", and that would not help his populist masquerade.
Finally, America's turkey was placed in the crosshairs by Saint Ronnie when he called government the problem, was stolen with gerrymandering, Citizens United, the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, and killed with the outrageous treatment of Merrick Garland. It will require nothing short of a resurrection to bring this nation back from the abyss. As you said, it will take a wipeout of the GOP come November. Could happen, but I am not holding my breath, because Fox is still broadcasting.
172
The Dems might not be up to the challenge. The reflex action is to be excessively liberal to counter the extremes of conservatives. But that’s needed is a safe place for moderates, people who might have both conservative and liberal tendencies. Pitching a big tent would give the Dems a chance to model the discussion that should be going on between them and the GOP. That discussion can’t happen because too many in the GOP are too dogmatic to engage with others. So there’s a big middle ground that looks like no-man’s land. Only by taking over some conservative positions can the Dems expect to have the kind of sea-change they wish for. A good place to start might be the kind of law and order that respects all people and focuses on the protect and serve aspect of law enforcement.
25
Which moderate positions are you concerned about?
Fiscal moderation? Clinton balanced the budget and Obama cut the deficit by more than half.
Healthcare? Democrats expand access.
Entitlements? Democrats work to maintain programs for the needy and elderly.
Infrastructure, education, immigration? The Democrats offer solutions.
The charge of and concern over a lack of moderation in the Democratic Party seems to this reader as empty. Yes, there is a debate over the best of the many paths forward. But I see a vibrant political party. And I see the call to moderation as a path to battle within the Democratic Party to a standstill and offer to do nothing but protect the status quo.
8
The conditions for Trump and Putin to thrive exist because of the foundation of lies that were laid in the US by Fox News and the GOP, and in Russia and its Fox News equivalent, Russia Today (RT), as well as the compliant Duma.
In the US we have the "perfect storm" of GOP propaganda from Fox News; ownership of the legislative process by aggressive lobbying by organizations like the NRA; state legislative houses controlled by the GOP that have enacted voter suppression laws; conservative religious organizations that have joined the cultural wars; and a rural populace that has been beaten down by a lack of jobs, an opioid epidemic, and fear that they're losing their way of life.
I'd like to think there's room for compromise with some of these elements but I've lost faith that there's any middle ground because it's not just Trump: its the Republican Party as a whole. The Turkey was stolen well before The Donald showed up, and it was the GOP with their lies about climate change, gun safety, voter fraud, healthcare, and tax cuts. Our democracy is being eroded to the point at which we'll no longer recognize it if we don't defeat this cancer through the ballot box. The world is watching.
91
Why hasn't the connection between Russia and Fox News been investigated? That would seem like an obvious place to start.
Hammering and chipping away at Trump's enablers in the Congress is also a path to setting the records straight. People need to get to the poles with smart voting choices. Last night's Illinois primary had nearly 180 different options on the ballot. Finding the time and clarity to sort out what's best is necessary. A reporting of the candidates' views is a challenge to every news reporter, consumer, every reader and thinker, everyone hungry for the good to have being, needs.
The adamant drone of 'Fox News' propaganda is something to address; maybe more people find their sense, like Col. Ralph Peters did, stepping away, saying what's on top, clearing the air. When that becomes recurrent the sort through the news menus, finding the real among the artificial, won't be the 'us or them' select that it is.
People need enough real information, thought food.
The relentless fake state that's so tiring, would it please go away, would someone do something about it, needs an accounting, a showing of the facts.
What's my cooperation in getting Trump's tax returns out, how does every persons' actions get the collective energy flowing into accomplishments that benefit everyone? Can we do it without bombing, shooting, poisoning, and lying, while bragging?
Thomas Friedman, you reflect on mindsets, perspectives, and ways to observe. I get hope from your writing: the possible I imagine; imperceptible, invisible, intangible, yet imaginable. Let's get that turkey to produce his taxes
21
Basically, I agree with the philosophy and wisdom of the Arab Bedwin chief. However, the problem with both Trump and Putin goes much deeper. It points to the serious negative effects of money in politics. The effects of Russian oligarchs and the already bought and paid for American Congress cannot be denied in the persistence and power that both leaders display. If you look closely enough, you will that find the pursuit of money is not far behind the actions of both bosses, not only for themselves personally but also for their, enablers and tribes. The only answer is to control, and hopefully restrict the role of money in politics. Then, you can have a chance for real and responsible democracies.
19
The Russian oligarchs are to Putin as the GOP Congressional leadership is to Trump.
I think Tom is spot-on with his Turkey analogy. And I worry about the unseen erosion to the Transatlantic alliance.
No fewer than 193 Dutch citizens lost their lives in the downing of Flight MH17; a large figure for a small country. I happened to be residing there when the investigation played out and when so-called allies failed to stand by the Dutch for fear of offending the affront to humanity that currently resides in the Kremlin, it did not go unnoticed.
It was the sort of slap-in-the-face that nations remember, collectively, for quite a while. And if at any point in the future those allies require Dutch help, that help may not come.
How many more bruising situations like this have undermined American alliances over the past year and two months? How badly have the foundations been eroded? Will they hold when tested? No empire in history, no matter how powerful, has managed to survive without allies. Is the US confident it is any different?
35
Excellent column Mr. Friedman.
Trump's response to any opposition is to attack (e.g., the media, Hillary, judges, Gold-star Muslim parents, Mueller, McCain, etc., etc.).
So, fast forward to the 2020 election. Imagine that the country delivers a resounding and well-deserved defeat for Trump. What then? Will he try to discredit the election?
25
Of course he will try to discredit the election. That is exactly what he was planning to do in 2016, in conjunction with setting up a TV station. when he somehow, completely unexpectedly, won. This president does not build, does not create anything. He only attacks and destroys. Perhaps he will destroy enough that when a Democrat does get in in 2020, extreme and painful measures, probably more consequent than Obama's bailout. need to be taken. I wish I saw a sensible way out of this mess.
1
We need a healthy conservative party in this country, and we have one, except that it is embedded in and exists as part of another party. The conservative wing of the Democratic Party coexists with the rest of the party in a state of civilized political struggle, like the Republicans and the Democrats used to coexist, or the northern and southern Democrats, or the Javits and Goldwater Republicans.
The Republican Party has lost this ability. It is no longer conservative but rather radical or reactionary. It no longer respects lobgic and facts, but only effective sales pitches. For democracy and our country to survive, it must cease to exist as a force that is effective enough to matter.
53
As a progressive Democrat living in deep red East TN I have always said this same thing. I tell my Conservative friends that we need the balance, just not the craziness! Some are starting to agree with me.
America has a bad stereo problem...extreme left and right but no center. The center apparently is some kind of sin and wishy-washy. I think most of us, whether progressive or conservative, live in that grayish middle in real life. It just doesn't get the play on Fox or MSNBC.
321
Most democratic ideas are middle of the road. ObamaCare was the republican idea. The myth of the liberal democrats is just that. Hillary and Obama were conservative by normal standards. Republicans today are not moderate but far right and mostly unwilling to compromise. Merrick Garland was a compromise Supreme Court nominee. Conservative republican senator Orrin Hatch admitted as much when he said "if Obama was smart he would nominate Merrill Garland".
So vote democratic to save our country. They really are middle of the road.
18
You are equating the extreme alt nationalists with progressives which is wrong on many fronts. There is a center in this country but is currently right in the middle of the Democratic Party as we have seen with conservative democratic candidates like in Pensylvania and Illinois. Unfortunately, the Republican Party has moved so far to the extreme that they are becoming a danger to this country, there is real risk of tearing this country apart of the right wing mania is not contained
11
Several commenters have said something akin to "Okay Tom, good analysis, but this won't be easy." No, this won't be easy. In fact it will be quite hard, especially because Congress and CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg and countless others have abdicated their responsibility to say "enough". So we all need to step up, by voting, by writing to Congress and by pushing social media for responsible governance. If we aren't sure how, we can start by following in the footsteps of the student movement. They have a spirit and energy and willingness to draw a line in the sand. Friedman's parable shows us the core of what's wrong, the students show us how to start to fix things.
49
..."That steady erosion of norms is what Trump is doing to America and Putin is doing to the world. And if we let them get away with it, your kids won’t just grow up in a different America, they’ll grow up in a different world."
As expected, good analysis...but we need to go deeper. Who will do that?
'That steady erosion of norms is what Trump is doing to America and Putin is doing to the world. And if we let them get away with it, your kids won’t just grow up in a different America, they’ll grow up in a different world.
8
Thomas Friedman’s story about the Israeli Bedouin and the stolen turkey has a compelling logic to it.
What if we had fought harder to force Donald Trump to release his tax returns, would we have avoided the nightmare we now are enduring under the increasingly erratic, dishonest and mean person occupying the White House?
We’ll never know, because the journalists and the politicians and the average American voter accepted the idea that releasing one’s tax returns was simply a voluntary tradition of presidential candidates and certainly not a legal requirement.
It may have made no difference, since Donald Trump has grandiose ambitions and will always push for enlargement of his power until he actually is slapped down.
There is a roughly analogous issue in recent history, and it involves the “broken windows policing” begun in New York City by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton 30 years ago. It was widely accepted that vigorously prosecuting petty crime had resulted in reducing the number of felonies. Subsequent studies disputed the causal connection and suggested that the practice wasted police resources and alienated black and Latino citizens. Mayor Bill de Blasio changed the policy.
It may be that we should focus on protecting the Mueller investigation and turning out the vote in record numbers to punish the corrupt G.O.P. in November. It’s too late to sweat the small stuff.
47
I heartedly endorse efforts to turn out the vote in November! Just pleading with politicians to do the right thing isn't enough. Getting re-elected (or having your party's candidates re-elected) is the goal, isn't it? If we vote in a batch of new people it will send a message that the status quo is unacceptable!!
There is one major difference between Putin and Trump. Putin is cleverly trying to make Russia great. Trump is simply trying to make himself great.
In the face of sanctions, Russia managed to prevent the US from taking over Sevastopol. In Syria Russia has all but defeated the US open support of the Syrian rebels in trying to do a regime change in Syria, and left the US proxy army, the Kurds, dangling. In the process Russia is trying to prevent the US from expanding its influence in the Middle East while blocking Russia out.
The Russian oligarchs represent the same to Putin as the one percent in the US represents to the Republican party. The US does not deny its oligarchs any privileges, why should Russian oligarchs be denied any privileges like sending their kids to whatever schools they want.
Thanks to Facebook, Cambridge Analytics probably did more to help Trump win the election than anything Russia did.There is a saying that all is fair in love and war. All wars have a base in economics and sanctions are an act of war. Cyberwar is just a another tactic.
The author's thesis is interesting, but the analogy is weak. I don't deny that while their tactics may be similar, their objectives and scale are as worlds apart as are the two individuals. In the race for 'Prince' of the year, Putin wins again.
7
We worship winners. How they win, we don't care, and we remain naive. Why would a Republican congress look into Russian interference or Facebook or anything that has helped them? It just doesn't make sense. Look at it this way; if Russia meddles in this fall's elections, how likely is it that they will work to help Democrats?
15
I agree totally with this understanding of Trump.
But remember what W did to get reelected in '04?
It's more than half a year until the election, plenty of time for Trump to up the ante.
The thought of 'election' is going to seem quaint in the light of the actuality of "war".
Oh, and boy, do i want to see those tax returns.
34
Great story – but the analogy goes so much further than Mr. Friedman implies. There is a whole flock of turkeys, a whole herd of camels, most of them pre-Trump, who himself is where he is because the Republican Party or the ‘Conservative’ movement (take your pick) got away with so much, with anything, with outrage after outrage, year after year. Trump is merely the end product (until the next, even worse one) of the process Mr. Friedman describes. Remember, for example, the stealing of Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court seat? How about the stealing of the right to vote, in state after state? Or, way back, the stealing of the 2000 presidential election, by a Supreme Court decision no less? Or the stealing and destruction of an entire country, 15 years ago – which Mr. Friedman, if memory serves, warmly supported? I wish he had listened to the Bedouin chief then; perhaps he does too. Now – it's a bit late indeed. Trump is a bully, to be sure, on the obvious side. But the truly 'relentless' one, from Gingrich to McConnell, is the party that begat him, and still supports him. The original turkey, before and behind all the others, the one that was stolen first, a generation ago? It was that party's soul.
443
Well said!
2
How about Bush v Gore?
Our system elects an emperor for four years. Deal with it. This is the system that we have and it was created by our founding fathers. Thank them for that. Trump just demonstrated that it is not a good system at all, unlike popular belief. One of the reasons is that the president is, in a way, an emperor. He can virtually do whatever he wants. There is no legal stopping him, unless he commits some real crime, which he has not so far. Also, it is not the law of this land that the presidential candidate should reveal his taxes. Why then should he? Roosevelt had been elected the president several times over the "conventional" two terms. He broke that "sacret" tradition of large number of presidents before him. Why? Because it was not the law then. So he behaved like an emperor, also probably saying "I can't believe I got away with it". Now we have term limits in the Constitution, thanks Goodness. Trump has been elected by majority of states' electors. He is our president. Deal with it. Don't insult him. Insulting him, you are insulting all the people who voted for him. He is "our emperor" now. This is America. This is how our democracy works. In less than three years, you will have a chance to change the Emperor. Until then, just watch and enjoy the show.
6
Actually, this column, your comment, everyone’s comment, is the show. Everyone moderates the effect of the president. In this country, we do not just watch the show, we are the show. This is especially important when members of our representative government choose to weaken the balance of power by supporting a president who would undermine any aspect of the design of our laws and due process.
22
The point about the turkey and the tax returns was not that Trump refused to show the latter, thereby breaking no law, but that he promised he would show his tax returns and then blithely and with impunity broke his promise.
About FDR: sure, he pushed the envelope. But when he threatened to punch through it the Supreme Court pushed him back, dissolving his N.R.A. (National Recovery Act) and vetoing his attempt to pack the Supreme Court with more than its traditional number of nine justices.
10
An "emperor"? I look back on the Obama presidency, as well as many others where Congress decidedly & very effectively logjammed the efforts of their "emperor" & wonder just how accurate that metaphor actually is.
1
We need to retake the Senate and House this fall for the Democrats. Whether Trump is impeached or not, a democratic Congress can put the brakes on Trump and his destructive, authoritarian tendencies. As for Putin and his circle of oligarchs, ban them from any activity in the US, UK or EU. Let their children go to school in Russia, don't permit them to buy property in the West, etc. In other words, cut off their access to what they desire the most.
52
Rule of law is good, but not good enough. Wellness is also good but means nothing without the beauty of freedom. No matter how shocking is the behaviour of Mr. Trump or Mr. Putin, remarkable Bedouin story goes beyond these two powerful men. Let’s recognize and forgive our own sins, to unveils this monumental madness and evilness,
1
This is one of Friedman's best. It lays the entire scenario out clearly. It should be required reading for every American. At least, for every member of Congress.
135
I agree with Kerryman. However, going to the polls will never be enough until we limit the amounts people can donate to candidates. Campaign reform is our only hope of saving our democracy.
31
A contemporary framing of such wonderful and ancient wisdom: "What we permit, we promote."
Know the boundaries of each and every value you have; emotional, physical, financial, spiritual, marital, professional, familial, etc. You know where the lines are. And then have the moral and social courage to enforce them, each and every time.
21
Amen. I agree that the republicans will never come to their senses unless they are dealt a resounding electoral defeat. It may be that Trumpism will destroy the republican party and that a new conservative party will have to be formed. If that happens hopefully the new conservative party will have some principals, integrity and values like Teddy Roosevelt did, and not just be a front for for the rich and special interest.
38
Teddy Roosevelt. You have to go back a long long way to find a republican president with values. Republicans always seem to give us their worst.
1
Decency, humanity and respect for ordinary working people will make democracy survive this global assault. All we need is the love for an enlightened democracy to prevail over greed and the glorification of the very rich and powerful.
So far democracy has been eroding on all fronts. Central and Eastern European countries have been siding with Moscow and looking for easy money and lifting of the sanctions.
At home the lumpen proletariat got in bed with the rich and elected Trump. The rich got their tax breaks and the lumpen got a 24/7 running of the Apprentice with added bonus tweets.
They still represent a vocal minority, but we, the majority must show up on every election for the foreseeable eternity to make democracy survive.
No skipping of elections of any sort is allowed! Every vote counts and every election ( local, state, congressional, school board, etc.) matters!
30
I was hoping this would be a pun leading to some analysis of Erdogan's regime. I was mistaken - just more about Putin and Trump. I'm getting tired of those two.
8
Agreed. So are we all (well, most of us, anyway :)). Don't tell us, tell the ballot bos.
Getting tired of those two is just what they hope for, so they can each continue their immoral and criminal ways, while we metaphorically shrug. We can't do anything about Putin, but Trump and his cronies have to go away.
Getting tired of them is a luxury only a few can afford. Can you?
I believe many people do not get the significance of that revealing Trump quote: "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters."
It is revealing not only about his own attitude, but also the phenomenon of the cult-like band of followers that has evolved around him. There is more truth to this statement than one might want to admit. It is in fact the result of observations he has made about his own power to persuade that goes way beyond the typical norms of resort to reason most of us go by.
What so many critics don't get is that they can cite fact after fact after fact to make what they think is an ironclad case condemning Trump, from exposed lies to utterly hypocritical statements, but the members of the Trump cult will remain untouched and unmoved.
This is the main dynamic controlling our politics right now.
846
The uninformed voter, also known as Fox News viewers, are the core of the Republican Party and they won't chase after the Turkey.
2
Correct. Because 30% of Americans (at least) would believe that Trump did not in fact shoot somebody, that the shooting was made up by Rachel Maddow and George Soros, and that Trump is actively trying to people from shooting other people on Fifth Avenue.
3
He was testing the American People with that statement, and we failed the test.
5
As "this G.O.P. is not a conservative party and it is not healthy," neither is the Democratic party in very good shape.
It is not a liberal party (it is radical) and it is not healthy. either.
How do you think Trump got elected?
14
By selective targeting of electoral college states. As for the Democratic party being "radical" in toto, really? Not that any evidence I've seen shows, & I tend to look at all of it. :)
2
The Democratic Party isn't radical and it isn't even liberal. It is, for the most part corporatist, technocratic and elitist. It has been selling out the working class and the poor since the 1970's. That is why the party lost it's base as it lost it's honor.
1
Radical is the current right; radical is the ultra-conservative. Radical is the GOP. The center looks like the far left to ultra-conservative right-wing GOP radicals.
2
There are a lot of people getting away or trying to get away with stealing turkeys. Students who attack other students and guest speakers to silence them. Google when it fires members of currently disfavored racial and gender groups. YouTube when it bans or categorizes as adult-only videos with conservative viewpoints. The State of California when it tells pro-life pregnancy support centers that they must provide free advertising on their walls for free abortions. Free trade economists who are ever willing to sacrifice working class jobs to China on the altar of a theory.
Putin and Trump have a lot of company.
4
So, it's wrong, you say, for CA to require so-called pregnancy crisis centers to have truth in advertising, admit they aren't medical clinics, and provide info re: legal options for all pregnant women but it's not wrong for states to compel women to undergo invasive ultrasounds depicting embryos or for the U.S. to deny funding to international health care clinics which even mention the availability of legal abortion?? Give me a break.
33
Blind conservatism, as pointed out in the column, will be the death of us all. Glad you have seen the light.
1
I feel like you should read more about each of those examples, with a calm head and an open mind.
The GOP leaders are not concerned with Trump firing Mueller, but we the people are. But they refuse to hear us. Jared Kushner helped orchestrate Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook to help manipulate votes for Trump, but he isn’t paying the price for such crookedness. You best believe that we will go to the polls and vote as if our and our children’s lives depend upon it because they do. In contrast, the Russian people had no real vote because their feckless leader made sure that there wouldn’t be opposition. But our feckless so-called leader called him to congratulate him on his victory but would not condemn him for the chemical poisoning in the UK. You are absolutely right, Tom, in telling the Bedouin tale of the turkey stolen. When we allow our representatives of the people to blur boundaries, obfuscate facts, hurl invectives at anyone who disagrees with them, they think that they can keep transgressing boundaries. Trump, aided and abetted Putin, think that they are above the law, gloating in all the chaos they create in the world. They both will have a comeuppance,however. We will have our turkey returned to us, and our horse, and our daughter and our country.
28
The beaudoin story is from Friedman’s book The Lexis and The Olive Tree.
As an outsider watching our neighbour I don’t understand why Americans are not seeing how much these events under this presidency are going to cost them the 2018 election. Pennsylvania, Alabama, young voters seizing the moment, so much changing quickly. GOP needs to do an about face or they are going to lose and lose big.
15
When I saw the title of the op-ed, obviously before I read it, I thought that finally Mr. Friedman was going to find something new to write about. He was going to discuss what happened to Turkey under the autocratic modern-day sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He would discuss loss of freedom, the Kurds, in Turkey and Syria, and describe the old days when Turkey was a fairly liberal, progressive and relatively secular Muslim state.
No such luck. More Trump and Putin.
The erosion of norms is a relative matter, subjective, dependent on who sets up the norms. The response is also relative.
I never met a Bedouin, chief or otherwise, who had a turkey, stolen or otherwise.
6
What he has written is as applicable to Erdogan as it is to Putin and Trump and other autocrats. They steal the turkey, the camel, the horse, and the daughter without reprisals. The people’s rights are trampled upon by their transgressions.
? What do a Bedouin and his turkey have to do with Erdogan? Turks are not Bedouins...
Friedman's turkey analysis is cute but wrong. If it was right, then the "broken window" theory of policing (crack down on the little stuff to deter criminals from engaging in the big stuff) would have worked. It didn't work, wasted police effort, caused civil rights violations (excessive stop and frisk), and alienated the police from those they were sworn to protect.
Putin's behavior is certainly more complex than this anecdote; ditto Trump, despite his minimal intellect. Both rely on strength and brute force as the primary means of achieving their agendas; cooperation is at best an occasionally inconvenient necessity when strength doesn't suffice.
Putin's desire for personal power and a strong Russia is quintessentially Russian. Russia never went through the enlightenment and has no history of democratic governance. Most Russians want a strong, centralized state, personified by a strong leader like Putin, for 2 reasons: 1) a history of autocratic tsars and 2) a long history of being invaded by other countries.
In contrast, Trump's desire for power is primarily personal; ditto his desire for loyal syncophants he can throw under the bus. Both are inconsistent with our history as a democracy and our long practice of decentralized government (3 branches: exec, legislative, and judicial; 3 levels: fed, state and local). He is a modern Tammany Hall pol; using elected office to further enrich himself, friends and kin.
Both leaders integrate powerful state and business sectors.
10
"Both leaders integrate powerful state and business sectors."
And they steal turkeys.
1
Actually, it was J.R. Ewing who said it best: "Once you lose your integrity the rest is a piece of cake." And here's what I see happening: in an election year non-surprise Bob Mueller is either going to come up with enough dirt on The Donald to clearly demonstrate the man's corruption (not to mention his collusion) OR he'll get close enough to those tax returns to give Trump the excuse he needs to get someone or other to fire him. Either way, 65% of America is going to want to see this president impeached and convicted. Which means that virtually every Republican up for reelection in November is going to have to abandon their Great White Father or otherwise abandon his/her congressional seat. November is gong to be ALL about The Donald and ALL about impeachment and no one is going to care one way or the other about the tax cuts, the unemployment rate or much of anything else.
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Will there be enough Republicans in that 65% to force this change? It looks as if most Republicans are stubbornly continuing to support their president. Any politician who faces a predominantly Republican electorate is going to think twice about challenging their voters' hero. I think that explains everything about the behavior of this Congress.
Think about what would happen if President Trump is impeached. Mr. Pence may well do even more damage.
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I wish I could agree with you, but unfortunately, congressmen aren't elected by the American people as a whole, but by their districts, which have become increasingly red. It doesn't matter that 65% of Americans are against the great white father if 65% of your district is for him.
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Outstanding article and choice of parable. I struggle to get my young sons to not leave toys laying around outside, it is a story they can understand and apply. For the adults, it is an awesome reminder we must remain vigilant in defending our democracy and decent social norms. Thank you.
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If American voters are ever able to get the "GOP to look itself in the mirror," Republicans will say, "That IS our soul and we like what we see." There is no longer any constructive remedy for a rotted-out GOP.
Corruption and extremism are too fully embedded in the GOP's soul for it ever to return to it primary patriotic commitment to the nation's democratic welfare. President David Dennison is the product of the Party's moral decay, not the other way around.
By the same token, the Democratic Party leadership raises little trenchant protest. The only hope is for the American voter to elevate a third alternative into power and to let it govern until it, too, becomes corrupted into political dysfunction.
American history provides a solid template for such a development but the development takes a long time. Let's get started recapturing our chicken without delay.
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I hate to say it, but we (the West) invited Putin to steal the turkey. I can think of nothing that greased his rise to power so much as choosing not to disband NATO after the demise of the Soviet empire and the Warsaw Pact. Instead, we expanded it to Russia's border, an undoubted provocation. Putin probably muttered a silent "thank you" and proceeded to fan the flames of wounded Russian pride and nationalism. The very fact of keeping NATO alive then is what makes it necessary now, on paper at least.
Then again, maybe it's no more effective than the Maginot Line. Stealth attacks by individual agents, and cyber attacks on elections, electrical grids, and who knows what other institutions and infrastructure may already have rendered NATO technically obsolete. Mr. Putin, former communist KGB boss turned capitalist oligarch and autocrat, has already divided and weakened the West more than his Soviet predecessors ever dreamed of.
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@mancuroc - Putin has always lamented the break-up of the Soviet Union. He is a dictator at heart and has known nothing but authoritarian rule. Without NATO Putin would most likely have marched his army into former Soviet ruled countries and recreated the Soviet empire. NATO is not at fault here and the West didn't invite Putin to steal the turkey. It was his own megalomaniac ambitions that led to the hybrid warfare he is conducting against Ukraine and the West.
There is a crucial difference here. Make demands on Putin, and you might disappear, or be poisoned, or have an accident. Putin has a state supported force behind him.
Rump gets away with it by the complicity of the GOP..All these article about the venality of him seems to leave out those who facilitate his lying, ignoring the law attacking the other branches of government, all done with the acquiescence of the GOP. Not just its upper echelon, the leaders in the house and senate, but the distinct majority of them.
All these critical articles take the focus off the real traitors to the country, those who do not like the rules, the authoritarians,the GOP, lets us call them what they are, the Fascist Underground. If the regulations do not fit them or their supporters, they undermine them, they do not take it ti the public, or decide what is in the best interest of the country, they subvert them for the financial interests of their donors.
Rumps knaveries keeps the attention away from the real perpetrators of undermining the republic, the GOP legislators, barely an honest on among them. These are no uneducated boobs, they are lawyers, businessmen, educated, they can not miss the obvious pervasive lies, yet they let them continue, hardly a single reproach, it is complicity of dishonesty, they too are dishonest, no better than common thieves, swindlers, con men, they deserve nothing but contempt.
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They need to be removed from office.
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The missing link is that trump and putin have agreed to join forces - to create a new Soviet Union of Russia and the USA. They believe that together they can rule the world. Sounds weird but it is true. Plug this into everything happening and their actions make sense. What does not make sense is the republican complicity.
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Short-term gains of money and power. Same thing that motivates large corporations.
Tom, this is a very thoughtful column, and I agree with what you are saying.
I believe in the idea of "original sin." And as I have thought about it, the two that come to mind are the end of McCain-Feingold and the gerrymandering of our congressional districts. Others might argue for different choices. These would be my two turkeys.
The first sin turned our politicians into businesses, and the rich and influential are their customers. The second, along with voter suppression, removed the concept of one person, one vote. Restriction means that our government no longer represents the will of the people. On issue after issue, our congress and executive branch continues to pass legislation opposed by the majority of Americans.
There is something fundamentally wrong when a party can get a majority of the vote and end up with both a minority president and a group of minority congressmen from the other party. As John Oliver pointed out this weekend, the two Dakotas, population 1.8 million have twice the senators of California with 39.5 million people. Or as many senators as California and NY combined which has 62.3 million. California has the world's 6th largest economy. Together these two states are 20% of the country's population.
I'm afraid that the real remedy requires a brand new Constitution. But until then we must vote whenever we can, and however distasteful it is we must contribute to the candidates of our choice so that their voices aren't lost.
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With a few tweaks, the Constitution we have will do. The obsolete accommodations enshrined in the Electoral College must go. Each person's vote must count the same as every other. We need campaign-finance reform. We need to rewrite the Second Amendment, which never had anything to do with hunters and their rifles or collectors and their fetishes. And we need to think hard about qualifications for office.
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Equal representation in the Senate isn't the issue. We need to have proportional representation in the house. Right now the rural states are overrepresented because we froze the house at it's current levels a century ago. Prior to that the census mattered because every person counted meant more power in the house. Why do you think that the southern states pushed so hard for slaves to be counted. Granted one representative per 30 thousand citizens isn't practical but we could and should find a reasonable number so that all people are represented equally.
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Trump's original sin politically speaking is his "birther" prevarication. When all the racists came out of their holes to listen to this obvious bald-faced lie he knew he was destined to lead the gullible, the prejudiced, the dim (what these days amounts to the Republican Party).
Let’s hope for American voters to be the voice that we should be in the world.
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Good analysis of how reality works for Trump and Putin.
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If you don't stop the graffiti and the squeegee men...
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Thank you for the parable of the stolen turkey.I don't think Americans have become numb to Mr.Trump's transgressions.We will see when thousands of young people come to Washington to protest this weekend,Hundreds of thousands of women have already had their million women march. Mr.Putin is winning no fans with his selective assassinations and his press in the West will get much worse.Putin and Trump will NOT erode our norms.
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Thanks, Mr Friedman, once again you have synthesized the true privileged Trump; when the privileged meet equality, it feels like discrimination.
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There is something about the big lie, repeated over and over again, that allows leaders to mesmerize the public. Who knows when they discovered the skill? Hitler felt the public was "feminine" and would respond to emotion not facts. Of course it helped that many Germans were already infuriated at the way they were treated after World War I. It also helped that many were resentful toward successful German Jews, which fed into their deep seated Antisemitism.
President G.W. Bush and Dick Cheney used the big lie to convince Americans that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in their run-up to the invasion. Many Congresspersons and some respected columnists joined the march toward the unnecessary, unjustified and illegal war. Facts did not matter. It helped that many Americans has already convinced themselves that all Muslims were responsible for the attacks on 9/11.
Trump lies about everything but built his run for the nomination on the lie that President Obama was born in Kenya and Mexico was sending us their criminals. It also helped that many Americans harbored racial animosity toward our first Black President and thought very little about the dignity of hard working Mexican immigrants.
It may take a big lie for a leader to advance disastrous mistakes, but it also takes a naive and poorly informed public to buy into it. Unfortunately they are not in short supply, nor do they only reside in Russia.
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I would like to pre-date Donald Trump's theft of a turkey with Mitch McConnell's theft of President Barack Obama's nominee to replace a dead justice, a right that the Constitution gave him. McConnell, the noonday devil, stole America's turkey and America responded with...nothing. The Senate's Committee on the Judiciary, led by Charles Grassley, closed down any attempt at vetting Judge Merrick Garland. I say that McConnell's unpatriotic, seditious, bold and primevally evil act, set the stage for the GOP's acceptance of the real estate dealer. McConnell confirmed that Trump could "shoot someone on Fifth Avenue" and get away with.
Trump pushed the envelope with the Hollywood Access tape. The sordid revelations smirkingly told to an adoring Billy Bush would, in a civilized society, ended Trump's campaign. Instead, he won the presidency after stealing the camel, then the horse, then the daughter. Whose, I won't say, but I digress.
As for Vladimir Putin, I recall the international outrage for the destruction of the Malaysian plane. I waited for a reckoning...but none came. Now, he's attempted a dual assassination in London in broad daylight...and the American president retreats to Fox News. Then, after the stunningly overwhelming election (71%) that returns Vlade Vlade to the Kremlin for the next term of his lifetime appointment, Trump calls him to say "hey, way to go."
America once had a spine but is now supine, lax and loose, seemingly comfortable with a turkey for president.
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We now see that we are citizens no more, but consumers. Consumers see things as transactions. Give us what we want and we will give you what you want regardless of your character, values or personal integrity.
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All of the free countries of the world should expel 23 Russian diplomats (spies and agent provocateurs). In addition, Putin, his government and the oligarchs who support him should be persona non grata in all countries of the free world.
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No, the turkey was stolen when Mitch infamously declared to his acolytes that their only objective was to deny Obama re-election no matter the cost to the country.
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You nailed it. Nothing else can be said.
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I do not think that not showing your tax returns, which is a recent tradition but not a legal obligation is anywhere comparable to shooting down an airliner and killing hundreds of people.
really Tom?
the turkey parable otherwise is a good one
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That is because the Russian turkey was stolen much further in the past. Given time, Trump's GOP will be assassinating their perceived enemies, too.
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The 2018 elections, if we can stop them from being stolen, may be the last chance to get back our democracy. You may think I’m an alarmist but, if you check the history books, democracies have ended this way before.
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The frog hasn't noticed the heat of the water yet.
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The problem is human nature. Just as with the Bedouin's sons, we don't react until a crisis is obvious. This does not portend well for the future.
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They let you get away with stealing a turkey, then you move an embassy...
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Great piece that can be apply to any third world society where police brutality is rampant, xenofobia is out of control, violence is a norm to move forward, and tolerance doesnt exist. All becase the turkey was stolen long time ago and society has already forgotten any norms of decency and has degraded itself in the process. Trump has created a new enviroment that in a short time will equate this great nation into a standard third world nation. Unless people vote him and republicans out.
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Thank you! This is the analysis I have been waiting for. This psychopathological behavior in plain sight is utterly confounding to those who demand a minimum standard of decency from themselves and others, yet it does not faze those who accept any outrage in the pursuit of their desires. Who will stand up to these tyrants?
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The wisdom of Michael Gerard Tyson and Constantine Cus D'Amato is indeed what is needed to day.
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Trump has long since concluded that the rules don't apply to him.
He found that, before his political life, when he successfully stiffed vendors and contractors, or when he had any number of affairs publicly. There was no consequence to Trump for his racist birther fabrication. As a candidate, Trump lied every time he opened his mouth, he taunted his competitors, he openly courted racists and bigots. Needless to say, the brazen disregard for decent conduct still defines Trump, now in the White House.
He won't bring himself under control. So who will? Mueller is in a race against time and has a sword over his head. Congressional Republicans look the other way, trivialize the recklessness, or kowtow to the Bully- in-Chief. But November we can reshape the Congress so that power is balanced. A Democratic Senate and House can bring Trump to heel.
Putin operates in a political environment where he can call the shots as he pleases. Putin is Trump's role model. We can't let our country be modeled in Trump's design.
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The Republicans are letting him get away with his actions because he’s letting them get away with enacting the laws they want. They look away with the “boys will be boys” attitude.
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So Trump would have made a great KGB agent....is that what you are saying.
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But why so much emphasis on the "president"? After all, he's a magnified reflection of the GOP. When the GOP insists that global warming is a hoax, and that tax cuts at the top trickle down to everybody, are those not also flagrant lies? When they change the rules in the middle of the game, is that not also bullying? And when they pass their tax cut for the deficit, after years crying wolf about the deficit, is that not getting away with too much abuse?
About 20 years ago state attorneys general won a major victory against big tobacco, an industry built on lies. The GOP is the industry built on lies of our time and it's about time they are denounced as such.
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Trump's turkey was lying about Obama's place of birth, even lying about paying investigators. He got away with it. Republicans did not ban together to condemn him.
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Brilliant piece.....Putin however is outfoxing Trump. They both have similar beliefs and behave in similar fashion. The difference is that Putin has a circle of very smart people who have been around him for a long time who think and act like him. Whereas Trump initially surrounded himself with a few unknowns even if accomplished in their own right, to wit, Cohn and Tillerson. That did not work. Trump is now reaching out to C team players, to wit, Kudlow on the economy and Navarro and the commerce secretary on tariffs. The reason is that top minds do not believe in him. I mean really of the two who has the upper hand?
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why doesn't someone from the IRS release his tax returns to the press.....
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Wouldn’t that be illegal? Or do you mean seeing those tax returns is so important that it justifies an act of civil disobedience?
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As PL notes, it would be illegal.
I'll add one more thing, that being the professionalism of those people who do work for the various government agencies. Time and time again, when I encounter a federal employee who is on or off the job, their day off or whatever, they carry themselves with a sense of duty and competence.
As much as I'd like to see the those tax returns, I am glad that those at the IRS do take their jobs seriously.
Don't worry, we'll see their contents soon enough.
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Trump has given strength, but not birth, to the anonymous Trumps- that reliable 80% of Republican voters who stand with him, and who seemingly dream an America of AR-15 owning white men who work in factories.
Trump is like the character "Big Daddy" in Django unchained. He believes in law which by definition is his whim, directed at his will and pleasure, for his benefit only.
Voter turnout November would be good but may not be enough to shake the GOP and it will not damage Trump unless Democrats win overwhelming bicameral majority. In trying to have his way, Trump will suck any soul and destroy any institution.
In other words, Federal may be los fame. The real path to salvaging American civil society may stand with the courts and the states.
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