Mr. Friedman's exhorts readers:
"In the midterm elections, vote for a Democrat, canvass for a Democrat, raise money for a Democrat, drive someone else to a voting station to vote for a Democrat."
Everyone understands that the Times is left-leaning, but I believe that it should nevertheless respect a line between ideological communion and flat-out campaigning and fundraising for one party.
At this rate, you may have to declare Mr. Friedman's salary as an in-kind contribution to the the Democrats.
How about Making America Good Again?
21
Yes, indeed. Nothing else matters. Pass it on.
November 6! VOTE as if the country depends on it. It does!
22
LOL....make America, America again? Since when did America allow open borders and no checks on anyone at all who wants to come in?
And since when was America socialist? That's what democrats want.
Higher taxes, punishing success, no borders...that was NEVER America!
9
Tom must be having sever memory loss. One journalist is murdered and all Republicans are evil. Where were the democratic leaders when Syria crossed the RED line and used chemical weapons on their own people and killed thousands? Time for a 3rd party. I live a a solidly fed up neighborhood who voted for Democrats and Republicans over the years. Both parties are rotten to the core and out of touch. Do not vote for either party until they show a more centrist view.
3
Thank you, Mr. Friedman, and God bless you. The political atmosphere in the U.S. these days reminds me of what I used to read about Germany in the 1930, the beginnings of Hitler. The hope is on Journalists like you and God to save America and the world. Thank you.
14
The comments show the echo chamber all of the left lives in. Sad.
9
more wishful opinionating to the choir. the democrats, historically inept at winning mid term elections are on course to once again blow it. anyone who thinks the team who lost the 2016 presidential election is going to do any better this time around is on drugs. watch the michael moore movie fahrenheit 11/9. its clear that clinton's loss had less to do with russian hacking and more to do gross incompetence. no blue wave, no saving democracy.
5
Tom, check it out. Trump’s claim of a “$110 billion arms deal” with Saudi Arabia is another Trump lie. So even his justification for giving a pass to the Saudi royals is nonsense. You should no better than to accept as fact anything that man says.
2
If you desire is decency, civility, truth, and respect for America's best values then don't vote for Democrats. And certainly don't vote for Republicans. Vote for Libertarians. They are the fastest growing party in this country. They are the only party in this country that has codified non-aggression at home and non intervention abroad into its platform. They will be the only representatives of American values on your ballot. Republicans and Democrats have no incentive to return to honesty and civility. They have a monopoly on candidacies. If you want to change things break the monopoly. Want to send a message? Vote for Larry Sharpe for governor! Don't settle for the lesser evil.
How ironic that this column appears on a day when multiple Democrats and Democrat-leaning people have received pipe bombs and unidentified "white powder" in the mail.
The last two years have seen this country devolve into a shouting mob on the right while the left has sometimes floundered over how to handle this turn of events.
But Democrats are ready to take the House and help balance Mr. Trump's power and bring back decent discourse to American political life.
2
Elect moderate Democrats. Then set up a system to monitor results and make changes as needed. This is what is lacking.
In the private sector this is the norm. Monitor and make changes as required to reach goals.
In government a budget is approved and no one pays attention to itsimplementation.
6
Spot on - but please read Brooks and Leonhardt in this very same newspaper yesterday The Demos are NOT running on "Make America America again." They're running on health insurance and empowerment of small islands of minorities. Of course both of those things are very virtuous and much to be desired, but it's not the way to win this election. Let's hear it for American values.
8
We have NEVER had open borders in our history. It's suicide. You cannot have social welfare state and open borders. Immigrants had to be processed through Ellis Island and other centers and were oftentimes held to verify they were not bringing in any diseases.
5
No platform. No ideas. No specifics. Just, 'vote for Democrats and everything will be ok." The economy is booming. Unemployment is at all time low and the crazy guy in the White House has put a big spotlight on what enforcing the laws at the border looks like. It looks like separating kids from parents. Change the law. Enact laws we are willing to enforce. Democrats shoved Obamacare through. They could have shoved immigration reform through, too. They didn't. They aren't better. And if they aren't better, I'll stick with a good economy. A high tide lifts all boats.
3
Whatever meltdown is happening on the Liberal side, they had it coming and deserve every bit of it. I'm no Trump fan, but after many years as a Democrat I will never vote for an open-borders, sanctuary-city, anti-white, anti-business Democrat as long as I live.
5
I once adored Tom Friedman reading his book, even showing his videos in my MBA class. But lately his sycophancy of MBS showed his poor judgment and understanding. It seems to me that he only cared for fame and glory by ingratiating with rich and powerful. His current call is a ploy to curry favor with the liberals, his former base of readers.
6
Enforcing and reforming the constitution, promoting social welfare, educating both rich and poor immigrants.
Because 8 years of high unemployment was so great.
3
Mr. Friedman:
Vote for party rather than the candidate? Shame on you and everyone espouses such tribal notions!
Additionally, I expect all those who are railing with current party controlling the Executive & Legislative branches of government to do the same if the Democratic party holds all of them.
1
Amen. Thanks for your article.
2
Wrong, wrong, and bizarrely wrong. If you want 1.6% annual growth, vote Democrat. If you want 4%+ annual growth, vote Republican. If you want poverty and unemployment, vote Democrat. If you want rising wages, more take home pay, and record employment numbers for all demographics, vote Republican. If you want taxes increased, vote Democrat. If you want to keep the tax cuts, vote Republican. If you want Antifa, rhetoric like Maxine Waters, Cory Booker, and Eric Holder, and circuses like the Kavanaugh hearings, vote Democrat. If you want presumption of innocence and evidence based decisions, vote Republican. If you want judges to rule according to their political agenda, vote Democrat. If you want adherence to the Constitution, vote Republican.
The choice is crystal clear. Hate and anti-Trump is not an agenda. Vote Republican.
6
Very compelling, an urgent, well defined call to exercise our right to vote.
3
Hey Tom and everyone else in the "resistance", how about addressing the most undemocratic institution in our country, the electoral college. We wouldn't be in this mess if a system set up by syphilitic slave holders still is allowed to exist today.
5
Excellent piece here, Mr. Friedman.
2
Wow. Aek’s comment- a featured NYT pick- that basically excepts the only way out of the current morass is dissolute of the Union, currently has 1331 recommendations. It suggests to me that more and more people realize the obvious truth that Trump has enabled a dangerous minority, there’s no way to put the toothpaste back in the tube and the only option is to get out of that bathroom.
2
Liberal agenda? The liberal agenda is gone along with liberals aside from e.g. Dershowitz. Liberals and their agenda have been replaced by progressives and their agenda. You can say a lot of things about the progressive agenda, but it ain't American. People who have moved here from some other countries recognize the progressive agenda for what it is.
2
To 'make America America again', "Elect [more] Democrats and win back" Congress.
It's a lot easier said than done. There is unusually higher enthusiasm among voters. But that enthusiasm appears to be spread more evenly. That's a very good sign, in any case. Voter participation will "eventually" elect the "right" Congress. But for now, in 2018 November, it may not necessarily get the desired result. And until we elect the right Congress (& president) things will be the same.
Donald Trump had found a way to fool the public. This has happened elsewhere both in the near & distant past: Most prominent was the "Election" of Adolph Hitler (Yes, he was elected, not unlike Bush-II & Trump).
We're in a terrible period. Be apprehensive, intensely so. Unfortunately Americans have a habit of disregarding the importance of elections, and voting.
3
Pardon me while I stop laughing.
2
Looking in from the other side of the world we're no longer listening to or looking towards America as we've done for a hundred years or so. Because you have this lying ignoramus leading you who in two years has devalued everything that I guess we thought were the strengths of America.
We have no US ambassador yet(two years and counting) and this is a country that follows America on nearly all it's foreign policies.
China in our neck of the woods has moved in to replace the US in the South Pacific and Trump wiped the freetrade deal with us and a dozen other countries...well we've just restarted it but without the US.
When you can't look to America for leadership and guidance then who do you look for?
Get out and vote and stop this downward spiral and Make America Decent Again.
8
A sign that you should step outside the echo chamber.
3
Would Mr. Friedman list the times he has comer out for Republican candidates?
1
Tom, you have no core values; you never have. A review of your body of work over a couple of decades reveals a man who never stood for anything other than transient expedience, a man who thought he could see the future. No Democrat wants to be associated with you.
2
As a simple and indisputable idea of electing Democrats to run things, I offer for your inspection the state of California and specifically the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Large sections of both cities look like third world countries with seemingly impossible homeless, illegal immigrant and crime problems, much of which is ignored.
In San Francisco, a person can urinate and defecate on the street in sight of passersby with the blessing of the city council, as well as inject ones self with illegal drugs with hypodermic needle provided for free by the city. Tents are fully permissible on sidewalks... or cardboard box condos ... largely free while trying to rent or buy a home is next to impossible for middle class persons who can barely live there on $150K per year.
People are leaving the state in large numbers.
All fact... look it up if you don't believe it.
A true all Democrat democracy at work.
So with a fully Democratic government you will get identity politics and political correctness, high taxes and high tolerance for uncivilized behaviors and values, though calling such behaviors uncivilized is likely quite "triggering" to many and I would be shunned for this.
Why subject the entire country to this... simply move to California... they need your money and your idealism.
12
"I don’t say that because I’m particularly liberal and want to shift the whole country to the liberal agenda." LOL.
No Tom, you're nonpartisan. Please.
2
Make America America again by scrapping the electoral college amendment and let each vote count as one vote. If that were the case in 2016 we wouldn't have had to put up with an incompetent, devious, misogynistic, racist, and lying ignoramus the past two years. The return to a popular vote will eliminate ludicrous gerrymandering issues and truly signify a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. After all, the word democracy (demo=people, cracy=rule) is the very thing this nation is supposed to be, the opposite of the autocracy Trump wants it to be.
6
Yes elect democrats or prepare for a fascist government under an emboldened white nationalist. Not an hyperbole but look at history ,review and observe Trump's tweets and rallies and you may see an authoritarian leader yearning to be a dictator of a police state.
7
I voted straight DEM ticket today in early voting..WV does have some (not enough) intelligent people with all of their teeth
4
Revolutions harm everyone, targeting the innocent along with their overlords. Consider that should Trump and his mendacious and thieving cabinet prevail we are left with few alternatives. How can Americans acquiesce to the bizarre notions that $=speech, women<> men, corporations=people; concepts that would alarm our founders as fully outside the intent and letter of the Constitution? If your white knuckles continue grasping the Republican party know that your compatriot Putin's hands are there with you. Go to a mirror and visualize that -- own it and live with that image. Use both hands, since you've apparently already let go of any shred of the egalitarian quilt from which this nation has been painfully stitched.
2
Friedman is off his gourd. Democrats want to fundamentally transform the USA into some type of Progressive paradise that ideally would resemble Sweden, but in reality would look a lot more like Venezuela. Vote red.
2
Support for GOP would crumble in no time if we separate religious (read, Christian) fundamentalism and white supremacy from our public policy and education.
Credible data indicate that people who actually know more about religion believe less in those fairy-tale stories of Bible (or any other Holy book), God, Hell and heaven.
It's accepted that about 70 percent of American wealth (and power, military might) comes from science and technology. The people who actually create it, the scientists, in USA overwhelmingly reject God (and religion)- a whooping 93 percent. Here the word "scientist" is to meant for just any person with a PhD degree or a job with "scientist" designation, but members of American National Academy of Sciences.
More interestingly, vast majority (55 percent) of those people, who actually made and still making American Great, officially support Dems, only 6 percent support GOP, rest are undecided or apolitical. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/10/only-six-percent-of-scien_n_22...
It's not any coincident that more religious countries are less prosperous. It's also not any coincident that Red states are poorer (and more violent too.)
5
Who ever thought that a New York Times columnist would come out and urge his fellow Americans to vote for liberal Democrats to assume power in America?
Everybody.
3
Here Here!!!
1
I'm voting Republican all the way
2
Voters, wake up - please! These final weeks before the midterms have become a carnival of lying, cheating, and stealing. To regain any ability to recognize what is being shoved down our gullets, like chickens to the slaughter, I ask every Republican to try out these questions before it’s too late – way too late:
1. Did the candidate say anything of substance; the why, the how, and at what real cost?
2. Is it true, and how would you know?
3. Are you voting on wishful thinking or solid understanding with fact-checking?
This midterm election is not about political parties: It’s about checks and balances for an out-of-control president who is sucking the life out of our democracy, a maniacal marauder who cares nothing about any of us – not even his base when the cheering stops and reality sets in.
5
Amen.
4
Inane.
1
So Tom, If the country doesn't vote democrat, are you going to move to Canada?
Bravo!
3
"In the midterm elections, vote for a Democrat, canvass for a Democrat, raise money for a Democrat, drive someone else to a voting station to vote for a Democrat. I don’t say that because I’m particularly liberal and want to shift the whole country to the liberal agenda."
That's the party to vote for then.
The hits keep coming from TLF.
Yes we need a third party in the US to balance things out and make compromise necessary. Two parties have a balance of power that is too even., causing stalemate.
Things are getting way out of line with pipe bombs and over the top rhetoric and hysterical reactions.
We also need a reality check that will re set the scale of our reactions to a more normal level.
4
Mr. Friedman. Thank you. No, thank you. I just returned the Check for the $333.33.
America was always America. No need to change. America was always great, and will have a problem to stay that way, or even to be greater in the future. This is, unless we take action today.
We have continued to be at the mercy of just two political parties - the republicans and the democrats. Between these two sides, we are watching more of the same. Every two or four years, we look for changes, and have to resort to either one of these two parties.
It is time that we have a third party to be involved. We need new blood. A third party, will have a better sense of where the problems are and seek the solutions. This will also, challenge the existing political parties to wake up.
4
The GOP foisted Trump upon us. Bad decision but with a functioning democracy the Congress able to apply the brakes or step on the gas to throttle a Forrest Gump in the White House. With a long history of a governing philosophy based on a clear set of principles, the GOP forfeited it all succumbing to Trumpism. There are no profiles in courage short of McCain's thumbs down gesture to spare a health calamity in the country.
A quick survey of the GOP reflects candidates cozy with Trump, overtly fawning over him or inviting him to bolster candidacies, see Lyin Ted. Mr. Friedman makes an argument for voting for democrats based on reality. Trumpism is the GOP ideology. Should Trump hold the House and Senate we will all be punished for another two years and the GOP will cease to exist.
Regarding Saudi Arabia we expect too much. A monarchy in the desert is several building blocks short of ever becoming democratic, or secular or peaceful. Sand and self-rule are not compatible.
Consider the principle of free expression as an example. With attribution to John Stuart Mill, if all of mankind were of one opinion, mankind as a whole would be no more justified in silencing that one man, than he if he had the power would be justified in silencing all of mankind. If MBS understood and embraced Mill, Khashoggi would be alive today.
Ideas and principles matter. If Trump understood that we would all be living a better life.
4
I can agree voting democrat is America’s only hope, and that this alone isn’t enough to restore American values to past highly respected levels.
But the we read:
“Because there is a basic respect for truth, science and decency in the Democratic caucus and because I know that two more years of the G.O.P. holding every lever of power and blindly following Trump’s basic disrespect for truth, science and decency will make it impossible to elevate America’s best values.‘’
Just one question: how does Mr. Friedman know the past two years of Trump hasn’t yet made it impossible for America to elevate its best values again, as he asuures us 4 years of trump will do?
1
Making American great again will happen when Trump, Ryan, McConnell and quite a number of others who could be named...are no longer in office.
and when people recognize the value of regulation, management, and government for the people.
8
Starting the baseline from when I was born under Johnson, my standard of living has increased under every Republican president and decreased under every Democratic one. There is no exception.
Trump and the Republicans have been phenomenal. My income is way up. My tax rates are down. North Korea and Iran are on the wane. We have 5 Justices on the Supreme Court who know the Constitution is fixed and does not say what one wishes it said. I fully expect to have two more fine Justices within the next two years.
Democrats promise to raise my taxes, increase regulations, raise cost of gasoline and electricity, open the borders, and end due process. They ignore the Constitution and will nominate judges who pretend its words mean nothing.
Democrats have fallen off the left end.
When Jim Webb and Jane Harmon are running, let me know.
8
@Son of the American Revolution
Ummm, when I bought my first home in 1985, Reagan was president and I paid 14% interest on a conventional loan. Yet when my kids bought their first homes under the Obama administration, they paid 3%.
When Bush #2 was president, he deregulated the financial sector and caused the biggest crisis we've faced since the Depression and also waged a war with Iraq on lies, thus destabilizing the Middle East. This war enriched the military contractors and their investors, led by Dick Cheney, and ballooned our debt because Bush didn't raise our taxes to pay for it.
Now we have another tax cutter in Trump and the debt is predicted to skyrocket again because he wants to build up the military even more and subsidize folks that his trade wars has affected. Fun times for our future generations, right?
So glad your income has gone up when so many Americans continue to struggle. Check your 401K though since the market continues to tank. Guess the bloom is off the rose.
6
I am a Democrat and I believe that:
We should have a better immigration policy, not a stifling one. I'm not a fan of illegal immigration--a process that hurts those entering illegally more than it helps them.
I'm for fiscal responsibility where we won't saddle our future generations with debt and insecurity.
I'm for states rights so long as they don't tread on the Constitution and undermine our Bill of Rights.
I'm for affordable health care for everyone and realize we need a complicated plan to achieve it and not a simple one that will balloon our debt.
I'm for equal pay for equal work.
I'm for job creation and narrowing the wage gaps.
I'm for a strong military and want strong allies who share our values.
I believe in climate change and accept that humans share a large responsibility for it.
I don't like con artists who say they are great business people and then take loans and partnerships with our enemies when they have burned their domestic bridges.
I don't like greedy people who rig the system or outright steal from it.
I believe that some Republicans feel as I do and are smart enough to realize that their leadership does not feel the same way. We don't need all Republicans, but enough to vote for these shared values and beliefs.
19
In the end Republicans will lose. Trump has shown the divide between people living in the 19th century, into which scarred republicans jumped, and the new generations who know of another world. The pregnancy is difficult but the outcome is inevitable.
7
Trump's supporters do not care about Mr. Friedman's arguments.
They want their economic status restored.
While I agree with Mr. Friedman's arguments for voting Democratic, Friedman's arguments are irrelevant to the TRump supporter who lost a relatively good paying manufacturing or mining job and who now if working is barely surviving on a low paying retail or fast food job.
HRC lost because she ridiculed these people with real economic grievances. She called them "deplorables" and told them they would never regain lost economic status and the best they could hope for was to retrain for a low paying job. Laid off miners were told to become call center operators at a fraction of their previous wage.
Does Mr. Friedman have a proposal for these displaced people. i have read Friedman's columns calling for cutting Social Security or making sure everyone has internet access. Neither of these will raise the income of displaced workers.
There are proposals [that do not require reviving coal or relaxing pollution controls] that would restore much of the lost income.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/upshot/what-would-it-take-to-replace-t...
Such a program would cost 1T /ten years.
Compare to Trump tax cut costing 1.5T /ten years.
I would be interested in Friedman's reaction to this proposal.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Friedman! You have given voice to my thoughts and to my love of country and the values on which it was founded. Most assuredly I will make my voice heard with my vote on November 6th!
11
While I agree with the general theme of the column, Mr. Friedman has to ask himself and explain to us how he was so misled by the "actual" ruler of Saudi Arabia. How could Mr. Friedman have missed the savage treatment of the Yemeni people by the Saudi ruler aided by the UK and US administrations?
Unless Mr. Friedman comes to understand what he failed to understand about the Saudi ruler, but was so glaringly obvious, I am afraid of when we will be so misled again.
3
Elect Democrats and win back the Senate? Good luck. How are you going to accomplish that when the odds are basically zilch (don't believe everything Nate Silver tells you will happen will happen)? And I have to vote for a Democrat in MI for Probate Judge because the Saudis murdered a Saudi in Turkey? OK. Right. I'm sorry, I'm really trying hard to take this article seriously, but for that to happen the article has to be serious in the first place. Is this what happens at the end? Just incoherent babbling? With all due respect, I reject being told what to do by Mr Friedman. He's welcome to try, of course, but in future he will have to do a lot better than this.
7
I been a democrat ever since i became a US citizen , i did not vote joyfully for democrats but i did so because the party came accross as the lesser of two evils .
in 2016 for the first time i split the ticket , i voted for trump but otherwise democrats , this year however for the first time i will vote a straight republican ticket !
why ? because the democratic party no longer represents my views and to put it in even more harsh terms i think the party has lost its mind and has been taking over by the ultra left !
as immigrant (or former depending on how you look at it) i applaud trumps stance on border security and illegal immigration and cheerfully noticed the departure of the pro-amnesty politicians the likes of flake and mc cain , obviously i am also not alone with my views as the approval rating of trump and the GOP with latinos has substantially improved even though and probably because of his stance on immigration !
As a engineer who has lost his job more than once due to the "global economy " i applaud trump on his attempts to reverse trade agreements that have led to millions of well paying jobs getting shipped off overseas !
i think the democratic party in order to survive needs a complete re-orientation and unfortunatly the only way i see this will happen is that the party is destroyed and then rebuild from the ground up , if democrats lose this fall it will serve as a catalyst to start the process that is long overdue
11
No one who wants decency and competence to be rewarded in the midterm elections for state and federal offices can argue with the call by Thomas Friedman to vote for Democrats.
This is a refreshing, unambiguous view by Mr. Friedman, who was a big cheer leader for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a reformist and, as late as a week ago, wrote that deciding what to do with the Crown Prince and about Saudi Arabia is a “dilemma.”
Welcome back, Mr. Friedman. You occasionally do a walkabout on the nation-building topic, but you have a good mind and your heart’s in the right place.
62
@sdw "decency and competence." Did you watch the Democratic Senators at the Kavanaugh hearing? I am not even talking about the sexual accusations. I was a life long Democrat until the "Bill Clinton lying under oath"" fiasco. Rs are certainly no saints, but please. I did not see decency OR competence at those hearings. Even though Kavanaugh had the highest ratings possible by The American Bar Association not one Democrat except maybe election challenged hypocrites would vote for him or even consider him, and this they said BEFORE the hearings.
It would have been better to just have the vote without the folly of those hearings since it was known by one and all the outcome. I realize that NYT readers are virtually monolithically Democratic Voters except some Independents like myself who insist on reading what the Times has to say, but, it still astounds me to read the comment section of the Times here.
1
Iraq War cheerleaders don't get to tell me how to vote. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever.
Maybe if the Democrats had paid some attention to what Friedman supported globalization/NAFTA was doing to the middle class in the Midwest and elsewhere, we wouldn't have Trump as a President. But Friedman didn't care then and he doesn't care now.
So Trump is what we get.
4
@Lilo Precisement.
Should have written this several weeks ago, before voting started.
4
Langston Hughes had it right:
“Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free...”
8
The hyperbole coming from the left and in this article continues to be so over the top it is almost laughable. I had similar fears prior to Trump getting elected (whom I didn't vote for), but where has his "totalitarian" grip REALLY manifested itself beyond mere tweets? Remember Obama had similar issues that were handled similarly, and where was the outrage then?? I remember conservatives also sounding the alarm of American doom after the election of Obama, and look at them now gloating in their bright red utopian dreamland. The situation is not as dire as the left makes it sounds. And, the repeated accusations of the demise of America being solely at the hand of our current President is a huge reason why Trump backers cling stronger to their beliefs- the accusations do not reflect reality. Calm down lefties, your time will come again......and then it will go, again
4
I'm not against Democrats. People's political views do not reflect reason or facts. They are opinions. Opinions differ. That's just the way we are.
But I do like Donald Trump's style. He wants to accomplish things, and he doesn't let politics stand in his way. He's not liberal and he's not really conservative. He's pragmatic.
Take climate change, for example. Thomas Friedman talks about the difference between an increase of 2 degrees and 1.5 degrees. But that has little to do with science. It's all politics. What do you do when faced with uncertain risks?
(The idea that The Economist newspaper has any idea of what is going to happen in the future is sort of silly. How would they know? How can anyone know? We're all just guessing.)
Donald Trump uses hyperbole, which works poorly when taken in sound bites. You can pick out things that sound outrageous and play them over and over again.
But if you listen more carefully to what he has to say, and more important look at what he accomplishes, your opinion may change. Mine certainly did.
The man's not a good politician, conventionally. He's not smart, conventionally. He's not an orator, conventionally. But Donald Trump is a genius.
10
If you don't fear what will happen to this country under more years of Trump and Republican control of Congress, then you aren't paying attention. We should be afraid that climate change will cause irreversible harm unless we act quickly. We should be afraid that we have a President who lies almost every time he speaks, who undermines freedom of the press, who is alienating the democracies and their people, who devalues science, who undermines American values such as treating people fairly, who praises despots and insults our allies, and who seems to be working hard to make our very divided country even more divided. Republicans in Congress act like lapdogs. If we believe in checks and balances in government, the best way, perhaps the only way, is to elect a Democratic house of Representatives.
18
Depending on his cholesterol levels and all-around fitness, we might be one lucky Big Mac with Supersize fries combo meal away from American being great again.
Until that happens, we must vote out all of the GOP. From here in the cheap seats no one, and I mean NO ONE from the GOP led Congress has stood against Trump since John McCain died.
A vote for any member of the Congressional GOP is a rubber stamp for Trump.
Electing anyone from the GOP to Congress is signing our country's own death certificate.
14
Pursuing liberal ideology is how the Democrats govern. It’s not the solution. It’s not too long ago that unemployment was over 90 million, people on food stamp was over 50 million and GDP for most of Obama years was just slightly over 1%. Is that what Fridman mean how to “Make America Great Again?!
Vote Republican this November 6.
7
Do you remember who put us there!!
2
The Democrats had control of both houses of Congress and the White House from 2009-2011. They could have passed any bill or program they wanted. They squandered this opportunity.
And if the Democrats take the House, so what? The Republicans still hold the Senate, and it's likely Supreme Court decisions will be 5-4 in favor of the conservatives.
Of course, you are correct. But between now and the next 2 election rounds, the Democrats will be building their, "I told you so..." case.
If Republicans follow through with their agenda, they will add force to the Democrats' argument and Republicans will be crushed; if not this year, then certainly in 2020.
1
The problem is most working-class people who lived through the eight years of the Obama presidency are not buying what you're selling Mr. Friedman. In fact, most are quite pleased to see a larger percentage of their paycheck, low unemployment and greater employment opportunities.
6
@EGV1968
The problem is most working-class people who use that too-oft-repeated line are doing nothing to ready themselves for new jobs in a world that is increasingly technical and requires a higher level of education for gainful employment.
So stop blaming it all on the previous administration.
11
@N. Smith text book example of how you coastal elites just don't get it. I'm working class and proud of it. I happen to also have a degree in Economics and am reasonably literate. "New jobs", yes they are being created all the time but that does not mean the old ones have disappeared. It takes a lot of us blue collar folks to feed, clothe, keep you warm and keep your vehicles running.
We simply occupy an insignificant amount of space in your consciousness.
2
@EGV1968. Great points. Granted BHO was tied up by the idiots on the right and he was trying to save the economy. but even when things turned around, most of his economic progress and benefits went to the top just like they always have and Wall Street and the banks made out just fine. Hope and change was just another empty political promise in the end.
After reading a dozen of these comments, I wonder if the NYTimes is vetting for Russian interference. With a few notable exceptions, most sound like they are right out of the Russian "sew discord" playbook. These are scary times. If true believers in America (note - not the "nationalists", not the "body slammers", not the "bombers", not those who might see a Trump shoot somebody in Times Square and ignore it - but real true believers in what America stands for don't take a stand, then we are experiencing the beginning of the end of this great Republic. Civility should not be viewed as a weakness. It should be a strength. When a politician uses that trite phrase "the American people want...." let them truly be talking about all the people, not just the half or less than half that happen to have won the last election. And yes, it is important that a signal be raised - vote for a Democrat this round. Whatever the outcome of that, at least some sort of restraint will be placed on the Government at large and Trump in particular.
14
Dr. Tom, it's pretty clear that America won't become America again as long as president Trump calls the press "the Enemy of the People." Some cell of terrorists (American or foreign?) has responded to Trump's ("Nationalist") dog-whistle today by mailing pipe-bombs to our 44th president Barack Obama, to the Clintons, (Pres and Sec of State), to George Soros, to CNN, and to other Democrats in high office. Now that our President says that a Congressman who body-slams a reporter is "my kind of guy!", what do you advise our divided country to do? If Democrats don't win back House and Senate seats and governorships, all of us can kiss Democracy goodbye. The abyss of Civil War beckons again after 153 years. Will terrorists acting on behalf of our 45th president be brought to justice or will chaos prevail?
6
I just have one thing to say: Thomas Friedman, you are totally awesome!
Thank you so much for telling it like it is!
6
We elders who have been reading you for so long, Tom, know what a good person you are (as well as being so Big Picture insightful).
I recall the author of _The Making of the Counter-Culture—, Theodore Roszak, who also wrote, 1982—1982!—_Person/Planet_.
The Earth needs us because we'll have heirs that deserve to not suffocate in a hothouse Earth or to spend much of their lives drowning in chronically ill health due to consumerism driven by predatory marketing.
C. G. Jung used to way that God needs us. God exists inasmuch as we keep God alive. Our unborn children need us. So, in that sense the Earth needs us.
6
Trump may ultimately bear responsibility for promoting hatred, but now that it's reached this sorry turn in the road, it's worth considering the enormous and ongoing role that the media has played in normalizing hate speech by Republican candidates and their spokespeople, because Trump didn't have to win. Neither do his new batch of mini-mes but we need to learn from how we lost the past round.
By not subjecting the Clintons, the DNC's slavish embrace of them and other democratic power players to proper constructive criticism in the media, it weakened them as candidates in general elections. Oh the Media parroted all the meaningless slander about emails and Bengahzi but didn't challenge them on the issues the democratic base cared about.
Hillary was running on Bill's record, and that record of triangulation to stay in power including fostering hate speech against blacks: the "Super Predators", "Welfare Reform" "Hard, Working White People" comments and anti- gay legislation ( Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Defense of Marriage Act)
These remembered bashings and new bashings calling Bernie's supporters everything under the sun killed the voter turnout.
In this election still the Media has not properly called out the Democratic party's abandonment of their own base throughout the Obama years. Joe Biden;s Taskforce on the Middle Class produced nothing to help the middle class. Obamacare left 60 million uninsured. But the media doesn't call out Biden or Pelosi for failing their base.
1
The Republican Party persistently endorses and loudly approves the beleaguered chief executives' sheer stridency, extremely bombastic, and especially denigrating course of conduct and pattern of practice. The GOP equally lacks the mental fortitude, the moral courage, and the physical spine to confront the leader they fully embrace for fear of political ostracism and retribution. Mr. Friedman's opinion is right on! The Democratic party stands on the threshold of achieving control of the House, and possibly the Senate. Achieving that control in turn serves to effectively check the tyrannical, austerely Draconian, senseless acts and morally bankrupt beliefs of 45. Measured and responsible oversight, independent, objective investigations, transparent hearings, and thoughtful, considerate contributions to the political discourse to advance inclusiveness, and not polarized tribalism, will greatly serve all Americans. The Democratic Party of FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ is the party of the future as evidenced by multi cultural, racial and ethnic diversity, multi immigrant, diverse religious participation, and LGBTQ individuals. The GOP's shrinking base, engaging in fiercely persistent untruth telling, fear mongering, rampant xenophobia, demonizing and denigrating those who do not read, write, or speak the King's English, and their relentless demagoguery campaign are indicia of extreme desperation and a refusal to accept the future that these folks are here to stay. Race matters.
11
Democrats: Please run on...
1) Healing our Planet - reversing global warming - carbon tax, vehicle emission regulations, Paris, etc.
2) Truth and Honesty - tell us what we really need to hear. Be the party that tells the truth.
3) Balancing the Budget so we don't go bankrupt. (Republicans don't care about the national debt after all.) (Case study: Italy may throw the world into financial trouble. We're trending in their direction.) Fact: we will need to raise taxes on the highest earners.
4) Universal Healthcare
5) Fixing immigration in an empathetic way
6) Realism on Social Security and Medicare - we'll need to trim benefits and increase taxes.
7) Nuclear arms control
8) Restoring friendships with our allies
9) Not turning a blind eye on global criminals
10) Restoring unity, decency, and love for one another
21
Yes!
It'll be just like America was before, but without that pesky Senate, and no Electoral College system, and without this "illegitimate" supreme court!
We'll fully suspend the presumption of innocence, allowing baseless claims to carry the weight of a conviction! The FBI will collude with campaigns, and spy on incoming political foes, while lying and concealing evidence from Federal Judges!
We'll make up stories about YouTube videos, while fully knowing we allowed our embassy to be invaded, and our foreign diplomats dragged through the streets! Then we can lie to their children again!
We'll bring back state-run health care, and return to the glory days of universal basic incomes!
It'll be just like America used to be! Democrats sure are peddling one heck of a product these days!
Instead, Americans should vote for the protectors of our free republic. I'm no Republican, but vote for those that understand our constitution, our freedoms, and the dangers of a government ruling class so comfortable, no felony can touch them, and no free American is safe from their IRS, FBI and DoJ.
7
i just want to pick up on your last comment, saying that they feel so comfortable, nothing can touch them. This seems to be the case just right now with a President claiming to withdraw from every international agreement, championing violence against media and political opponents, telling blatant lies every thinking person can see...
It is disturbing and sad to see, what became of a country that should be a reliable partner to us, but who we simply don't trust anymore.
11
@Patriot. When did we have state run healthcare, amongst many of the other fantasies you listed in your screed? Before you knock it, I lived in Canada for 5 years where they have universal healthcare. It is superior to our Medicare (which I now have) and the taxes that pay for it are not onerous.
3
Economy booming. Black unemployment at historic lows. Worker participation rate is growing. Re-negotiated trade deals that will benefit the US workers. ISIS defeated.
What's this guy talking about?
5
Thank you Mr. Friedman for very clearly stating what we are facing in 13 days. Until Trump is held accountable for his words and actions nothing will change.
9
This current administration and congress, which was elected by the minority, is committing high crimes and misdemeanors against all of humanity and history will not look kindly at them for their actions to remove scientific, fact based, common sense decision making from all US government agencies. This current administration and congress is the true enemy of the people and must be voted out!
6
many hoest, sincere and good people (mostly immigrants and people of colors) have been wounded by the episode going on for the last t0/three years. we also joined rogue countries internationally and making enemies of our long standing allies. Our core voters of GOP do not understand it and GOP leaders are enabling the proliferation of fake and false episodes after episodes. In the process we are encouraging internal terrorisms - example sending bombs to ex presidents and good people like Mr. Soros. In the eye of Mr. Trump and his supporters such people are unpatriots - what a shame?
2
Even if the Democrats don't win the House, they owe it to the American people to do a better job of standing up to Trump and holding him and the rest of the Republican party accountable. Camp out on the steps of the Capitol, start your own TV show, encourage people to sue the government- whatever. Trump has had the megaphone every and there has been very little competition from the Democrats. They will be lucky to win the House. I think younger and more aggressive leadership will also help the Democrats. Is that too much to ask?
3
Trump, and that group that was [incredibly] once known as the party of Lincoln, are riding the wave from the tax cuts. As long as that sugar high is having its effects, there will be a tough row to hoe for the D's. The bill will come due from the tax cuts and then we can expect to see the pendulum swing in the other direction, along with a painful economic hangover.
3
I am 50 something. In my youth at a southern midwestern elementary school, I was exposed to some of the duck and cover stuff. It all seemed so strange, the notion that a previous generation lived in palpable fear of an atomic holocaust.
However, I can now relate to living in the USA overshadowed by complete uncertainty regarding the future and the tangible reality that life as I know it could rapidly decay once the tipping point is reached. And likewise, the feeling of helplessness. Based on what we know about mind science, cognitive heuristics and tribalism, we are all susceptible to the closet fascist playbook. The unexpected serendipity of social media to further its cause is a similar threat.
I immigrated to the US from Canada with my family of six in the 60s. My father was a diehard Reagan Republican. He prospered as a middle class professional when America was supposedly great, a common illusion generated by the human characteristic of retrospective optimism bias.
For the first time in my life I am questioning what I signed up for when I became an American citizen as an adult. It is not an option given the oath I took and the family ties, but I contemplate once in a while what my escape strategy might look like.
I feel more fearful as I encounter more and more friends who are trump sympathizers. It’s like the old movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.
Forgive them for they know not what they do? That is hard to rap my mind around.
Pleaae vote!
3
Corruption rules worldwide. Lies are the currency. Nothing is sacrosanct. Leaders from the president on down are blatantly unscrupulous and enjoying every minute. America is not becoming great again. We are eating what we’re being fed and dying from it. When will enough of us react appropriately?
3
We Democrats have been suffering from “self-inflicted death by limousine liberal.”
We Democrats are underperforming in elections because we long ago ceased to be the blue-collar/labor union party.
We abandoned the working-class in the 80s in reaction to the political success of Reaganomics.
We held on to our social liberalism though but lost a decisive chunk of the working-class in the heartland to the Republicans.
Bill Clinton practiced a more responsible form of Reaganomics taking care to reduce our budget deficit.
Clintonomics did what Reaganomics did. It enriched the investor-class, reduced unemployment, created millions of low-wage service jobs, increased wealth and income inequality, failed to reverse the trend of wage stagnation, but re-elected the President.
Trumponomics = Reaganomics. Same prescription with so far the same mixed results.
We Democrats could win back a large number of working-class voters in the heartland and convince them to vote in their economic interests if we made the more inclusive economic populist issue the focus of our campaigns instead of the noble but divisive social issues ( women’s rights, LGBT rights).
4
I remember President Clinton saying there's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what's right with America.
One could see the plausibility of that even if it involved squinting the eyes just a little bit.
Now it seems like a very bold assertion. Political and social ruin is staring the US in the face, just like climate change, and nothing effective is being done, just as with climate change.
Imagine, the fate of the country hanging on a few senate and house seats in a midterm election! (I think Mr. Friedman is correct.) How could you let this happen?
7
If the GOP wins they have not kept it secret: they are coming for Social Security and Medicare to pay for last years tax cuts for the 1%. And they are coming for Obamacare. Despite their rhetoric of late, that means preexisting conditions will matter again. On foreign policy, war with Iran and possibly China. The stock market has spooked lately over trade barriers, the Obama recovery is about over, Trumps protectionism will eventually cause a downturn in global markets that starts with the developing nations, possibly even Italy. This time central bankers can't come to the rescue. Hard times that will, unfortunately, work for Trumps brand of neo-fascist populism, in the heartland. Trump is planting the Grapes of Wrath: we should really fear who is coming up after him. Vote Dem to repudiate all of that, and tell the World that we know our history, and refuse to repeat it.
12
This is a last chance for saving what shreds of democracy are left in this country. Either we at least vote the Dems control of the House, or the present de facto oligarchy will become enshrined in law, and a fascist America will be established.
16
@Joe Runciter. Oh please. We survived: Hoover, Nixon Reagan, the civil war, clintons libido, W, the gilded age, slavery, hitler, and the Cold War. Well get past trump. Global warming, corporate America, over population and environmental catastrophe (which all started long before trump) and which NO ONE has done anything significant about. Those are a different matter.
1
If Republicans keep both the House & Senate, Putin wins.
14
The sooner the "big apple" gets it's worm back (Trump) the better for the rest of the country! Vote straight democratic ticket and lets take back our government.
8
@Richard Daniels -- there's only one borough of New York that voted for Trump: Staten Island.
Personally I'd like to see Trump exiled to the Staten Island waterfront just south of the Bayonne Bridge. It's Trump country; looks across at, and smells, the Bayonne refineries.
2
Best column of the day!
7
The Democratic party ceased to exist a while ago. They went Left. Their new motto is: “When they go low, we kick them.” Their new “American values” are:
1. America and its People last.
2.Denial of God (2012 Democratic Convention.)
3. Abortion on demand.
4. Supression of freedom of speech.
5. Incitement to violence (democratic leaders
M. Walters, E. Holder, Tom Perez,etc.)
6. War on men in general, and more specifically on “white” men.
7. War on gender.
8. War on Christian values.
9. Despise the Constitution (an imperfect document/Obama)
And the list goes on.
I just want to know what Mr. Friedman means when he says “I want to put the best of American values back at the center of our diplomacy and politics.” What values are those Mr. Friedman, the ones listed above?
4
@MariaMagdalena. This is not and never has been a "Christian nation" so some of what you say are not American values.
3
@Al It was, it is and will always be.
1
@MariaMagdalena. I've looked. For the life of me, I can't find: god, jesus or Christian in the constitution or the Declaration of Independence. . I do see in the establishment clause where it says congress will stay out of the religion business. Can you clear this up for us?
2
The Democrats are no better. We have an invasion of more than 7,000 Central Americans that think it is their right to cross the border and live in the U.S. The national legislature has had two years to fix the border and they have not.
The Democrats are obstructionists when it comes to immigration reform, therefore I hold my nose and try to breathe as little toxic Trump air as I can, but I will vote agaisnt every Democrat in Texas because they don't want to stop this group of illegals who are nothing more than invaders, and it doesn't matter that they are non violent and mothers and children are the majority, they still do not have the right to enter the country without my permission and I say no.
If our national legislature cannot pass reasonable immigration laws turn that stop these mobs from entering the country then it does not matter if they are Dems or Reps, vote all of them out and put in people that will.
5
@Jerry Bergman So, the house is burning down, and instead of calling the fire department, you'd call in more arsonists/Trump enablers. I'm thinking let's take care of the over-arching issue first and foremost - bring back facts, morality and rational debate. Holding your nose is just condoning Trump's toxicity. Suggesting if you think you are choosing between the "lesser of 2 evils", choose those who follow a moral compass rather than a calculator. By the way, Republicans perfected the Art of Obstructionism.
3
@Jerry Bergman. Agreed. The democrats are for defacto open borders. This is a loser issue for them. They used to be reasonable on immigration, but not anymore.
3
You’re blind...7,000 (as if) that would be willing to do the jobs Americans don’t want anymore...not “take” but “do”...
Amen to that Mr. Freidman!
2
Unfortunately, FASCISM is alive and well in today's United States.
If your ideal for America is the shining city of the hill in which diplomacy rather than fear-mongering and thuggery rule and the great melting pot where mutual benefit and tolerance bring people of different backgrounds together exists, VOTE ANTI-FASCIST.
2
A big echo chamber here on this page. Not everyone has the luxury of turning away billions in jobs when your's is secure and well paying.
Where is the outrage on this website when Obama was tapping Dr. Merkel's phone and using drones to kill allot of suspect's that oppose US interests.
4
It's beyond the pale to call fellow citizens "un-American", which is what the article implies. We have to find ways to say that Trumpism tramples on long-held American values, without excluding his voters from the definition of "American".
2
During The 1960's My Classmate, Mary, Said Her Father Told Her "You Can't Trust Turkey". He Was Born In The Country Turkey.
To Cover Up.
I Wonder When The Republicans Talk About A "Deep State". If They Included The (CIA) Central Intelligence Agency Working Domestically In The United States?
I agree. The Republican Party is an ideal environment for Trumpism to thrive. They no longer deserve to hold power. They have "sold out" America with all of their many "dog whistles" and fears that Trump too advantage of. The Republican Party "plowed the ground" fro Trump.
2
Tom, your concluding view of our "only hope to make America America again" seems quite different than another Tom's.
Nothing seems to be "enough" to achieve your goal --- in fact, you write that even "the truth is just not enough today" --- which may well be different than the goals of 'we the American people' either today or historically, Tom.
There was a time that American colonialist 'subjects' of the, then near global, British Empire (particularly after the French and Indian war ended in 1763, in single Empire monopoly) that our founders bristled under Royalist Governors.
"The English settlement of North America was undertaken by groups of private individuals; the colonies were only gradually brought under the control of royal government. By 1763, nine of the thirteen colonies that would rebel in 1775 had royal governors." [Encyclopedia]
Some of those "Royalist Governors" varied in their 'toughness' [eg. the British Empire ordered Massachusetts Royalist Governor Francis Bernard to direct the Massachusetts House to rescind the "Massachusetts Circular Letter" of resistance, which the house refused to do, and the British Empire's Admiral, Commodore Samuel Hood responded by sending the fifty-gun warship HMS Romney, which arrived in Boston Harbor in May 1768 to assert Empire control. [Wiki].
But Tom, while Pat only shouted "Give me liberty or give me death", if that Tom had taken the Paine to edit Pat, it would have been: "Give me liberty over Empire or give me death"!
1
@Alan MacDonald
Despite the fact that some of the British Empire controlled Royal Governors treated colonists in some colonies moderately and with some accommodation while other Royal Governors were rougher, our founding fathers and a growing plurality of thinking colonial/'subjects' came to the conclusion that living under any political circumstances where their futures were ultimately under the control of an overarching Empire was going to be something that they were not willing to live under.
Which, according to Justin du Rivage's deeply researched and definitive history of what started 242 years ago should be called, like his book, a seminal, signal, global, and continuing "Revolution Against Empire":
"Stitching American and British history back together allows us to set the American Revolution in the context of world history. Although it has sometimes appeared to lack the éclat of either the French or Russian Revolutions, it was clear to observers at the time that the American Revolution was both a radical event and of far more than local importance. Indeed, it was part of a broader story in which the growth of fiscal-military states and empires led to an age of democratic revolution."
du Rivage, Justin. Revolution Against Empire: Taxes, Politics, and the Origins of American Independence (The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History) (Kindle Locations 590-594). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
1
The stakes in this election are huge. Trump's utter and complete capitulation to Putin has seriously degraded the US's place with the world order and everywhere else.
Putin is saying and appears to be deadly serious while yucking it up as America is about to have totally lost it's identity and it's role in the world order. Putin openly mocks our country and that he's about the one person who Trump listens to.
To see the previously rarely if ever smiling John Bolton grinning and yucking it up with Putin and Sergey Lavrov. Is really bizarre.
1
Our forefathers warned us of people like Trump. I thought Republicans believed in our forefathers. You know, Americans.
6
Is it really that bad out there? I see people from both political parties daily and it does not feel as if we are at war unless you read the newspapers.
The murder of a journalist in Turkey by the Saudis, what do we do? I know Trump will not do much but would Obama have done more? I think we need to realistic there.
Bombs in the mail to politicians is never acceptable but I wonder if those bombs had gone to McConnell, Trump and Ryan would the Times crowd even care?
Again the call for parts of the country to secede from the union? Very dangerous and smacks of elitist talk. Simply because you feel superior to someone is no reason to leave the union.
I
Hope the Democrats take the House but that is as far as we go for now. Where is the center? We need to reengage and demand compromise and governance again. This we all hate each other stinks.
Finally, Tom Friedman I am disappointed in you. You have always been one of
My favorites but this sounded like an educated Trump piece. It reeks of fear and division. Your time would be better spent on promoting those who are reengaging the losers in the globalist game. Unfortunately there were many losers.
2
How committed are people in their opposition to what polls indicate is significant dissatisfaction with the current political and geopolitical condition? Is agonizing over whether enough voters will turn out sufficient?
As a child of the 50's entering adulthood during the 60's, we displayed our dissatisfaction in the streets. Every major city and university united with unrelenting protests against the Vietnam war, civil unrest during the Democratic convention in Chicago. The Black Panthers armed themselves and claimed long overdue Black Pride. Marches in Selma, riots in Watts. There was no agonizing over twitter posts while safely munching avocado toast from the comfort of the local internet café. Change happen in the streets, with our blood, our voices, and the ubiquitous mass of people consumed with rage over the status quo.
The time for talk is over. Where are the Abbie Hoffman's of this generation? The time for unrelenting civil protest is upon us, and this generation needs to put their phones down and get serious. The People need to make change happen with their voices and if necessary, their blood. Our vote has been neutralized by voter suppression/redistricting.
Fill the streets and college campuses with hundreds of thousands of angry protestors. There is immense pride and satisfaction to be found in effecting change. It's called patriotism.
5
Thomas Friedman has many great points here on “How To Make America Great Again”. Unfortunately, hoping that it could be done by the Democrats is a fools wish! From Schumer, Pelosi, Ellison, Schiff, Blumenthal, Warren, Clinton (who is the worst offender ) we, as a country are only hearing attacks, whining, vitriol. but, never, never a NEW IDEA out of their mouths. They all sound like high schoolers, playing the adolescent game of ignorance, self-pity and loathing. Trump is beyond despicable, but not one Democrat has the class or the decorum to act Presidential! It’s a pity what has happened. They get down in the gutter with Trump. They play right into his abominable rhetoric and are just like him with their constant mouthing off of his indecencies. They come across as angry politicians, with not one forward thinking proposal or new way to attack so many deep problems. They want to tell everyone how to live their lives, “we will take care of you, make all your decisions” and, yet, who’s going to pay for it all? It’s a tragedy all around. Both parties are beyond an embarrassment of adults acting worse than children! Children have more compassion and caring...and it’s not to get votes! The Democrats have no leadership or party because they all sound alike. Trump, Trump, Trump
2
“They’re all bad.”
This is the hurdle that will be the most difficult to cross over. I am so weary of hearing this and I am so weary of trying to explain to non-voters that there is no such thing as perfection.
Thank you for this column and all the others you write. You may be preaching to the choir, but I hope you continue to write. Some of us are paying attention. Let us hope enough of us are.
4
TLF writes:
"I can write that the president, by telling us that we must weigh a $110 billion Saudi arms purchase against taking a moral stand on Khashoggi’s murder, is literally telling us the price of our values — about $333.33 for every American. (Your check is in the mail.)"
Actually, the $110B go to the weapons corporations and their political minions. Taxes accrued would normally go to us, the little people, were it not for the loopholes and corporate gifts from the Great Old Pretenders plus the cash that will take an extended vacation in the Bahamas. In other words, 99.9% of Americans will see not one penny from the deed, making the price of our values essentially $0. The check is in the mail, indeed.
4
@Marc D Actually, no money has gone to anyone, yet. This could be another of Trump's fanciful, random promises with no evidence that it will every materialize.
1
Did someone order a Bonfire of the Vanities?
While I would absolutely prefer that the United States wake itself up from this Fantasia-esque nightmare, there is something strangely fascinating about having the opportunity to witness such a stupendous squandering of an empire so vast.
General politicking aside, this election is about the 2020 Census to a greater degree than it is about any major changes to the status quo in the near-term. And it is for that reason that a continued Republican majority should be terrifying even to most Republicans.
No one enjoys not being financially secure. That’s why finances exist in the first place. Do the math.
2
Republicans have neither shame nor spine. Their handling of the Kavanaugh hearings was horrifying, as is a great deal of their campaigning.
Interesting that Republican women are more worried about sons being falsely accused than about their daughters being abused and not able to find anyone to believe them.
5
What Friedman eloquently describes is truly the Democratic imperative. The nation needs to put the brakes on Trump and his vileness now. Friedman could have shortened his article by pointing out another of Trump's spelling errors. Ultimately, he is a "Trashionalist". As a Trashionalist he has trashed America and its values, he has trashed our penchant for common decency and racial comity, he has trashed American policies on climate change, arms control, and international trade. Along the way he has trashed the rule of law, the need for social responsibility and our Constitutional norms written and unwritten. Collectively, he has trashed and seriously undercut American standing in the world leaving the United States and the world a less safe place for humanity.
4
You can vote all you want, but with gerrymandering and voter suppression in full swing, it's unlikely to make any difference. Face it, the American experiment is over and has failed. The Republicans have us where they want us, complete with income inequality, racism, misogyny, Kavanaugh, lock her up, and climate change denial. Ole Mitch was as antsy to get Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Court as he was adamant about even putting up Garland's name for a hearing. A couple of House seats ain't going to matter in the least. Sorry to be a Cassandra about this, but Cassandra's fate was to see the future and be disbelieved.
5
We are fighting for our democracy in this election. Democrats need to highlight that point or nothing else matters.
2
Sorry Tom, but I have to disagree with your opinion that now is not the time for a third party. Now is precisely the time for a "third way" out of this tar pit. Both parties have been utterly feckless in addressing the real needs of our citizens. I left the Republican Party in total disgust years ago, and have been shaking my head at the Democratic Party's inability to craft and advertise sound, credible positions instead of constantly releasing attack dogs and puling about Trump. The middle class is evaporating because we are not preparing our youth for employment in a rapidly changing global economy. Who on either side of the aisle is talking about education reform, including creating a strain of technical schools for those who don't want or can't afford a college degree? Who on either side is talking about reforming our entitlement system so that we have a reasonable chance of making the investments we need in education, infrastructure, healthcare, and R&D that will provide a foundation for economic and social resurgence? With trillion dollar deficits stretching out into the horizon, we have no hope of making these investments, as the maw of mandatory spending consumes more and more of our GDP. It's time for a new party to germinate, impelled by sensible, artful people who understand the gravity of the position we're in. We'll be putting our teeth in a glass waiting for these two parties to get their acts together.
3
@strokeman
I am with you but the system is rigged -by both parties- against the creation of parties or movements that may stray from the two-party pendulum. Today the pendulum swings to one side, tomorrow to the other, both parties know this despite any notion of "winning" or "losing" at a given point in time. The paradox is that there may be no more pendulum left after Trump world is finished cutting the rope.
@strokeman
Sorry to disagree. But NOW is not the time to fool around with a third party or a third party candidate because that's how we ended up with Donald Trump in the first place -- And I'd rather shake my head than lose it all together.
3
Let's aim high. Dems should win back the House AND the Senate.
7
It was said that if Hillary Clinton won the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election as U.S. President of the United States we would have gone to war with Russia. I may have said that too even when I did vote for her. But now we are at war with each other who are citizens here in America. If only Hillary Clinton could have won then going to war with Russia, to me, would be okay.
1
What's with all the carpers here? We are suffering government by minority. Every day the government elected by that minority weakens our nation both at home and abroad. Friedman is simply asking for a check on that minority by the majority to get more balance in the system. Surely Hamilton and Madison would approve.
6
The truth is, America has never been a particularly honest, civil or tolerant place for most of its history. And sufficient numbers of white American voters today care very little about the civil rights of others, think of the equal rights promised in their nation's founding document as an encroachment on their entitlements, will always choose a tax break over decency and will risk their own social security and health insurance if only it keeps out the supposed immigrant competition and "uppity" people of color, queers etc. Finally, they've been dis-educated enough to believe the empty populist rhetoric of Trumpism instead facing the enormous challenge of truly remaking America into a more euqitable society by reining in finance capitalism and neoliberal globalization.
4
@T. Clark, you say that like it's a bad thing!
Simple, put God back into the equation.
@manoflamancha On the "x" side or the "y" side? According to the Republicans, He's already in the White House.
1
Duting his campaign Trump looked out to thousands of cheering supporters and declared that they were part of a real "movement." He was right. That movement "exalts nation and often race above the individual and stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition." That quote is the verbatim definition of facism in the dictionary. Will voting alone stop the movement from taking further root? If not what? There must be millions of Americans asking the same question.
4
I always loved America but I never realized how much until now. When I listen to lie after lie being spewed from Trump's mouth, my stomach gets uneasy and my eyes start tearing. I was fortunate enough to grow up in one of the best economies a generation could ask for. We had more upward mobility potential that covered a majority of the population. The tears that come to my eyes now are for the generations after mine. For they are the ones who are going to have to fight for their lives to make America America again. I can only stand with them going forward, but they are the ones who must vote for their futures. Like I said, I always loved America but never realized how much until now. Please vote!
6
Nobody in the world wants America to be "America" again. America is not now, nor was it ever, fundamentally ethical or moral. That is why it died, rotting from the core.
The rebirth of the nation can only happen with a humble revolution of values. It will take generations to disentangle the web of exploitative power and lies. How did America become a third world country by many measures: violence, poverty, corruption, pollution? Even the children worship consumerism, while free markets cannibalize its citizens. It is entrenched in the cultural DNA, and infects the world like a virus.
America's genius can be used for good AND for prosperity, which are not mutually exclusive. A new generation of centrists would be wise to dissociate from the past, and find a new identity. Look outside the borders to nations aspiring for collaboration instead of competition. The scientists, visionary leaders and social justice warriors can lead the way.
5
Maybe the most insulting thing I’ve read here in awhile. The US is far from perfect but it has saved the world at least three times, taken in more refugees and immigrants than the rest of the world combined, given more rights and privileges to more different people and remains the number one destination for basically everyone on earth who wants freedom, democracy and a chance at prosperity. The crowds at the border prove this. Please feel free to move to wherever it is that is your ideals are better held up. Some of us will continue to work to fix what’s wrong with the best experiment humanity has yet tried.
10
Ok I’m from north of the border so maybe I am a simpleton, but isn’t there an even more basic motive to vote dem in two weeks? To restore the necessary political checks and balances that any healthy democracy must have? The fathers of the constitution got this fundamental idea right almost 250 years - let’s hope American voters endorse that objective, whatever anyone thinks about who is to blame for the madness that is Washington these days. Restore your national sanity!
2
"Surrounded by Republicans - Part 2"
There is very little for me to talk about with the abundance of Republican neighbors or with any of the people I work with on Long Island, as just about all of them are Republican.
I realize the island demographics "suggest" 54% Republicans - however - the number seems much higher.
Talking politics with them would be more explosive than telling them they belong to the wrong religion.
Somehow, Partisanship, has become the most powerful "identity-belief-system" of Americans.
And there in lies the true danger . . .
Politics is no longer about a platform of values - where ideas of how our country should move forward are expressed.
Politics is everything about hate.
Fueled by lies upon lies upon lies.
The Republican base is positive and totally BELIEVE everything Trump says -
Facts of any type are not required - even more importantly are NOT Accepted.
Trump Believes Putin and not our Intelligence Agencies - and the Kool-Aid drinking followers "have no doubts".
The GOP leadership actually hates Trump - and have since he first appeared on the scene.
But the greedy self-righteous GOP sees the opportunity to grab more power - disenfranchise those who are not white and transfer the wealth of America to the tiny percent of those who make the GOP exist.
I absolutely adore Thomas Friedman's insights and truly wish more would listen to him . . .
Sadly, we are not at the "bottom" yet - so yes - VOTE - Be prepared for the fight to continue.
5
"On Top Of That", Wednesday, October 24, 2018
To Cover Up.
I Wonder When The Republicans Talk About A "Deep State". If They Included The (CIA) Central Intelligence Agency Working Domestically In The United States?
There will not be real lasting change until you take money out of politics. What we have currently is an oligarchy of wealthy people and organizations who control us through their control of politicians. Even if the Democrats control the House and the Senate that will not likely happen.
1
@Brian Republicans gave us Citizens United. It will never be reversed with Republicans in power.
3
Reading down this thread, I think it's fair to say that most Americans have chosen sides. Liberals are comfortable with diversity, income equality, a universal health care system, sane immigration policy and effective government. Conservatives are comfortable with bigotry, tax evasion, mercenary health care providers, persecuting immigrants while ignoring those who employ them and drowning the government in a bathtub.
My personal experience suggests that we have "crossed the Rubicon." In Caesar's age, this literally resulted in civil war and it looks as if history is repeating itself. My friends and family have told me that in recent years, they have broken off ties and no longer communicate with people they once considered close. Some of my immigrant friends have told me that they have been shocked by the venom spewed by people they once considered their friends. I, myself, am embarrassed by the lack of decency expressed in our public arena today. And let's be clear, the lexicon of hate isn't coming from the left no matter how much the bigots complain about "identity politics" or "open borders."
Ultimately, I predict that this divide will solve itself through the exercise of state's rights. If indeed we are to go our own separate ways, then those of us who want to enjoy a diverse, prosperous and well-maintained society will live where we choose and the rest can live in their tax-free, libertarian paradise.
4
The Yemeni civil war started in 2015.
As far as I remember the previous administration decided the best solution for American business and trade interest was first to ignore it, then blame it on Iran only instead of blaming both Iran and Saudi Arabia.
But Democrats may have all of a sudden developped a conscience, or is it only because they're not in charge anymore?
6
Help ! . . . I'm surrounded by Republicans !
Luckily, New York is a Blue State - However - I live in Western Long Island and I am literally surrounded by Republicans.
On my block of 20 stand-alone private homes, 17 of them are Republican households and have of those display Republican Campaign Banners on their front lawns.
I have no way of how to understand the pain and suffering of the potential voters in Georgia who have been wiped from the voter registrars feel.
9
In the short term, Mr. Friedman's plea makes sense in order to re-establish a balance of power. But we had better abolish political parties altogether. And the sooner we do so the better. The bitter resentment of the opposition is the only logical conclusion to partisan politics and moralizing about it will do nothing to change this. It is simply and unequivocally too late.
We desperately need open primaries in order to elect people who will actually act on behalf of those who elect them. Today, even Democrats tow the party line above all else and ultimately are responsible not to the people but their mega donors. This will only change when political parties are abolished and we restore power to the people.
1
What we are up against is facsism whether in the Republican party or the Democrat party. It certainly looks worse in the Republican Party as it stands now. Mussolini's definition of facsism is not race or prejudice. It is the direct control of government by corporations or big business. With either party this is what we are facing and have faced gathering force over time. In my view, the Republicans are worse. But the Democrats have severely disappointed also, and that is why the public voted for change. What we risk with Trump back in, is the complete disintegration of our system. We risk having a police state and our civil and human rights totally ignored with any semblence of a democracy destroyed.
8
@Carolyn Egeli So the choice is having the trains run on time, or running off the rails?
1
The reason that this is hard, the reason that the Democrats are at best going to eke out a small majority in the House, is that there has been a re-alignment of American politics, with Trump and his supporters staking out one end of a new axis. The Democrats are still fighting on the old axis, which limits their leverage on the new one. This is not an election about "pre-existing conditions", but that's what they're campaigning on. If the Democrats can't find their way onto the new axis, they will wither away like the Whigs after Andrew Jackson changed the axis of American politics in the 1830s. Friedman wants us to vote for Democrats because that is the only Trump alternative, and I agree for the same reason. But to truly succeed and win power, what was the Democratic party needs a new coalition, new ideas, and new priorities, because the old party is going to continue to lose like they did in 2016.
.
The horribleness of Trump is blinding Democrats to the need for change, but change is urgently needed. There is a liberal elite too firmly cemented into power and wealth in this country. There is a need for less centralization in Washington, DC. Regulation and zoning restrict opportunity and new business creation, and thus social mobility. Education needs to change for the 21st century. All this can occur while providing security and healthcare for all Americans, but not if we cater to identity politics rather than universal themes. The Democratic party must change.
9
"......vote for a Democrat for the House and the Senate."
Not just the House and Senate. At state and local level too. That’s where the Republicans have their farm team, and that’s where the power resides to control election processes and voter registrations and draw boundaries.
13
Too late. Trump - the president and party of 40% of the nation - has succeeded in Making America Awful Again ('again' as in the pre-civil war and Native American oppression eras) dividing us into the majority mob and his mobsters.
Bully Trump and Republicans? How about placing a legitimate check with legitimate investigations and legitimate accountability on these scoundrels. Is that bullying?
"Truth without power today is just background Muzak to the march of the Trump administration." Actually a more apt comparison should be the background national anthem music to the march of trump's "Kill The Poor" by the Dead Kennedys.
As for what price he'll accept for a murder, that's the same question as would you have sex with someone for a small price or a million bucks - we know what you are if you accept the higher amount, the only difference is the price. Well, we clearly know what trump is and why he is so beholden to the Russians, Saudis and other wealthy tyrants - he can be bought.
Imagine how many humans we can save, including the planet, if we could all invest $333.33 to pay trump to relinquish power - PRICELESS! I know, it is far fetched given how much he is already reaping and ripping off humanity.
How can you have a healthy democracy when one party steals the right to vote and steals healthcare out from under citizens who need it?
7
While I agree with the sentiment here, I am increasingly and reluctantly confronting the specter of the possibility that what Trump represents is who we as a country may actually be. Certainly not all of us, but for those who care enough to vote, which most of us don’t. That in itself reveals another aspect of who we really are as a nation.
And for the first time, as a result of these mid terms, we may come face to face with this reality of who we really are, as Trumpism may be fully validated. We can not run from that if the house and senate stay Republican, which as the race progresses seems to be a real possibility.
Our principles as a nation both about how we treat ourselves and in how we react to the world and promote democracy seem to be gone or at least forgotten.
What are our principles today? Making money. That’s it. Jobs at any cost or the prospect of keeping more of your money form the government if you are rich. Trump is at best, the guy who you know is lying to you but tells you what you want to hear or at worst (for the 1%) a useful idiot in this endeavor.
The only way he may be driven from power is if the economy fails. That’s it! And that is not a celebration of principle if he is turned out for that reason. It is a remonstration that he failed the only principle that matters in the United States of America today: making money.
That seems to be who we REALLY are.
9
Yes: vote for Democrats, even if you are not liberal or even if the Democrat running is not FDR re-incarnate. But don't continue to propagate the so-called "tribalism" myth, as though there were two unthinking "tribes" blindly facing off. As with "fair and balanced" reporting, let's not make a false equivalence. I assume tribalism means you simply go with "your own"--whoever you assume "your own" to be--with no reflection or thought or, for that matter, information.
It could only be a tribal reaction to believe that the migrant caravan contains middle eastern terrorists, or that George Soros (who just had a bomb delivered to his home) is funding them, or that Democrats have inspired to persuade these people to leave their homes. It is not tribal to believe that our president is a racist, a liar, corrupt, and incapable of critical thought.
9
There are good Democrats and there are bad Democrats. There are good Republicans and there are bad Republicans. To vote for a candidate because of his position on the ballot rather than his position on the issues is simplistic and intellectually lazy.
Whatever races one may vote in, from town councilman up to Senator, do not be fooled by pleas to vote for the party. Examine the issues and the candidate's positions on the issues, look at the history of the candidate's previous actions, and decide on that basis. If the Democrat most aligns with your positions, vote for him. The same for the Republican, Libertarian, Green. or Socialist Worker candidate.
However, and most important, GET OUT AND VOTE!!
2
@mikecody Normally I would 100% agree. However, we're at a dangerous crossroads at the national level, as Friedman writes. Without some Democrat leverage, Trump and the GOP will continue chipping away at democratic norms, cozying up to dictators and breaking treaties.
Also, if we are ever to hold Trump to account for his personal offenses against the Presidency, such as emoluments or potential collusion with Russians, there needs to be some check on him. Currently there is none.
i am still very scared of what trump is going to do with his hand on the nuclear button. he asked if nukes could be used against venezuala and wanted to invade. his aides took papers off his desk.he has pulled out of an 80s nuclear treaty with russia. it has made us more unsafe than at any time since the cold war. his performance in helsinki was an embarassment. he took putin's side against america, the cia and fbi. where are trump's taxes ? he cheated new york, new jersey and america on his taxes, committing outright fraud. his foundation is shady. he and kushner are doing shady business with the saudis. the trump family-trump, kushner and ivanka are running a business from inside the white house.affordable care, medicare and social security are going to be history with the next trump and gop tax cut.the 2017 tax cuts went to billionaires mostly. most billionaires support the republicans and donate to the GOP. the deficit is 21 trillion. he has added 2 trillion to it already. he is making china, japan and saudi arabia richer. america has paid them 32 billion in interest on loans already this year. trump and the gop also have their own newspaper. the wall street journal.
3
The late George Carlin was so absolutely right when he delivered his 4 minute talk on why education would never get better in the USA (on UTube if you want to see it, millions of views). To paraphrase, he said the reason was "because the owners don't want that." They want the people to be able to "run the machines and do the paperwork but not be able to think and reason for themselves." And that is what it has evolved into: a huge group of dumbed-down, under-educated, unthinking group of Americans being controlled by the super-rich right wing, led by Trump with his entertaining, persuasive snake-oil sales pitch that they can't stop watching. Carlin concludes: "the table is tilted, the game is rigged." Sadly, it has turned out to be just exactly what he said.
7
@Rugglizer
Please keep insulting all of us "deplorables" who voted for President Trump and continue to support him. Your condensing, elitist attitudes and comment just help bolster those people on the fence this election cycle who may have previously voted Republican.
1
Thank you, Mr. Friedman.
Everyone who wishes with a passion for America to be - ALL AMERICANS - not just Trump Followers -
Please Vote - Democrat down the ballot - to include: ALL AMERICANS.
6
Yes, and get 2 years of non-step investigations and impeachment threats based on nothing more than wishful thinking and non-falsifiable conspiracy theories with committee chairs of such luminaries as Maxine Waters and Adam Schiff (maybe Adam can revive the House Committee on Unamerican Activities to investigate Russians under the bedposts -- he'll have a great heritage to emulate from the 1950s). That'll help American make America great again.
3
@JW - Gee, after Darrell Issa turned the Oversight Committee into an essentially fruitless churn of over 100 subpoenas, goofball Lamar Smith tried to put subpeenys on science that hurt oil, and after the hugely expensive and fruitless Benghazi multi-marathon of 8 or 9 investigations, you pretend that Democrats investigating the Manchurian Candidate would be a change?
2
You know what Friedman this difference between the parties didn't just happen in 2016 it has been brewing for decades. Trump is just the end product of the debasing of the GOP. You have spent your career being Me. On the other hand so your intellectual laziness helped cause this debacle also. Think Iraq War.
3
Your conclusion is obvious; you did not have to use the NYTimes to say that. Those of us with some critical thinking ability can all see that .
You might have spent more time explaining your fear of the "liberal agenda." Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer don't define it and won't define it because they are bought off by the "donor class" (the currently used understatement of the year). The liberal agenda means stopping the horrid wealth gap in this country, of which you are a prime example. The dems dumped the working class decades back and they continue in pain as the 1% continue to get their tax cuts. Both parties take the money and shut up about the millions who live paycheck to paycheck, can't afford health care and can't move up the ladder for all the usual reasons, some of which are the horrendous costs of a college education and the horrid state of their K-12 schools. No critical thinking allowed in K-12 in Texas by law. And it does not occur in most other schools. Globalization by the neo-liberals has moved a living wage off shore.
And you tell us to vote Democrat. You mean vote for a neo-liberal like Hillary who would not have solved any of the problems above. Nancy and Chuck do not dare to use the words "national health care system" or "Medicare for all." Instant political death for them from the "donor class." This is now becoming obvious to all of the working class. The point if to find not "any democrat" but progressive Democrats and vote out Pelosi and Chuck.
3
@Frank
No offense. But if you had any "critical thinking ability", you'd understand that our democracy is now endangered by having one party in control of all three branches of government.
1
@N. Smith. So does this mean we should always try for grid lock or just when republicans have a lock on all 3 branches?
There is a political war going on in this country, unfortunately, while Republicans are using laser guided missiles, Democrats are using badminton rackets!
In 2010, Democrats passed one of the most important pieces of legislation since the civil rights act, the Affordable Care Act.
The Democrats then proceeded to hide and remain silent, while Republican politicians demonized this law, attacking it with lies and falsehoods, (death panels, job killer, etc.), which resulted in the Democrats loss of Congress.
In 2016, Mitch McConnell & his Republican controlled Senate, blocked a vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court. The President and Democrats did nothing, thereby insuring a Conservative Supreme Court for a generation.
"Nice guys finish last"!!
The chaos, disarray and lawlessness that is the Presidency of the United States, is the result of the archaic, undemocratic presidential election system, the Electoral College!
No other society, not Iran, Afghanistan or even Russia elects their leaders in such an absurd fashion!
We live in a demockery, not a Democracy!
The election of Trump has caused to question, what really are "America’s best values"?
1
When was the last time you heard a Democrat advocating violence in the way President Trump and his supporters have? That alone is reason to vote Democratic.
8
Whatever the outcome of the upcoming election, I will always respect the insight of Thomas Friedman. Keep writing because truth and decency will prevail in America.
1
Really? There's only one single thing left to say about Khashoggi and that one single thing centers on how US citizens should vote in a US midterm election?
@Don The justice you seek is not on offer; the people in power have little interest in it; now's your chance to limit their power.
1
@Don
Since Donald Trump tends to favor strongmen and autocrats at the expense of the U.S. Constitution and he dragged his feet in recognizing the Saudi's involvement in Jamal Khashoggi's death -- that's reason enough why every U.S. citizen should vote.
How to Make America America Again? No Need, We Are Already America And Doing Well!
2
Kudos to Tom for the sharpest talking points to date for door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, schmoozing at the barber shops and hair salons, etc......let's get to work!!!!
3
Pretty simple if you want peace, prosperity and jobs for all vote Republican.
3
@obummer If you think neo-Nazis have been left out of the conversation for far too long, vote Republican.
We need a “religious left” to shame the religious right to come forward. Someone with the values of Martin Luther King. Someone who stands for human decency, truth. The political fights aren’t working.
8
Mr Friedman, I want to be an optimist, but have little evidence to support such a thing. My expectation is that things will get worse before they get better and probably much worse.
In the 2008 economic meltdown, American democracy was tested and found wanting. On Inauguration Day 2009 as our economy was losing 900,000 jobs a month and even states were running short on cash, Republicans did not join with our new President for the good of our country- they schemed in a DC establishment on how to oppose Mr Obama an the Democrats on everything. On the other side, the Obama Administration failed to prosecute the Banksters and other white collar criminals that stole us blind. That tells us there was no loyalty to country above party by the Republicans and no desire to prosecute the Wall Street scam artists that in part, bankrolled the Obama candidacy.
With global climate change staring us in the face, with serious structural budget challenges at every level of government, with a significant terrorist threat and an obvious continuing problem with racism, America needs grown up leaders of both parties that are not more concerned with their careers than the future of our republic. I am not seeing that happen and doubt the voters will elect such a slate of politicians.
This dysfunction is not solely because of a dysfunction in the GOP alone, but also because of a cancer and rot in the Democratic Party. America needs to clean up both of these corrupt organizations.
1
I agree with Mr. Friedman, we need to vote for Democrats so we can balance the power in government, right now our government is like a train without brakes. Vote Democrat!
4
That show has left town. Today's show is The Celebrity President. I cringed when I saw the adoring masses at Obama rallies, feeling that president-as-celebrity was a dangerous place to go. Obama won two elections on star power; now we have an actually truly noxious president riding that wave of star power. We all know where this ends up, but we can't turns our eyes away or silence the volume and lead our lives and talk to the person in the seat next to us. It's all about star power; we are a nation that demands to be entertained, audience rather.than performers.
3
@Charles Becker
It is about us and our mentality as much as it is about them.
Many comments here are non-factual and based only on the emotion of not being able to process losing to Trump and why he received such strong support.
4
Check for virtual phone calling sites. Some DPs have them, CA is an example. Swing Left.org does to, focusing on progressives.
Mr. Friedman,
You wrote 'drive someone else to a voting station to vote for a Democrat'. There is a still better way in california. It is vote by mail, and just drop off the vote in a drop box near your home, listed on the county web site. it doesn't cost a cent. no lines. no id needed. why is an id needed ? they can cross check with my dmv record and signature and my fbi file. asking for an id is just voter supression-in NC, georgia and red states. fill your ballot in complete privacy at home. i hope california makes it even easier in the next election. fill out an online ballot and click on submit. we do our taxes online. why not vote online as well. also i pointed my folks to links from local newspapers, with their recommendations on candidates and propositions, and shared my voting experience to make it easier for them to vote. i voted for democrats across the board.
4
Voting online is too eminently hackable in an age of mistrust.
Paper ballots!! Please!
I am in total agreement. I have many issues with the Democratic party, with Gov. Cuomo and with my Democratic congress people but this time around I will be ticking the "D" column straight down.
5
i voted within two days of receiving my ballot.for democrats. across the board. i voted to preserve the gas tax.the irresponsible california republicans who raised our taxes by limiting the salt deduction, are trying to wreck it. they don't care about the state or for america. the traffic is brutal. there are millions of cars and trucks on the road, and the roads will completely fall apart if they are not maintained.
2
We Democrats cannot wish an end to the nightmare that is the Trump era. We are burdened with doing the grunt work.
This means when establishment moderates misread the political tea leaves, coronate and nominate a moderate presidential candidate over a progressive who has captured the imagination of the electorate, and lose the general election to a political novice running as a populist while underperforming at every level thereby tightening the Republicans’ grip on our government, they change.
Changing means persuading congressional leaders who have had decades in the leadership it is time to move on and making that happen.
Changing means embracing the populist mood of the country and electing progressives to lead the Democratic National Committee.
Changing means hiring new talent at the DNC, the progressive think tanks, and state committees, to cure our biggest problems: terrible political analysis, issue selection, and messaging.
Changing means rising to the challenge of the moment by choosing the correct issues with which to build a national campaign and confidently nationalizing the campaign.
Changing means fielding congressional and state office candidates who can simply articulate a populist message for millions of Americans who do not understand politics.
Changing means refraining from whining about the opposition party’s success in persuading these Americans to vote against their interests.
2
@Howard Gregory Right you are; now, step 1 - take Friedman's advice and vote straight Democrat.
@minimum
Please send my comment to as many Democrats as possible. I wish I could send it to the DNC, the Times and Washington Post editorial boards, every progressive think tank, and every liberal magazine in the country.
I agree. Checks and balance must be restored immediately.
4
Mr. Friedman, did Saudi Arabia play a marquis role in 9/11? If they had, and you knew it, what would that mean? What Sir, is the corollary between the nature of "The World is Flat" with regards to the upswell in Globalism versus the lessons learned from the S&L events, LBO's, Junk Bonds through eventually 2008 and how all of it shaped the world we're currently living in? How did your positions on Petro Dictators to MBL change and why? What is the purpose of democracy versus the reality of today? Can you speak freely or might you have to be considerate to certain interests? I don't think we'll see a transparent tell all anytime soon but what you and let's say Obama didn't say 10 years ago may have had profound effects on what seems to be playing out on a daily basis.
1
"I say that because I’m particularly American and I want to put the best of American values back at the center of our diplomacy and politics."
Me, Too, Mr. Friedman.
Yes, WE THE PEOPLE must vote to restore OUR United States of America that has allowed us to have such wonderful lives since WW2.
However, corruption has no party affiliation. Democracy is not a spectator sport.
WE THE PEOPLE must DEMAND the kind of America we want from OUR hired/elected officials. It's not "their" country. It's OUR country.
Every single American citizen who values democracy in OUR United States must pick the one thing they value most and fight like hell to restore/preserve it.
Together WE can create the kind of country and world WE want to live in and leave for future generations.
6
How to make America great again:
* Term limits in Washington, DC for House and Senate
* No more corporate funding of any kind for any political race at any level
* Elect representatives that care about working people
* Enforce all immigration laws
* All elected officials are barred from Lobbyist positions for 10 years after they leave office
* Keep Dodd-Frank in tact
This would a start...
15
@Anita. It would be a good start. U fortunately much of what you propose goes against what the new, improved Democratic Party stands for.
3
@Anita
Agreed. Here's one to ponder:
* Get rid of the primary system where all the die-hard left and right voters give the rest of the country some real awful choices. Let's go to a two-month primary/general election season.
2
Makes a lot of sense to me.
What a piece of tripe. The fact that people in America disagree with your liberal elitism does not make them unAmerican. Another Times piece bemoaning the fact that they lost control because of years of failed policies and years of failing the cities and the Rust Belt. Wake up - America is America regardless of who is in control. Yes, if you don't like who is in power by all means vote for who you hope will win - but the fact that your chosen candidate loses an election does not change the fact that this country is comprised of many different people with many different opinions.
Your hysteria makes me certain to vote against democrats in my area.
11
Really? This op-ed piece determined your vote? You really expect anyone to believe that?
I highly doubt that you came to this op-ed an undecided voter and now are walking away a Republican. That's not the truth, is it?
1
No, we are allowed to call anyone who supports Trump unAmerican. We have had enough of the person who undermines the importance of diplomacy, who undermines the working class, and who undermines basic decency. If this was an establishment Republican in office, we wouldn't be having this conversation. But look who's in office... a joke, an unintelligent, dysfunctional, heartless joke.
9
Vote your way and watch NC continue its downhill slide, along with Kansas, Mississippi, Indiana, and every other failing GOP-run state. If you think the GOP - the party of the rich, the party of the bosses, the party of the CEOs - is going to bail out the middle American they never cared about, vote Republican. If you think the factory owners are going to bring back the jobs they sent overseas, if you think trickle-down voodoo economics will work, or has ever worked, for the working class, if you believe the lies coming hourly from Fox News, by all means vote Republican. Again. And see where it gets you. Again. Because middle-class Republicans have been voting the same way for 50 years. And they will continue to lose - lose jobs, lose pay, lose healthcare, lose on taxes, lose on infrastructure - if they continue to vote Republican. Again. Yes, by all means, vote GOP - again - and continue losing.
6
Because everything old is new again -- perhaps we need to remember the words of Langston Hughes, writing during the depths of the Depression in 1935:
O, let America be America again --
The land that never has been yet --
And yet must be -- the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine -- the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's,
ME --
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
---
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain --
All, all the stretch of these great green states --
And make America again!
6
A convincing plea for Democrats to get out there and vote, but to describe global warming as condemning the next generation to "environmental hurt" is a laughable understatement.
Well-regarded paleoclimatologists have been warning for years that global warming will soon extinguish all life on earth unless we drastically reduce our current level of carbon monoxide emissions from automobiles.
1
All life? No. The roaches will survive again and other easily adaptable fast-reproducing species. All Human life? Possibly.
Detention camps for children, sham courts for three year olds, climate change denials, rowdy hate rallies, adoration of the rich, the scammers, and the earth shattering armory- this is America 2018.
The truth is the executive branch has a military police called ICE supported by Amazon and Microsoft with facial ID and body gesture tracking.
Gruesome execution is more effective when the cover up is shoddy and all investigators, writers, and publishers know the frightful risks.
I hope a surge of Democratic votes in the midterm election will quell the flames of war mongering nationalism. I hope the world’s tomorrow is not as grim as today’s president plans and shouts about. Vote against the storm.
1
Whatever happens in the 2018 election we are going to be a deeply and profoundly divided nation. Trump has declared himself a nationalist and by that he means one of the blood and soil variety. He never even comes to those states that did not support him and treats those he now calls "socialists" as his enemies. His provocation has now lead to assassination attempts on Clinton, Obama,and Soros. I suggest it is time for this nation to divide. There is no hope for understanding and reconciliation, for the Right there is only liquidation and the "Left" is coming to hold the same views. The Northeast,the West Coast and other states that want to live in a multi-cultural constitutional democracy, and who account for the large majority of American productivity and trade should separate from Trump states where they can live out their ethno-nationalist fantasy, a kind of modern Confederate States of America. This is not something we should do someday it is something we should and must do today.
4
The truest and saddest thing I have reading a while.
Trump is the ringmaster and all eyes are on him.
He's all over the country rousing his base, casting red herrings to stoke fears, glooming dark imaginings which only he can dispel with his brilliance.
He won in 2016 with a lot of free press coverage. What's different now? Where are the Democrats on the airwaves?
If ever a political party had a treasure trove of weapons - the rich getting much richer, but how's your bank account? catastrophic climate change looming, we can see the indications with out own eyes; social security, Medicare, Medicaid in jeopardy; total failure to deliver on health care; snuggling up to Putin, Kim, MBS; our elections hacked and nothing being done; destructive tariffs damaging American consumers, American industry, and trading relationships that we've built since WWII; in the pocket of the NRA while our kids are unsafe in school; attacking public education via DeVos; deregulating big money for a sugar high before an even worse rerun of 2008; and we know I could go on - and how are these weapons being used by the Dems? Where are they and what do they propose to do?
Trump is the magician, the master of misdirection.
He has so many focused on the fantastical, ready and willing to believe anything.
There are such things as truth and reality, decency and humanity, equity and justice. Why can't these take center stage? Where are we who should be proclaiming them?
Or is the hijack complete? Are we headed to history's ash heap?
3
Stuff and nonsense, Mr. Friedman. The "Democrats" of today that you want us to vote for are nothing like the Democrats of yesterday. Even they don't have the chutzpa to say that and increasingly call themselves "progressives."
Names used in public discourse do matter. That is a bit of wisdom that goes back to Confucius who counseled the Prince of Wei that the most important function of government is to see to it that things are called by their proper names because otherwise judgments are unjust and the people are at a loss.
The "Democrats" of today hate traditional American values and are out to erode or destroy them. Just what they want to substitute for them and under whose leadership, they don't tell us. Like the radicals of a few decades ago, they just want to "change the system.' But that system, though imperfect, has made America the great society it is. You mess with it at your peril.
Are Republicans better? Not very much. But at least they embrace core American values which though imperfect, are a lot better than the self-destructive drivel coming from the Democrats who want revolutionize America and don't much care if they destroy it in the process.
3
As Halloween approaches, I am reminded of the horror many of us awakened to after election day November 2016. You would think that Trump as president was terrifying enough; but, the idea of Republican control of all the levers of government sent chills down my spine. Trump and the republicans have been worse than I even imagined. Anybody who believes the republicans have anything to do with I current economic growth, is delusional and need to be reminded that they systematically opposed every effort to help the economy under President Obama and prayed for our economy to fail. They failed at destroying the economy, so now the just will lie and take claim for the rising stock market. But the ridiculous debt explosion-- all to benefit the rich and will corporations- has never worked and trickle will again fail ...surprise!. When the market crashes, which is inevitable under these incompetents , we can all thank the republicans for their stewardship and making America more great for the rich.
6
The current environment is very reminiscent of the 80s. No one believed that Reagan was making America Great. This right now is even bigger. Just wait for it. Need to look past the rhetoric (for the base) to what is being done. TCJA for example.
I used to vote for Democrats. Not anymore. Not since I found out about the blatant executive regulations of 2015.
What a travesty!
4
Tom Friedman should get the award for "Making China great". The guy who led the march to globalization and flat world at the expense of the middle class here. Finally someone has the guts to take on China and prove that the horse is not out of the barn as yet and not too late to fix it and do real free and fair trade.
Journalists have to earn peoples respect on their own. By giving credit where it is due and a fair analysis and narratives which they dont do. A vast majority of them are spokesmen for the democratic party and parrot the party narrative. Just like the remaining journalists or network do for GOP. But because it is skewed so much and dominated by the liberal journalists with their spin, the conservatives deem it to be fake. Recall how Glen Beck at Fox news with his charts peddled all kinds of conspiracy theories about Obama. Now the rest of the media have become Fox news of the past and peddling conspiracy theories including mental instability etc. Even NPR.
As an independent voter who has voted for Perot, Clinton, Kerry Obama and Romney and Trump, it is easy to spot all that.
1
The US electoral system is not worthy of any so-called democracy. Thanks to suppression efforts of Florida and scotus - the 2000 election to the popular vote loser, Bush. Thanks to massive voter suppression, gerrymandering, etc, the 2016 election went to you-know-whom. Yet Clinton won by more than 2 million votes. The apportionment of senate seats, 2 per state, is ludicrous. Until there is serious electoral reform, independent non-partisan commissions to oversee fair elections in all states, and a true universal franchise for all - minorities, African-Americans, and "felons" - there is no real democracy in the US.
@MLLahn I agree with your opening sentence. But Clinton did not win the 2016 election, and her loss had little to do with voter suppression and nothing to do with gerrymandering. (It was the "fault" of the Electoral College.) And people who commit serious crimes are not "felons", they are felons, like those who have committed dozens of shootings in Ottawa so far this year.
Democrats and Republicans have had their times. This nation needs a parliamentary system. We can't proceed with a left/right or up/down or right/wrong binary approach to human, socio/economic issues. The Supreme Court is 9 independent justices, not two, one Democrat and one Republican. Moreover, we need term limits and an age limitation (not to mention a psychiatric exam with published results).
6
The article is well stated and reflects my views. The values of the America I know have been lost in the sea of divisiveness, lies and hatred.
3
Thank you for your love and journalistic courage to protect America and the world from the power-hungry, lying, and self-serving politicians, Tom! You're a principled, compassionate American. I realize, though, the following passage needs more scary and outstanding truth that POTUS 45 is letting down, fooling and defrauding his own base, NOT "a president who has no desire to be president of all the people, but rather only his base." He's not serving the country nor his alleged base. His base is so naive and gullible and feels neglected and ridiculed for so long that they seem infatuated with him just because he claims that he speaks and works for them, although the quality of their lives and the prospect haven't changed. So sad and frightened for the future! Education has failed. Idiocracy has arrived.
1
It’s hard to tell who is more myopic, Friedman or his readers. Perhaps if Republicans hold the house and Senate in the midterms, some normal democrats may arise. Until then, we have no choice but to vote republican. Yet another thing for which we can thank Democrats. Friedman would do well to examine the current lunacy in the Democratic Party.
4
A party of lunacy is preferable to a party of Liars, which the GOP is wholly compromised of.
My only issue with this frighteningly true piece from Thomas Friedman is that is lays all the blame at Trump's feet. Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and the entire republican party leadership are equally culpable. And the republicans in the House and Senate are far more than spineless; they are, at least, willingly following along and at worst intentional co-conspirators.
3
The importance of voting in this election is not only to hold the authoritarian power Trump in check for the next two years but also to send a resounding message to all who believe in democracy in this country and countries around the world that a growing and insistent resistance against demagoguery and even latent fascism in the U.S. has been ignited and will not be extinguished long after November 6th.
2
What should really be ringing alarm bells is that someone is sending bombs to George Soros, the Clintons, and the Obamas. Maybe it's 'lone wolf' - but that isn't happening in a vacuum. Trump and the GOP are using hate and fear to hang onto power. There is no excuse.
The Republican Party and Trump have gone too far in making liberals and Democrats 'the enemy'. They must be driven from power while we can still do it.
1
And as you write these thoughts for us to imagine, to maybe spur us to the polls to right the ship of this republic, Putin is sitting in the Kremlin, in front of his press' cameras, smiling like the chesire cat, opining about the fall of a formerly great world power. So little financial investment for him, for so much return. So bold now that he can insult the country in public, and simultaneously make arrangements for the next private, 1 on 1 meeting with his oh so attentive and suggestible unwitting mark. VOTE like it's a matter of life or death, because for the republic, it is.
As an actual Democrat, particularly liberal, I await the time when Mr. Friedman, who's had very little to say about the development of all of these ugly trends over decades, while pursuing "but I know better" global fantasies, irrespective of the impact of what he lauds on people's lives, will admit to his own role on stoking this alarming situation. Yes; it's come to this. And you were writing columns and missed it.
3
Just do it! Get out there and vote and ensure that you assist those who have obstacles to voting also are able to exercise their right to vote. Vote. The truth is the that majority of Americans are not in favour, nor support the current administration or many of its policy. So vote. Vote.
1
Articles are finally coming out about America "then" and America "now" in terms of the quality of jobs and employment. For instance, the NYT published an article about working at Sears in the 1970s versus working for Amazon today.
Baby Boomers like myself remember the 'company man' (okay, it should be 'company person' now) who stuck with a company and retired with a pension. He made enough money to buy a modest house, take a vacation once a year, and send his kids to college if they wanted to go. Life was secure.
Life is not secure now. We live in a gig economy so companies don't have to provide any sort of security to their workers. If Democrats would just point this out to people, I think they'd get some traction. But, they are continually backed into a corner by the hysterical right-wing media screaming no regulation and no taxes, so they sputter about health care and immigration. It's ridiculous.
For many decades now, it's been every man for himself. Pensions cut. Unions destroyed. All in the name of Unfettered Capitalism.
I'm writing this comment not so much for you, Tom, but for the Trump supporters who feel down and out but aren't haters. The Republicans keep saying they alone can fix this by cutting your taxes, but, for heaven's sake--look at your tax returns. How much are you making, and how much better do you think you're going to do with a tax cut and no Social Security?
Vote Democratic, they'll get it. The Republicans will never get it.
2
Impassioned and well argued. However, what if America doesn't want to be America again? I thought that was the whole debate taking place in the 2016 primaries and the 2016 general election.
Republicans had a choice between a sleazy theocrat and a sleazy autocrat. They went with the autocrat. Democrats had a choice between keeping America the same and making America more like Europe. They rammed America down everyone's throat. We ended up with an autocrat for a leader as a result.
There's a lesson we should all take away from these events. The majority of America does not want America to be America anymore. However, we have violently different ideas about what the new America should look like.
Trump's America is certainly not my America. I've seen the graves of dissidents under rulers much like Trump. I don't want to live in that space. However, if Democrats want the authority to *remake* America, they need to let go of their past. The only way out is forward.
Friedman wants America to be the welfare provider for the rest of the world. Recall his economic junk theory, The World is Flat, where America capitulates its economic might so that we can get cheap foreign products, become a service industry economy, and provide monetary support for those economies that stripped away our jobs. He wants America to have a President who went on the great apology tour, that Obama performed, kowtowing and pleading for forgiveness for actions taken by previous presidents, and weakening his position in foreign affairs as other leaders saw him as weak. Perhaps Friedman doesn't want to make our "Allies" pay their fair share for NATO, because he doesn't want to offend them, because, well that would be too mean.
What Friedman fails to utterly comprehend is that many Americans were fed up with paying the bills for other countries and having our Allies denigrate and criticize us, while happily taking out money. Trump may be inexperienced in his words, but he has positioned our country back into a position of strength and using the bully pulpit and the power of the checkbook is finally back into play.
3
I want to continue the process of making America Great Again. I voted a straight republican ticket.
3
@jaco
Sorry to tell you an America that isn't "great" for ALL Americans, isn't great at all.
I’ve never voted for a republican. However, unless the democrats abandon their “come one come all” immigration platform I won’t be supporting them again. There was a time when main stream democratic leaders were reasonable on this issue. Bill Clinton, BHO, MLK, Barbara Jordan and others expressed support for middle of the road, reasonable policies. No more it seems. Now it is repeated amnesties, ever higher or no limits, sanctuary cities, no deportations, birth tourism, diversity lotteries no matter what they believe, anchor babies, weakened or non existent borders, lax law enforcement, abolish ice, chain migration, come on a temporary visa? doesn’t matter, you never have to leave. Mass unplanned for immigration is not good for: minorities, the environment, global warming, education, urban crowding, resource use, labor, income inequality, social stability, health care, poverty, or the economy or even immigration, as it is causing a backlash against reasonable discussions of the issue. If importing poverty was a good idea, most of the world would be paradise. It seems the democrats think it is the only way to boost their voter numbers. That is a cynical, short sighted plan. Trump will be gone, but a crowded, chaotic, over populated America with a gigantic, poor underclass and deteriorating environment will remain if these policies continue. The third most populous country on earth doesn’t need more people even if the dems need more voters.
5
Statistics can lie. We are also the 177th most densely populated country. I think we have room for a few more. If you think immigrants are the greatest threat to America you haven't been paying attention, or more likely you have been paying attention to the wrong voices.
Ah yes the numbers people strike again. Just because we have room to stand up does not mean we are not over crowded. China is about our size and latitude. It only has 3x our population. Want to live there? They still have plenty of “room”. We are 5% of the worlds population. We use 25% of its resources. That is the definition of over populated. We are the highest per capita co2 producers. Tell me “environmentalist” Democrat how adding to our population is good for the environment?
2
We need to end minority rule! As wonderful as the Constitution is, it was written a long time ago and needs to evolve! States rights were forefront on the minds of the Founders and they could not envision how the world would change. I am sure they did not want the majority to be ruled by the minority! There are so many more progressively minded people in this country, but the simple minds believe life shouldn't change and vote for an unrealistic nostalgia handing power to people who look backwards. The feeling of frustration that has been growing is due to the GOP and some Democrats not taking care of what the people want - healthcare, education, a fair piece of the economy, a brighter future for our children and some peace in our old age! The government right now only serves those who grease the palms of the pols!! No wonder there is so much voter apathy!
The GOP is a necrotic organism trying to infect the rest of the country before it disappears for good. Let's give it a big push off the cliff in November! There is no stopping progress. There is no stopping progressives. End minority rule!
2
@cjp. Fortunately for those of us in "minority" states the founders gave us some protection from places like California. Idaho is now the fastest growing state, much of it due to Californians fleeing the near socialist paradise, high tax, crowded, Tower of Babel of what California has become. If you want to fix our election system, do something that prevents things like the horror in Florida that gave us "W" in 2000. The electoral college is not the problem it forces politicians to talk to everybody, not just a few mega states.
@Al
The Electoral College is a racist and sexist construct that has no purpose in this day and age.
Thank you, Dr. Friedman. I will save this column and share it.
A lot of truth in it.
1
This makes sense in theory, and is the best thing we can do at the moment. But Republicans will obstruct at every turn, behave like an angry mob and say it's what Democrats are doing.
1
Let's face it. Trump and his fellow Republicans were given a chance to better things and now we know that betterment of our nation is not part of their agenda.
Republicans are exclusively interested in maintaining their hegemony in our government so that they can take us back to the McCarthy days and turn us into a fascist nation.
Democracy is dying at their hands.
4
I am still trying to recover from the election of 2016. Had I been told at any point in my life that a souless sociopath, an incessant liar, a sex offender, a con man, a racist, and an ignorant Bozo could be nominated by one of our great political parties, and actually elected, I would have not listened for an instant. Yet here we are, and the Republican Party has surrendered almost entirely this obscenely unfit man.
True, his unthinking cult probably represents only about 35% of our electorate, but that is enough to require a massive repudiation of that Party next month. Anything short of that and I truly despair for America.
6
You got it, pal. 327 million of us. We need to get this one right. Make America America Again.
5
Got it. Next election vote for a Republican, get everybody around you to vote for a Republican, so blue wave wont materialize. Who will stop the caravan heading north then?
3
The Republican Party has become an existential threat to America. Vote blue at every level while there's still time.
And don't let friends watch FOX.
4
Amen to that!
VOTE
2
I agree 100% with every word you said ,this man has to be stopped .He is a liar, thief, conman abuser of women ,how could we have elected a man like this ? America was great before him and will be even greater when he is out of office.
2
VOTE! Is the Four Letter Word that must trigger powerful responses from those in the US who believe in our Constitution and in the freedoms granted We the People therein. Trump's Muzak is far more ominous than portrayed by Tom Friedman. It is the line that appeared in a book for the Nazi Youth: For today Germany belongs to us. And tomorrow the whole world. Trump has perpetrated a growing number of acts that are Nazistic in their nature: Tearing families apart and sending them to concentration camps. Sexually assaulting women. Lying constantly--at a rate of 4.5 lies per day. Demonizing minorities. Withdrawing from international agreements. Instigating violence. Trumps alleged acts related to these gross abuses of power also happen to be in defiance of the presidential oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution from all threats, domestic and foreign. Trump continues to shred the social fabric of our society and trample on the Constitution with growing frequency and zeal.
2
I moved to Texas 3 months ago. I voted straight Democratic Monday. The poll lines have been almost record breaking for any election but explosive for the midterms, a time when Dems usually stay home.
Texas makes it easy to vote as long as you have proper ID. Get out and get rid of Mr Sanctimonious Cruz.
9
@Ann Winer. Good point. A proper ID (drivers Lic, passport, birth certificate) should be a national standard. Even a national ID (oooooo! Facism!) is probably a good idea to keep the voter suppression guys at bay. In a country with 45 million plus immigrants and maybe 22 million illegals just trusting to good intentions isn't good enough anymore.
2
Well done.
1
The Democrat shotgun may work locally this time, but the GOP long gun controls the battlefield.
1
In spite of the reasons the arrticle states to vote Democrat for so many people it does not seem to make much difference that Trump is president even when they admit he is a thug who operates like a mob boss. I think the Democrats will take the house but not by much.
Dear Tom,
Over the last 16 years I’ve tried to teach you how to analyze the problems but you stubbornly refused to cooperate and take the better path…
Such behavior has nothing to do with the intellect but human hubris, ego, bias and conceit.
How could a reader be smarter than the columnist? If you start from the incorrect premise, you are going to come up with the wrong conclusion.
Don’t you remember I strongly advised you against promoting the Iraq War and foolish notion that a war could bring the peace to the region?
Premise “Let’s start the bloodshed to achieve the stability, cooperation and tolerance” is incredibly infantile. If the latter were sufficient, you would not deploy the former. If the latter is the solution, you don’t need the conflict to solve your problems.
Here you go again.
Let’s bring the Democrats to the power! Really?! Haven’t they saddled us with the violent overthrow of the Libyan and Syrian governments, the rise of ISIS, the largest refugee crisis in the world, the Brexit, the rise of extreme right across Europe and Donald Trump in power?
The social polarization is a problem, thus it cannot be the solution. The schism is something the Arab tried to master over the last 14 centuries by dividing into the Sunnis and the Shiites. The tragic results are in front of us.
Do you really believe that sticking with the same principle while only replacing two nouns with “the GOP and the Democrats” could have different kind of outcome?
1
@Kenan Porobic
Nice try in blaming all the ills of the world on Democrats, but you're missing the point -- namely that in voting for Democrats, we might be able to restore the checks and balances system in this country since it's no longer operative when the G.O.P. is in control of ALL THREE branches of government.
So will we have millions of immigrants/refugees invading if the Democrats take over? Pretty sure I’m not on board with that.
7
Stop buying into the GOP fears and lies and you won't have to.
1
@Lee Zehre
More illegal immigrants were deported under the Obama administration than any other -- You can GOOGLE it.
@Lee Zehrer. The real mystery is why the democrats don't get this. Only the most delusional lefty can look around our cities and think, "what this place needs is more people!"
The problem is the base. The base has been built over decades by neglect and propaganda. The media has ignored all the dangerous insurrectionary and apocalyptic obsessions that have developed in the heartlands for decades.
We now have fascism breaking out in national politics and attempting to break our democracy.
Yes, vote for Democrats. If you do not, learn to live with fascism, American style.
I'm using the word as a professional analyst who does research and knows exactly what is happening.
3
Heard a great line the other day: "Democrats bring library books to a knife fight." Trump's "I love the uneducated" refrain during his stripping-America-of-its-values tour in 2016 has solidified the delusional who do not read and do not know anything about history. They blindly engage in lemming-esque behavior believing a constant cascade of lies. Their pride will always prevent them from admitting they were duped all along. Except comments by Shep Smith, Fox's afternoon go-to-guy. He has developed a conscience. Now that's a pre-existing condition that is needed for thugs like Trump and his pathetic acolytes.
Democrats? This time, bring a gun to knife fight.
2
When I see Trump rallying for Ted Cruz in Texas I only remember his name for him during the primaries – "Lyin Ted" . Doesn't everybody?
Thank you Tom Friedman!!!!! You are right on. If Democrats don't get the majority in either House or Senate, Trump is validated and unleashed and God help us all, God help America. Vote Democrat, drive a Democrat to the polls, etc. etc..................
1
Remember the flat earth nonsense that Thomas Friedman was preaching a while back? How outsourcing of jobs is good for humanity? Completely neglecting those US citizens that are directly impacted, both blue and white collar workers. This is what happens.
10
@True Norwegian. Globalism has been the race to the bottom long predicted. The democratic answer is always, "those jobs are gone loser, get over it. And btw, were importing another million poor people this year". There's a reason "hope and change" didn't work and the previously enlightened voters in Wisconsin and Michigan went deplorable.
4
Would you have the same enthusiasm for punishing Riyadh if you knew doing so would terminate your employment?
3
Saudis should have been punished years ago for 9/11.....there’s no better time like the NOW to complete the task.
1
American forces assassinated Osama bin Laden and dumped his body in the ocean.
How does that fit in?
Is that okay because he was a bad guy? Who decides who is a bad guy? How bad does a guy have to be?
@Andrew about 40 comments down. YES!! When Trump is no longer running, you are absolutely allowed to vote for WHO YOU WANT! : )
A pathology in the personage of Donald Trump and his ilk have crept into our hearts and souls. This is a treatable disease that will one day be cured. Progressives need to keep their heads up and maintain faith in the core values of our country. One day Trump and his mob will be gone. Sent back to the sewers and rat holes from whence they came. A stain on our history to be sure, but one that will soon be a memory.
1
I'm voting straight Dem solely based on:
1) unhinged ignorant president
2) complete lack of checks and balances
All else is noise if this election goes the wrong way.
3
Guess Mr. Friedman did not read anything or watch the Ford/Kavanaugh testimonies because he believes that the Democrats never lie and you can trust them.
3
The only way to make American great again is to get rid of Trump and the corrupt cabal he has put in charge of our government. That means consigning the Trumpian GOP to the dustbin of history. Putin was correct when he openly bragged that he had Trump on a leash while a strangely subdued and suddenly servile Bolton smiled in agreement and promised to arrange another summit. And why do I see nothing about this in the NYT?
1
Tom, your being from the state of fine lakes, you ought to know better.
Answers to our horde of unsolvables does not lie with the choice of a major party. It lies with finding more legislators on both sides who can actually legislate, instead imbuing more hate.
To make America a better America again, we must find Americans who can work together again, irrespective of party. We need representatives who can work for the commong good.
2
Stop ignoring the problem of illegal immigration or refusing to use the term at all. Stop dismissing concerns about globalism. Avoid emphasizing identity politics — LGBT, race, etc. at the expense of bread and butter issues. Do not turn public hearings into an embarrassing public spectacle and display of histrionics — try raising and quietly investigating any concerns before said hearing. Avoid comparing one’s opponents to Nazis. Avoid confusing the U.S. Constitution or the political oroblems of 2018 with those of 1890 or 1939 or quoting poems by Emma Lazarus or Martin Niemoller. Encourage one’s senators and representatives to reach across the aisle, compromise, recognize that politics is the art of the possible. Do not demand that candidates are ideologically pure — see above, that politics is the art of the possible. And yes, I will vote Democratic, even though it is an exercise in futility where I reside. But I fear that Democrats in general are in for a very rude awakening on Nov. 6.
9
@Bookworm8571
For many Americans, including myself, the rudest awakening was having Donald Trump elected president with the help of Republican gerrymandering, Dark Money and Russian interference.
As for "futility" -- that only exists in the minds of those who have already given up.
4
The coming election could not be a better example of the importance of voting in a democracy.
We will literally be voting to decide the fate of America...a further drift toward fascism with a nationalist president Trump or a return to a democratic sanity where the truth still matters.
Voting is the one way to earn the country we deserve!
2
Thank you for the words of encouragement, Thomas.
I have always counted on TF for intellectual honesty --- a balanced point of view.
The commentary today is generally correct, however to ignore the "presumption of innocence" that overwhelmed the Supreme Court hearings and vile personal attacks that ensued --- to ignore the tactics of harassing families in public spaces --- to claim that raising property taxes is not a tax on the rich --- to ignore the base comments of Holder, Clinton, etc ------- and let's now review Senator Obama's 2005 speech on immigration --
The Democratics had the chance to act like adults and passed on it long long ago
3
The Trump Party is gross body based. Spirituality has been sniffed out. Democrats have to risk comfort zones for the sake of our world. All we have to do is vote.
I will do you a favor and not pass it on. Reading your thoughts will surely increase the republican vote. Good effort though!
1
If Democrats ever want to make America America again they might consider reigning in their mobs, dumping their divisive and destructive identity politics, and stop enabling and encouraging illegal immigration.
Until they do, the appalling Donald Trump is a disgusting but necessary antidote to the Democrats and their dysfunction.
5
Several months ago, I thought that the response to the current occupant of the Oval Office should be:
Make Amerika America Again!
Glad Mr Friedman came up with something similar; I still like mine better.
I had another non-original thought in the words of a former Great Southwest Conference Football coach from the past. He said: "[R]eminds me of a cockroach, not so much what what he runs away with and eats, but it is what he falls into and spoils."
The Presidency; The House; The Senate; The Supreme Court; The EPA; anything he Touches.
I have already voted, hopefully my fellow citizens will also vote to throw out the rascals.
Trump demonized journalists and the Saudis saw this as a green light to kill a journalist. Trump has demonized George Soros, the Clintons and the Obamas. Some of Trump's followers just put bombs in each of their mailboxes. Cause and effect.
1
@Chazak. And a democrat shot a republican congressman at a softball game. People are still responsible for their actions no matter what politicians say or do.
1
@AlTrue that the Republicans don't have a monopoly on violent rhetoric. There are some fringe Democrats, none in the leadership, who demonize Republicans and call for their supporters to beat them up. As for the Republicans, it is their leaders who questions the patriotism of anyone who disagrees with them, calls for 'locking up' of political opponents, and who whip up the crowds with calls for violence. However there is no equivalency here.
@Al
Nice try. But Republicans and this president are still remiss in enacting stricter Gun Control laws, and are still being financed by the NRA.
Want to talk about people being "responsible for their actions"? -- start there.
Friedman your column should have been How To Make America the America we wished it was. What we are seeing today is not an aberration. What we are seeing today is who we really are. Trumps base is not following him because of force they are following him by choice. This Pollyanna view we have of our selves is just that Pollyanna.If you vote for a racist you can't explain it away by saying you admire his toughness. America was born on the backs of a race in bondage. After bondage came Jim Crow and today it is institutionalized Racism. Trump has torn the scab off of a abscess that should have been lanced years ago. When the first Bush left office our prison population was almost 400000 and now it is over 2000000. When opiates ravaged communities of color in the 60's 70's 80's and 90's the answer was to build more jails. Now that is ravaging the majority the answer is treatment. So I must ask the author What America do you want us to go back to being? Trump has just lifted the curtain on who we truly are.The antidote to the present situation is for the people most affected is to vote. Taking a Walk Down Memory is not going to cut it.VOTE
74
@Steven McCain
It is not by “choice” that people follow Trump. They are victims of a cult mentality whereby logic, fact, decency, science and common sense are suspended and traded for the distraction of banal entertainment of worshipping rich,egomaniacal purveyors of “what can I get away with?”
Reality tv, professional wrestling,the national enquirer and Judge Judy are all microcosms of the same desire to be distracted and being willing to,suspend truth and cling to an outrageous debasement just to pass the time. We are witnessing the decline of the American empire.
@Steven McCain I agree its time for this country to address our slavery past and do better. This fascist in office should scare all people but especially anyone not white and male. As a white female who is a proud liberal in my 60's I have hope for the younger voter. Being young it may be hard for them to experience the horror we who have a few years are experiencing. My two adult children were raised with a passport and curiosity . They were raised to value and respect all peoples LGBT,women,people of color, immigrant, young old. Both are first responders working with people in critical care one is a firefighter as well. Trump has taught my children what can happen. HOPE&VOTE
You are so right! I have never been so dismayed by what is being done in my name around the world. Our word means nothing on a treaty. We have no compassion. We have no truth. We have a cheating, lying bully as a leader and a group of selfish, spineless republicans who are backing him up.
5
Be a part of the solution, not the problem. VOTE!
2
More NY Times fantasy writing
With the exception of the few liberal states there is no appeal for bigger government, bigger programs, more regulation, higher taxes, or more immigration. Lose, lose, lose, lose, lose.
Democrats are about to be disgraced again. An outside chance they may win the House by a couple of seats. They’ll lose big time in the Senate
Time to bring in some fresh blood to replace the antiques running the Party. Or just shut down
Get used to Trump and Republican dominance of Congress and Statehouses. Democrats can sit home and pout on election day. Too coddled to bother voting
1
On the same NYT screen today, there is an excellent op-ed piece by Columbia professor Alexander Stille. It tangentially talks about the 1924 Italian elections and Mussolini's consolidation of power.
It brought back memories of, and lessons learned from, undergrad European social history classes. The parallels between Italy in 1924 and right now in America are striking. Most of the elements of Italian Fascism are in place in Trump's America right now. They actually, literally are.
Can't happen here? It is happening here; complete with armed thugs holding torchlight rallies.
Get out and vote while you still can.
5
Ban Facebook,Twitter and Fox News, lobbyists and put a limit of $100 from anyone donating to politicians. This will slow down the dumbing down of our country and corruption. Save America. Defeat Trump.
2
Make America America again nice title. Wrong way to go about it vote Democrat is not the answer. With them demonizing everything that this country is about, putting socialist /communist up for a spot in government, attacking everyone who won't follow their agenda,we do not need them, they do not like our laws unless it suits them. Right now Republicans and libertarians look the best bet to keep America America.
Jobs the answer Trump Delivered. All Democrats want is higher taxes,less jobs so people have to rely on govt More illegals to overcome our welfare and collapse the system. That is their main goal once it collapses they can change our government to their liking. socialist, communist all govt controls read rules for radicals and the ten steps to communism and you will see that's their goal. Also cloward Piven strategy it's all there.
2
Save the soul of America. Vote! And cast your vote for Democrats.
1
In your dreams!!! I am jst returning from a family visit right in the "heartland". Reason does not even have a chance in this country!
3
@Beyond Repair
Fortunately this country consists of more than the "heartland", where reason doesn't appear to exist at all.
Even the estimable Thomas Friedman falls for it.
"I can write that the growing tribalization of our politics, the notion that members of the other party are not just opponents but “enemies” who must be crushed, is being fueled by a president who has no desire to be president of all the people, but rather only his base, and who delights in dividing us and insulting people, thereby debasing his office."
The "tribalization" is one-sided, Mr. Friedman. Trump et al complain about the black tribe, the gay tribe, the #MeToo tribe, the trans tribe. But these are not "tribes." They are groups of disenfranchised and despised Americans who have been murdered, humiliated, denied equal rights under the law, sexually assaulted and deprived of parity in wealth and power. They have good reasons to bond together in search of justice.
Never mentioned is the white tribe. The big one. The one that tries to exterminate or invalidate the others. The one that sustains unexamined privilege. The one that controls wealth and power.
These Trump supporters are indeed my "enemies," as they are inciting violence against my friends, denying their existence, demonizing innocent women and children, separating children from parents and assaulting the principles on which my country was founded.
We have to stop conceding that it is mutual. One side is racist, brutal, dishonest and inflammatory. The other side is trying to save the nation. Perpetrators and victims are not the same.
3
I can write this but it won't make a difference if it's not repeated.
One more time next week, please.
In her letter published yesterday, Sandra Day O'Connor mentioned icivics.org.
Civics education should be mandatory for all students.
And, presidential candidates should be required to pass tests in civics, domestic and foreign policy, US and world history, ethics, basic math, and literacy in at least one language, before their name appears on a primary election ballot. Free remedial courses are already available through edx and coursera, so this would be fair.
Our words are worthless when we have people who will say anything in control.
Tom,
We live in a Capitalist Society where the color Green is more powerful than Blue Or Red, it's the economy stupid.
What values did the Democrats give us , Clinton who used his position to seduce an intern, or the Kennedy White House where the only women that was safe from John was his wife Jackie.No Tom, there is no values when it comes to Politics or Politicians.We get what we deserve.
5
So the good people of NJ should vote for Bob Mendendez, a lying, cheating, philandering, woman-trafficking criminal? Sounds like a vote for a reasonable facsimile of Trump.
3
America is America. That's the problem.
2
"What is there left to say about the terrible murder of moderate Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its aftermath? Only one thing, and I have said it before, but I feel it even more strongly now: In the midterm elections, vote for a Democrat, canvass for a Democrat, raise money for a Democrat, drive someone else to a voting station to vote for a Democrat."
Tom, it does seem, here, that you are indicating you think a Republican killed Khashoggi? And, that voting for a Democrat may reduce similar types of killings in the future?
Need I remind you: It was Lyndon Baynes Johnson, a Democrat, that sponsored the massive increase in the killing of native born Vietnamese citizens, for no other reason than being born in Vietnam, from 1965 to 1969.
It is true that the Republican Bush II, embarked on the wanton, but unwarranted, killing of native born Afghani's and Iraqi's, and, perhaps if Gore had been elected those people might not have been killed.
But, Johnson (a Democrat) and Bush II (a Republican) were both willing to kill wantonly the native born people of other countries either for no reason or very opaque and unclear reasons that even history cannot uncover.
So, I am not sure you are writing hyperbole or if you believe what you wrote?
I don't think it matters what party we elect. America and America's close allies are pretty used to killing foreign born folks. There are a few videos of our allies coming and going in various hotels as hit squads Yes?
1
Right now the thought is 2016 was a bit of a fluke, a backlash against an entrenched status quo or a cry for help from the common populace, and the American electorate will correct it's mistake through time.
However, it might be that "Trump" actually represents the true character of America.
The next two elections will ultimately reveal which is the truth.
2
@Bobby Clobber
Compare America's GDP growth to Canada's last two years. Compare America's carbon emission reductions last two years to Canada's. See a pattern emerging. One of our Countries needs to correct its course. Guess which one it is?
Some of my hope lies in the group of millennials who having been changed by the attacks on 9-11 are entering into politics after having already served our country in the military, national security, defense, or Justice Departments. They show by example how America can and could work when elected people serve in the interests of their constituents.
1
Apres moi, le deluge? As unhappy as it might leave those who wish to see real change in our society have the usual suspects returned to power, it would be easily doable if they were willing to restore the New Deal reforms which earlier preserved the nation. If traditional Democrats are unwilling to make real changes, they will have only themselves to blame. It should be clear by now that after forty years of clawing back the reforms that once protected the ordinary citizen, a line was finally crossed, and there will be no going back.
1
Look, in this case, Tom is right. We need to put a check on this administration--pure and simple. We may not have a perfect tool for that, but it doesn't matter.
The adage "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" applies.
I'm hoping we have learned our lesson here and will stop chasing shinny objects--after we staunch the incompetence, immorality, and greed.
If the dems can't move us forward, then we have to look somewhere else (maybe we rebuild one of these parties), but it's no time for quibbling about purity of intent....
2
The way he handle for the press the murder of WAPO Saudi journalist is just plainly gruesome, as a murder itself.
There wasn't a hint of empathy for the journalist lost life, it was all about how bad it was done, what a terrible cover up it was, basically saying they should of been much smarter in committing this brutal murder, just like Putin usually does.
2
You begin your column addressing the, "terrible murder of moderate Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi".
I'm having a hard time lamenting that one "terrible murder" in the context of our repeated ME atrocities (encouraged by you, Tom) that have resulted in the uncountable terrible murders of innocent ME citizens.
1
It's important to understand that the actual GOP agenda is dictatorship. At the state level their efforts are enactment of voter suppression laws, gerrymandering and the like. So any vote for a Republican - even at the most local level - is abetting fascism.
3
I not only don't recognize America anymore, and I don't even feel like an American.
Not when I see photographs of the screaming red faces in red MAGA hats at Donald Trump's rallies, or listen to the racism and bigotry spewing out of his mouth. No. I don't recognize this country anymore, and quite frankly it scares me.
I also don't live in phantasy-land thinking that Democrats can magically reverse all the damage currently being done to this country by the G.O.P. -- but I'll be voting for them anyway, if only to stop holding my nose which I've had to do for the last two years.
3
Well, as the collective of US elected leadership did NOTHING to bring Saudis to account for felling of Twin Towers and murder of 3000 Americans, not likely the murder of a journalist - could have been Russian, Mexican, several other nationalities whose executions have not received equal attention here - will stir any politician to more than another round of vacuous pontifications.
Even beyond, prior to and probably yet long following DJT, this nation's erstwhile leaders prove themselves time and again a sorry craven feckless self-serving lot.
When, for example, was the last time any majority of them agreed to a declaration of war prior to initiation of foreign hostilities?
And how does Khashoggi's demise - with deep sympathy for all directly touched by his loss - take precedent over that Yemeni child - name forgotten - shredded to hamburger by US-supplied Saudi-delivered ordnance?
Alright, will vote Dem, rather to accord w Paul Volcker than with Friedman who's never seen a foreign resource he did not covet for US exploitation.
1
So, it looks like Thomas Friedman is convinced that every single Democrat is superior to every single Republican. This is simple-minded and dangerous thinking.
9
True. Eyes wide open. The Republican party is headed over a cliff and we must put the brakes on. This is not where the country and the world needs to be.
Our democracy enables self correction for a reason. We are using blunt instruments right now because one side has decided to jump the shark to remain in power.
@David Ricardo
Every democrat is NOT superior to every republican David.
It is just that if each superior republican follows Trumps agenda then the country continues to go down the tubes.
1
Vote for someone who tells you the truth - not what you want to hear. Vote for someone who will move the needle in the right direction. Vote for someone who believes in the rule of law. Vote for someone opposed to gerrymandering. Ignore the shouts of "Shiny!" and "Squirrel!!".
Vote for someone who thinks. I would vote for John McCain if he were available.
In this election - it needs to be Democrats (nationally and locally) to have any sanity in the circus.
2
We are in no less than a civil war, brought to us by foreign dark money, and using societal divides to instill fear. This has awoken our worst sins, that many thought were safely buried in our national cemetery.
I am terrified that so many, regardless of the actual percentage, are happy to admit to being racist, misogynistic and xenophobic.
You don't have to be a die-hard Democrat to vote blue in this election. You just have to care that the poisonous gas coming out of the WH and the GOP has to end. Any excuse is weak. Our survival is at stake.
4
I sincerely hope that the Democrats win both houses of Congress in November, but even if they do, they can do nothing to combat America’s violence, vulgarity and decadence.
3
@Robert Dole
Agree. I predict the Republicans to more or less survive 2018, Trump to win in 2020. America is going down the drain.
I’ll vote for the Democrat, but he hasn’t campaigned at all. The Democratic Party in Louisiana is absent. And I live in a gerrymandered district. So I’m voting for the Democrat, but it’s not going to change anything until the State legislature is in Democrat majority.
2
Dear Mr. Friedman,
You wrote: "Because there is a basic respect for truth, science and decency in the Democratic caucus..."
Justice Kavanaugh and his family would beg to disagree, I'm sure.
12
Here is some advice for the democratic party: Remember the Union worker. Work your way back to the Union worker. The democrats will continue to lose till the present leadership of the democratic party is removed and replaced by people who will bring the democratic party back to its roots, or there is no hope save creating a new party, one fashioned around working class America. The leadership of the democratic party is more elitist then the Republican party which is something I never thought I would say.
4
As a progressive, I believe we have brought much of Trumpism on ourselves. For years, people who now follow Trump were told they were racist if they did not embrace illegal immigration. They were told they were ignorant goobers if they read the Bible as being contrary to abortion or gay marriage. They were told they were strident jingoists if they believed in standing for the national anthem. They were ridiculed and pushed aside. There was no tolerance for people in the “flyover states.”
Tolerance and understanding is a two-way street. There will be no united America until there is mutual respect.
11
Great article, however it is naive to think that getting all democrats to vote will change much, why would it matter if 99% of all democrats vote if most live in urban centers or on the coasts? Democrats have to face it, the country is RED, except for a few cities the entire country is Republican. They have a right to their voice as well. Democrats should be happy to live in their bubbles.
41
@Kumar Paturi Esq. I am so tired of people talking about blue bubbles and coastal enclaves. It's willful ignorance. Here's a few facts you might consider. Wyoming has the smallest population at a little over 500,000. California has 40 million people. Also, a fun statistic I learned a couple of years is about census tracts. For counting purposes, the Census Bureau divides the country into individual parcels, which don't include water features. Half those tracts are empty. No one lives there. Think about that the next time you look all the red on a map.
190
@newsmaned
Your are correct on all points, however, the reality is 40 million CA voters get 2 senators, Wyoming with 500,000 voters get 2 senators, our President is elected by electoral votes not popular vote, and even CA 39 house representatives are democrats they still send 14 republicans to congress, so CA is not a monolith. That is our democracy, unless it changes what can we do? Start a civil war? Be happy in your bubble.
1
@Kumar Paturi Esq. Okay, "Esquire", this is the kind of ridiculous assertion, for which the sub-text is that the United States has no influence, no role, no effect on the rest of the world. Of course this is what Trump and the minions around him (who are doing his thinking for him) want. Like many of Trump's chest-thumping dreams of glory, this is impossible. Much as Trump would like to, we can't hunker down in our sleeping bag and zip it over our heads.
And, by the way, before you call us the "bubble people", maybe you should recall that Trump did not win the popular vote in 2016. He is a minority President, and his beliefs and policies are still, and have always been, supported by a minority of the American people. Are we naive? Hardly. We are angry, however.
1
Please, Mr. Friedman, talk with those who believe this endless of stream of lies. Determine why they support any politician who knowingly and continuously feeds them these lies. Ask why they literally put theirs and their children's future in the hands of someone who they know is lying to them.
If I know there is oncoming traffic on both sides of the intersection and a liar tells me it is okay to cross, I wouldn't follow such directions and I would have no respect for the liar. In fact, I would be furious.
Why are these masses endangering all of us, themselves included, and why are they not furious? I hate to say it but highlighting that GOP politicians are PROVEN liars is old news.
The economy will not do well in 2 to 4 years. Democrats will be ascendant in 2018, and it doesn't matter if the economy is good or bad, the Trumpublican propaganda machine will make Democrats the boogey person.Democrats are out of power right now, and will be hobbled by judges, governors, and a huge money and propaganda machine that spreads from the Chambers of Commerce in each state, to buffoons that make broad generalizations. The economic recovery of 3,500 days started with a Democrat. Pre-existing condition coverage started with Democrats. Regulation on banister, criminals who gamble with our savings, began with Democrats. We had larger foreign markets, plans at least for hw to handle the expensive and existential threat of climate change. The failed Real Estate manager in office who takes bribes, makes our world less safe for no strategic reason than paying himself, getting rid of regulations on lead and mercury, so we can have brain damage and polluted water and air. Gotta love 'em. They are so very good for us. How o they get to claim they are doing anything right? Trumpublican toady's, riding Obama's coattails. Give us healthcare, preserve Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, make us safer just by talking to other countries (diplomacy).
As we hear each day from our government, we have much to fear. Hordes of families with children are descending upon us. The photos and videos are gut wrenching to see for those of us outside the so called 'cult'. The cult subscribes to the idea that if Trump does it, it is OK for them to follow his lead. Witness the idiot on the Southwest flight that groped a woman in flight. When arrested he said that "Trump says it is OK" so that is his defense.
We are being trashed by this regime. And I agree with Tom, if we don't take at least the House we may be doomed.
Amoral is winning. A fear here is that like the 9/11 attack, we may be subject to another such incident if the GOP gets desperate. Trump may just duplicate Bush's solution. That is, to attack the usual suspects somewhere in the mid east. It did get Bush reelected. Iran a likely candidate.
1
Sad to say, I don't see ANY leadership from Democrats. Where are they hiding? Maybe the mantra should be, Vote for ANYBODY but Republicans. How's that?
5
Mr. Friedman, you have completely missed why we are in this situation. It is the inevitable end game of a political movement that is fueled by money from billionaire oligarchs like the Koch brothers who do not actually believe in democracy. (And who needs government when you are wealthy enough to create your own reality impervious to outside influence?) They, and their lackeys like Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, divide the population with racist and xenophobic appeals. telling them that those "others" are getting a free meal, when all the statistics show that it is the super wealthy who are greedily gorging themselves on every increase in productivity. Until these wealthy malefactors and their stooges are permanently neutered by negating the political power of their money we will suffer from a lack of representative government.
Saudi arms deal reported as under 30 billion over years. No reason to repeat the lie.
1
“Truth, science, and decency” from the party that fixed its primary ....
4
If you could write, Tom, that a royal “reformer” who locks up and shakes down his fellow princelings for billion$; who kidnaps the President of Lebanon and forces him to resign; who imposes a siege Qatar because they permit Al Jaezera to operate; who perpetrates a war on the civilians of Yemen creating the worst humanitarian crises in the world; who calls reform the opening of movie theaters and permitting women to drive, but jails women who fought for their rights; who diminishes the influence of radical clerics as a means to consolidate his own power.....if you had written that a monarch who could do these things cannot be considered a reformer for moderation and modernization but rather budding autocrat to be shunned.....if you had written those truths you wouldn’t have been taken in by MBS’ grin.
1
Friedman hasn't been keeping up with the news. He's really out of touch. Every major poll indicates the Republicans will increase their margin the Senate. At this point, few analysts of either party expect the Democrats to make gains at the state legislative level around the country. Democrats are panicking because their strategy & tactics to win the midterms is coming apart. It's been one blunder after another. The messy judicial hearings, calls to impeach,the Heidi Heitkamp apology, Elizabeth Warren DNA tests, Hillary and the caravan. The caravan is an humanitarian crisis with possible economic, border security, & crime implications that we can't begin to contemplate. It's a visual reminder that our immigration system isn't working. Two weeks to go and the momentum is totally in Trump's favor. He's telling his people that Dems want open borders. Get out and vote or else. Vote for Republicans or you will be overrun. Democrats are angry but Trump voters are scared. Scared beats angry every time. The GOP base will turn out in huge numbers ...pretty much guaranteed with this caravan dominating the news every day until we vote. We're already starting to see blowback. Stacey Abrams & Andrew Gillum two African American candidates running for Governor in Florida & Georgia were ahead in polls a month ago. Now both GOP opponents have caught up & are positioned to win their races. In 2016 Trump's victory broke the left's heart. The 2018 midterms will break their spirit.
5
Ah, Tom - they have you snookered as well.
As if there is any difference between these two parties in a fundamental way. They both stand behind power and wealth. The GOP is simply much more obtuse and obnoxious about it.
4
We are watching a total freak show. Trump is Mad King George. His staff responding to every whim as we watch in utter disbelief. Wow! We’re getting a tax cut and Congress isn’t even in session. Gee how can he do that?
1
The people have to find their power.
Just listen to Trump for 5 minutes and you know he has to no conscious. His lies spew out every time he opens his mouth. The Saudi's and their 5th century tyrants have no fear of Trump or of course the prince-ling Trump calls hie son-in-law. It's all about money with the autocrats and certainly not about people or humanity. And the Republicans in lock step behind Trump.
2
Thank you, Dr. Friedman! I need to save this column and pass it on to others.
2
It would be nice if, just once, Trump supporters weren't portrayed by the liberal media as somehow morally deficient. It's pretty simple. Think of Donald Trump as Lawrence Taylor--as a Giants fan you didn't want your son be him, you didn't want your daughter to marry him and you knew he was a bad guy. But on Sunday afternoons, you sure were happy he was on your team.
6
Hopefully the country heeds your advice about voting democratic and that doing so is the antidote to the widespread willful ignorance to GOP lies, cynicism, and attacks on common decency.
Nobody to vote for. Yes, Trump is horrible but the Democrats have become too extreme on so many issues ; LGBTQ, race , their self-righteous feeling of superiority over conservatives; lefties, do you seriously believe that your tribe contains the better, smarter and more moral people than the right, and if you do,are you not savvy enough to suspect that reasoning?
6
@Dhoch--Nobody to vote for?? You're either insane or just plain lazy. There are local elections that can have a direct effect on you, the taxes you pay and the rights you have. In Washington State, we're voting not only for the US Congress & Senate seats, but for our state legislature, state supreme court and appeals court, district court and municipal court judges, King County prosecuting attorney, not to mention ballot measures that could raise your taxes and change our gun control laws. Don't believe Trump. This election isn't just about him. There are other things that, believe it or not, actually make a bigger difference than he does.
I respect Thomas L. Friedman but does anyone else think his "come to the Democrats" moment is way too late.
My theory is Trump's vulgarity has rattled some NY Times columnists into seeing what many slightly less uppity others, like Noam Chomsky or Amy Goodman, have known for several decades.
The shining light of post war America has been systematically undermined by corporate and special interest greed for many decades. The decline, which started with Reagan, really picked up speed during George W Bush.
Now that the NY Times itself may feel vulnerable for the first time, do they also see clearly see the focus of economic and political power in flaming right wing radicals who could end America as we know it? Our radical right-wing court will help big time.
Well time to wake up more, the glorious America of the late 70s has long been in mothballs. Many still live well, but I have it on the President's authority, the New York times is / will be failing.
Is that potential future pay cut enough for you to dig, to dig deeper into the true connections driving Americas slide down. Because if you can't figure it out, we cannot solve it. Most of America has already had, with constant wages and rising costs, their pay cut.
So, fight harder than this article, which is not enough fight.
3
"How to Make America America Again"
Hold the door open and let the caravan in. And the next caravan. And the next caravan.
1
@Mike. You've encapsulated the New Democratic party's agenda. It's a terrible idea. It gave us trump and it will again unless they realize most Americans do not want more mass immigration.
The Donald’s base does not read newspapers, does not travel outside US boundaries, does not understand global issues (environment, health, food, disruptive technologies, security), does not understand we are all one civilisation, does not understand we are all equal. But believe they are above everyone else. Of course, there are also a few educated Trumponians that support his cause only for money, shocking. Two scary and sad things: i) the truth does not reach his supporters and ii) the many unethical (valueless) Republicans in the House. Oh America, it is sad to see you drifting away hopelessly.
2
Especially in the 5 states that votes count.
1
@hm327
Every vote in every state counts!
1
I have little faith that America will ever be the same. Trump is a symptom of the disease, not the disease. A significant number of you have encouraged, then supported the transition from trusted friend to school yard bully.
Ah, a yet another brilliant mind makes a rational argument, backed up by fact and evidence. Sadly, the evidence to suggest that no one cares about rational arguments, facts, or evidence - is equally compelling.
We are embedded in hyper-realities where facts do not matter, reason is just a belief. Some of us in the hyper-reality of Fox, Limbaugh, and church-based hate machines, others on social media and left wing shrill-o-sphere of MSNBC (which is rather given to huffing and puffing about very little without getting to a point).
Republicans are very clear about their vision: a white America, whites in charge, everyone else subservient. Evil or not, it is effective in ways that renders democrats toothless. Trump does not apologize for grabbing genitals, he proclaims it to the utter glee of his followers.
What is the democrat vision? Free everything, punishment for the rich, rights for everyone without obligations (or duty), and utter disregard for merit? If democrats had their way, instead of going to work, I would spend most of my time listening to a tinny unqualified shrill preaching about diversity and sensitivity. These folks are equally unreal.
I will vote liberal, because everything on the other side is abhorrent. But I am not sure I subscribe to what today's democrats - afraid of elitism, timid in vision, apologetic and given to whining, disorganized, and hijacked by what seem like dangerous socialist reactionaries - are inspiring in terms of confidence.
2
It’s too bad but nothing that we could do even if we had a great wise dictator could really alleviate the climate change that is going to occur.
We have met the enemy and it is us. Is Mr Friedman, the multimillionaire pundit, barking up the wrong tree? Is it possible that we, the people, have reached a critical mass of ignorance and stupidity that is irreversible, as climate change will soon be? Is it possible that we are collectively so unfit to even comprehend the values of democracy, decency, and truth that even if all of us who intend to vote democratic actually go and vote, it will never again be enough? I desperately hope I am wrong, but I am not optimistic.
1
What we’re seeing today IS America. Recent history has allowed some of us to paper over the fact there are a lot of hateful, selfish and willfully uninformed citizens out there. Voters who don’t believe in sharing the country with anyone who’s not just like them. Now it’s just out in the open.
Let’s outvote them but never again forget that they’re out there. We have to outvote them every time, not just this midterm election.
4
By telling us every American gets 333.3$, Tom Friedman is making the best argument to support President Trump.
The D Leaders constantly fall into the fight plan of their opponents - the enemy of the People (the GOP) - and thus get mulled.
They have goods yet don't extol them! Rather than forcefully articulate the real worth of their vision, objectives, and goals - or flaunt their real substantive achievements - for average Americans they wring hands about issues and topics most voters will just ignore or use against them at the polls.
Shame on the D Leaders! Shame on them for perhaps snatching defeat from jaws of victory.
BUT more shame on the voters of this great nation. Too many lazy, apathetic, cynical, petulant, or willfully blind to the dangers.
This is 1930s Europe revisited in USA and all good people OUGHT TO vote like the good people OUGHT TO HAVE voted in that time and place!!!
This is not a normal healthy honest Conservative vs. Progressive jockeying over method and means.
Trump/GOP neither Conservative nor Progressives.
Rather they are authoritarian theocratic plutocrats who want to re-cast this Nation into a plutocratic oligarchy with bigoted intolerant selfish greedy elitist undertones.
Like the autocrats of 1930s they seek to tear down our institutions, divide us, and breed internal fear and hatred.
Voters VOTE and vote existentially!
Don't be fooled by the "great new autobahns", "united language", "trains on time", "easy walk to Rhineland victory" - this election is existential battle for our heart and soul!
VOTE D do not sell our soul to the devil!
1
Having publicly and widely supported a disgraceful prince that already had a record of corrupted behavior and human rights violations (war in Yemen, jailing activists, kidnapping a prime minister, etc) for the purpose of protecting Israel's interest and "reforming Islam", whatever that was supposed to mean, is worse or just as bad as supporting Trump. A reminder for Mr. Friedman and his conveniently selective ethical lenses. Pass it on.
3
The Democrats can take back the House or the Senate, but it is too late. The damage has already been done. With the new conservative Supreme Court, we are in for thirty years of backward evolution, heading toward a second Dark Ages in America. However, this might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer using a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof of how we have tricked our minds with our ridiculous beliefs about just exactly what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. When we understand this, we will begin the long road back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
At this moment it is true: Nothing else matters. Pass it on.
3
Tom, you are a smart man but also a naïve and unrealistic man. You and I and millions of others have been fortunate to live in the post-WWII bubble of 1945-2000, when economic prosperity was coupled with optimism and tolerance in education, science, social relations, and even politics – before the Newt Gingrich-inspired “Zero Sum Game” approach fully took hold. What we are seeing now is a regression to the mean of the “real America,” the one that no one taught you about in school. You can start in 1607 or 1775 or anywhere you want, but aside from the past half century or so, the “real America” has always been crude, boorish, anti-intellectual, religiously obsessed, politically and culturally balkanized, greedy, racist, misogynist, anti-Semitic, and very, very violent. Donald Trump flatters himself with his “MAGA” rhetoric, but we are really living in the America that we have always had.
3
Opinion pieces are nothing. Letters to the editor are nothing. Smug Twitter rants are nothing. Turn out is everything. Mr Trump's base will vote with solidarity. Let us hope that Democrats will not have something better to do like they did in 2016. If they do not vote en masse and with equal solidarity then their subsequent opinion pieces, letters to the editor and smug Twitter rants will not be worth reading for by not voting they will have betrayed the country.
4
America already is America. We need to make it something better. (Like Canada.)
4
Same old same old.
It’s not working.
1
The Republican Party is built on lies. Just think of birtherism, repeal of Obamacare, the Benghazi trials, fear of deficits then massive tax cuts after they take control. Remember Romney trying to run against his own health plan. Republicans are masters at the politics of total destruction. Donald Trump is the product of that high-minded criminal, power-grappling, zero-sum, scorched earth approach to governing. Mitch McConnell, Lyndsey Graham insert any Republican you want is Donald Trump. They are liars. They are motivsted by power, greed, and destruction. Putin is right. We are a diminished power. Republicans used Russia to win an elections. They created a party built on Putin.
And for good sake stop the false equivalences.
3
Oh I see, anybody who doesn't vote straight D ticket is not an American?
6
@JimF
The problem is, anybody who votes Democratic is now being called part of a "mob" by this president.
Don't you find that a bit un-American?
The last time I looked, we had a Constitution that allowed freedom of choice.
1
I live in a solidly blue neighborhood in a solidly blue state- what can I do that doesn’t involve writing more checks???
140
@Ohana. You can get the democrats to run and promote reasonable candidates with a reasonable platform and hope it catches on at the national level. Many of us are dismayed that the open borders, everything is free, wing of the party is in charge. That is not a winner.
1
@Ohana
Consider phone banking or canvassing for a district near you.
1
@Ohana Travel to a place with a competitive race to canvass. (I’m heading to Nevada). Also, use social media to argue for Americans values.
1
Quite frankly, I'm not seeing Mr. Friedman's confidence in not "bullying" the other side -- nothing about the level of discourse so far in my state gives me confidence in that. I also doubt that the Democrats, if they win the House, will resist the impeachment or reverse court-packing bandwagon. I could easily be wrong about this.
For me, the best thing I can do is just vote for the best candidates in front of me, for both House and Senate, and let the chips fall where they may. Doing anything else -- voting blindly by party or by "kick the bums out" or whatever rubric -- has contributed to the mess we're in right now, in my opinion/.
3
I expect that after the Trump experience, no one will be able to use the cliché "you can't fool the American people", without irony.
I trust that the other saying:"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time" will become operative.
Abraham, let's hope that your wisdom will guide us again.
3
This President draws his strength from strife. Democrats gaining control of Congress would just amplify the entrenchment and rancor. The Press is the best hope. Regain the narrative by shifting to substantive coverage centered on facts and data in a way that moves Trump to the periphery. And get Americans to realize the divisions and weakened faith in your institutions is now a national security threat.
1
Tom,
In my 80 years I have never volunteered to actively support a candidate for election. In 2016 I ALMOST traveled 45 minutes to York, PA to work on defeating Trump and elect a Democrat to Congress. At the last minute, I decided there was no reason to go as Trump would lose anyway. We all know how that turned out. For the past few weeks I have been making phone calls to my former home area, to get out the vote for Anthony Brindisi for Congress in NY22. I have learned my lesson that we can not wait for someone else to do it. This is the most important election of my life. Look at the damage this autocrat has done in less than 2 years. We will not recognize our world and Democracy, if we allow Trump and his enablers too be unchecked for 2 more years. I will be so sad if that happens.
3
I agree totally, but it is seriously difficult to accept that under these circumstances of having a leader who is leading us away from the America I was proud of, that our only option is to vote. I was under the impression that our freedom, ethics and fairness was protected by additional standards. I also wonder if the person was a trump family member, would we not be talking about losing a great "deal" with the Saudis.
Certainly the Democrats haven't done a good job promoting their agenda and putting forward credible candidates that appeal to voters. However, I think we're past that point. Trump supporters now fully inhabit an alternative reality where giving away clean air, water, healthcare, labor rights, women's rights, affordable college, rising wages consistent with growth, and eventually Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in order to prop up a relative handful of billionaires sounds like a good idea as long as it punishes people they perceive to be different from themselves. They are willing to embrace falsehoods over facts and conspiracy theory over reality if it makes them feel empowered against liberal elite types, the LGBT community, Mexicans, George Soros, and anyone trying to steal Christmas off of their coffee cups.
Perhaps we need to end up living in a developing nation for a while-- and in some ways we are already there-- before they wake. However, by the time it gets to that point it may be too late.
5
@Micke. The democratic agenda is limited to ever more immigration by anybody as long as they are poor and not white. None of the problems you mention: the environment, labor, healthcare or anything else is improved by the importation of more poverty. But if that's the only place you can get voters I guess that's what the dems will do, but alienating what used to be your base, is not a viable longterm strategy.
5
Every problem that I mentioned is inextricably connected to the GOP, as evidenced by the 15,000 some-odd lobbyists in Washington writing their legislation for them on behalf of the billionaires who get them elected with dark money. If that were not the case, why the fortunes spent on gerrymandering and voter suppression and stacking the courts with anti-labor, Right-to-Work judges? You have it exactly backwards; white supremacy isn't a viable long term strategy.
Do you really think one lever of power is enough? With the likes of Mitch McConnell in the Senate, who stopped playing by the rules long before Trump did?
Would that Robert Mueller would release his report before the midterms. Is that wrong? Probably. But we have nothing left but to stop playing by the rules either. And that is really really sad.
2
It may be too frightening for us to admit, but the truth is that democracy won't solve our problem when our problem is precisely that our democracy no longer works.
2
@617to416. As one of the other commenters mentioned, the second worse candidate in history beat the worst candidate in history. Democracy works, but it still depends on who runs and who votes.
2
Alas fear is a much stronger motivator than any other thought or emotion. Marketers and politicians know this all too well. The GOP, and especially Trump, are masters at instilling fear. The Caravan is going to invade! Those dark people who speak a different language! And they're going to give them cars- no, Rolly Royces! And take your jobs.
The left does the same, but I'd argue a fear of a planet where rising seas and climate change displace millions and costs who knows how much to deal with is a bit more rational. But alas, we all accept the info we want to hear, not what's necessarily true.
@Dan G. What you say is true. However the democratic "solution" to every problem seems to be another amnesty and more immigration. I'm still waiting for anyone on the left to give me even a simple explanation of how ever more immigration to the country with the highest per capita co2 production is good for the environment or global warming. The caravan surging toward the border may contain the nicest people on earth but the truth is, the third most populous country on earth doesn't need any more people, especially impoverished ones with large families and no skills. The countries they come from are proof of that.
2
The last three years (including the campaign) seem to indicate that we are not one but two countries - Trump supporters, and everyone else. The election next month, as much or maybe more than the one in 2020, is perhaps our last chance to decide if we will continue as one nation or not. Not because if the Democrats win we'll all suddenly be united again, but because as Mr. Friedman writes the adults will be back in charge (partly) again. VOTE!
1
This is the best reason that I have for voting Democratic.
"45" does not represent my values or the values of most Americans. He represents citizens (mostly men) that want to go back to an earlier time when white men were firmly in control of things.
Progressives are on the right side of history, whether it is ending slavery, ensuring the right for African Americans to vote, ensuring the right of women to vote, helping to end the Depression and win a world war (despite the efforts of "american firsters" to avoid helping Europe), ensuring civil rights for all Americans, allowing citizens to marry whoever they choose and making sure that all Americans have access to healthy insurance.
Whether conservatives and reactionaries like it or not, we live in a global economy. We need to get along with the rest of the world, not make enemies.
Those workers that do not keep up their skills and become lifelong learners, will be left behind. (Coming from an aging boomer, I can speak from personal experience). The America of the 1950s is gone. (Sorry Mike Pence).
We live in an amazing time! African Americans have a chance to win governorships in two Southern states. I suppose this scares those that want to "take their country back." Fear is what motivates them. I remember those that supported Richard "I am not a crook Nixon."
Vote for the progressive in all local, state and national elections.
6
@delmar sutton
The 'right side of history' - boy there is a loaded, dog-whistle term. Unfortunately there are 100 million victims for those who were apparently on the wrong side of history in the past century.
2
Yes, today the Democrats represent a sound tactical choice. But let's not fool ourselves. They simply represent a less avaricious wing of the ruling elite than the Republicans do.
Under present conditions, that is contradiction that must be addressed. But remember, our last Democratic president was very long on "hope" but very short on "change," as was his party.
We don't need to make "America America Again," we need to make America anew.
7
Excellent article and I am in agreement with you on every point which is an accomplishment on both our parts.
We need a better balance of power or we will be just voices crying in the wilderness of Trump and the GOP.
5
Another piece of hysterical liberalism. Liberal elites are still in power, but they are challenged, and that they cannot stand .
This Trump period up to now has not been as disastrous as it has "promised" to be. That is the truth for a wide number of people. For Thomas Fridman however, the truth is what he has been preaching for years: globalization open borders, markets etc. morality...morality??? His morality lets say. The final truth is that Trumpism is the backlash against him and all what he represents. The truth is that even if Democrats win the Congress, Trumpism as a phenomenon is not over.
It will challenge liberals for years to come.
82
@arikne
Please explain what branch of government "liberal elites" are in charge of or what power they have. The Trump folks have government (at all levels, despite getting fewer votes for decades), corporate America and large areas of the media and the internet.
You all won, enjoy it. You are no longer victims (and never really were). We are all so tired of the victimhood of the right.
5
@arik
And surely no one knows this better than someone in Israel who has to contend with Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Some of us will take our chances with voting for Democrats.
5
It has not been as disastrous as it ‘promised’ to be!!?!?! 90% of his actions provoke anger, instead of unity, 100% of his actions will cause harm to Earth, 95% of his words are lies hurting all values, 98% of his actions are partisan and on self interest, and can go on and on. Just because a capital markets meltdown or a Third World War has not happened it doesn’t mean it hasn’t been disastrous. It is terrifying!
6
Despite your wailing America is still America. We are a country of diverse opinions and beliefs. Most of us get up every morning and go about our lives. Fortunately, only a limited number of us have time to participate in the tantrums of the extremists. By the way, today most of the tantrums are being thrown by liberals who are disappointed they can’t have their way every day. I don’t like the way Mr. Trump conducts himself, but I do agree with many of his actions. Those who fear we are headed into a dictatorship if the Democrats don’t take both houses of Congress didn’t seem too concerned when Mr. Obama decided to rule by fiat with his phone and pen during his last six years. This hysteria surrounding this particular election is juvenile and absurd.
18
The midterm results will show all of us just how much of America has been compromised and co-opted by Trump and the GOP. If Republicans hold both Houses of Congress then our country is in the hands of the far-right nationalists for at least the next six years. It is difficult to tell just how much of a country we will have left in 2024. If the Democrats manage to take the majority in one House then there will a chance for some checks and balances on this runaway train. Two weeks from today when I get up and read the Times, one or the other of these options will be the future that we face. My personal decisions for my own future for the next six years will certainly hinge on the midterm's outcome.
4
The Saudis donated between $10 and $25 million solely to the Clinton Foundation as reported in the NYT in August 2016. Is there really any difference in Republican and Democratic "pay-to-play" backroom politics?
Let's be real here, the only reasons politicians spend millions to win seats in the House or Senate are ego, power, and directing which way the money spigot sprays nationally and locally.
With money in his/her pocket and unemployment at record low rates, how many voters will vote for identity politics over the economy?
6
@James
To say that there is no difference between the Democratic and the Republican party is a denial of what is happening now under this Trump/Republican administration and what happened under the Obama/Democratic administration from 2008 thru 2016.
Although there is no perfect administration in US history, it is clear that the Democrats clearly do a better job.
My wife and I are canvassing hard for candidates in our area---the good news---there is a lot of anger out there amongst women and a lot of enthusiasm at campaign offices. The bad news is knocking on doors with residents who tell us to stop taking Trump so seriously---"yes, he is over the top with tweets and shades the truth"---"but he has put this country back on the right track." I would add, all our rehearsed lines about policy are never needed---this election cycle is all about Trump---if his surrogates get into or remain in the house he will have an iron grip on this country.
234
@ACJ
I don't know: it seems pretty serious when you put his in kennel cages.
@ACJ
while I dont canvass, I do know many Trumplodites. Some are losing interest in him, so I have to guess many others are too. Its inevitable that people have buyers remorse when the product is so flimsy, and cheap.
Many of them are not buying into his fear and loathing sermons, knowing full well that The Caravan is NOT a bigly threat to the nation.
Many are seeing the actual voting records of those Repub candidates, momentarily posing as Dems, saying they support protecting the preexisting conditions clause, as fake claims.
Many see the lies of other GOP candidates...and struggle with Trump and his, and dont see the two as equal. As they expect the bombastic from him, and dont like it with others.
But they are small samples...I hope its one of many thousands...
I agree wholeheartedly, but I was already there. My worry is will those who have not arrived listen and, more importantly, act? Indifference, tribalization, self interest and ignorance will be difficult to overcome to make America America again.
I believe in entropy; we will never pass this way again. Times change and so do the people over time, as older generations die off and new ones appear. With each era comes a new zeitgeist.
The Democrats are a much different party than that of the New Deal. It's leadership and activists are now affluent. Organized labor and civil rights movements are in the shadow of #MeToo. Class war is concealed by a culture war waged by two elites. Meanwhile, Republicans are architecting plutocracy.
6
"...because the truth is just not enough today — not as long as we have a president who has no shame, who is backed by party that has no spine, that controls the House, the Senate, the White House, the Supreme Court and, indirectly, a major television network that has no integrity."
Thank you, Tom. I have posted this article on my FaceBook page. with the following:
"Trump's statement yesterday that "there is no proof of anything" regarding the Kashoggi murder could be the banner for his presidency. I cannot live in a world without facts and truth nor should anyone. Such a world has no civil rights, no decency, no respect for the worth and dignity of anyone. We -- everyone -- are reduced to being an audience in a reality tv show where women, people of color, LGBTQ's, refugees, the press, and anyone who disagrees will be voted "off the island." That will just leave some white men presiding over an overheated planet.
So, please vote, and encourage others to do the same. Then model the behavior change we want to see. Be respectful, truthful, and deeply rooted in the core American value that all of us are created equal."
4
Editorialist who go in the direction of this editorial face a dilemma; namely, while they are pointing fingers at who is to blame for our strange situation, when they get to the public they hold their criticism back. The voting public is to blame for putting our president in office and for allowing him and his party to continue to prevail. But if the editorialist blames the public, they will feel insulted and they will react by rejecting the editorialist's ideas. Like when Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters who were white nationalists "deplorables." So the editorialist has to stop short before he blames the public for something for which they are culpable. Sure, the president has no shame, and his party has no spine, and there is a television network that is a kind of pravda...But what about all those voters who consistently put Republicans in control and elected this president? They are denying truth and science, too. Don't they deserve their share of blame. Most likely they will continue to support their party--and go unchallenged by editorialists who might hurt their feelings.
3
Trump is so easily manipulated by Putin that between the two of them they could easily change the world’s power structure. Putin wants that to happen. Trump just wants to be President but is not smart enough to understand the implications of anything he says or does. If Democrats can take the House they can scare him into not stepping outside some - but not all - behaviors. I think they can have an impact on keeping healthcare and social security. Possibly the environmental destruction can be curtailed. They can have more control over foreign policies by insisting that treaties, trade and other foreign actions that constitutionally are the House’s purview rest solely with them, or Trump face impeachment if he tries unconstitutional actions. They could save the world from Putin if they are strong enough. Right now, Trump just runs over the Republican Congressmen like they aren’t even there. None of them has any inkling of the damage Trump is doing, or they just don’t care.
6
Barbara, you absolutely nailed it. It's all about the implications for the world not just the United States. A very dangerous man in a very dangerous time.
Mr. Friedman the problem with your premise is the overwhelming ignorance of Trump's supporters. These people just don't read or educate themselves. When they do choose to reach out it is to a source that reaffirms their belief structure. I have never seen anything like the modern GOP and hope that it does not last much longer. Every time that I hear somebody utter the words "You know Donald Trump was a great businessman....I have heard all that I need to know about how clueless an individual can be.
16
Oh, Tom. If all Democrats wanted to do was balance out Trump, respect science and be wonderful moderates, you might have a point. But that’s not the case. Just listen to them and they’ll tell you what they want, and they aren’t American values. Sorry Tom, I wish I could be with you here, but policy does matter. Judges do matter. A vote for them is a vote for oppressive taxes to fund government dependency, abolishing ICE or more subtle open borders, shutting down opposing viewpoints with screaming political correctness, affirmative action and on and on. No, Tom, as bad as Trump is personally, the Democrats are even worse.
11
"You see, I can write that it is vitally important for global stability and the protection of journalists everywhere that those who executed and ordered the murder of Khashoggi be punished." How did this jurisdiction fall to the US? I don't remember the Saudis seeking to punish the US over the killing of Martin Luther King. Since when are we in charge? Nor have I heard a word from you seeking the leaker of confidential information from the White House to sources in the media. Nor a word from you on the leaks to the press from the offices of Senator Feinstein. Your idea of justice sounds suspiciously like mid-term election justice. What some of us Americans crave is the old fashioned stuff, where the journalists seek justice for all. I will believe again in the Democrats when they call for investigations into Hillary's escapades with the same level of fervor as heard from those like you who demand investigations of Trump. At present, I think the activism is purely partisan and your cries for American values are nothing more than a stunt.
1
Two points: 1. The US gov’t did not kill MLK 2. The GOP investigated Hilary intensively if not obsessively...what was left to do?!
Excellent- why you are the best of Times. We are in this deplorable mess because most Americans care little about the savage murder of a Saudi citizen by his own nation, or the desperation driving thousands to march endless miles to avoid death and poverty, or the destruction of our planet, or for truth itself. The President has no shame, but half of American voters have no shame. Pleas that play on their collective conscience will fail.
I submit the only way to reach these voters is to ignore the social issues that control their thoughts and actions and to focus on an issue that may sway their vote, if not their thinking. Republicans have openly voted to slash Social Security and Medicare. Make that the sole issue of discussion. Let voters over 65 or close to that age know that the Republicans are going to take away this treasured benefit and the tide will turn-dramatically.
2
"How to Make America America Again" Easy.
(1) reduce the military & defense spending by 50% and use it for education & infrastructure, (2) put term limits to elected official, (3) stop assault weapons sells, (4) strongly enforce separation between state & religion, (5) increase progressive personal tax rate to 50% for income earners of more than 2 million dollars per year, and lastly (6) mandatory military service of 2 years after graduation from high schools or colleges.
5
I really don't understand how any father or mother could possibly vote for a Republican at this point.
How can you look your child in the eye and tell them "it's going to be all right"?
You are dooming them and their children to a lifetime of increasing conflict with other peoples and with the environment itself.
There is zero chance that it will "all right" if the GOP retains control of the USA.
1
The hapless PC-contorted and tokenist Democratic Party is the main reason people voted for Trump.
Electing a Democratic Congress now would be only a start...towards turning the clock back to 2016. America has to do much much better than that to rescue its system of government and politics.
2
Mr. Friedman this time falls short of expectations for his followers. He fails to address two fundamental questions: how will punishing American workers, businesses and politicians change the Saudi regime known for long for violating human rights? Does he not recall the recent outburst Canada met after pleading for the human rights of a citizen? Secondly, hundreds of journalists worldwide have already got killed and what makes this case so special?
1
We should think of this election as a test of democracy. They all are, of course, but at the moment our democracy fails to function due to many causes: money, gerrymandering, too much power in people like Mitch McConnell, a Congress that fails to reign in an incompetent president.
The cancer on democracy that brought us Trump and today's Republican-dominated government has to be excised and cured. The fix starts with electing a new set of leaders.
I pray that my fellow Americans understand that democracy itself is broken, and that's why we can't get access to health care, commonsense gun regulations, address global warming, and so forth. As Mr. Friedman says, we have to start somewhere.
2
As a former Californian, I can attest that this extreme bipolar shift back and forth from left to right does not spell doom for America.
This same violent movement from the far left to the far right has occurred in California over the years resulting in no permanent damage that could not be corrected by a new administration.
Shifts from Pat Brown to Ronald Reagan or Gerry Brown to Arnold Schwarzenegger have continued on to the next election in November between Gavin Newsom and his republican opponent.
Consider that the advent of an authoritarian president like Trump is an important wake up call to all Americans that it is dangerous to not vote or allow the country to slip into fascism because we weren’t paying attention!
1
Over the years I have balanced and listened and occasionally voted Republican, that is over. I can’t support anyone who supports this agenda.
10
Too late, the Democrats have blown it, big time. Schumer and Co. have been mum on the subject of the so called "caravan" wonder why since this topic seems to resonate with so many voters and yet he and the party are mute. I will be voting D across the board this year but there will be no blue tsunami nor a blue wave, perhaps a blue ripple. they may get the votes in the House but they need it more in the Senate and I don't think they will do it. And if they don't get on the same page and the R's on illegal immigration it will be the Dems who will hand 2020 to 45. Count on it.
4
The slogan should be: Re-elect morality in Congress, whatever the party.
6
Then there is no one to vote for at all.
3
Here in North Carolina the electorate is rigged. In a roughly 50:50 state, Republicans hold a 10-3 super majority and their only apology was that they could not rig a 11 - 2 majority. When the elected officials take power like this what hope is there? The Church's, gun crowd and big business own the politicians who have stripped the Democratic Governor of whatever power he might have had. There success at a local level is a small scale of their national approach which has been the same. Cheat, cheat and cheat. Now the GOP has all 3 branches of Government - how will that change? Please don't tell me to vote. I already know that my vote only counts for 3 out of 13 times.
The GOP has won - the only way for that to change is for a major meltdown in the economy, society, health etc on their watch.
177
@MrC I would plead with you to not give up hope. Work at the margins, and try to find a way to contribute where you have some chance of success. Trump's time will come to an end, and if the Democrats include the views of Obama voters that switched to Trump, it will come sooner than later.
Finally, regardless of how pessimistic you are, please vote!
1
All the more reasons to vote!@MrC
1
@MrC, your vote does count! I won a local county election because of ONE vote; don't ever think it is not important for you to participate in our democracy! This is exactly why we lost in 2016, don't you see that? If we don't stand up now, we stand to lose forever.
1
Thank you for this clarity, this sanity! You speak for me. Passing it on!
We Democrats cannot wish an end to the nightmare that is the Trump era. We are burdened with doing the grunt work to make it happen.
This means when establishment moderates misread the political tea leaves and for a second time fail to elect an anointed moderate presidential candidate over a progressive who has captured the imagination of the electorate and in the process underperform at every level thereby tightening the Republicans’ grip on our government, they change.
Changing means persuading congressional leaders who have had decades in the leadership it is time to move on and making that happen.
Changing means embracing the populist mood of the country and electing progressives to lead the Democratic National Committee.
Changing means hiring new talent at the DNC, the progressive think tanks, and state committees, to cure our biggest problems: terrible political analysis, issue selection, and messaging.
Changing means rising to the challenge of the moment by choosing the correct issues with which to build a national campaign and confidently nationalizing the campaign.
Changing means fielding congressional and state office candidates who can simply articulate a populist message for millions of Americans who do not understand politics.
Changing means refraining from whining about the opposition party’s success in persuading these Americans to vote against their interests.
Merci Thomas, it's so very good to see you at your best again. Please keep it up until America is better again. After a visit from the Anti-Christ in person, hopefully, better than it has ever been!
No, Tom. Facts do mater. That's the whole point of science, to understand real cause and effect. If you keep spending more money and lowering taxes, sooner or latter your kids will have to pay. if you keep washing the topsoil of the Midwest down the Mississippi river, you have to add more chemicals to the dirt that's left or you won't be able to grow as much corn and wheat and soy beans. If you fudge on safety inspections and maintenance, sooner or later the roads fail and the bridges fall. You have to pay the piper. We all know that.
The real issue is how much damage Trump's willful ignorance causes before its inescapable consequences wake the rest of us wake up.
When Mr. Friedman championed the Arab Spring and ended up being stupendously wrong you'd think he would stop telling others what constitute our best hope for the future. Unfortunately, he continues to spew nonsense under the guise that he knows something.
I agree the U.S. needs to confront Saudi Arabia. They are not our friends. We have some interests that coincide, but no tyranny which supports extremism around the world financially is our friend. My values are worth more than defense contracts. But it's not over yet. Let's see what happens.
Trump is utterly indifferent to democracy advocates? What did Obama do for the Cubans? We normalized relations in exchange for what benefit for the Cuban population? Were any dissidents released? Any rights conferred? Nope, not a one. Just billions in trade. What benefits did the Iranians get for the Iran deal?
Trump treats his opponents as enemies? The Republicans never acted like a howling mob when they were in the minority. They never tried to destroy a man by denying him due process.
Friedman's bizarre contention that Trump needs to be investigated for not appointing an ambassador to Saudi Arabia encapsulates why he should be ignored. When every decision is an act of treason he obviously never accepted the election results in the first place.
The word "resist" implies any action whether democratic or not is justifiable after a democratic election loss. You never accepted the results.
Godspeed Republicans.
1
Sorry. I can't stand the Democrats identity-focused, grievance-based ideology. I'm voting Republican.
10
@Robert
Identity-focused, grievance-based ideology?
That, my friend, is the very essence of Trumpism.
2
Finally a voice of reason. Progressives will pout, other third party groups will be mad. Face it folks, as third parties you will only change things for the worse. Look at what has happened to the Supreme Court. The Federal Court system has been changed for the next forty years. While not.perfect by any means, at least with the Democrats you have a preponderance of reasonable, caring politicians who have basically good intentions and they do believe in science. Perfect, no. Nationalistic, no. Caring and thoughtful, yes.
2
I guess it really matters, and your core beliefs are important. The United States elected Donald Trump and what he was, it was clear for all to see, in 2016. The country wants this president to succeed. We got what a free election provides. Its up to the country to change it's mind, or approve the current direction. Nov. 6th, democracy rides again, and we will see what the United States of America really stands for.
1
I noticed, yesterday a fine Democrat argued for a greater resemblance in Trump to George Wallace, than to George Washington. This is stunningly dull-witted. Almost no one remembers George Wallace, which only underscores the speaker's antiquity; and no one can expect to resemble Washington. Worst, of course, is that Wallace's voters are Trump's base. Yet, this advice comes from Joe Biden, probably the most qualified and appealing candidate his Party can nominate, except for the same tone-deafness which cost him the nomination in his previous life. It's one thing, to have to vote for Democrats -- and one must. It's another, to possess hope of their identifying a politician of gravitas, fortitude, courage, coherency, and a promising message. And they have very little time to do so.
Voter disenfranchisement is the leading cause of the Fall of America. We feel like our vote doesn’t matter. We’re sick and tired of negative campaigning, attack ads and vicious sniping. We’re sick of big monied interests controlling our candidates, our government, our lives. And so, a majority of Americans simply check out from voting, asking, what difference will it make?
In this election, it will make all the difference. This election is about the very essence of our democratic governance. It isn’t perfect - far from it. But unless we vote against those who are supported by big monied interests, those who field spiteful attack ads and those who care not one iota for the greater good of Americans, we will lose our right to elect our representatives in free and fair elections.
On Nov 6, Vote “D” to Defend Democracy and Defeat Trumpism.
1
Neither Friedman nor anybody else could have stated the sordid but bald truth more succinctly. It's America's shame that we, a once a proud nation, though not always righteously, have allowed ourselves to be dragged into the muck pits where Trump and his Republican lackeys have led us.
Not long ago, we could credibly maintain our right to cast our votes based on principles and values. Not so anymore. The only pragmatic way out of our national quagmire is to hand the business of governance back to the Democrats. But winning by itself soon will prove to be a hollow victory, doomed to repeat the past and continue the ongoing saga of changing the guard as we again tire of business as usual.
If we're to make America America again, a far more credible goal than making America great again, the Democrats need to step up, become the adults in the room, and abandon the usual tit-for-tat, revenge with a vengeance lust for power that has dominated the most recent Republican machine. They will have to learn to extend a welcoming, accommodating hand to those Republicans, including former tormentors, who express a sincere willingness to work together toward mutually satisfactory, not exclusive as they have been under the Republicans, solutions.
America's best, and perhaps only, option is to restore an effective two, or more, party system under which integrity and respect, not ideology and partisanship, rule our processes. If we fail to achieve that this time, America surely will fail.
`
1
Democrats have got to take the House or the Senate.
It's make or break.
I fear for what will happen if Republicans keep Congress.
Trump is driving the country into moral bankruptcy and McConnell and Ryan are doing a happy dance.
Now that they've got their judges, we'll soon find out if Pence is worse than Trump. (He will be.)
Nunes told us that that a few months back. Give Trump free rein and then kick him out.
Vote Democratic on November 6th.
Or now - early voting starts in my state today. Does yours?
Vote D.
Every seat, every office.
Changing Majorities in Congress is our best course of action.
Vote.
Anyone familiar with the details of German history knows that we are living in an era similar to 1934 or 1935 in terms of the rallies, and 1943 in terms of the secrecy and enforced nationality and loyalty, and the fear.
1
After years of wishy-washy centrism, it is nice to see an article by Mr. Friedman with a strong emotional commitment. Please vote.
1
I keep asking myself how things could have gone so off the rails so seemingly quickly. Where did we fail? Have we stopped teaching civics in school? Do we need to have some type of national service so that every young person learns to work with people from all social strata and backgrounds and has a commitment to serving the country in some form, whether the military, teaching, building housing, volunteering or something else ? How is it that people have been seduced into supporting this pinched, narrow, selfish and un-American vision for the country? This obscene distortion of everything we had aspired to? I'm falling into despair.
1
For Trump, money trumps morality, every time. He appoints no ambassador to Saudi so son-in-law Kushner can haul in the baksheesh unimpeded. He lied about his willingness to show his tax returns because they would show he is in hock to foreign oligarchs. He lies about 100 billion in arms deals with the Saudis, exaggerating by a factor of five, in order to 'justify' his willingness to accept MBS's phony excuses for foul murder, and it goes on and on. This has to stop, and in our system that means vote Democratic at every level in this election.
2
Fear is the cheapest and easiest emotion to generate. Fear of the dark, fear of the different, fear of dangers whether real or not. Trump has played up those fears and called for fight. Not flight. His base gorges on the fear until that terror turns to anger. And that anger cares not of truth, or facts, or being fair to people that are different, all the traits America fostered for years. The beacon of hope the torch of Lady Liberty shone on the world has faded. It is our duty to rekindle that fire.
For a long time some people like myself have been tell you Mr. Friedman that there was a wave coming and you had your back to it.
That wave was a group of people that were being left behind by the forces of globalism. In the late 1970's or early 1980's I read an article that the title was something like, "Free markets don't necessarily mean free people". People like myself argued that allowing US Capital to exploit cheap labor markets of non-free people overseas would drag the USA into the gutter.
That is what happened.
Now the people in the USA, with little real education even if they went to college, have accepted a New Dark Age. They run to an emergency room if their child is injured yet they will not vaccinate them. They fly in jets to grandmothers house but they reject global warming. They take the best that The Enlightenment and the scientific method has to offer if it makes them feel good, but they reject it when it is not convenient.
Even if the center-left takes back the house soon, the people of the New Dark Age are still with us. They will re-assert their schizophrenic world view and still reject The Enlightenment, The Scientific Method, and Fact.
Folks like yourself who ignored what was going on will be shown by history to be responsible. Trump is but a symptom, folks like yourself that ignored that wave carry the blame.
I am afraid this is 1860 again and what is coming will not be pretty.
1
Absolutely - socialist economic policies, identity politics, the regulation of every aspect of business and life, and hollowing out our defense capabilities are definitely a formula for greatness. Just look at great countries like Venezuela and Cuba.
4
Thank you very much. I wish more of your colleagues were this clear and direct about what is happening and what is at stake in the election. The only other point to make is that we have to get more young people to vote, and vote in a way that is impactful.
2
Trump is winning. Doing what he said. Chew on that. From a deplorable.
"But when it comes to the real barometer of presidential truthfulness -- keeping his promises -- Trump is a paragon of honesty. For better or worse, since taking office Trump has done exactly what he promised he would do."
Trump has done what several previous presidents failed to do in spite of promises. Renegotiated NAFTA, Moved the US embassy in Israel back to Jerusalem, etc etc etc. And the MSM screams "you can't do these things"."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/opinion/midterms-democrats-trump-hous...
8
@dfdunlap
You have no problems with the constant and proven lies that he tells on a daily basis? I.E. the missile deal with SA at one point he tells reporters the jobs created for US citizens was 500,000 a couple of days later it was 400,000 and then again a couple of days later it was now 1,000,000 jobs. Which is it? His numbers are lies too. If you have kids and they lie is there a consequence in your home? Shouldn't the same apply to 45?
1
What a great, great column Mr. Friedman, thank you!
Because of health issues I have already voted and for the first time as independent voter I took your advice and voted all for one party. Democrats!
7
Until this past week I would have agreed with Friedman on the importance of the Dems taking back at least one of the two houses of Congress. Control of the House of Representatives would give the Dems the ability to control most of the crazy Republican bills that are set to destroy our economy and fiscal health long term. Plus, the House could undertake investigations that would expose some of the more egregious attacks on our democracy.
However, as the mid-term elections approach, the Republicans are managing to squirm out of significant political losses that might have had a positive impact on their behavior. Now, I see the only real solution to effectively suppress their destructive acts is to have them retain both houses of Congress, then pass Mitch McConnell's bills that will attack and reduce entitlement programs to make up for the major revenue loss from the Tax Reform Act provisions that have so benefitted the wealthy.
The political reaction even by Trump's base to reductions in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid would be the wooden stake in the Repubs vampirish heart in 2020, when a real Blue Wave would remove them from both the Oval Office and Congress.
1
@DonD: Trump hasn't touched SS and Medicare and doesn't intend to. Nice try at fear mongering.
6
@Ryan
This is the republican strategy--run up deficits so high you have to cut these programs. They have to ruin the economy 1st, before they get around to trying to cutting SS and Medicare--patience, you will see. Trump has only been in office 21months, Nero's Rome was not burned down in a day.
Don't forget that the really important vote is not only in the US Congress, but in your state legislatures and governor races. The stranglehold of the far right and pro-Trump republicans can be traced to the state house level where districts are drawn and voting is regulated. Putting good and decent people in these positions will really make the difference. So, vote for a democrat for congress by all means. Don't diminish the importance of those down-ballot races....
16
On the rare occasion that I feel I can have a reasoned discussion with a Trump supporter, I often point out that I cannot support someone who exhibits the moral qualities that our current president does, regardless of I whether find merit in any of there policies or beliefs.
As a father of three middle school children I wonder what the world would be like if we were actively teaching our children that character doesn't matter and that is permissible to attack people with name calling and create "facts" to suit their own narratives.
22
When Trump was inaugurated, the BBC talked with people in the crowd. One of the gentlemen interviewed was a biker; he was absolutely delighted with the result of the election, because (and I quote) “Now we have an Alpha Male in the White House”.
This man’s reaction offered an insight into something that should not be overlooked. For people who believe as he does, America is essentially a warrior-culture in which the Alpha Male is celebrated; and conflict in whatever form is to be relished, because ‘victory’ is the hallmark of greatness. Achilles would have understood this aspect of the American character very clearly.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that in promising he would “make America great again” (a slogan he never defined), what Trump was actually doing was appealing to a certain kind of American’s taste for conflict. He convinced those who voted for him that he was the Alpha Male who has what it takes to bring that ‘greatness’ about, and his own behaviour signals daily to his followers that their darker tendencies are actually to be welcomed. This is the way a warrior-culture should be, he says: this is an aspect of ‘American greatness’, and brutality towards those who oppose you is a manifestation of that.
The implications of this, however, are yet to be seen. The dark genie is out of the bottle, and it will not be confined by the simple expedience of an election or two. I fear for you; and, to be honest, I fear for the rest of us too.
19
@Aelwyd -- Don't confuse the typical American biker with King Leonidas.
2
Fear! It's all over the opinion page of the Times this past week. Fear that your party of divisiveness, and anti Americanism is failing. Fear is clearly on display here Mr Freidman. It's not Trump. The Republicans won and continue to win despite Trump. In 2016 the second worst candidate in history beat the worst candidate in history because the Democrats have become the party of the special interest and the party of the rich. Yes, the party of the rich. The coastal elites have totally forgotten the working class. Keep babbling about Kavanaugh and Khashoggi. The fact is Americans don't care. They care about bread and butter issues. Start really talking about them and how you are going to make our lives better and richer.
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@Rob
So the Adelsons, Kochs, and other billionaires who are backing Tump don't count? The Ulines, the Mercers, DeVoses, Princes and members of Mar-a-Lago aren't filthy rich and getting richer thanks to the tax cuts that favored them? You really think they care about the working class?
336
@Julie Carter For every Adelson or Koch I can name a Soros or a Steyer. However, that's not what I'm talking about. I am talking about the masses of relatively rich from media, law, and other professions who live on both coasts. The Democrats do not represent the working/middle class and they pay lip service to the poor.
@Julie Carter
Trump paid for his own campaign largely with his own money He is not beholden to donors which is why virtually every news outlet hates him
His opponent however, was beholden to corporations and foreign governments
Your view is upside down
I used to vote for candidates regardless of party. That stopped in the nineties with Newt Gingrich and his gang. The only Republican I might have considered in the last 15 years was John Kasich. I didn't necessarily agree with him on everything, but he was the best available from either party. I certainly did not vote for Trump.
10
Unfortunately, you are preaching to the choir here. This logic is bashed thoroughly by the right wing media.
One thing that really makes America American is our freedom and right to vote. Yet, so many choose not to exercise that right. So, a few speak for many in these elections. And I don't understand why people don't care. The apathy. Are they too busy? Do they not understand what the candidates stand for or against? Do they think their vote will not matter? Even if my candidate loses, I want it to be by a close margin. Even in loss that sends a powerful message.
9
Third party candidates should take one for the Country and urge their supporters to vote for the Democratic candidate. Then they should put words into action and campaign with and for them.
15
The current governor of Alaska just did that - he is an independent and withdrew putting his support behind the Democrat.
2
"No third party, no Green Party.." These Green party voters for Jill Stein infuriated me in 2016 almost as much or maybe more than the "deplorable" Trump voters. I have heard these voters say that the election is about "expressing their personal values." No! The election is about determining who occupies seats in Congress, state legislatures, and the White House. It's not about one's "personal values."
Mr. Friedman is right. This election is about making America America again. I am spending about 2 hours each day volunteering for a Democratic candidate for our state legislature. I have already voted, voting for all Democrats. Our Democratic candidate for Governor is no peach but he's much better than the Republican incumbent and he's ahead by about 15 points in the polling. The Republican incumbent is desperate and his last minute ads are something to behold with their desperate and wacky messages.
11
@tom boyd
Look I backed Bernie and longed for him to get the nom, when she did I voted for her holding my nose as I did. However She lost not because people voted for a third party they voted for her because she thought she was entitled and she not the Russians neglected 47 other states. Those 3,000,000+ votes she received those were in California and meant nothing. She forgot the states that counted. Her hubris and entitlement lost the election. The sooner you all get over that the better off you'll be. And if the Dems win they had better tow the line they need to embrace our immigration laws if they don't they lose.
3
Mr. Friedman, singularly the most eloquent, reasonable and honest reasoning for voting Democrat I have ever read.
Thank you for writing this truthful and honest editorial!
I am voting Democrat and will share your words when asking others to do so.
9
The need to vote for Democrats will exist for many years to come, not just this year. As long as, not just Trump, but the Extreme Right, Fox News, The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Supreme Court, and Dark Money exist, the need to vote for Democrats will exist. If the Republicans ever gave up their destructive, insane policies and returned to what the GOP was with, say, Eisenhower, then voting for a Democrat would not be essential to saving the country. Until then, it is very essential, and our only hope.
17
muzak always had the finest arrangers,conductors and musicians and the finest orchestrations but unfortunately they went off the fm subcarriers and out of business in the summer of 2009 so make america great again by bringing back muzak !
Sorry, but I’m way short of patience with this fantasy Democrat Party. Compromise, caving, embracing anything with a Democrat label- gun toters, anti-abortion, pro- Kavanaugh voters (oh right- that exhaustive 3-day investigation let them off the hook). Anything but progressives who want a Constitutional Amendment overturning Citizens United.
I have more respect for a third party candidate, taking only small donations, no splashy TV ads, shunned by debate organizers, who stands on that principle than the reality version of this Democrat Party. Nothing else matters? Yes, I’m afraid there is something else. It’s called, principle, honesty. We work toward it- we don’t sell it out for money.
31
@Jo Williamson’s, I agree. But I understand Mr. Friedman’s point; these nuances in the liberal
/progressive debate will have to wait for a brighter future. We can’t afford that debate in this present political climate with this upcoming election.
We have to stop the hemorrhaging of truth and decency now in this election. We have to reclaim American values now in this election. We need a check on Trump now, in this election.
7
@Jo Williams
While I respect your opinion, it also scares me because in a way, that's how we ended up with Donald Trump.
As far as I'm concerned until this country changes to offer a third party option, any vote for a third party candidate is a lost vote.
Maybe you can live in an America controlled by Donald Trump and the G.O.P. -- but I've had enough.
12
@Jo Williams
Great, Jo. You vote your principles and watch Trump win even more. Thought we learned that lesson two years ago. In fact, if the third parties cared about our country they would not even run candidates as there is no chance for them to win, only siphon votes from Trump's opposition.
Yes, an amendment overturning Citizen's United would be great. But the odds of that happening (read up on what it takes to get an amendment passed) are astronomical right now. Progress away from where we are will be step by step at best because the right has grabbed power by devious methods and their base does not care.
8
Its the economy.
Read the article about Tuesday's report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers. It warns of the havoc that will ensue if Democrats are allowed to pursue their socialist agenda.
I fear we have reached the point where the promise of more jobs cancels out our misgivings about an administration that seperates children from parents and holds them in warehouses.
59
@Monica C
The White House Council of Economic Advisers? Who do you think controls that organization? Trump and the Republicans of course. This is just another lie, don't be taken in.
1
@Monica C
"......I fear we have reached the point where the promise of more jobs cancels out our misgivings about an administration that seperates children from parents and holds them in warehouses."
Not sure where you stand on this message MC, but I know it's not an America I will live in.
I go with Mr Friedman, for now we need to go Dem and sort it out after we place an adult in the WH again.
1
@Monica C
False. Democratic Presidents Clinton and Obama presided over the largest, most sustained, and balanced economic expansions in this nation's history.
Now, in 2018, thanks to imbecilic trump and ryan and mcconnell's tarifs, farmers in the midwest are running into debt and farms will be lost (I'm from Indiana and have many friends there), factories laying off workers due to rising costs of raw materials (steel, aluminum, wood), wages are not rising, prices are rising on everything from cheese, milk, Harleys, houses, cars, TVs - you name it - all due to trump tarifs. Facts are not your friend.
And lets not forget the massive, $1.5T debt that trump and the gop just handed the generations behind the boomers; that's GenX (me), Gen Y, millennials. Sadly for trump and the GOP, these latter generations are not racists, not afraid of math, care about the environment -- and see what the trumplicans are doing to the future of this country.
Trump expects us, the little people, to suffer so he can swagger, lie and grope. Well no more.
Nice attempt at fear-mongering; now go away.
Keep pretending the political side that you don't agree with doesn't qualify as American any more and see how well that turns out in a couple of weeks. Two caravans on their way right now and the voters know what happens if the Democrats get control. It is America right now and will be after Nov 6 when Republicans continue to control the Government. It will continue to be America when laws are passed to strengthen our immigration laws and our border. It will only cease to be America when we no longer enforce our borders. That is more likely to happen if Democrats take control of the House or Senate. That's why they won't.
2
"Democrats could blow it if they get back a lever of power and use it just to bully Trump and Republicans the same way he has them. But I’ll take that chance."
With respect, if this were a normal time in politics, this admonition to avoid bullying Trump and Republicans would make sense. But these are not normal times. Anyone grasping at the levers of power with the intent of reinstating truth and trust cannot be afraid of using sharp elbows. And, frankly, what Trump and the Republicans are doing to the America is not bullying; they are incompetent and have distorted public morality. It is a fantasy to think the Republicans will let go of their grip on the levers of power and their attraction to lies and autocracy without a fight. My biggest fear is that if Democrats take hold of the power levers, they will not fight hard against the evil machinations of Trump and today's Republican party.
308
@Rosemary Galette. Ends justify the means? I don’t think so. If you want to preach about how fair and just you are then try to act like it.
1
@Rosemary Galette
It's called, "checks and balances"; not "perfection".
@Rosemary Galette very funny.
We are reaching a point, on this planet, where, because of technology, one president, one governor, one corporation, one ideology can have negative impact on literally millions of people.
Trump can negatively impact the development of renewable energy, destroy the good name of institutions and entire professions, walk away from past agreements on whims and, in short, be a revolting human being.
Just like we will eventually reach a stage where a corporation will not be allowed to endanger millions of lives through pollution, I believe that human beings in position of powers who willfully, as Trump does, degrade everything around them and hurt so many people financially and otherwise ought to be made to dearly pay for their misdeeds.
To be a one-term president is not the sole retribution I am thinking about.
I mean he should pay by actually being sent to prison with sentences that will bring tears to his eyes and will potentially act as deterrent for others in the future.
It should be that a representative of the people, a purveyor of news, a captain of industry, or a member of society who, willfully, secretly, or as members of a nefarious clique, degrades the common good should be made to pay dearly.
The Greeks used to ostracize such vultures. Perhaps we should paint their bodies with indelible ink so that only the underworld will nurture them.
10
Bravo! My sentiments exactly. We no longer have the luxury of nursing petty wounds. Climate change is happening faster than expected. There is a book titled Six Degrees. Every American should read that book. It details the consequences on our planet, and our species, of our global temperatures increasing over the next decades, by degrees of increase. Two degrees is too much.
Having an incompetent and selfish government at this point could literally seal our fate as a species.
9
What if the America we see today is the real America?
I am starting to think that what we formerly thought was a country of values and tolerance was just a lie, and now we are seeing the evil gears behind the machine.
One way or another though we will get a good indication from the upcoming election. Voters will either reject the lies and the hate or embrace them and we will know if this country is even worth trying to save.
561
@Jim Dickinson
I have wondered the same thing. This eruption of nastiness on the right happened too fast to be new ideas. Apparently they were there under the surface suppressed and Trump has made it acceptable.
Truth is the veneer of civilization is very thin. As soon as some people feel threatened, whether the threat is real or not, they lash out, often in ways that are vicious.
1
@Jim Dickinson If we can't save it, then we need to remake it.
@Jim Dickinson--------------------Bravo and thanks, Mr. Dickinson.
1
What about the Republican voters who have no discernment on realities, who cheered discrimination, hatred, authoritarianism, thievery, thuggery and immense amount of dishonesty? What about the, Mr. Friedman?
In my view, they are the root of our problems, because they sent the GOP you described to our government, and they're ready to do it again. If this how they vote, I will have to believe they are people just like the Trumps. And America is being destroyed by Americans.
8
Great line, How to Make America America Again.
I was trying to think a slogan the dems should use and that's it.
As an independent progressive libertarian, I think Trump is the dangerous demagogue that Hamilton and other founding fathers and Lincoln and others warned us about.
I would like to see the democrats win both chambers but Trump does stand for some top line republican issues.
Any republican out there, to put a check on this ego maniac demagogue, vote democrat in the House but Republican in the Senate.
89
@Paul. No I don’t think that the Dems should adopt that line because it will say to Trump’s voters, independents , white urban women who voted for Trump that they are not Americans and the Democrats need them to win the midterms and the next general election.
@Paul What in the world is an "independent progressive libertarian"?
1
@Paul
agreed - GOP is great at names and slogans which are then repeated over and over . . . Dems need a catchy name (like "little Marco," "Lyin' Ted" - opps, now "Texas Ted") that can be repeated until it too feels natural: how about "Prince of Lies"? (The theological connotations should get the evangelical right's attention.)
1
Well, regarding the reefs, would they just move to new territory where they were comfortable? I am sure they would.
1
Democrats need meaningful. leadership and a sensical platform.....so far, not on the horizon.
1
I don't understand. Many of my Democratic friends tell me there is no such thing as an American. America is just an imperialistic, hate filled country. How can you make something again if it never existed? And, why would you want it if it was such a evil society? Aren't we just a state made up of diverse cultures and communities? Won't we be a better place when the vast majority of our citizens come from other places with new values and have dual citizenship?
5
thank you, Mr Friedman. I've already been reading this aloud to people. Only one thing matters: voting Democrat on Nov 6th.
4
The body politic seems to have a kind of Parkinson’s disease. We know what to do. Vote! But we just can’t seem to do it.
Great writing Tom.
2
I'm sorry, Tom, but everything after "Because there is a basic respect for truth, science and decency in the Democratic caucus" was lost in the sounds of my laughter.
9
America is made up of two Continents and a isthmus in between. North, South and Central America . To call the United States as a America only is totally wrong.
Isn't curious how the game of the cat and mouse is playing on the world stage for everyone to see.
So, shortly after midterms the so called president is planning to meet with Putin to get next set of instruction on how to proceed after Nov. 6
Considering his KGB expertise he will probably have plan A, plan B, plan C and many follow ups for our "unsuspecting" mouse of a president.
I fully expect the mouse following the instructions down to a tee.
First, he will talk about China and how Russian meddling in our election is pale in comparison of what China is doing in the meddling.
Second, he will endlessly talk about the caravan invasion of our borders and many middle eastern people penetrating our borders along with caravan, never mind there's no proof whatsoever, he also said that he hopes they will bring drugs.
Kavanaugh is another victory point for him, even it tilted SCOTUS far to the right.
Before meeting his BFF he withdrew US from nuclear treaty with Russia, playing right to the hands of his master the Cat.
Well, he also said if democrats try to impeach him the economy will collapse and terrorists will invade our country.
Wittingly quadrupling fear mongering that works perfectly for his adoring, oblivious base.
Will see how it will all play out, brace yourself and stay tuned.
1
Democratic control of the House and/or the Senate will definitely result in a check Trump's mad drive for dictatorship and meaningful investigations into the corruption that pervades his administration.
And I expect Friedman and the rest of the pundit class to decry all of it as obstruction, bullying and abuse of office....just as they always do when Democrats try to uncover the crimes of Republicans.
1
Our Constitution is just one election away from becoming irrelevant. What does that mean for our children and grandchildren?
Get off the couch, turn off the TV, inconvenience yourself for an hour, and abandon your complacency to preserve a country and a democracy in peril. Vote. This is Omaha Beach, folks. Millions have died over the decades to preserve our democracy. The least you can do is vote to restore the checks and balances so vital to our nation.
26
“Truth, Science, Decency”. I’ve read Mr. Friedman for many years and when he’s at his best, I often wish he was writing copy for Democratic campaigns, as well as working as a journalist. When a pol is asked what he/she is for, these three words make a pithy throat-clearer before talking about policy.
11
Oh, just forgot to mention the lies about non existing riots in California, the myth of tax cuts for a middle class after the midterms, and GOP picks up the lies for pre existing condition across the board and how they will always keep fighting for it.
One word, laughable!
7
I agree with the premise that it's important to restore American values at the ballot box because that's the American way. However American values don't include acting like crybabies and sore losers when your side loses an election.
Pssst -- Hillary Clinton is going to run again in 2020. Pass it on.
5
@sharon5101
The American people elected Hillary Clinton. The Electoral College elected Donald Trump.
1
@sharon5101
More partisan falsehoods from someone who thinks it's all about "winning" -- it's not.
And just for the record.
The only "crybaby" I see is this president when he doesn't get his own way.
You call that "American values"??
1
No thanks, it’s going in the exact direction most of us want it to.....
4
Tom, good column. One addition - let's carry this momentum to the 2020 elections and beyond.
2
Mr. Friedman is one of my favorite NYT's Columnists. His writing is always intellectually honest, and demonstrates a broad range of factors influencing an issue. His argument here is no exception.
However, I doubt the feasibility.
If the Democrats win the House in 2018 they will have one year to impeach Kavanaugh, impeach Trump, and unearth the plethora of malfeasance the Trump administration has brought to Government; and they will not do, because their majority will not be solid enough to get all the dem's on board, and then to face the backlash in 2020.
Instead I think the the Democrats should do 2 things on gaining control of the all three branches again, (2020). First is to grant Statehood to Puerto Rico and WA, DC, thus providing 4 reliably Democratic Senators, securing a majority for several years to come.
Second, fix voting laws that have become increasingly suppressed the vote among minorities.
Those two things will change how and who gets elected.
So while Friedman's diagnosis and recommendations are sound; I doubt the integrity and willingness of the Dem's to actually make the changes. Change to the Democratic Party is also required. Changing who and how people are elected is essential.
2
I agree with this editorial. A booming economy, where anyone who wants a job can find one is definitely not America. Experiencing the biggest rise in wages in a decade is not America. We need to go back to 1.5% growth, like we had under Obama, in order to see what America should be.
We cannot allow the middle class to get ahead, if that happens, they will no longer need government, and that is not the America that we want. We want an America where average people struggle, and look to our betters, the 1%er's like Mr. Friedman, to rule over us. That is America.
8
How do you not know that Trump and the Republican Party represent the 1%?
1
I am actually in favor of divorce. I doubt that Democrats will win the House. The climate these days is so unrelentingly partisan and the Republicans are so good at going all in to win, regardless. So I despair of retaking the House. And I don't know how we start a separate country with the Blue states without a majority in Congress to vote for a Bill of Secession. It just seems like the right thing to do. America is broken in two. Let's call in the lawyers and make it official.
8
Yes.
A vote for Democrats is a long overdue check on the balance of power where the three branches of government are digging in for one party rule.
And, let's not forget that each Democratic vote is a vote not just for a Democrat and against Trump, but against the 60-odd million who voted for him, and that's a pleasure I don't think I have ever felt more deliciously than the one I expect to feel on November 6. Yes. Thank you! Vote!
10
@Max & Max You are right, we should all vote to hurt millions of our fellow Americans. That's the Democrat way.
1
@MrReasonable
Unless you are a Christian, conservative and white -- you are one of the million Americans being "hurt" by Donald Trump and the Republican agenda.
@MrReasonable
Your statement is self-canceling: To broad brush the Democratic agenda as one aimed at hurting millions of our fellow Americans is a hurtful assumption about 43 million Americans (total registered Democrats). There are just under 31 million registered Republicans. That means, the amount of hurt inflicted on Republicans is less than the hurt inflicted by Republicans on Democrats. The principle of the greatest good for the greatest number mandates that Democrats do their best to hurt their fellow American Republicans for to not do so would allow more Americans to be hurt. Therefore, it is the Republican agenda, not the Democratic one, to inflict more harm on more people. That being now proved, I hope Democrats can enjoy the task at hand, for it will save more Americans from harm if they vote and prevail, than if the Republicans vote.
"I can write that the president, by telling us that we must weigh a $110 billion Saudi arms purchase against taking a moral stand on Khashoggi’s murder, is literally telling us the price of our values — about $333.33 for every American."
What price tag freedom? What price tag throwing it away?
As always, excellent column Tom Friedman. Like you, I'd settle for making America America again.
An America with flaws, yes, and racism, and resentments, but elected officials who reach across the aisle to address these flaw.
An America where not every single challenge is handled by accruing more power, by putting the other side down, by attempting to crush dissent and diversity of views.
But you left out the most important reason to elect a Democratic "something" (and I don't mean dog catcher).
That is, to prevent the president from becoming so emboldened that he begins changing the principles that guide us--from the First Amendment (yes, Rince Preibus said Trump wanted to do that in his first 100 days), to pushing the interests of the wealthy over those of the common man.
I don't know why so many cheer at Trump rallies when they are the people Trump's policies hurt the most.
I guess they love slandering others and hearing the president how he'd like to body- slam reporters.
Bring back common decency--vote Democrat 2018.
26
@ChristineMcM: Surely this isn't the first time a murder was ignored and the deal goes on.
1
@Ryan That sure doesn't make it right, assuming you know the difference, which from your comment, I'm not sure you do.
@Ryan
Premeditated vivisection sanctioned by a leader of one of our so-called "allies" is far beyond a pedestrian murder as you suggest.
Just "noise" as that repugnant American businessman in Riyadh termed the outrage ?
I'm a cynic of the first degree; however, even I'm appalled & disgusted those of you who wave off this horror as just inconvenience to business deal making.
In my opinion, this election will determine the integrity and character of the American people. And whether our forefathers wasted their time fighting two world wars to rid humanity of tyranny, and if people like me who have spent their lives fighting for environmental justice and won can leave this legacy to future generations. And what about our scientists who have devoted their devoted their exceptional talent and time to understand climate change and warn humanity to take measures to mitigate it. How about our doctors who toil to heal Americans only to have the healthcare funding for the poor pulled. So much is at stake! We must change the house to Democratic control to roll back the damage inflicted by our President. I pray we have the understanding, courage and will to vote Democratic and bring back American values generations have cherished.
14
I am all in. We need the truth up front as a core value for the character of this nation. We also need to work on how we vote immediately. There are too many ways to exert control over who votes. Well written article!
4
Never under estimate the stupidity of the American voter.
I only see a slow unraveling of America. Since we are already self segregating perhaps we need to go back to a confederation. Let the South, the plains states, and Mountain West go. They are unredeemable any way.
10
@Stephen Harris
Let’s make an exception for Colorado. Too good to let go.
1
I wonder where arguments over values gets us when so much is viewed through a partisan lens?
Mr. Friedman does give a sense of what is important to him and why people need to get out and vote--but most certainly with a partisan lens. That is not a condemnation, but both tribes raise their favorite "values" issues and use them to justify their partisan theology.
It is fair to say that some American values have not been consistently wonderful since the inception of the Republic. Differences between professed values and personal behaviors can be striking.
Given how divided we are today, it is perhaps something of a shock that some values--partisan polarization excluded--have been remarkably stable over the past several decades: http://www.people-press.org/2012/06/04/section-2-demographics-and-americ... (June 2012).
Other discussions emphasize substantive differences in a values list: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-tale-of-two-truths-the-myth-of-am... ("A Tale of Two Truths: The Myth of “American Values”," June 2017).
So often partisans accuse their opponents of lacking American values. Just get out and vote.
1
I am going to vote straight Democrat.
This statement does not give me joy. There are some GOP candidates that I would ordinarily vote for, but not this cycle. They did not stand up to Trumpian policies and effectively enabled them as a result. I don't care if they were just some low level state candidate that wasn't in direct control of federal policy. They did not speak up. They did not oppose their party's actions.
The message to the GOP has to be very clear as they have indicated their willingness to spin the obvious in the past through lies and misdirection. We have gotten to the point where nothing short of a complete knockout punch will suffice.
This action also carries a clear message to be delivered to Democrats as to what happens to spineless enablers for whom real American values mean nothing.
We are better than this. It is time for us to prove it.
56
Thomas Friedman, for me, brought the murder of Khashoggi to my doorstep. When does a single event on the other side of the world impact our lives in America? When it reveals our character. My early voting polls are open today, and I'm going to get there and cast my vote against a President who does not know right from wrong. And don't tell me that my vote doesn't count because I'm in Massachusetts, because all of our votes count.
34
I'm not sure voting is the answer. Too many Americans—some 45% of the population overall and a healthy majority of America's largest demographic group, white people—are absolutely enthralled with Donald Trump. He's exactly what they want. Worse, because our system gives disproportionate power to the small states and rural areas where Trump supporters predominate, and because things like gerrymandering, voter suppression, and unlimited campaign financing are permitted, there is little chance that the Trump lovers won't have outsized influence on our government for the foreseeable future. Voting won't end Trump's power, I'm afraid—it will only reinforce it.
So what do we do? The only solution I can think of that could actually work is for the blue states to secede and create a country with a more progressive majority and an improved constitution and system of representation. When 45% of the population will vote for Trump—and that 45% is empowered by an anti-democratic Senate and electoral college—voting won't solve the problem.
11
I agree that this vote is like trying to get a firehose on a fire - we can debate why the fire started once it's under control or out.
That said, Trump's base loves him because they: a) want to believe his lies; b) want to "stick it to the man" - the government that isn't helping them; and likely c) because they are confusing reality TV with reality. Trumps rallies are re-runs, his "greatest hits" from the election campaign.
I think many are good people that have been cultivated by Fox "News", and led down the garden path by Republicans with one hand on the bible and the other on their cash-filled envelope from business interests. So I do think that Republicans in general are truly to blame for decades of lying and for ruining conservatism.
But the Democratic Party has also had a massive failure of leadership. So shrill, so lacking in substance. If ever there was a blank slate to work with it is now, so where are the compelling plans for social reform, education support, tax overhaul??? Where is the focus on defense from Republican attacks? Democrats are using pitchforks against machine guns here.
So I agree with Mr. Friedman, we had better put the Democrats back in charge to just slow down the flames, but they have to do real work and real outreach to bring Donald's followers back to pain-filled reality and offer them a positive path forward. This is nothing less than a remaking of America. Can they do it?
13
Yes, it would be nice if the Democrats won. But the problem is that something like 45% of the American population—and the majority of America's largest demographic group, white people—love Donald Trump. More to the point, our system gives disproportionate representation to the small states and rural areas where the largest blocks of Trump supporters live. If everyone in the US eligible to vote actually voted there still is a likelihood that the party of Trump would hold substantial power. The lack of voting may be a problem—but it's not the problem. The problem is the fact that American values have decayed to the point that even if everyone were voting, Trump would still do very well. I'm not sure what the solution is for this. I suspect America is now too far gone. Putin may be right: the empire is now in its decadent phase. We just have to wait for the decline to progress to the fall.
15
@617to416 I believe you may be buying into the Trump lies. I am a white American and I know a lot of other white American's who would not vote for Trump under any conditions. I think people's perception is the result of their exposure. Where I live, the ratio of Dems to Repubs is 2 to 1. About 2/3rds of my neighbors are Dems. However, it is not unusual for people to mistake this fact, as the Trumper's tend to be quite loud and boisterous. However, our voices are all at the same amplitude at the ballot box. I am confident that this group of white voters will show up to vote this midterm and vote against the Trumpets. It is starting to show up in our Governor and Senate races. I am sure about where the votes from South Florida will go and they will not be for the R's. However, I agree that in the Presidential elections the Electoral College has outlived its purpose. The fact that states with very small populations are given the same representation as the much more populated states means the association of votes to the public will is greatly distorted. All of the good reasons the Electoral College was created are now void and it is now an impediment to fair representation. It must be changed, for the good of the country.
6
I would council all Trump's supporters to look in the annals of history and learn what happened to those who led their followers into a dark place. Look at those who started out thinking they were on the right path only to have history judge them quite differently because of HOW they went about their pursuit. There is no gray line to lying. Their is no rationalization to accepting violence as a means to an ends. There is no way to use pain against others as a tool in your quest. For even if your goal starts as a noble one, the means does matter. At some point the goals of your effort become so blurred by the conduct that you start focusing on implementing the how at the expense of the why. At some point the tide WILL turn against you. I hope you come to realize before it is too late that there is a point where any movement goes too far. And then slowly but surely your co-supporters will ask themselves if this is who I am; does this reflect my values? I am not sure when that point will arrive, but, for sure, that point won't be one you are proud of.
17
@Walking Man But...trump supporters don't read history, much less opinion pieces in the NY Times. Trump supporters don't care about fair elections, moral compasses, daily lies, nepotism, or any of the other atrocious crimes being perpetrated on them. They are takers, and as long as they are being told they are getting something (whether they are or not) they will go that way. This is why they continually vote against their own interests...they don't know any better. As long as they can have a jet ski in their yard (bought on credit), who cares about fairness, democracy, or whether the rights of others are being violated? It has been shown time and again that republicans are motivated only by money and power, and they have now shown that they will do anything to get it, including electing rapists, liars, and criminals to high office. So yes, vote democrat, but do not underestimate Joe Six-pack, who only wants to get his paycheck, no matter the cost to the fiber of the nation.
1
Agree totally. Anybody I know who votes for a third party this time is out of my life forever. Its arguing over the seating arrangements in a life boat while the ship is sinking.
25
Let’s consider how we got here.
Financially struggling media outlets covered Trump on the campaign every tweet as if he were Moses coming off Mt. Sinai, offering words that were turned into cash. The megaphone of national media attention muted opponents within his own party while simultaneously raising doubts about anything the media reported.
What Trump tweeted became more important than the truth the media attempted to report.
As tweet triumphed over truth, the stage was set for the pumpkin-size October surprise that James Comey dropped on the Hillary Clinton campaign. Trump’s tweets defeated truth. The liberal media was aghast. The Frankenstein they had a hand in creating came to life. And TRUTH alone could not stop him.
20
Young people coming of age now have no experience with a civil, fact and truth based discourse about what is best for the country. That’s a tremendous loss.
I just reminded myself how serious issues need to be addressed, Germany discusses how to end coal, experts and scientists worked out several scenarios. Politicians now weigh pros and cons. They conduct a rational debate. Everybody understands that ending fossil fuels is vital for the planet beyond German interests. But it will be disruptive and difficult for some regions that depend economically on coal extraction. Politicians, bureaucrats, experts and industry leaders will work on a socially acceptable plan, to help families financially and to help workers find new jobs in other industries. This will cost about 60 billion Euros. Germany can afford it and it can afford it in a way that everyone benefits.
The US has lost the ability to solve serious problems. It will take more than voting democrat to repair our dysfunctional society.
21
Mr. Friedman's passionate eloquence does have impact. There are many Americans who appreciate informed opinion, are open to alarms concerning the decline of our civility and hope for a return to government that is dedicated to the noble ideals embodied in the Constitution.
Bundle up all the recent columns by Tom Friedman and you have a modern version of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense."
20
What you failed to mention is the fact that both Trump and his son in law have engaged in severe tax evasion tactics, for decades. They failed to give Uncle Sam what was its due. It is because of people like them, multi millionaires bordering on billionaires, that our country's infrastructure suffers, we are still stuck in the 20th century when it comes to our airports, public schools, public transport and public spaces. Because these wealthy folks have evaded taxes owed to the government. This is the most non patriotic non American behavior and a blatant lie when Trump claims he is a nationalist. If he were truly faithful to his country, he and his son in law would pay the country what they owe in back taxes. Trump's dad gifted him hundreds of thousands a year since he was age 3, now 70 years later, you can just imagine how MUCH he owes us, the Americans. Trump's son once said that becoming President would be a downgrade for his dad, because it only pays $400,000 in salary (not to mention all the perks and power). Because Trump was used to a millionaire's lifestyle.
38
I will certainly vote Democratic across the board, but I think we are way past business as usual. Happy Days will not be here again with a change in the legislature's make up in time to address the pressing problems you mention, particularly Climate Change.
Win or lose in the House and Senate, I believe The People need to exercise there considerable leverage in economic terms. The 99% freely
give their support to the 1% in their labor and purchasing habits. Stop it and the greedy occupants in Washington will leave voluntarily.
13
America has never been America.
5
I agree with Mr. Friedman. Republicans at the national level have lost all credibility by enabling Trump who denies evidence, science, and the Constitution. (I do not blame local Republicans, who have different agendas than Trump, and have no way to control him.) Ultimately, the Republicans have stood by as Trump destroys American status in the world, attacks evidence and the Constitution. There are people who wonder why we do not have more right leaning voices on American campus. Well, we would if modern rightist voices used evidence-based thinking and stopped enabling a madman to attack truth and justice in every thing that he does.
38
@Anthony Its always easier to read everything we believe but if you can stomach it, read the National Review or even Fox News. It provides insight into the depth of division in your country.
1
It's difficult to make America great again when it has lost its moral compass. Trump is merely a reflection of this.
25
@Erik But consider if the US ever had a "moral compass". Yes, our founding documents were aspirational but their application relied on slavery and native american genocide. We fought to end slavery but then allowed the former slave states, and others, to implement a century of continued oppression through Jim Crow and the KKK. At the turn of the last century, we fought a war to support colonialism and American dominance. We joined the Allies to fight perhaps our most "moral" war, against fascism, after years of "America First" reluctance. And what was the "moral compass" guiding us in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq? Our 300 year history of welcoming immigrants, although tainted by racism, and our rebuilding of Europe through the Marshall Plan are perhaps our two greatest moral achievements as a nation. Are there somewhere, among the acrimonious debates and civil ugliness, some shared values?
In my state and Congressional District, the only good candidates are Democrats all the way down, from Governor on down.
It isn't always that way. It was up to Democrats to make it that way. Here they have, this time.
Let's keep it that way.
49
Under ordinary circumstances, one would hope and perhaps believe that Americans might tire of Donald Trump's antics and begin to exhibit "Trump fatigue." Whether or not it ever occurs, it hasn't happened yet.
Paradoxically, Trump's blending of fear and entertainment have gripped far too many people with a sense of belonging to something larger than themselves while, in reality, they are becoming members of something smaller than what this country has always been.
In simple terms, Democrats stand for inclusion, while Republicans stand for exclusion. People who don't see it, are operating under delusion. By the time they realize it, if indeed they ever do, and if Congress remains in the hands of Republicans, the America we once knew may only be an illusion.
76
“Blending fear and entertainment” describes the guy in the Oval perfectly...The sad part is how well it works on 35-40 percent who vote.
1
Thank you, for the people of our state,for your comment.
1
I'll vote for the Green Party if I want, or whoever I choose to vote for. The Democrat-Republican paradigm has clearly failed, as evidenced by their provision of two unacceptable candidates for the 2016 presidential election.
9
@Michael. Your position makes sense and is at the heart of American politics - as we used to know it. As Mr. Friedman points out, the state of American politics today does not support your position. Idealogical and practical are often not in sync.
For now, just for now, our primary work needs to be to right the ship. When we are no longer listing and in immediate danger of sinking, and taking the whole of what America used to stand for with us, then will be the time for fine-tuning with the Green Party, or any other party. Being able to vote for "whoever I choose to vote for" is a constitutional guarantee that we need to protect but set aside, just for the moment, until we are out of the iceberg field.
61
@Michael, I agree with you that the paradigm is not working. But I can tell you that if you vote third party, the results will be exactly the same as they have been for every third party run for the last hundred years: A handful of votes for your candidate, and actual power going to the R or D.
The way to help actually fix the paradigm is by working to support better candidates between elections. And by working to support election modes that don't disadvantage third candidates so badly.
But once we hit the election, you only have two choices -- helping move the needle a little bit in the direction you want with an imperfect candidate -- or throwing your vote away because you can't get everything you want.
36
@Michael
Despite what Bill Clinton has said in his campaigns, elections are not "about you." Elections are about what type of government we elect. Voting 3rd party does not do anything to affect what type of government we have because 3rd party candidates never win those seats in Congress. They just spoil the results for one of the 2 parties, usually the Dems.
11
When will enough be enough? If the republicans keep both houses I have to think we’ve gotten to a place where most Americans do not live in a world we want to be a part of.
Perhaps we need to think of a separation. I’m sure trump could be easily talked into supporting it.
15
Thank you for this eloquent statement. I just hope people take their obligation seriously. My wife and I voted (early) on Monday. For the first day of early voting, the turnout seemed strong.
I believe people world wide have good hearts. Americans are privileged among those who live on this planet. We must lead. We must help solve terrible world wide problems.
My personal belief is that we again need to bring climate change to its rightful place: an existential threat to humanity. Nothing else matters if we get this wrong.
Please vote.
93
@Bill, day 3 turnout is still strong. I spent just under an hour in line today. Go blue!
We don't know yet what the outcome will be but it is worrisome that President Trump so routinely blames the terrible obstructionist Democrats in every one of his campaign rallies. And he gets cheers.
We are opponents with facts and ideas that may be worth considering and we don't summarily condemn every member of the GOP just a select number of its leaders and provocateurs.
We are now witnessing the phenomenon of treating politics like a sports league with two major teams and a President who uses every type of propaganda to incite his fans.
I agree 100 % with Tom Friedman but the problem is that the GOP leadership too has become obtuse. Mitch McConnell is a master. FOX NEWS is relentless. The GOP misinformation narrative is decades old and deep.
I have no idea how we are going to re-steer the ship and confess that I think a despair will come over so many if we do not get the house back.
I wake up every morning hoping that our women will lead us back to sanity because so many uninformed men who lack the ability to deal with multiple intertwined issues still think its a game with team favorites. But Women do that.
63
The Saudi contracts are not worth $333.33 for every American. They're worth absolutely nothing for almost everybody, and millions or billions for the favored few. It's the class war, stupid (about which Thomas Friedman and 99% of Democrats are willfully blind). I've already voted Democrat, the lesser evil, but holding my nose. However, I fully understand those who refuse to do so.
10
Tom, we need you more often, like back in 2001-2003 after 9/11. Our country is facing the largest crisis of my lifetime and I am almost 50. Votes for Democrats can help, if not least of all to achieve a result that is (as much as Constitutionally possible) representative percentage-wise of the population. Yet our traditional conservatives and their votes for a true conservative party (not the populism of today) is also a key factor. My hope is that philosophical conservatives can wrest back their party from the anti-democratic-institutions and anti-science bent the GOP is currently exhibiting.
We must not forget, at the end of the day, that the USA has made many, many errors historically, but generally 'recovered' to pursue innovative and responsible human values on the whole. Voting can help, but education and simple efforts to enhance critical thinking and personal development (think summer camps, religious institutions, non-profits, good pro bono representation, corporate social responsibility, and community action) are also part of the solution.
In Saint Paul and Minneapolis, I see a lot of real grass-roots debate and political work. Doorknocking, discussion, real democracy at work. Let's hope people are getting out and talking to each other around the country. At the end of the day, we have one destiny, and are one family with all people of the world. We need to start acting like a family with differing ideas and opinions but one common future before it's too late.
39
'So, this year: No third party, no Green Party, no throwing up our hands and saying, “They’re all bad.” All of that’s for another day.'
No, all of that is NOT for another day. People voting for third-party candidates (Jill Stein) is what put Trump over the top to eke out his narrow victory. It only took 16 years after Bush vs Gore for a sufficient number of people to forget the disaster wrought by Nader's candidacy. It is moral to vote for third-party candidates only once the U.S. installs a system with runoffs or ranked voting. Those who support third-party candidates should put their energy into this issue, despite its seeming lack of charisma. But until the unlikely event that runoffs are installed, the only moral course is to choose the two major party candidate which best represents your views. And, yes, vote.
49
Our dysfunctional politics should serve as a reminder of how difficult it is to make a democracy work. When each side describes the stakes in an election as "taking the country back" from an alien adversary, how can anyone pretend that both groups see themselves as part of the same community? If politics has become a zero/sum game, in which compromise has lost its appeal for both parties, then why would either coalition regard the verdict at the polls as a legitimate expression of the popular will?
And yet, the responsibility for this debacle does not lie equally with both sides. Democrats have not attempted systematically to deny the vote to the supporters of their opponents. They have not organized national and state campaigns around an approach that treats verifiable facts as contestable opinions. They have not elevated to the leadership of their party a president who scorns both the values and the institutions that have preserved our system of government for more than two centuries.
Instead, in the face of Trump's implicit accusations of treason, they have relied on the constitutionally protected methods of organization and peaceful protest in their efforts to counter his attacks on our democracy. They have not threatened, as Trump did in 2016, to reject any electoral result that does not favor them. In this case, therefore, one party really does pose a threat to our system, and its victory in November would further weaken democracy.
17
I am a citizen of both the USA and of SE. Along with about 85% of registered voters, I voted easily in the Swedish national election on September 9 (actually voted a few days earlier).
Imagine if the November 6 vote in the USA could get that kind of percentage of Americans who say they support Democratic Party candidates to be registered and to then vote.
They cannot.
Let us hope I am wrong and that candidates like Ilhan Omar in Minnesota who tells me in an interview in my Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter that she is out there knocking on doors, ringing doorbells more hours every day than any human should have to can raise the percentage in her district and show others what they also must do.
I close by noting that I see a fellow New Englander's comment below this box recommending that NE states should unite to be the east-coast California - I am all for that.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
35
@Larry Lundgren Footnote on my last paragraph. Since I know New England well, I have a renewable-energy vision that might be a basis for a united New England to consider since it will have to chart its own path to fossil-free and had best do that regionally, not state by state.
New England is enough like Sweden climatically that making New England renewable energy Sweden could work.
4
@Larry -- The overwhelming fraction of Sweden's renewable energy comes from hydroelectric and biomass.
Sweden has a lot of forest and a low population density on its land. Sweden's forest biomass energy production isn't replicable much of anywhere else in the world, and there are arguments that it isn't an efficient use of the "wood waste" either.
Swedish solar resource is poor: latitude.
Sweden does produce about 11% of its electricity from wind power -- that is ahead of the northeast states, not ahead of the parts of the US where wind resource is really good.
@Lee Harrison - Lee, thanks for the reply; for a minute I thought you must have moved to Sweden but then I see you have a bit to learn, given that you are in Albany.
1) You apparently are not familiar with the extent of heat pump use in Sweden, especially Ground-source geothermal HP. 400,000 GSG small systems, new big one heats Umeå University Hospital.
2) You are even less familiar with solar. I am surrounded by apartment buildings covered by solar rooftops. One big one produces electricity equal to annual use in that building. Farm buildings north of me covered with solar panels.
3) biogas from food and human waste runs the Linköping bus system, not fossil fuel.
4) Solid-waste incineration, most advanced in world. % renewable depends on fuel but far better than US fracking and NG transport, see Andover and Lawrence MA.
New England could follow Swedish example.
5) Wind-farm country north of me displays giant wind turbines, often right next to farm buildings.
Want to bring blog up to date but samples there as concerns solid waste, even West Palm Beach FL (Danish system)
Larry L.
"I say that because I’m particularly American and I want to put the best of American values back at the center of our diplomacy and politics." Amen.
61
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln
129
@Sa Ha
Thank you, Sa Ha. From time to time I see comments here that the red and blue states should go their separate ways. That's Russian troll talk. We all need to be reminded of Lincoln's exhortation to a war-weary nation and of the democratic principles worth defending. Let's prove to the world this is not a failed democracy and boot this nascent authoritarian regime back to the mid-twentieth century trash heap of history where it belongs. What do you say?
2
The Crown Prince is looking so "New York family" today, and no one has found out where other bodies are buried. Maybe in sandy soil they take another tact. The handshake with the surviving son seemed to guarantee that they were not going any further than Dad, and he would be safe, case closed. As for more New York, some speculate LaGuardia will be renamed Trump International. So far, money begets momentum. Maybe in 2018, money and momentum is what voters like on election day.
1
I am not very optimistic. The American electoral system is in a state of shambles, completely open to doctoring and compromise on the part of officials and opératives determined to maintain the GOP supremacy in the country. And I am sure that this unpleasant truth is a factor which will increase the sense of resignation of Trump opponents who won't bother to to go to the polls for this reason.
17
Many philosophical thoughts, but the hard facts are missing in most comments. The opposition to “righting the ship” are overwhelming, starting with GOP maneuvers to suppress voting.
Voting is our constitutional right, but the tactics to suppress are numerous and in no way obscure.
Since the states are in charge of their own voting regulations, the field is wide open for blatant obstruction. Limit days to register, days to vote. Eliminate polling places in areas where Democrats are majority. Throw voters off the rolls for minor, unsustainable infractions.
Then there’s the Supreme Court, grown more partisan. Justice Roberts sees no reason to continue to protect voters who aren’t the preferred race or color. He says that’s not a problem any more.
And Citizens United May be the most damaging of all. The Kochs and the Adelsons throw their weight of millions into races to undermine the voices of the people.
And when all else fails, there’s the archaic Electoral College waiting to subjugate the voice of democracy.
7
@AE
Nothing should keep people from voting. It is a citizen's privilege and power. VOTE! Do not be discouraged. VOTE!
VOTE VOTE VOTE!
@AE Wasnt it just a few years ago that the Dems were talking about having a permanent majority? I dont' recall you crying at the time about gerrymandering, the Electoral College, etc. What happened to that? Short memory eh?
There's an obvious immediate logic to Thomas Friedman's analysis but a danger as well if the limitations in the longer term of this logic are not fully appreciated.
Clearly, the GOP as currently constituted, motivated & led is incapable of understanding, let alone addressing, many of the key mounting challenges the US faces. Giving the current GOP unchecked control of the executive & legislative branches (plus the capacity to embed their limiting & biased perspective within the judicial branch for a couple of generations) will mean that those challenges will go unmet for too long & with severe consequences.
The deeper need, therefore, is for mature & responsible conservatives to draw the distinction between inclusive, moderate conservatism & radical reaction & to regain control of the GOP. Dividing the political arena into an angry, irresponsible, reactionary GOP vs. a Democratic Party obsessed with blocking the GOP to the exclusion of other goals does not make for a healthy democracy capable of devising & implementing sound measures supported by Americans generally.
Looking beyond the next couple of years, the US will need a healthy, vibrant democracy in order to meet the serious challenges it will face.
8
@bob adamson
As long as the GOP is angry, irresponsible, and reactionary, it must be blocked so that any other goals will not be sabotaged by them, so that reaching any other goal will be a Pyrrhic victory. Our democracy will not be healthy as long as the GOP does not believe in it. In particular, the current GOP attacks inclusive, moderate conservatives and destroys them whenever it can, so that they are much safer in the Democratic party and can spend their time being moderate and inclusive rather than looking over their shoulder and fending off attacks.
19
@sdavidc9
Thank you. I wasn't as clear as I should have been.
The Democrats need the help of Independents & moderate Republicans to win at the State & Congressional levels in order to return some semblance of balance to US politics & governance.
In the longer run, by regaining the upper hand in the GOP (or replacing the GOP by a moderate centrist Party & thereby consigning the extreme reactionaries to a 3rd Party fringe), moderate conservatives must help restore your domestic democracy.
Reducing politics to 2 Parties fighting like 2 scorpions in a bottle (i.e. sidelining serious attention to the real challenges of your nation & its people at all levels of society) will be inadequate in the long run even if the Democrats are by far the better of the 2 Parties.
Even if gerrymandering, voter suppression, the Senate not representing population stopped tomorrow and the Dems swept every part of the government, the tens of millions who support Trump and his party will still be there, with the same internal and external problems they have had for a long time now. What will become of them, and become of all of us because of them?
18
@Salmon
What we need is a president who represents ALL the people of the United States. Not just a few who back him/her. We need a president whose base is all-encompassing. There are compromises to be made on both sides of the aisle, and Trump supporters should not be forgotten. Most importantly, we should not forget the principles upon which this nation was founded, and the balance of powers.
17
@Salmon
They have to come to their senses, either because someone manages to talk to them or because reality does them bodily and spiritual harm.
I think they will come to their senses quicker if those who work to save them from the consequences of their choices stop doing this. If they choose to vote for people who want to repeal Obamacare, for example, they should lose Obamacare. If they vote for people who want to maximize financial freedom, they should lose their savings to scammers. If they vote to cut teacher salaries, they will find that their kids do not know much. They would call this tough love.
6
@sdavidc9. That methodology might work on my teenager, but we are talking about an entire country - everyone would lose Obamacare; everyone's savings would be lost; everyone's kids would suffer from failed educations. "Tough love" is not a plan that will ultimately save our country.
1
America can never be made great again the division grows more toxic everyday and as horrible as your last civil war the next one threatens human life on this planet.
It is tragic that Thomas Jefferson the scientist could never summon up the courage to denounce slavery so Jeffersonian Democracy may have evolved enough to carry you into the 21st century. The Federalists were there at the beginning and have taken over your government.
Let them have their way, let the Wyoming's two Senators and California's two Senators have the power to do for their states and keep their hands off the other states.
Canada is a federalist nation and it works really well. We are a number of sovereign nations and the Federal government co-ordinates and officiates. I know Red and Blue America and you really want to give Trump and the Republicans what they want.
Canadian ethics and values are conducive to Federalism but Federalism may not work unless richer States are will to share with poorer states. The past 38 years you have provided us with great theatre but the anger, and hostility are out of control. Nixon ended Bretton Woods maybe Trump can initiation the 50 state solution and each state can be sovereign. California has a larger economy than Canada and I bet they would achieve our standard of living in no time. Let Mississippi be Mississippi and let Kansas be Kansas.
15
Amen.
From your mouth to God's ear.
Everyone, be a voter on November 6. Don't let the GOP continue to cheat, lie, and betray America. We can make our country better, and to do that we have to vote to make the Blue Wave happen. It can't happen if we don't vote Democratic.
89
Today when President Trump responded to a question from a reporter re the Caravan and Middle Easterners (apparently now a code word for Muslims) in it if the President had any proof for his statement. He told the reporter that there are no proofs, there is never a proof. I was thinking if there is any law that would disqualify any politician for knowingly and willfully stating a lie as a fact to the American People?
I guess we do not have any way to disqualify a candidate simply because he/she is blatantly lying. We have come to accept lies as normal for our society, because almost all the public officials make claims that are not necessarily true, our Corporate giants in describing/marketing their product be it Pharmaceuticals or just washing powder use statements that just may be stretching the truth or plain and simply lying.
Our moral compass has shifted where we cannot even trust any religious figures anymore. Statements re the people in the caravan being made by the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State are to say the least shameful. I wonder where are the Evangelicals who care for the unborn child but cannot see the pain of these folks with little kids.
Yes we must put some check to this President as the Republicans have demonstrated that they would not. As President's poll numbers are up so even Ted Cruz had him in Texas. Sadly a lot of Republicans are with the President, and it doesn’t speak well for the degradation of our values.
52
Tom Friedman tells the raw truth we all know. We are watching Republicans steal another election! Wake up. America! We must save our nation. Please vote for Democrats. Stop this Trumpian desecration of our democracy.
145
@William O. Beeman Here's the question. When moderates, independents, and conservatives cross over to vote Democratic and the house flips (as should happen) will the influential left wing understand the nature of the mandate they have been given? Of course not, they'll pump themselves up about how we're all on the far left now and the priority is to do some silly thing. One might think there are enemies hidden in the ranks. Along with taking the house should come some prioritization.
1
America's power in the world, the reason that we are trusted more than the Russians, the Chinese or other global powers is that we hesitate before we sell out our values. I'm not saying we don't sometimes sell out, but we care about it enough to make some noise. From the point of view of many countries that is all the difference in the world. If we just nakedly seek the "best deal" for us with no thought of what it means, then we are just like all the other powers seeking influence and control. This is what Trump, Bolton and a host of so called policy "thinkers" overlook though it is perfectly obvious.
22
one addition: it's not that the Republicans have no spine. it's that Trump's distractions are allowing them to stuff the Judiciary to effectively end universal suffrage. don't kid yourself: Kavanaugh agreeing that North Dakota could could reject Tribal ID cards as adequate for registration just tipped the balance against Heidi Heitkamp's Senate seat. soon we'll be back to the originalist fantasy of democracy for the property owners. the Republicans have been revealed not to just be against Democrats, but to be against democracy which they regard as an immoral way that the undeserving take their stuff.
88
@eben spinoza Kavanaugh didn't vote on the North Dakota decision. And that state doesn't have voter registration, just voter ID requirements.
3
@Carl Yaffe I stand corrected. Kavanaugh did not participate in the decision that that rejected the challenge to a North Dakota law requiring a residential address to verify Voter ID (i.e., rejecting Tribal ID cards as sufficient). This law piloted into place by the Republican Secretary of State of North Dakota was clearly designed to reduce votership by citizens on Indian Reservations (who provided Heidi Heitkamp with her slight margin of victory in the previous election).
2
It's time that every 18 year old is automatically registered to vote. It's time to make not voting a misdemeanor, punishable like a traffic ticket -- or worse. If people don't want to vote, they can cast a ballot without a vote on it: an abstention.
It's time that every ballot is a paper ballot so that in the event of a hacking or worse, the actual vote tally can be substantiated.
It's time that every national, state, and local election be freed from all money except that given by actual voters. Corporations are not people. We need publicly financed elections. Period.
It's time for gerrymandering to end. We need federal laws that prevent state legislatures from redistricting people out of the principle of equal representation and every vote counting equally.
It's time to get rid of the Electoral College. It's time that the proportion of votes for the Legislature, Congress, is the same as the makeup of the Congress.
It's time for the Congress to actually represent what the People have said they want and are willing to pay for: better schools, infrastructure upgrades, sensible gun laws, term limits, no fancy pensions and health care benefits for Congress -- give them Social Security and health insurance the way the rest of the country has it.
It's time for our politicians to reflect the will of the People.
221
@Lennerd I'm strongly opposed to attempts to make voting compulsory; in any case, before this is even discussed, the right of citizens to vote should be spelled out in the Constitution, which it is not. Not gonna happen.
4
@Lennerd I and most readers of this column emphatically agree with you on all points. Now, given that the corrupt occupy Congress, the White House, and 5 seats on the Supreme Court, how is it possible to accomplish any of this? It's asking the foxes in charge of the hen house to please stop slaughtering all the hens. We need a different way.
@Lennerd Wait, first we have to head off global warming before the new deadline next year by shutting down the American economy, then we have to open the borders, then we have to socialize medicine. When those bills are obstructed we'll have ammunition for 2020. Go plan! Let's be just what they accuse us of instead of what our name says. So says that snake in the tree.
We appear to be so far gone in respect for cheating that it is barely possible to push back against it.
But we can because we must.
Despair and apathy are laziness in disguise.
I've just been reading about Sinclair, which has added itself to Fox and internet for-profit popular lies, in helping people maintain these deceptions.
No more blaming victims. We are all but powerless, and Kavanaugh will legislate harm for a generation. There is only one thin end of the wedge: overcome the cheating and lies and get some accountability back in Washington.
There is no other way. Here we all are, and we're stuck with it. The only chance we have is to get together to solve problems. Dictators who want to jail, kill, and torture their critics should not be favorites of our envious cowardly bullying scammer in chief and his pulpit hypocrites.
33
Here's a link that provides chapter and verse on Sinclair News's takeover of heartland news, all too predictable, with the help of Trump, that they plan to silence independent reporting. "The Growth of Sinclair’s Conservative Media Empire
The company has achieved formidable reach by focussing on small markets where its TV stations can have a big influence."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/22/the-growth-of-sinclairs-co...
(lotta crimes in there, but with the collaboration of Trump, cheating worries are becoming too "PC" to matter)
6
Your hearts in the right place, Tom, but your preoccupation with things that are of minor importance, like the Saudi murder, or things that matter a lot, like global warming, but over which any US president can have no meaningful impact.
I want “America to be America” again, too. For me, that starts with controlling borders and further developing our world class economy. That means hard-negotiated trade deals, not giveaways, like manufacturing. Despite Trumps talk about coal, here’s not serious. We lead in sectors like medical research, aircraft, tech, basically everything. We invented much of the modern world. Our leaders should focus on what matters - Democratic leadership has lost its way, and now that the games on the line, is unraveling further.
8
@Tiger shark Your heart's also in the right place, regarding prioritizing and the failures of Democratic 'leadership', but you also are preoccupied with things that are of minor importance, and ignoring things that are of major importance. Like how it is with DT: everything here says is serious.
The lack of voting participation by millions of citizens...what else do we ask other than paying taxes, responding to a jury summons once in a great while and VOTING?...this is one of the great weaknesses of our democracy. Yet, it might save us, particularly in regard to getting a new political alignment in the House.
Here's my theory: Trump managed to win nearly 46% of the total vote in 2016 because he activated a lot of voters who had not bothered in previous elections. There is a good chance many won't bother to vote this time.
They've had a good run of Trumpism. Some of it was due to his appeals to barely hidden racism, some due to his demonizing immigrants, legal and otherwise. Some was just because he's outrageous and, hey, man, isn't that fun? People who have to be careful of what they say, who have come to understand they can't grab at women at work or who have, holding their noses, had to accommodate to many more foreign born and minority people all around them, turned their joyous anger into a vote for Trump. Now, many of those people are likely saying, Why bother?
We always want higher participation in a democracy. What if that turn out mainly comes to boosting someone who doesn't deserve the office of the presidency? Maybe staying home and popping open another beer is a good idea for some.
If the Democrats should win in less than two weeks, we might have to thank those who didn't care to vote. Then, we should work toward civic and social reconciliation.
9
@Doug Terry I fear that Republican voter turnout will be as strong as ever, as it appears they may have the same motivation they had in 2016 (not seeing widespread re-establishment of much of 1950's America yet, and now with those ruffian immigrants-to-be poised to invade our country en mass -- talk about unfortunate timing).
I was shocked to read that "lock her up" is sometimes still a part of a Trump rally, as well as his free-wheeling speech intended to endlessly foster fear, distrust, and hostility directed at any group not part of the Trump universe (non-white immigrants, Democrats, fact-seeking reporters, allies who question Trump's foreign policy, etc.). Unlike most other aspects of his presidency, Trump does seem to know what he's doing when it comes to fertilizing his base (rather appropriate if one thinks of natural fertilizers).
Trump's low poll numbers, although showing widespread unpopularity, could serve as motivation for the pro-Trump folks to show all those unenlightened anti-Trumpers (a.k.a. liberals & the press) that the base's undereducated and simplistic interpretation of their world (often confined to well within their state's boundaries) should best represent the American way.
It will be interesting (and hopefully not depressing) to see how long it will take to re-establish some semblance of the America nearly all of Trump's predecessors attempted to foster, one in which a majority of Americans (not just the 40%) can again be proud.
If Democrats can take the House this time, they have to start running for 2020 right out of the gate. How? They should flesh out the details of a single-payer "Medicare for All" type health insurance system, get all their caucus onboard, and devise a plan to educate voters about it, reading from the same script, all hands on deck. That is what Democrats need to run on in the 2020 campaigns. Tax-financed, consumer-friendly, universal, standard coverage with price controls is the only way to get out of the mess we're in. No more "patches" on the fatally flawed concept of employment-based private insurance for profit, partially regulated, partially subsidized and "incentivized," good for some but bad for others, here today and gone whenever and wherever the insurance companies pull up stakes or employees get laid off. In other words, Democrats need to stand for something and fight for it.
11
@abigail49 An excellent prescription for the Democrats to enjoy the same string of electoral disasters in the next decade that they experienced in this one. Yes, Democrats need to stand for something, but this isn't it.
2
@abigail49 Yes indeed! This is exactly what the Democrats should run with toward 2020. It's not only the right thing to do. It's smart and strategic, a goal and a message whose time has come.
4
@abigail49 Instead of prioritizing a sky castle, how about saving the ACA and fixing it up. And how about securing our flanks instead of rushing heedless? Democracy needs to be shored up. Asking us to put our eyes on the distant takes our eyes off closer and graver threats.
Thank U thank U thank U Tom Friedman. Been telling my friends for a year that this congressional contest is the most important election of our life times. It is our only chance to put the brakes on environmental, social, fiscal and foreign relations policies that are going to bring this country to its knees and literally gut 50 to 70 years of steady progress. There is nothing more important than for the Democrats to win the house or the Senate. It could be a path back to bipartisanship, and a path back to civility that could pave a way forward that this country deserves.
25
"I can write that the growing tribalization of our politics, the notion that members of the other party are not just opponents but “enemies” who must be crushed"
Mr. Friedman, while many Republicans, and Mr. Trump might feel that, I humbly suggest that you read the comments of NYT op-eds that deal with Mr. Trump and Republicans. In case you have not noticed, there are many Democrats who feel the exact same way about Republicans, with or without Mr. Trump.
You are entitled to your opinion and to write it on your op-ed platform and you can even turn it into a blatant election advertisement, but please recognize that animosity and hypocrisy is not limited to one side.
9
@Joshua Schwartz While there's some hypocrisy on the Democratic side, the Republicans have successfully cornered the market on it for the past two decades, at least. The Republicans' true constituency are their wealthy corporate donors, not the rank and file who vote against their own economic best interests election after election. Not to mention the Republican game plan to disenfranchise voters through gerrymandering and repressive voter registration laws.
19
@Joshua Schwartz The moment you have injected 'both sides' into the debate, you have lost.
3
@Joshua, no, wrong. Standing up to a bully is self-defense. The insane level of bullying and public abuse inflicted on Democrats, women, minorities, victims of assault, and children of asylum-seekers is not morally equivalent to the self-defense mounted by them.
The meme “good people on both sides” does not apply to those who wish to debate my humanity.
Mr. Friedman I can't agree with you more. Voting Democrat will hopefully change those in power and restore what makes America great - our core values, our humanity, our institutons and our rule of law. One day, historians will tell us how we lost our way. Trump is a symptom of what is seriously wrong in our country, the seeds of which may have been planted long ago. We are a great nation but we are vulnerable. We are vulnerable as a country and vulnerable as individuals. Maybe the elephant is in the room but we turn our heads and look away.
28
The United States is a country massively at odds with itself under the grip of an authoritarian president. Our democracy will continue to unravel as long as he is in office. Even if the Democrats regain Congress, Trump and his administration will still be here for two or four more years with unbridled power to further their agenda without the approval of Congress on countless policy decisions both here and abroad. The Trump administration didn't need the approval of Congress to pull out of the Paris and Iran accords, nor the Trans Pacific Pact, nor NAFTA, not to mention the countless executive orders he has signed, some of which are never covered in the media while we stay tuned in every night to new episodes of the Trump reality show.
The importance of voting in this election is not only to hold Trump in check for the next two years but also to send a resounding message to all who believe in democracy in this country and around the world that a powerful resistance against the dangers of demagoguery and even latent fascism in the U.S. has been ignited and will not be extinguished long after November 6th.
44
I just found out I can still register to vote the same day if I go to early voting. Good to know!
11
Mr. Friedman, I think it's hopeless. Republicans no longer believe in democracy because they realize they can no longer win a popular election without suppressing as much of the popular vote as they possible can. So that's what they're doing. And SCOTUS just helped them.
13
@Katz I understand your discouragement. But hope or hopelessness are emotions, not predictions of the future. If we know what's wrong, we can't give up in opposing it. America and the world are counting on us, and so are all the generations to come.
16
Yes Tom, we know you're not liberal or a liberal. But today's Democratic party, particularly it's establishment, aren't New Deal liberals either, but rather what we used to call moderate or center-right Republicans, that is 'liberal' on cultural issues but 'conservative' on economic issues, better friends to Wall Street than to unionized workers or those needing job retraining programs after job losses to 'free trade'.
11
@Hadel Cartran So, you will not vote for a Democrat because he is not good enough? You prefer a US controlled by Trump and his enablers? At this point whether Democrats are progressive, moderates or right of center should not be a concern. The time to worry about it is after the GOP is voted out of office.
117
@serbanThanks for sharing your thoughts but your comment really has no relation/nothing to do with what I wrote briefly about- Friedman's use of the term liberal and it's relation to establishment Democrats and the Democrats Party.
I hold no brief for Trump but that's a different issue. Your comment reminds me of the politicians who 'answer' the question they wish had been asked rather than the question they were asked.
@Hadel Cartran: Today’s Democratic Party will defend and strengthen the New Deal and universal health insurance, while today’s Republicans will destroy it. In the current situation, I don’t care whether Democrats are “Republican light” or full-blown Socialist (they contain both). Vote for Democrats! Democracy depends on it!
No, third parties are not for another day. But I also hope those who vote do so for Democrats.
There is never a do or die situation in democracy. There is only a vote. So if this democracy prevails, it will prevail over Trump too.
Mr. Friedman doesn't rule our democracy nor does he rule the world. He has one vote and one vote only. If I understand him, he wants us to walk a fine line with Saudi Arabia, and that alone is enough reason to reject his viewpoint.
There's no fine line here. The US has to distance from this toxic regime. And despite what Friedman says, I think it is just as likely it could happen under Trump as any other president or congress.
This conundrum is and was a two-party effort in the making. Both parties have given in to this lost kingdom because of Israel. One humungous blunder after WWII ruined world relations for generations.
Send boats, planes and trains. Evacuate Israel or we will all die prematurely.
3
@DudeNumber42 Cattle cars, perhaps?
Your proposal is a short term solution to stop the bleeding. Electing Democrats will not "make America Great Again," and even the use of this term shows how far removed you are from reality.
To reverse America's decline the nation needs to re-educate its citizens from primary school onward. I don't mean better numbers crunching but a greater awareness of the socio-economic and political realities that have been concealed from so many generations raised on the principles of blind Patriotism, Exceptionalism and Might Is Right.
If even elite Op-Ed columnists promote the message that the fundamentals are OK and the only thing needed is a change of party, then I harbour little hope of positive change: The nation will become inexorably more divided, the wealth gap greater, its citizens ever more confused and looking for new scapegoats to explain their predicament.
Mr. Friedman, you have a duty to your nation to reveal, not to conceal, the truth. The nation has been dumbed down enough already. Trump is not the disease. He is merely its most extreme symptom.
21
@Hamid Varzi Don't doctors usually deal with diseases by taking care of the most extreme symptoms first?
I think America seems just like America as it is. How about "Make America more humane...for the first time." Or, "Make America Sane...for the first time."
There's nothing that America has been, to the extent a nation can ever "be" any particular thing, that is worth being again. There are things I wish we could regain--like the New Deal. But America has been, since I was born at least, a nasty messy place. I'll never return for more than a visit.
16
Eventually America will be restored to what it was intended to be, but never ever, and in no way will it be by the same people who so blatantly, and with such impunity, fumbled it away in the first decade of our new century. That America has run out time and credibility, still holding on to their indifference by refusing to acknowledge the changes all around them, unable to even get out of the way and prevent getting run over by them.
9
@Joe Gilkey By "what it was intended to be", do you mean a country in which only white, Christian, land-owning men at least age 21 have a say in the national government, and at that a minimal one? That is clearly what most of the Founding Fathers intended.
It's good to know your mind & believe in yourself - this fosters creativity, strength and endurance.
However, even the greatest throughout history did not exist alone.
Honor every part of our Constitution and Declaration of Independence - these statements were won with Lives & Fortunes.
Every Right exercised comes with the Duty to acknowledge & accommodate our fellows & their circumstances.
Despite aspirations, our Government may not be ideal - commit to improving it rather than diminishing it.
Expect high standards of those who take on the role of Public Servant - and applaud them, for such requires very thoughtful & hard work.
Our Government exists to achieve objectives that can't be (well-) accomplished otherwise - these don't always pencil out.
Hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang (or go broke) separately.
We are only as strong as the weakest link - and that is the link not there.
Expansion of Human Rights is the bedrock claim our Nation has to greatness - all else is fleeting.
We are People - not corporations, unions, or churches.
Though we all have interests in and obligations to other groups, our Country is all of us.
3
Friedman says it like Trump's not an American. Where else could the Donald come from?
4
@Taters
I will answer:
He (Trump) comes from a life of privilege and wealth that was provided by Trump's father from a toddler on to adulthood. He comes from a particular area of the country (New York commercial real estate) where deal making is not always above board and transparent. He comes from a family who has shown little interest in the well being of others. He comes from "reality" TV where the targeted audience seems not to know nor care if it's real or not. Trump doesn't come from the "real America," not at all.
3
@tom boyd
Wealth, privilege and fantasy: it's the American dream.
The president seems more upset by the bungled Saudi coverup than by the crime itself. Woe be unto us.
71
@sthomas1957: of course.
because now he has to pretend he worries.
an "expert job" could have gone unnoticed,
in his twisted world.
If you don’t vote, you are voting for Trump.
If you vote for a third party candidate, you are voting for Trump.
If you don’t want to vote FOR Trump, vote Democratic for every office.
Got it? Good!!
690
Vote blue, not matter who. The survival of our country depends on it.
10
Twenty year too late, Tom.
16
Democrats have proven themselves to be anti-Liberty time and again. To make America America again bring freedom back. Vote Libertarian.
4
First show me an underprivileged Libertarian. Can't? I thought so. Libertarian me- firstism is the opposite of democracy.
@KBronson
"Liberal" is bad, but" Libertarian" is good? Perhaps you are an illiberal libertarian like Rand Paul, always voting with the Republicans.
1
Sorry but I have no hope. Welcome to dystopia.
5
@The HouseDog Giving up makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Mr.Friedman, thank you for your Cri de Coeur!You are right that we are living in a country we do not recognize and listening to lies and despicable hate speech which literally makes us ill.We desperately want to regain some comity and common sense and some dignity.I, my children and grandchildren will all vote for Democrats!
10
It looks there is going to be a big voter turnout for the midterms. If it’s 51 %, then it’s going to be the biggest turnout since 1914. This is the problem. Half the population is either lazy, ignorant, distracted, ill-informed. What kind of democracy is this?
34
Why limit oneself to Dems winning either the House or Senate? It behooves Dems to win both houses of Congress to finally start to revive America, and place a definitive check on the chaotic Trump.
More less also getting rid of the likes of Mitch McConnell, a rogue majority leader whose morals and ethics, as he threatens SS, Medicare & Medicaid, and who spit on the Constitution in not even giving a fair hearing and vote for Merrick Garland. He is a poster boy for anti-Democracy.
The problem with Dems is that they don't fight dirty like the GOP. Being nice guys in a world of betrayal of our democracy does, unfortunately, not win elections. That we have had a total GOP government based on the overall minority votes of GOP die hards is not an America that most citizens desire.
No, let us get more women in Congress, and more level headed non-tribal elected officials who will, after such a low level credibility destroying Trump administration, revive and truly make America America again.
Bottom line, God help us all if Dems don't turn over the government between no and 2020. Thanks TLF for your views.
42
Amen and hallelujah. VOTE, while we still CAN. Take your Family, Friends and co-workers with you. Make America SANE Again. Seriously.
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This is a call to action, and I thank Mr. Friedman for it. On the night President Trump was elected, my wife woke me up distraught about the election results. She was shocked and scared about what the future would hold for women. Neither of us were able to go back to sleep, so we got up in the middle of the night and we talked. We have two young kids, and I remember thinking, for my kids' sake, I just hope that Mr. Trump is not a war monger. I had this feeling that we could withstand his rhetoric, and his chest beating, and his vulgarity, and even his policies for four years. But what I feared, in that moment, is that he would start a war that he can't finish and it would consume my childrens' lives. Well, as it turns out, I was right, just not in the way I would have thought. It is worse than I thought. President Trump is waging a war against Democracy, and it will consume the lives of my children, and yours, if we don't stop it now at the polls. Mr. Friedman has been desperately writing about it, waving the red flag, and sounding the alarm for months. He is not kidding around. I am going to listen to him.
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@Braden Clement I am going to listen to Mr. Friedman and Mr. Krugman too! Americans must own their power and Vote to disempower Mr. Trump. He cares nothing about anything but himself and fortifying his ego and bank accounts. Stop the madness. The coming generations of Americans need to know that we are voting in their best interest.
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Excellent post and very well said. I have had the same fears and you are absolutely right. He has proven to be a war monger against our Democracy.
@Braden Clement
George W. Bush actually DID start a war, one that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, burdened us with trillions in debt, and spawned ISIS. (By the way, Tom Friedman supported that actual war.) Trump is gauche, for sure, but GWB still holds the trophy for worst ever.
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The best way to MAGA is to admit failure and start from scratch.
It's becoming obvious that this country could be great if not for its current inhabitants.
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Big voter turnout favors Democrats. Plain and simple. Republicans fear this fact and are scrambling to use every dirty trick to cheat their way through this midterm election. Nevertheless I sense a massive payback in the making for these shameless Republican cheats. Vote Democrat, your country’s future depends on you.
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Believe me, Mr. Friedman, I am working my hands, arms, and legs toward fatigue trying to get Democrats elected here in my state, and for that matter, with donations, in other states, too. I have even resorted to that old fall-back "Catholic mantra" which more times than not put us to sleep mid-way if we were having a sleepless night...the Rosary. And believe me, I have had many sleepless nights due to the ruthless behavior and vile words oozing from Mr. Trump.
Here is the bottom line for those Independents or vacillating voters as well as for Democrats: It's about morality and ethics. The simple truth is a democracy can not sustain itself if it is rooted in lies, hypocrisy, and hate. And frankly, without checks and balances even in what seems a short time - until 2020 - we will fall off a cliff into an abyss of utter corruption and amorality if this present political paradigm continues. Trump is out of control. He is irredeemable, I dare say bordering on sociopathy. And his GOP Congress is so consumed by their own lust for power and greed, that they too are on that same road to perdition.
And it is all so simple to remedy. All we have to do is vote. How hard can that be?
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Truth, science, and decency?
On Trump, willing to concede decency. Many feel it is retribution. I still think Trump a demon.
On science, expand your thinking, Tom. Science is being overplayed and willfully blind when it suits, witness the kerfuffle over transgender... whatever that means.
On truth. Not a soul alive owns that space. It exists. And our job is to seek it with our heart, soul, and mind.
Do not say that you favor neither one party or another and pull out the Liberal dog whistle. That is no better than the man sitting in the White House. Or the last, for that matter.
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Mr. Friedman,
Is this the best you can do, to try and get the approximate 50% of the non-Trump electorate to the polls.
Surely you must know that the real reason, the only reason, the bright as the sun at noon reason, that Trump is in the White House, tearing apart, with glee, everything decent and good we ever stood for, is because the Democratic Party, the Pelosi/Clinton/Schumer cabal, this modern-day Tammany Hall like gang of thieves, led by the modern-day iteration of Boss Tweed, Hillary and Bill Clinton, had so economically brutalized and alienated the American people, for nearly 40 years, the people decided that anything, good, bad, or indifferent, had the probability of being better than a Democratic Party which catered exclusively to the coastal liberal elites, pretending all the while that the poor and middle-class were so subjugated and malleable, they could be depended on; after all look how easily the Obama regime was coerced into herding us through two terms of little, other than ensuring the status quo was not interfered with.
You write about the clear and present danger the Trump regime certainly is, but you destroy your clarion call by directing it at the people, when you should be demanding that the Democratic party, which gave us Trump, climb down from the exalted perches from where they admire their wealth, and unequivocally prove they are the peoples party.
"prove", yes I did say that, and that, Mr. Friedman, is why the midterms won't matter at all.
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IF, and I mean a huge IF, the Democrats take the house and at least have a tie in the Senate, they must then show that they are capable of governing. If they go for the Beltway games of Impeachment hearings, government shutdowns, gridlock, they will be hugely defeated in 2020. Americans want a government that works, Trump is giving the Democrats a golden opportunity. Don't. Blow. It!
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@Bruce1253 In order to create a 'Government that works' we are going to HAVE to remove Trump, First. He and Pence will Both have to go, for treason against the Constitution is the clearest charge yet, with at least 3 separate sections broken by the Trump Republican Coalition.
At the Very least the RNC and the Republican Senate Caucus need to be investigated as RICO Offenses for their handling of the Russian influence and the Team Trump Collusion in Conspiracy to Commit Treason through fraud and the help of an acknowledged enemy of the State.
The Republicans need to be removed from office and held responsible for their crimes of treason in going along with McConnell in blocking Merrick Garland, and then pushing through someone who obviously and blatantly lied to the Senate Committee in public, on air, live. And yet they seated him as a SCOTUS Justice?
NO, No, No and NO. We cannot tolerate people who take over the institutions of our Government to INTENTIONALLY Inflict Pain on at least 60% of the Citizens in Both Parties. If you are poor, you do not even get a seat at the table, let alone chips for the game.
And it is our lives they deal out, in those hands of theirs, when they are making the taxes and rules for us harsher, and cutting the taxes for themselves as well as cutting regulation for Their side of the profit column.
America is asking for, no, Demanding it's Money Back, and we will Not Take No for an answer. Remove Republicans Via RICO and confiscate properties!
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@B. Honest, Go ahead and try, Trump wins in a landslide in 2020. This is exactly what America hates about our politicians.
A few thoughts—
I was unaware that there was no permanent ambassador to Saudi Arabia. I find it concerning and I think unusual (I am not knowledgeable enough to be sure). Despite Friedman’s praise of the media I could not find much reporting on this issue.
Friedman points out that no one is listening to the media. This article is a perfect example of why. Partisan hit piece loosely based on reality. It is true that Trump lies and is often embarrassing. (As are many politicians) He also has kept more campaign promises that any president in recent memory and has done some good things. ( although time will tell). Friedman preaches to the choir so why would anyone else listen.
Thomas Friedman historically does not have a great track record of being right.
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About a year and a half ago, the Trimes Science section had an article about how pea plants were able to make reasonable choices even though they had no brain. I have come to believe that many Americans don’t even have the brain power of those pea plants and may yet again go for the Pick Your Pocket Party.
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The problem is, the Democratic party (and the NY Times for that matter) have swung so far to the left in response to Trump that the party is now catering to the left-wing crazies which puts it out of touch with the majority of people near the center. The Democratic party is weak because they are pursuing a democratic socialism ideal that will not not work in this country, and many democrats don't want it. The Democrats should be moving to the center with a real agenda, instead we have the keystone cops and lightweights pushing a doomed agenda and Thomas Friedman talking about holding Riyadh responsible oh and yes, climate change. Wake up Democrats, start pursuing an agenda of compromise and bipartisan governing, or spend the next four years protesting. Take your pick.
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@RD
Nonsense. As for compromise and bipartisan governing, when has there been any good faith effort of that kind on the Republican side? Remember Merrick Garland? Remember McConnell's vow that Obama would get no cooperation from the GOP? Let's talk about compromise and civility after the party that has annihilated both shows some interest.
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@WTK
McConnelll's vow occurred in 2010 after 2 years of 1-party Democratic rule pushing the ACA through. Both 2008 and 2010 elections had consequences just as did 2016.
100% accurate. Leaving centerist Americans with no options.
OK, the Democrats win -- then what? Trump is thwarted but I still have no idea what the party believes in. The sclerotic leadership has been on the plutocrat's payroll precisely to drag their feet on anything but warm and fuzzy social issues. Any progressive programs will cost money, and guess who's going to be asked to pay their fair share? These same avaricious donors anointed Hillary, because under the rubric of "incrementalism", she would have let them continue feeding at the trough for four more years. Ironically, Trump has provided them with an absolute feast and I'm sure they're crying all the way to the bank. Fraud that he is though, at least he promised 'something'. When was the last time you heard schoolmarms Schumer or Pelosi announce a bold progressive initiative - and I'm talking pre-Trump?
Sanders and Warren aside, the only time you hear concrete policy proposals from a Democratic candidate is when they are one of the fledglings who will not wield any actual power in Congress for years. During that time, they will have also been corrupted by the money men.
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@stan continople
I don't agree that the Democrats are without vision or strategy. But in any case, first things first, and that means voting out the Republicans even if you don't share my enthusiasm for voting in the Democrats.
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@stan continople
Here's a few planks for our platform. Let's NOT undo the New Deal, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Public Education. How's that for starters?? Would that work for you?
Next, the platform includes the following things:
- Respect for Democracy
- One person, One vote
- Say NO to Oligarchy
- Say NO to collusion with Russia
- Say NO to corruption
- Say YES to the Constitution and separation of powers
Perhaps you just want to try something different? Here are your options:
- Fascism
- Totalitarian Socialism
- Banana Republic
- Warlords
- European and pre-Trump American Democracy with a mixed Economy
Pick one, but don't pick the last one, because Trumpists don't want that one.
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@WTK
Vote out the Republicans? The Democrats need to have some cogent ideas and non-flakey leadership..Pelosi and Schumer just aren't doing the trick
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Amazing that a man who has long been an admirer of China now finds a regime he can criticize. Maybe if Saudi Arabia built a couple high speed rail lines, and a new airport or two, Friedman would give them a pass.
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Tom nothing more needs to be added to your column. Thank you for saying it all.
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Sadly, I think our nation is suffering from a much deeper wound that the results of a few elections won't be able to fix. If the people of the U.S. themselves don't start finding a way to pull together, we'll be in a civil war that will resemble the wars in Iraq and Yugoslavia. No democracy can survive if people hate each other.
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Glad to read your encouragement for Democrats to get to the polls. We're in a time when people actually bite hard for the distractions of social media and, consequently, are not paying attention to what is happening. Got out our message and try to overwhelm social media with truth.
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The problem is not only, or even mainly, Trump. It is the mob that cheers his rejection of the values we used to think of as central to American character. It's the party, top to bottom, that is positively giddy about selling out those values for tax cuts and Supreme Court seats. We are fighting a war over the soul of America. The midterms are only the first chance to fight back; they will not end the war.
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@Victor James Almost right, Victor. It isn't even the Republican Party because they are following rather than leading the mob. It's that a very large number of Americans think that anyone who disagrees with them are enemies. I also think that it is impossible to separate this absolute certainty of righteousness from the religious bent of so many on the right.
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We do need to consider how two Clintons and an Obama got the democratic party into such an abject state. It's OK for a president to *have* technocratic advisers, as did FDR, but it's a disaster for the president to *be* a technocrat. The democratic party neglected all the bottom levels of politics (state, county) that matter. The Koch machine did not. Look who's winning, and look who's desperate.
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@gnowell
Ah, yes, the distraction technique. Neither Clinton, nor Obama is running for office, in case you haven't noticed.
As for who's winning? Clinton won the popular vote.
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The country is desperate.
@gnowell Definitely vote for the winners, they must be right. Keep voting as they take away healthcare, retirement, money, and safety, but leave you your freedom.
True freedom is the ability to choose your profession, your spouse, your education, your friends, your home, your life, without fear.
FDR was the biggest technocrat there is, so I'm really confused by your statement. He created a country where people can buy their houses before they are 45 years old (30 year mortgage, look it up.) Where people can even go to College if they wish (look up % college educated before 1930.) He took the ideas of Keynes, rebuilt America, and then rebuilt Europe and Japan. So we can argue what our goals should be, but please don't tell me we have to sacrifice our reason and logic along the way.
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Sadly and soberly, a great deal of the Trump agenda is to try to restore the racism, sexism, religiosity, and other social views from somewhere between 1880 and 1960.
Much of the rest of it is a a mixture of Ayn-Randian fantasies, and never-was mythology.
One of the questions I ask Trump supporters that never gets any rational answer is "where is the example of the successful country that you think we could learn from and emulate?"
Liberals often point to the Scandinavian countries or Canada (or even Germany!) as countries that have a lot going for them as good places to live. Republicans hate these countries ... but they are real working examples, and more successful than the USA by a variety of metrics.
Where is the great nation that practices laissez-faire capitalism?
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@Lee Harrison Great question. No "great" nations but those basket-case countries divided between five oligarch families owning and running everything and a massive number of poor. No middle class. The U.S. is headed there. The middle class drives our economy and stabilizes our civic life, and that's the group most under stress today.
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@Lee Harrison
Singnapore. Far greater economic freedom than the US. Also Switzerland.
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@KBronson As a long term US expat in Singapore I agree with you. It's a capitalist country that also acts in the best interests of its citizens. Health care, transportation, housing, retirement savings, personal security - all supported by government policies focused on the betterment of the lives of its people. And after seeing what's going on in the US, laws restricting hate speech - and, of course, guns - is a welcome relief. Also, wisely, anyone who has been bankrupt is not qualified to be President. If you can't manage your own affairs how can you manage a country's?
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Okay, I agree that for the time being nothing else matters.
But someone has to describe new possibilities and new ways of working for democracy in America, because it is by disengagement and disenchantment with the democratic process that an admirer of tyrants came to lead one of the great democracies.
You've written this column before Mr Friedman (like on May 29). You've told your readers to vote, organise and drive for Democratic candidates because nothing else matters. But given the position you occupy, you need to describe the ways in which participation in electoral democracy can be made popular again. That's the only way to make America America again.
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I read Mr. Friedman’s column after doing a little research in the CIA World Factbook about Saudi Arabia and Turkey. There, I found out that the US does not have a sitting ambassador in either country! How much more could the CIA director accomplish in Ankara or Istanbul if we had political leadership in-country, and how ironic it is that American interests are being protected by the very “dark state” Mr. Trump claims to abhor. A textbook example of how not to manage a diplomatic crisis. If we don’t have credible leadership in the country to manage and protect our interests, how can we get reliable facts and how can America responsibly lead the world? How, Mr. President, is America showing its greatness now, Mr. President?
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@Patrick M. Livingston
America doesn’t lead the world anymore. Obama canceled that gig, remember?
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I believe Jared is “covering” the Middle East. No need to worry, nothing to see here.
No, Republicans a nd Fox News claimed Obama lost the world's respect for the USA. But Trump is the one getting laughed at, literally, by the leaders of the world.
… declaims Tom Friedman emotionally as he enters A.G. Sulzberger’s office demanding a raise.
For two years Trump’s base “trusted” him to deliver on their own values and, so far, he has proven himself worthy of that trust. You may reject those values, but enough Americans hold them to have elected Trump president. Twice! (Oops, getting ahead of myself.) And for his national popularity to be inching up – his support among Republicans, as always, is … overwhelming.
You’re not going to change those people or their convictions with “Republicans want to take away your Medicare and Social Security!” Has there ever been an election so bereft of positive messages from Dems as this one? It’s pathetic – and if Dems fail to flip the House, as some fear, then you will have deserved your extended stay in the political wilderness for your clueless and pusillanimous efforts to escape it.
It’s typical of our ideological polarization that each side can see NO “truth”, NO redeeming value in the other side’s values and worldview. Tom’s outburst has become typical: vote for Democrats because, even if they can’t get anything done they’ll keep those icky Republicans from damaging us further.
We’ve descended to our final depths when even Tom Friedman prefers the useless political stasis of 2011-2016 to movement forward in ANY direction not his. And it’s a clear admission that Democrats have made NO compelling arguments to Americans OTHER than “well, we’re not as bad as they are -- hehe”.
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While I agree with much of your analysis, you may underestimate the value of a simple check, even if it offers little beyond a check. When the potential damage of Trump's unchecked power is planetary in scale, even paralysis is progress. If one party has rejected truth and science, one's affiliation shouldn't matter.
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@Dennis
I haven't "rejected truth and science", and I'd wager that the same can be said of the overwhelming majority of Republicans. That one can believe of the herd that all are infected based on one incident of hoof-and-mouth disease is the product of intentional demonization with a very narrow interest -- kill the herd.
@Richard Luettgen
Politics is a game of advantage. So it is hubris to imagine that the GOP's power is anything but ephemeral when the electoral college is so out of sync with the popular vote, when GOP base mostly reflects a shrinking demographic identity (white male) rather than an ideology (Burkean limits on government over-reach), and when the President aggressively governs in spite of a majority of "we the people."
Beware the pendulum.
It may not swing this turn, but swing it will.
Bashing the current president on a daily basis simply doesn't work because its shock value had been lost long time ago and the only thing left is the impression that the Democrats don't have a clear plan of their own. The media is doing a huge dis-service to us by playing into Trump's hands by never stopping to discuss him. There are days when I get the painful feeling that the Democrats have a better chance of winning that big lottery than winning at the ballot box. Hopefully I will be proven wrong.
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"No third party, no Green Party" -- House elections are the one place where a Green Party candidate could actually win, rather than just help a Republican win. So if there is such a race with a truly viable Green Party candidate (is there?), then of course vote for them. But not otherwise.
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@Ilya Shlyakhter - Never,ever vote for the self-centered, egotistic, my way or the highway Green Party. They gave us Bush in 2000 and Trump in 2016, both times with disastrous consequences.
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