People with ample behavioral features of a certain mental disorder have no capacity for any significant change, if not any change at all. Such features are given even greater importance as a major problem because of how often they show, having shown for a long time and about very serious, intense matters. Given all of it by now, any value to watching and listening to such people would merely be to gather additional evidence (as if still needed) of psychopathology. Otherwise, normal people might be excused for just wanting to move on and past this mess, like bystanders at a crime scene. "Move along folks...Nothing to see here."
1
I wonder what he and his speech writers think this is going to accomplish. Obviously they hope to accomplish something or they wouldn't have written it in the speech. But with Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas leering from the audience and cheering him on it's pretty hard to take him seriously. Then there was his completely out of touch cabinet Wilbur Smith, Kevin Hassett and Betsy "many yachts" Devos applauding his every word like the words were the gold nuggets they all so clearly worship. Then there was the attack on abortion rights in America which is totally anti-women so there's that.....
It's a head scratcher for sure. My only conclusion is that they think that women are so stupid, so vulnerable to praise and so gullible that we will suddenly believe that this serial cheating, lying, grabbing lout is pro-women. So under examination the speech's "reach out" to women is the most patronizing and insulting attack they could have put together. What a surprise.
It's a
2
A speech written by a young man whose only experience is in writing racist, xenophobic rants at college and another young man whose only experience is in selling realestate in New York.
The mating of a college rant and a real estate blurb produced an overlong, cliche ridden, syntax challenged, ideologically inconsistent diatribe that would have benefited from serious editing and reality checks.
Sheesh!
4
Trump is a lifelong con artist and sexual predator. It is very sad and disturbing to learn that at least 40% of the voters in the United States think Trump is doing a good job. It is well known that people readily accept lies and propaganda that reflect their own dark thoughts and prejudices. What does it say about our nation when millions of Americans choose an evil liar like Trump to be their spokesperson. It is not pretty... to say the least.
2
Trump killed it last night. He spoke eloquently and really looked like the leader half of the country wants. Trump people are even more solidly behind him and people that may have started to stray are back in force. All of this while some ridiculous investigation supposedly hangs over his head. The election was 2 years ago. If there was any wrongdoing they should have found it by now.
It really feels more and more political and wrong. Get past this and let him get on with being a leader full force. If Trump is a closet Ruskie then get him out of office. At this point its irresponsible to let him keep going if there was any wrongdoing. Put up or shut up. People are sick of it.
2
It was pretty hard to stomach. Like any Trump rally with yells of U-S-A. Only thing I had waited for was Rep Joe Wilson of NC to yell " You lie, liar of liars." Joe, ya let us down, bro'.
2
Lighten up Frank.
As much as I dislike Trump he did a good job talking his talk. He is not an academic elitist snob NYT kind a guy but a more of the fraternity type a la Faber College in Animal House. He had a light touch for the women amongst his lies and deceit.
The more our country wanders to the Left the greater the chance of this malignant psychopath will have of getting reelected. Rather than trashing this end-stage narcissist lets lighten up and paint him as the fool he is.
Let's do a Russell Baker on him...boy do I miss him.
1
The man is a total liar and cannot be trusted with anything he says. His tantrums speak loads about his intelligence level, and his actions are simply about making money for his syndicate. I wasted ZERO time watching his speech, and this headline is the only one I have read.
1
The whole country saw these women make fools of themselves. When President Trump gave attention to making infanticide illegal , honored Nazi survivors, World War II heroes, victims of illegal immigrant crime, the release of a non violent offender who served almost 20 years in prison, law enforcement officer heros they did not react. When he mentioned these women ..they gave themselves a standing ovation. They were more full of themselves than Trump ever was . Pathetic.
3
don't waste time looking for consistency in Trump. he jumps from one thought or position to another willy-nilly, looking for an angle, applause, adulation, agreement, validation. chaos will set you free - try it!
1
Well Trump may be surprised that women in congress and women voters will be the ones to bring his presidency down. Perhaps now is the time to elect a woman president perhaps an Indian/African American woman would be ideal. Harris is tough and smart and capable of smacking TRump down if he gets pushy or intimidating at the debates. Putin's puppet may meet his match in 2020 the year of the woman ,we need cooperators not testosterone driven macho bullies playing king of the mountain.
2
Mr Bruni and close to 100% of the anti-Trump media missed the strategic importance of the president's speech: he and his regime are on the defensive.
The president was forced by the recapturing of the House by the Democratic Party and his own incredibly stupid blunder of closing the government to adopt a rhetoric emblematic of a dignified Chief Executive. He is also under the heavy weight of the findings to date of Special Counsel, the increasing public acknowledgement that he surrounded himself with the most corrupt and shoddy of businessmen, and the new investigation of his presidential financial campaign.
His speech (an he has smart speech-writers) showed all the signs of a man who knew he might get booed if he started with the controversial stuff (the wall and abortion). So he saved that until he finished praising veterans, cancer survivors, and the partial history of women's rights (by the way, the 19th Amendment was the formality capping the struggle of millions of women to gain justice and overcome sexism, not the gracious act of government).
Yes, he is on the defensive.
1
I suspect he thinks that, if he flatters the Democrats, they will roll over and agree with him. He only likes people who stroke his ego and thinks everyone else works that way too. His next speech will probably have a line about how he doesn't understand why the Democrats are so mean to him, since he was so nice to their women.
1
Donald Trump has no doubt stated that no one in the history of our country has done more for women than he has. In fact, one has to agree - the past two years has seen an almost unprecedented upheaval in women learning just how powerful they can be when faced with such blatant misogynistic opposition. With Hillary we'd have jumped and cheered then gone back to our lives, secure that all was taken care of. Instead, in horror we learned what sleeping on the job is costing. It began with #MeToo and continues with AOC who, before the age of 30 has terrified Republicans, and the other 100 female newbies in congress. He is so awful he made it time to Rise Up, in unison.
Those who speak of similarities with Richard Nixon might want to instead compare Donald Trump's behavior with General Custer who also thought he was smarter than his opposition.
It is time to end SOTU speeches. Let all future presidential reports be delivered in writing.
The absurd competitive applause and cheering is embarassing. I am a fervent opponent of media "bothsiderism" but when it comes to childish behavior at the SOTU address, Democrats do their part. We've now been treated to Congress chanting "USA USA USA" as though we were at the Olympics with American chauvinism cranked up to "eleven." What will next year bring? Rival cheerleader squads in American flag uniforms desperately trying to outdo their opponents?
This has to stop. I learned nothing factual about the actual state of the union. How could I, when the messenger was the most dishonest, ill-informed, and delusional president in our history. I did learn that had Hillary Clinton been elected we would be engaged in a (nuclear) war with North Korea and only the wise leadership of Donald Trump prevented that from happening. It looks like Mahatma Trump has locked up next year's Nobel Peace Prize.
I also learned that serial sexual predator Trump, despite his tireless efforts and those of his party to restrict voting to white (male) voters -- the only people our Founding FATHERS wanted to vote -- is now a champion of all things female, especially electing women to Congress. Apparently, Trump is unaware that the overwhelming majority of congressional women are Democrats.
How could any Asian or European watching this spectacle of adolescence and fantasy take this country seriously?
2
SOTU was a verbal car chase, with the car careening from curb to curb and around corners down one-way streets. A combination of specious platitudes, threats and outright lies. And yet...and yet, some see it as a wondrous advance for The Mn Who Would Be President.
Stephen Miller crafted some clever lines for Trump to wrap himself in virtue. Who can be against WW II heroes and childhood cancer survivors? But as Trump is learning, a government shutdown and a mocking sneer will get you only so far. Speaker Pelosi and the women in white have got his number. It's how they got to Washington.
Let’s just admit that His bar is set extremely low. Subterranean.
No, he didn’t tear off his clothes, turn his head all the way around as in an “ Exorcist “ Movie, or actually stalk anyone onstage. Progress, right ??? A “ win “ for Trump is still an embarrassment for most Americans. Please, God, let it END.
Seriously.
3
It was a good speech once again showing that Trump's delivery makes him formidable on the campaign trail, unlike the previous POTUS' SOTU speeches that proclaim HIS arrival marks the day when the oceans stop rising and the planet begins to heal, this POTUS simply presents economic metrics of "lowest unemployment numbers for minorities" in recorded history.
While the previous POTUS has a habit of referring to himself throughout speeches, the current one appears to go out of his way to avoid using self-referential pronoun and refers to "we" as in "We are Born Free, We will stay Free".
And he uses America as a way to grab at your heart (if you have one). As in "America was founded on Liberty and Independence" or "America will never be a socialist country". Trump basically made most of Howard Schultz's argument against the progressive extremists trying for a Marx-Lenin redo in the land of the Free.
Yet Bruni continues to bring out the same War on Women playbook. Yes we know he has a filthy mouth and probably has had a long life where he had many many many many girlfriends and mistresses yet after all the journalists combed through the hundreds of women who may have at least ate at the same table as him (or more), not a single one has stepped up and said that he ever physically forced himself on anyone.
We can all name many more Democrat luminaries who have done much worse to women.
1
The author has linked Trump's hostility to gays with his sudden conversion to the cause of HIV/AIds, apparently unaware that though the disease began in the gay community in the US, Including close friends of mine, most of whom are long dead, the vast majority of those afflicted by it (since th 80s) were/are heterosexual.
1
No one would doubt Mr. Bruni's passion for feminism after reading this piece. Passion deserves good form, though. He should have written this piece in Latin.
Trump is doing what any successful American politician does.....he running to the center. This was his opening speech for the 2020 prez campaign. He can do this since he will probably not have significant primary opposition. Since the Ds are the out of power party...they must beat all their rivals to the extreme Left before running like crazy to the center.
I couldn't watch the speech. Sorry! But the cheering and clapping prior to (it) was so nauseating I was saddened, disgusted, sickened, etc. Who is happy to welcome this criminal into the room? Polite and brief applause, okay, but prolonged accolades for a fake leader, a pretender? Sorry, I listened to music until it was over.
Trump is a feminist the way Ivanka is. Not in the least. To her, looking good in the latest frock is the height of feminism.
1
"Many of his biggest lies are to himself"
Translation: That is called being Deluded.
For the rest of America, it means we have a drunk at the wheel.
Period.
3
This is another anti-Trump piece and unfortunately, spinning a fake narrative ("Fake News").
Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, is definitely not the best with women, especially the ones he does not like. However, Trump is a champion of women and their progress in society. Because of his policy, women are thriving economically more than ever, and more black women in our history are leaning towards a Republican President.
In absence of his perfection of women (which Fake News like NYT love to inflame), his daughter, Ivanka Trump, is an absolute role model to women. Not to mention FLOTUS, a very beautiful and classy First Lady.
No one wants to be a third wave feminist anymore, it's political cancer. Trump has, and will be in the future, an advocate for women.
Great piece -- per usual -- Mr. Bruni. Thank you!
This sentence:
... "Many of his biggest lies are to himself."
tells only half the story however.
Because the lies he tells himself, the delusional bubble he inhabits, affects everyone else BUT him.
Thus the constant danger to our nation, our democracy and every single citizen who doesn't fit his current whim or inclinations ...
And he will be re-elected. Ugh.
This headline is way too positive!
As Steve Martin said, comity isn’t pretty.
It is futile trying to make sense out of someone who draws no distinction between fact versus fiction, logic versus nonsense, cause versus effect, past versus present and bad versus good.
Donald Trump read the teleprompter surprisingly well at his State of the Union address, but in his impromptu remarks and his reactions to the audience, Trump committed unmistakable tells.
Trump should appear in a public service spot, where a few seconds of his ridiculous remarks are shown, followed by a solemn PSA voiceover, saying, “This is your brain on an overdose of ego.”
The truth is that Donald Trump has the simplistic perception of an 6-year-old: “There is me, and then there is everyone and everything else.”
Our President has regressed. Where once there was the feeling that Trump was a con man, lying for effect, there now is the sense that Trump no longer knows he is lying.
A bipartisan group should show Donald Trump out the White House door, so that we can put this horrible chapter in our national history behind us.
That speech will wow his unhinged and untethered base for all of the usual reasons. The entire speech was make-believe. Trump was playing pretend president for his base and maybe, a little, for the Republicans, too. Trump is a feminist just like he is a real, legitimate president. The speech was a return to the populist promises and racism of the campaign. The populist promises were lies and ignorance, of course--as always. All in all, he is clearly appealing to the demographic that Paul Krugman calls the populist-racists. I would call them the white nationalist, populist-racist, suckers. They fall head over heels in love with the populist-racist line, and then Trump sucker punches them with a tax-cut-for-the-rich bill. Tucker Carlson spoke to that same demographic the other day in his now famous monologue. Trump is becoming more dangerous every day. His threats vis-a-vis the Mueller and House investigations were noteworthy. He threatened the House for fulfilling their Constitutional requirements.
Frank wrote:
"He pretends to care about matters that don’t move him in the least. He feigns blamelessness in situations where he’s entirely culpable and takes credit in circumstances where he has more to apologize for. He presents himself in a positive light, as one kind of person, when his actions paint him in a negative light, as a different character altogether."
1
I kinda wish the beautiful women in white did not stand up when baited with the assertion that employment of women is up at historical highs, posing once again as a psuedo feminist. Aparently they hadn't done their homework. As per NYT fact checker, this is a very misleading and statistically erroneous conclusion. (See below). Nontheless, they did seem to steal the show for a bit, and I for one will be a lot more white! Let's just hope moving forward we can all be more informed of fact v. fiction.
---------------------------------------
WOMEN IN WORKFORCE
TRUMP: "All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before."
THE FACTS: Of course, there are more women working than ever before. But that's due to population growth — and not something that Trump can credit to any his policies.
The big question is whether a greater percentage of women is working or searching for a job than at any point in history. And on this count, women have enjoyed better times.
Women's labor force participation rate right now is 57.5 percent, according to the Labor Department. The rate has ticked up recently, but it was higher in 2012 and peaked in 2000 at roughly 60 percent.
The columnist seems to have captured the overall excellence of the speech.
You are right that many of his biggest lies are to himself . That is the scariest thing about Donald Trump . He is untethered to reality . More than lies what we are talking about are delusions . It is imposible to make sense of his craziness because there is none . He is not crazy like a fox . He is just plain crazy . The elephant in the room , and the greatest taboo of all , are the words " mental health ".
The speech shows Trump still has the ability to reach out to the public and that he presents a sincere persona
If I were a democrat I would be terrified
It shouldn't matter what number of women were successful at getting into Congress. The number that should matter is the number that tried to get into Congress. There were many female Republicans that were defeated by male Democrats.
Why aren't the male Democrats who defeated female Republicans accused of being misogynists for preventing a female from getting into Congress?
Didn't Trump mumble "You were not supposed to do that" after all the women in white who had been elected into government were standing up applauding and being applauded. My interpretation of his statement was that "it was never his intention that women get elected into government". It was not a statement of a feminist.
After looking at all the women in white standing up applauding and being applauded for becoming members of government, did I hear Trump say to them "you shouldn't have done that". So I'm not sure what bit of feminist that comment relates to.
1
The reason so many women have jobs is they can't trust the shareholder oriented capitalist system to not lay off their husbands or significant others. The stay at home housewife is becoming a thing of the past except where management takes care of their employees.
Gee, if we didn't have an interpreter to tell us which things Trump meant and which he didn't mean, we'd just have to draw our own conclusions without having the benefit of Mr Bruni telling us what to think.
Is that really better than trusting our own judgment ?
For example, the assaults and abuses committed against women by coyotes, gangs like MS-13, and by the Reynosa and Los Zetas (yes, they're back) reportedly have run closer to 75% of women in groups attempting to enter the US illegally -- er, also "without documentation." The Mexican government has no real authority over its own side of the border.
Maybe Mr Bruni does not consider these assaults important in the larger framework of women's rights -- these are desperate women, who surely knew they were taking a risk in trying to get into the US, and surely there would be travails on the journey -- but demeaning the value of these women's lives just to get in a needle at Donald Trump strikes me as petty and cruel.
It must be tempting to think you can read another person's mind and heart, and even more tempting to believe you can translate that person's words into what you -- and you alone -- know that he feels and means by saying those words.
But with such a gift comes responsibility. Please exercise it carefully. Sometimes the person you are analyzing means just what she or he says.
1
In a way he can take credit for the newly elected women to congress. If he and his party weren't so bad in treating women and what's important to them maybe a smaller number of women would have run and therefore elected.
3
The speech was just a list of talking points and leadership characteristics that Republicans can use to defend Trump's presidency. There are no policy intentions.
The Republican leadership and right wing media echo chamber without any compunction or sense of irony wipe away all twitter communication, off camera comments and imperial acts handing Trump a clean slate. It becomes the mirror that allows his followers and equivocating liberal media to once again let him off the hook without questioning the mountain of evidence that shows Trump to be a nothing burger of a leader.
Bruni's list is on the mark but will the journalists pay attention. Will they cover policy or just the tweets.
3
Didn't watch last night, and I'm 100% confident that I missed nothing of value to me from this despicable human being.
7
"And then there was the shout-out to women in the workforce. During it, female House members stood, and some pumped their fists in the air. He registered surprise at first, followed by satisfaction, as he seemed to realize that their moment could also be his moment"
Trump aligned himself with our female House members for his own benefit. He's running a popularity contest. He wants votes; this has nothing to with his compassion for women. There isn't any. Please wake up! Suffragists have worn white from our initial beginnings. Those beginnings encompass all women regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. It represents all women in all countries. I was taken aback when the women shouted "USA!! USA!!" The shouts froze me in an Orwellian moment. A sick feeling permeated my gut. Had the women aligned themselves with Trump as well? Or, did I misinterpret the moment? What of our allies? What of our sisters in other countries? The speech was about unity, no? I'm confused.
1
I interpreted that scene the same way. I was disgusted that the democratic women cheered when he said there were more women employed than ever in the US. Of course there are. And Underpaid! Denied opportunities! With responsibilities for family and work. From Trump! Who employs undocumented female immigrants to clean his hotels? How does he dodge that while beating the drum on immigration and a wall?
The democratic women should have sat in silence. We should not accept mediocrity or shameless SOTU rhetoric.
I watched the live feed on the NYT website, while listening to the speech on my local NPR station. The two were slightly out of sync, providing amusing moments of cognitive dissonance, where many of his words were accompanied visually by smirks and Mussolini-like postures.
I was particularly amused during the USA chants. I could almost see a thought bubble over his head wondering why they weren't chanting "TRUMP, TRUMP, TRUMP."
His attempt to take ownership of the gains made by women was more than disingenuous, it bordered on the insulting. As were his attempt to co-opt the Democratic agenda on health care, paid family leave, and drug pricing.
About drug pricing (whose decline is probably more attributable to the recent spate of generics following the lapse of some patents) I was puzzled by why he tossed in the line about stopping other countries from ripping us off. What could that mean? Pharmaceuticals are less expensive in most countries than they are here. Does that mean that he wants drug manufacturers to raise their prices in order to charge less here? I can't believe he wants us to be able to buy our meds from, say, Canada in order to pay less. Perhaps he is courting bigger donations from big Pharma in exchange for protecting them.
It's amazing what the lack of trust surrounding Donald Trump can cause me to spin evil scenarios out of an offhand remark dropped in the middle of an otherwise laudable goal. Such is the tragedy of our times.
3
What’s amazing is that Trump still gets so much attention by the press, especially including columnists. He has established himself as a fraud, a con man, a person who will say anything for self-serving purpose. Fact checking him is absurd because the truth is used by him as a commodity. He doesn’t make errors; he lies ... unless not lying can somehow accommodate his personal agenda, the essence of being disingenuous. How he considers ... now apparently ... women is a case in point. Sure he says in public he’s all for their just treatment and that they are to be congratulated for their “progress,” etc. But never mind his history. That he might possibly think he can get away with this is the sign of serious delusion about his own “winning” power and charm. There may be a fine line between health with gaming, and categorical illness.
MIKE BLOOMBERG WARNED US During his speech as an independent a the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in 2016, that Donald Trump is a New York con. As a New York businessman himself, he said that he knows one when he sees one, and that Trump is a con. He proved that during his speech. Trump's father, Fred was grandiose in his later years and died of Alzheimers at 93, meaning that Donald is not too young to exhibit some symptoms related to the onset of Alzheimers. What I think is difficult for people to imagine is that whatever statement comes out of Trump's mouth is a con. Psychopaths use cons to charm people into believing that con artist can give them something of value. Trump has given a certain class of people something of substance: his tax overhaul that is the largest transfer of wealth from the 99% to the 1%. So if you're not of the 1%, go fly a kite. Trump has described himself in specific detail as a sexual predator in the video of his interview with Billy Bush. That Trump could have made that confession to crimes and still have been permitted to run for office boggles the mind. Trump exhibits severe deficits in the language, memory and executive functions of his brain along with extremely poor insight and judgment, with disorientation in the three spheres of reality testing of time, place and person. He can only write 140 character tweets, thinks that delivering a speech is reading someone else's words from a teleprompter. And his cons.
5
Great observations, Mr Bruni. The guy craves attention and loves himself so much he has some weird form of cognitive dissonance that psychologists haven't even defined because it's so rare. It goes something like this: The audience is clapping about something I said but don't even stand for, so the clapping must really be for me somehow. Really strange and twisted. Scary this guy is in charge of our country. Makes Kim Jung Un looks sane by comparison.
6
When you are untethered by facts or reality, as Trump is, it is easy to say whatever you want to say, take credit for or deny anything. It is truly bizarre. Perhaps he views his disconnection as a gift because it allows him to say all these things and not feel the least bit self-conscious that they have no connection to his actions.
2
I wasn't surprised by Trump's demeanor during last night's State of the Union. Although his rhetoric was "toned down" and missing many of the rhetorical slurs that sprout from his Twitter account like ragweed after a summer rain... his speech was "classic" Trump. Basically, he proved to the nation that he can adequately use a teleprompter. I was NOT surprised that Mr. Trump would step up to the plate and take credit for increasing the number of jobs being created for American Women. This approach was keeping with his M.O. What did surprise me was the yelling and applause of the "Sea of White Suits" sitting/standing in the audience. How could they let themselves be manipulated by this monster? How could they let this monster take credit for this? By doing so, they greatly failed their constituents. We must never forget... if WE THE PEOPLE give Mr. Trump an inch... he will take 15 miles. 5 Miles for his own bank accounts and 10 miles for Mr. Putin and the Russian Oligarchs who control him.
7
45 is even more embarrassing as a speaker than 43 was.
45's cartoonish looks, his goofy grins, his hammy gestures, his many faux pas, his unintended ironies compel laughing or crying into a towel.
One has a difficult time distinguishing between him and Alex Baldwin's caricature of him on SNL. Is it real or is it Memorex? Calgon, take me away.
10
If donald is a feminist, I’m a carrot.
18
I was a teenager in the 1950s, and the Platters was one of me and my friends' favorite groups.
And you know how for some stupid reason you can remember all the lyrics to many of the songs you grew up with, but can't even understand the lyrics of today's music?
As I was reading Frank's well written column about Trump today, the words of the Platters "Great Pretender" song popped into my head:
The Great Pretender
Oh-oh, yes I'm the great pretender
Pretending that I'm doing well
My need is such I pretend too much
I'm lonely but no one can tell
Oh-oh, yes I'm the great pretender
Adrift in a world of my own
I've played the game but to my real shame
You've left me to grieve all alone
Too real is this feeling of make-believe
Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal
Yes I'm the great pretender
Just laughin' and gay like a clown
I seem to be what I'm not, you see
I'm wearing my heart like a crown
Pretending that you're still around...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyM8NVl4yBY
6
As noted by the fashion columnist of the NYT, the Democratic women all wore white. Excellent. How much greater would it have been had the Democratic men ALSO worn white? An even greater sea of white, and even MORE striking!
7
I'm surprised he didn't give the speech in Russian.
7
@Walter
English seems to be very challenging for him, perhaps, pig Latin would be a big relief for the audience.
Most of the most recommended comments are by people who didn't watch or listen to the speech.
If you didn't participate in the process, all you are doing is regurgitating words from your existing opinions, unclouded by actual experience.
Worthless.
5
@Texas Liberal I listened to the speech, as painful as it was. The trump was trump. I participated in the process and agree with a number of the comments here that are critical. Did you actually read the Bruni article? He demonstrates very well the mendacity and conniving that is the trump.
1
Nice try by Trup. Still, no women vote.
1
BRAVO BRUNI BRAVO. Thank you for your TRUTHFUL SOTU
1
Trump," I cherish women...not you, or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you...or you..."
2
Trump probably gave more females employment opportunities and advancements than 99% of those reading here.
Time for you people to find something else to do.
Your boring and predictable.
There is nothing he can do that will make you happy.
5
@Joe Paper Given what we see him do--telling falsehoods, ordering children to be separated from their parents and put in cages, incessant inane tweeting--you are right. Given his track record of behavior, there probably is nothing he can do that will make me happy. He could try telling the truth for once. That would do it.
Trump would make me very happy if he would leave office, perhaps due to painful bone spurs or some other likely excuse.
“By 1945, Stalin was already, in his own eyes, the greatest statesman, the greatest strategist, the greatest philosopher in the world, the Father and Teacher of Mankind; and thanks to a vast hierarchy of yes-men beneath him his lightest observations could become infallible truths before which inconvenient evidence must bow and retire.” Source: “The Last Day’s of Hitler.”
2
The key word in your story is fictitious.
Isuspect the screenwriter got fired for it. (Yep, screenwriter cause it’s fiction theater.)
1
Trump should rightfully take credit for the additional women in the House. The Dem women definitely won their elections for a large part thanks to him.
3
Trump's call for comity was high comedy. He didn't understand much of the audience's responses last night, including when Democratic women applauded their own success, which he took credit for. In a twisted way, he was right: they won because of a backlash against Trump's poor leadership and terrible policies.
5
Why? The reality TV allusion of Trumps success. Decades of attacks on Hillary’s reputation. Comey’s October surprise. Russia’s interference and propaganda campaign. Trumps campaign staff of felons supporting Russia.
Resulting in those seventy-seven thousand voters in the key states, being more important than the majority of votes cast. Never forget, the majority of the country didn’t want this man.
2
There were so many “elephants in the room” - i.e. climate change, domestic gun violence, Russian electoral interference, the miserable state of American healthcare, crumbling infrastructure, income inequality etc., not addressed during Trump’s speech, that you could almost hear those GOP pachyderms trumpeting.
7
Trump's claims that he alone can fix "it," whatever it may be, are straight out of the dictator's playbook. For more of the same that really took place, see the PBS docu-series, Dictator's Playbook. In my area, tonight's show is at 10 p.m. and features Franco.
4
In response to Trump's menacing State of the Union, F. Bruni's stale OPINION landed like a cold latke. Featuring Trump's hypocritical bow to women's advances, there was no mention of how Trump had prevented Pelosi from introducing him, according to protocol, nor did he recognize her as the majority leader. Was Bruni asleep at the start? Imagine Trump sharpening his hypocrisy by noting her achievement of becoming the majority leader and doing it as a female, public servant for the second time during his reign. Trump's sovereignty has been seriously weakened his poor judgement and by women. Another startling omission from this flabby OPINION was Stacy Abrams' bright response to Trump's bark. Trump's character faults, unethical practices and, perhaps, high crimes, will finally undo him, with the rule of law and the determination of women in the front lines.
1
Early years at the church of Norman Vincent Peale positivity and later at the altar of Madison Ave and Hollywood branding (the perfect American combination) cannot come close to covering someone who is, at heart, damaged and cruel. At this stage of the game, there is no one to find behind the curtain, no human being with some self-awareness and a hint of decency to guide the country forward.
2
And some who are not on the President's payroll have decided that this was the best speech of Trump's political career. Which is to say that it still ranks below any speech ever delivered by any president not named Donald Trump.
4
The speech seemed a pastiche of self-credit, albeit not as pugnaciously delivered as I expected, and with moments of unexpected grace and humor. But.....
I find use of human props a tiresome emotional ploy. References to WW2 seemed ironic from Colonel Bone Spurs. Trump's wall arguments still unconvincing. The women in white made for a stunning visual of joyful solidarity. Pelosi was elegant and self-possessed. The dig at socialism was a groaner. I despise the belligerant "USA" chant (this is a national address, not a football game!) We noted the generals weren't applauding anything. My boyfriend said, can't wait to see the fact checks. There wasn't one thing in Trump's entire laundry list that benefits me. Nothing about Social Security and Medicare. A room full of old rich white guys applauding as Trump brags about oil drilling will be one for the history books as climate change worsens.
I have to give Trump credit for style. It was a well-delivered speech. But with deep, intransgient problems in the implications.
2
Women have filled 58% of the jobs in the last year because we need to work. Most households need two working adults to keep up with cost of living increases. If you have kids and want to send them to college, or if you want to have enough in retirement and save for future healthcare costs, you better work. He didn't suddenly create some great job market for women. Economic necessity is a reality that continues to drive women to the workforce.
4
there are also concepts supported by the likes of crooks Wilbur Ross and Steve Mnuchin: instead of claiming credit for the creation of X real, fulltime jobs, why not make sure everyone gets to work only parttime, splitting every job between two (or more) workers, and so claim 2X jobs created to your credit? double the credit, and no more effort needed!
On Tuesday night he (trump) called for federal abortion restrictions.
On Tuesday night he called “to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb.”
All of his feminist sounding statements were totally contradicted by his hard line on abortion which I'm sure played well to his Evangelical base.
What a phony he is in so many ways.
4
Trump celebrated the election of a lot of Democratic women. He does deserve credit because his awful, disgusting, lying, misogynistic, racist, corrupt behavior inspired a lot of women to get busy and make it their mission to oppose and counter him.
10
We need white hats. Every woman needs a white hat. I'm going to look on Amazon today!!!
1
The trend is his friend!
If women showed very poor results in the last election, he'd show up at SOTU with whips and chains, a misogynist for all occasions.
He did forget to mention how he saved our planet from those aliens who intended to invade Zigon, but accidently landed on Earth. Wow he's great!
4
The women in white gave me the creeps. They looked like the handmaidens in Atwood's book. But let us not forget that we once again face a fight for our right to an abortion on our terms and no one else. Our bodies our choice forever!!!!!!!
1
Oh Trump...you tried...your soft Teleprompter voice, your swaying from one side to another, your self satisfied smile at the adulation, your boasting, your nod to bipartisanship, your connection to your guests...you gave it your best albeit a bit low energy. But your speech rings hallow to me as I asked myself “do you really believe what was written for you? Is it just words on paper or just a performance to give?” Actions speak louder than words so let’s watch to see if your words and actions match.
1
How can anyone applaud and give a standing ovation to a person who has overseen and approved of separating children from their parents and families, caging them, and then losing track of how many there actually are and who there parents are?
Maybe we need some requirements for the State of the Union address starting with: Go ahead and trumpet your accomplishments, but balance them fairly with your failures and your missteps, and then tell us what you plan to do about them.
4
Ever watch Madmen? The characters on the show could be simultaneously courteous and respectful to women, treating them as equals at times, while also derogatory, sexist and disparaging.
This is not the right way to treat people by any means. But Trump's remarks are not surprising.
Trump is an autocratic narcissist . Period. Just words to placate while he continues to wreak havoc on our democracy and our planet. The old saw applies: Actions speak louder than words.
Trump gave us words o his followers can say how kind and caring he his. What a great man he is.
Two more years of this nonsense is two years too many.
1
Trump and the Republicans have figured out that lying works and voters don’t really care—to a point, if a politician lies. On the other hand, Democrats get caught up in things like Hillary Clinton’s emails and Elizabeth Warren’s ethnicity. So it boils down to whether the Democrats can get past purity and vote for someone who can take the fight to Trump in 2020, regardless of how much they “lie” because, obviously, that did not matter to the swing state voters who put Trump in the White House.
2
Twitter Trump is the real Trump.
His State of the Union Speech was smoke.
1
As President Trump started his SOTU address, for some reason the Fleetwood Mac song, “Little Lies” was playing in my head, “Tell me lies, Tell me sweet little lies.” But sadly, Trump’s lies are usually – neither little, nor sweet.
Fortunately, he spared us his proclivity for nasty whoppers in the SOTU, even as he hogged credit for the good and distributed blame for the bad. Nonetheless, his speech was far from unifying, and he came across as clueless when he seemed to take credit for the record number of women elected to Congress in the 2018 midterms. Mr. Bruni’s assertion that “most incongruous of all was his feminism,” seems to fly in the face of the reality of Trump’s rigid position on a woman’s right to choose, even as he sprinkled his speech with the usual bromides relating to paid family leave, women in the workforce, etc.
Finally, was it just me, or did our military generals not look too pleased—barely cracking a smile and offering limited applause—throughout the entire speech. Mattis fallout, maybe?
1
"But he neither exhibited any awareness of that nor made any resolution to improve his party’s stubbornly miserable record of recruiting and promoting female candidates."
Nicole Wallace (MSNBC) had the best line of the night, something along the lines "Melania will probably have to explain to Trump why his comments on women got so much applause from the Democrats."
1
Spot on, Frank Bruni. The man is an actor &, like a peacock fanning its tail, he jutted his beak in the air, preened & performed this well rehearsed script, pre-written by a group of writers with their eyes on 2020. "Incongruent" is most accurate when considering his daily inflammatory tweets to this carefully planned & executed speech, not to mention his intimidating, divisive actions over the past 3 yrs to these broad, sanguine appeals to the nation at large. He is fooling no-one with this act replete with vanity & deceit.
Wow! Frank’s best column ever. He nailed it!
Two-faced liar, hyperventilating carnival barker, conman, grifter, crook and cheater. Doesn't matter what he says now. The majority of Americans now have his number and recognize he is a fake and the people around him, especially his family, are a bunch of exploitative phonies.
2
If Trump is a feminist, he sorely missed the subject of Mother Earth: Not a word about our world's climate change. How's that for a faux leader of the free world!
This column by Frank Bruni is so brilliant. I wish I could write (and think) like that. I'm glad he does it for us. I like all his columns, but this one is especially good - right to the point. With funny parts. Funny, if they weren't so pathetic. Anyway, I just loved it.
Sorry to burst your bubble, Mr. Bruni.
But "champions of women" don't brag about grabbing women by their private parts.
2
“But most incongruous of all was his feminism, closeted until Tuesday night. He framed his concerns about illegal immigration in terms of migrant women being sexually assaulted on the way north to our border with Mexico or sold into prostitution by traffickers.”
What would a real President say after this tragic comment?
1. In coordination with Mexico we have set up safe havens for women and children to minimize sexual assaults and kidnapping by traffickers.
2. These locations are staffed with medical providers and rape counselors.
3. We have worked with the Mexican government to allow our counselor affairs staff begin the asylum request process at various locations. Those who meet the criteria will be provided safe transport to the US.
4. Work with NGOs and dare I say faith based organizations to respond to safeguard the vulnerable before they leave their home countries and/or on their journey.
5. In cooperation with Central and South American governments and allies in Europe ....
If he understood diplomacy he would have workable solutions or at least processes being piloted to protect the vulnerable.
Instead he claims a wall will stop the attacks on women and children.
What does building a wall have to do with ending violence to fleeing women and children?
Cage them in with the perpetrators!
And didn’t his administration change US asylum policy to deny protection for abused women?
Now that’s Trump Grab’em Feminism.
2
I remember when Barack Obama said Trump would not be president. That's so funny.
3
@Mark
Yup. And Hillary went with that ego-trip presumption. And her disdain for the electorate in fly-over states (there's a derisive term for you) gave us Trump.
Hey, Democrats! I suggest you not be so self-satisfiedly smug in 2020. As bad as Trump is, and gets: This time, don't take victory for granted.
Yep, The president has no clothes.
1
Trump decided to let his fictitious alter egos emerge because he finally got the message that we all need to be civil to each other. Unfortunately, he thought the message was that we all need to be Sybil to each other.
2
Is there any chance that "we" could discuss/comment/write about something else for a while? Over and over and over, it just goes on and on and on... totally free and passionate coverage of "what's his name"...
1
More smoke and mirrors and "his folks" are going to believe it. They always do.
1
Why try to build a complex explanation fot Trump’s behavior when a simple one will do. He is a bargain basement con man, period.
1
I truly wish and desire that everyone who knows who and what this man is, would just simply know who and what this man is.
Can we read anymore on his personality traits and shortcomings? Is any of it news to anyone, any more? Does anyone who covers this man expect anything more or less of him, from him?
He is who he is, and this must be faced, squarely. Therefore, in my estimation, there is absolutely nothing else to say about him, nothing else to write about him.
Now when the ca-ca truly hits the fan, i.e., Mueller's investigation, then we can talk. Otherwise, it's all noise to my ears, like when Charlie Brown's teacher speaks to him, all you hear is, "Wa-wa, wa-wa wa-wa wa-wa-wa."
It is funny, however, I somewhat watched the SOTU with the remote in my hand, moving around, preparing for the next day, hitting the remote: mute, unmute, mute, unmute, mute . . . Each time I thought he would say something interesting, but did not, "mute".
The TV stayed on mute for almost the entirety of the "speech".
Gosh everyone. We know the Donald Trump story. We knew it 50 years ago. It’s not a deep story. It wouldn’t be worth reading had 63 million Americans not made him our president. But because he is our president we need to keep rehashing his limitations over and over and over. Omg!
1
Regarding the headline, you mean he tries to come off as a feminist; but it’s the most offensive form of blasphemy to place him in the same sentence as any form of the word feminism. No relation between the two whatsoever.
1
Trump is a fraud. Enoug said. Start talking about the stale, pale, GOP males like, oh I don't know, the junior senator from PA, Pat 'I work to control female bodies' Toomey.
1
My takeaway from this, after the midterms, trump is afraid of those 102 women.
79
@Steve That's funny. Actually what he is doing is triangulating. He knows if he takes a softer tone towards women, those who voted for George W Bush from the Republican suburbs will be more likely to vote for him than any of the Socialist candidates now claiming they want to be President.
It's the same logic as his jail-break legislation which allows felons to get out early. There's nothing inherently wrong with trying to pry 25-20% of the inner city vote away from Democrats, particularly when the other candidate who will be running against him has done NOTHING for the inner city POC over the past 50 years except throw pity parties. There is a large core of social conservatives who live in the inner city and they're flat out tired of being told to first accommodate; then accept; then embrace; and then celebrate the social issues you care about most...abortion and illegal immigration.
They've seen what your passion has done to their community and to their people and at this point, they are asking themselves..what do I have to lose?
Trump has already been told the blowout this fall in the House was a direct result of his tone; not his policies.
If his policies continue on their current pace and the tone gets seriously moderated, the only people who will appear to be unhinged are the Corey Booker's, Maxine Waters', Nancy Pelosi's, Kamala Harris', and Adam Schiff's of the world.
People aren't dumb. They know when the virtue signalling is political, which is now.
4
Mainly he came across as a story-telling phony seeing the World as he wants it to be, untethered to reality. The economy will continue if unfettered by investigation into his dubious activities???
4
"He pretends to care about matters that don’t move him in the least. He feigns blamelessness in situations where he’s entirely culpable and takes credit in circumstances where he has more to apologize for. He presents himself in a positive light, as one kind of person, when his actions paint him in a negative light, as a different character altogether. Many of his biggest lies are to himself."
Not widely relevant to the public when he was head of the Trump organization conducting spurious real estate deals; minimally entertaining to some when he was a reality show "star". Now he's in all our faces, but thanks to the pesky media and the pesky law, he's actually accountable. SNL said it best: "Getting elected President was the worst thing that could have happened" to Trump.
10
I suffered through the whole speech last night. Putting it lightly, I am not a Trump person but last night made me physically sick to my stomach. He never touched on climate concerns, he never touched on the thousands of children that are separated from their parents at his (or Stephen -I hate everyone who is not white) Miller's orders. He never touched on those who are now paying more in taxes this year because of his gifts to the richest in our country. The runaway National debt is now a taboo subject He talked about children's cancer but no mention of how many children are killed because of guns in this country. And on and on it went. The Conservatives seemed like a bunch of well-trained seals who jumped and clapped endlessly. The president got what he wanted -undying devotion and accolades and the republicans got what they wanted-judges and tax cuts-a Faustian deal if ever there was one.
Why can't we just do away with these useless State of the Union speeches-they are no more than a pep rally.
12
Even without Trump, the GOP has problems appealing to women. Aside from the whole unwillingness to acknowledge women have the right to control their own bodies, Republicans consistently vote against fair pay for women.
2
I am sorry that the ladies in white stood up and fist pumped. Trump took it as a salute to him - AND - so too will his followers. Watch them use it as a reference point as to how women and feminists appreciate him.
3
It was not the Trump show at all. It was Nancy Pelosi's and the Democrats Show. From Nancy's dignified welcome to the incredible show of unity of the Democrats and their graciousness compared to Trump and the Republicans mockery of the this country and their mostly faux accomplishments.
I remember that John Boehner never applauded Obama. He just sat there, sullen and shallow, as he proved himself to be.
There was not one Democrat who yelled "You Lie", as happened during the Obama State of the Union address a few years ago. And Trump has been the biggest liar of any President to serve.
The Democrats stood and applauded, not only when he entered but also when he spoke about more women employed right now. Unlike their Republican counterparts show of disrespect for Obama, the Democrats give respect when it is due.
The best part of the speech is when the newly elected women got up and cheered and gave each other high fives. Their enthusiasm was a welcomed respite from all of the hypocrisy coming from Trump's mouth and the Republicans shouts of "USA, USA<,USA" . Since when did they care about the whole of the country.
The speech was to long, too full of lies and misrepresentations and not in the least well delivered, although I must admit that Trump did the best delivery that he was capable of doing.
Have future Presidents report to the people from the Oval Office. It is nothing but an excuses for stage craft when delivered from Congress.
10
Trump’s offenses against women are legion. But it’s obvious to me that the story must address Trump’s wives, all of whom were strong, self-made women of some stature. And even Stormy Daniels and Ms. McDougal seem to fit the same mold.
I’m not saying that these are great women. But they all appear to be independent minded. And no one has ever suggested that Trump grabbed their private parts at will
Trump’s wives are an important part of the story about his treatment of women. If he is abusive to women who lack power but not to those who are reasonablystrong, then that’s the story that needs telling. Describing Trump as the guy who grabs women’s private parts is a superficial caricature, a one liner used by lazy commentators.
2
C’mon, give the man credit. He was largely instrumental in getting those (democratic) women elected! Next up, the 2020 senate. 2020 will see a better future.
Many politicians are tempted to lie in service to causes and constituencies they truly care about, causes that drew them to public service in the first place.
But Trump's lies have never been in service to anything or anybody but himself. Trump has never actually cared about Dreamers, or duct-taped women, or black employment rates, or white employment rates, or women's rights, or veterans, or chemically gassed Syrian children, or rights of the unborn, or family leave to allow parents to bond with their infants (he made sure to tell us he didn't change diapers for his own children or push strollers down 5th Avenue). That is because empathy is utterly absent in his makeup. Self-aggrandizement and power are the only passions he is capable of feeling.
In his mind, all the world, literally, is his stage, and we are not even players, just cardboard cutouts in unreality-show scenes he stages to look important. He is sick.
2
The words that word read from the TelePrompter were written by a speechwriter. The words that his base and his enablers in the Senate wanted to hear as witnessed by the constant chants of USA and wild applause. Did he sound presidential, perhaps to some (not me), but those were not his words. That was not the real man standing there, the real POTUS is the one we all know and have known these past two (exhaustive) years. It's the crazy man who tweets on a daily basis/ The man who walks out on meetings; the man who says he's the smartest one in the room who trusts his gut. That's the real man. No the one some of us saw last night.
3
Actions speak louder than words. Tally up what he’s done and list the behaviors he’s displayed (especially his misogynism ) and that is the real Trump. He’s not fooling anybody with a memory or a brain, not even his diehard supporters who will applaud whatever he says as long as their self serving agendas are carried out.
trump is a feminist just as soon as I'm a Republican! Barring some cataclysmic and unexpected change, neither is likely to happen anytime soon.
1
Trump has done more for the women's movement than any male politician in history. Without out his rise to power and his documented record of female abuse, there would be far fewer women in office today.
Thanks Donald. You work here is done.
Now you can keep your hands to yourself and your mouth shut and we'll all be fine, thank you very much.
3
And above his left shoulder sat the woman of the hour, one who exhorted her Democratic representatives to “go have dinner” if they could not sit through the President’s reality show with the decorum the chamber deserved, one who led them in applause where applause was appropriate, who led them in silence that showed disagreement without disrespect, the one person in the entire chamber who was truly “presidential”—a woman in gleaming suffragette white.
5
@Steel Magnolia: yeah, because no woman ever wore white before.
It not an uncommon color for female politicians -- like bright red or royal blue -- because it shows up so well on a color TV monitor.
This has nothing to do with suffragettes or feminism.
I love the Times admonition that "Comments are moderated for civility."
There can be no civility either in reporting anything Trump says or in honestly commenting thereon.
Most of the opinions expressed by Bruni and others would be starkly inappropriate in any other era, about any other president. Yet to do otherwise would be to obfuscate the terrible truth of this moment.
This is what Donald Trump has done to America.
4
@Barking Doggerel: it is still inappropriate and worse....next Democratic POTUS and the gloves will be WAY off.
They won't get the kid glove treatment of Obama, for whom every criticism was muted because "to criticize the black POTUS is "racism"".
2
How is it possible that someone under countless investigations, and, I believe, not legitimately elected is afforded such an audience for his typical lies and gaslighting? Now, THIS is sad. Of course I didn't watch. I value my health and sanity!
1
This is all a bad dream.
Trump is absolutely Kafkaesque. Surreal.
2
Ah but, Frank, his twisted mind and lying mouth hit women hard in the most misogynistic and patriarchal of ways last night. For me, the lowest point of his Performance of The Year was in Act 3, Scene 2. It was his appeal to the evangelicals against abortion and by extension the right to choose. Women, before millions of the adoring and not-so-adoring, became objects to be judged and stoned. We were told between the lines that we are not
permitted to think for ourselves. The government and the church must think for us. Ironic, isn’t it...I thought we were a democracy rooted in the Separation of Church and State..
1
Is there any persuasive evidence that Trump has achieved anything positive for Americans that would not have occurred had he not been President? Just one please.
@Milton Lewis: ditto for Obama.
Obama made everything 10,000 times worse.
I hated GW Bush, but find myself now weepy with nostalgia for 2001-2008.
So another Trump love and lie fest for himself to pump up his base and rally round the flag for the Republicans. Today it will be business as usual. Trump will take offense at something and the Tweets and rants will start. Turn the page and move on from last night.
What is worrying me is that Democrats will overplay their hand, with all the investigations of Trump and his family. That can be seen as piling on. What I would like for the Democrats in the House to laser focus on as far as Trump is concerned would be in conjunction with the Mueller investigation and the Trump campaign's link to Russia in the run up to the 2016 election. Perhaps that one area would lead to revelations about Trump's finances and his and his family's involvement in getting help from Russia to steal the 2016 election, which in turn could lead to indictments. I would also like to see the Democrats focus on voter fraud and suppression. Making certain those who want to vote can do so, and having that vote count is the most important issue in the upcoming election.
1
Lots about the fake border crisis and the wall, and nothing about the real climate crisis.
Maybe he thinks the wall will keep out global warming.
2
President Trump acknowledged that more women are employed today than at any other time in the US. Glancing at the Democratic women in the audience, it was very clear that more females have been elected to congress than ever before. He congratulated them and thought this was a positive development for our country. Women stood including Democratic women when this point was mentioned. They cheered and were very proud of this fact.
Women can lead as well as men and no one is stopping them. Especially President Trump. He has hired many women and does support them not only in the political arena but also in the workforce. You cannot keep a qualified woman down. He has supported women from the very start and will continue to do so. Last night proved this support.
2
Nice combo of bromides, trying to take credit for women elected SPECIFICALLY to oppose Trump, and outright fantasy—and this really takes the biscuit—about this guy’s having “supported women right from the start.”
Know how you can tell Trump doesn’t hire women into senior positions of authority? No women have been hauled off to the slammer yet. Oh, he’ll have Sarah Sanders or KellyAnne flacking for him, sure. He’ll stick Betsy deVos over in some department he couldn’t care less about.
Pays off campaign donors, nice windowdressing for the suckers. But anyplace they have their hands on his money? Nah.
That Access Hollywood tape? That was the truth about any “support for women.”
2
The huge haul of Fentanyl just discovered by authorities coming into our country originated in China. In fact, there is a pipeline of Fentanyl from China to the USA Trump needs to address. It's not about Central American immigrants. It's the fact that our "trading partner" is flooding our country with a deadly drug. Come on Donald, lean on the Chinese publicly to end this very real attack on our nation. On the other hand, there's a lot of money to be made. Hmm, a real quandary, right?
6
Yes, Con Don, this is the only positive thing I will attribute to you, "“Exactly one century after Congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in Congress than at any time before.”
According to news reports he preened like a peacock when they rose and shouted. He actually thought they were cheering for him.
What an arrogant fool.
10
Another "Drop the Mike" article. Bravo! And thanks for the succinct summation.
For only the second time in my adult like I confess to passing on the State of the Union address. And while I missed the pageantry of the address, a time in which I have always cherished as a worthy salute to our democracy, this year we went to see "Vice" instead. Both are equally fictional, but are equally reprehensible. Both left me yearning for a return to our Democratic roots.
Onwards!
8
Excellent title, article. Trump's comments about women remind me of an article I once published which tried to teach boys something about women's rights. A teacher would give an objective test and then alter the results for the boys and the girls. The boys would receive 65% of their actual score and the girls would receive their actual scores. When I returned the exams the boys quickly discovered they had received an unfair score. They were visibly angered and aggressively protested their treatment. They also asked me if this was a joke. I told them it was not a joke, their grades would stand and I wanted to teach them a lesson. What had happened to them had happened to female workers for centuries. Throughout our history women have been paid about 65% of a man's wage for doing the exact same work. I would let the situation stand for one day before I would reset the original test results. I wanted my male students to become angry and thus better understand the way women have been unfairly treated through our history. Saying we respect women' rights and doing something about it are two different things. Trump's behavior and rhetoric are a perfect example of this.
12
@norv blake: that has been against the law for decades.
However, the problem is that in general....women do not do the same jobs as men and that makes parity very hard.
A female software engineer definitely makes the same as a male software engineer or MORE -- my stepdaughter is a software engineer, and was recruited out of college for MORE than her software engineer husband (same school).
But how do you compare a garage collector with a day care teacher? or a beautician with a mortician? a plumber with a home health worker?
It's not simple. Some of this is a result of the market place, that makes some jobs more valuable than others. It is not always "sexism".
3
I applaud and feel for you, Frank. You are spot on across the board, but it must be so, so tiresome to recount and analyze every element of this absolute train wreck of a person/presidency. He is totally un-tethered to reality, and indeed, to what he said or did five minutes prior. I am grateful for your perspective and willingness to repeatedly dive in...we need your voice and others like it.
7
At this point in the game Trump is not fooling anybody. Those who are loyal to him will remain so. The rest of us hope against hope for some sanity from our elected representatives. Trump is playing nice because he likes to placate the masses before he unloads critical and often offensive tweet storms for his base. The question is, how long will he get away with it all?
7
The question that keeps arising is whether to ignore a President and party (republicans) that have been so extreme and radical in their words and actions for so long, and then pause to say some positive things.
Of course those positive things come with caveats and also threats that if there is not ''bipartisanship - going with what they decide, that there will be ''war'.
It is also hard to judge anything in depth (or even on the surface) when the press and pundit alike LOVE to use the term ''moderate'' for ANYONE that pauses in their extremism for even just a moment.
In our ever fast changing world, it is hard to stay focused, dedicated and resist for two years at a time. Progressives have done that, and even with gerrymandering, lies about the state of the union, and overall disenfranchisement, made historic gains in the house in the midterms.
Stay the course, carry on oversight, be the purveyors of the purse, and lead. In 2 years time, the state of the union will more than likely return to some type of normal, and more than likely be lead by a women (or two ? ).
That will be the ultimate act of feminism.
8
What did you expect in the speech? Did you expect Mr. Trump to beat his breast, cry and recite his version or the equivalent of the Jewish short (sic!!!) confession from the daily confessional prayer:
"we have been guilty… we have betrayed.. we have stolen… we have spoken falsely… we have caused others to sin… we have caused others to do evil… we have had evil hearts… we have become violent… we have attached lies… we have advised evil…. we have lied… we have scoffed… we have rebelled… we have been scornful.. we have been disobedient… we have been perverse.. we have transgressed.. we have persecuted.. we have been stiff-necked… we have been lawless… we have corrupted… we have committed abominations… we have gone astray… we have been led astray… we have turned away from Your commandments " Doubtful that Mr. Kushner taught him this.
If he acts like Trump, you attack him for that. If he doesn't, then you attack his hypocrisy.
He is unlikely to take cues from the editorial policy of the NYT or its columnists.
4
@Joshua Schwartz
"If he acts like Trump, you attack him for that. If he doesn't, then you attack his hypocrisy. "
Actually, there's nothing inconsistent about that. Experience shows that despite anything he may say, it's always the same trump on the inside. After a career of stiffing or betraying people he deals with - business partners, clients, customers, contractors, taxpayers, wives - he isn't going to reform himself just because he now sits in Kremlin West. He is just has a rotten character.
1
a feminist - hahahahahahhahaahahhaahhaahhahaha
9
My condolences to Mr. Bruni who, as a NY Times columnist, felt compelled to watch the disgusting spectacle of this grifter stand before Congress. Grifers grift and that's all his poor excuse of a human does; all his "administration" does as well. There's nothing else there; just grift and idiocy.
11
Bruni has the most astute, original, assessment of the Prez' SOTU appearance. before a mostly captive audience.
Trump the Feminist! Trump the Patriot! Trump, our great benefactor and fearless leader. Reverend Trump who invoked God in his attacks on laws protecting late term abortion. who nonetheless finds it convenient to forgo compassion and respect for life and rights when it involves desperate migrants or LGBT people.
He's the grifter supreme able to switch personas and stories in an instant to draw a crowd response. he can say anything because it's all meaningless tohim
Except , as Bruni says, for satisfying his endless craving for applause, and control.
2
In addition to feminism, Trump has also been great for Democracy. Best thing since the ancient Greeks, really.
2
You have to hand it to this guy. He doesn't choke on the mouthing of hypocritical platitudes. He did prove something though. He can read.
10
He has been using his “executive time” to practise reading.
1
Of course Mr. Trump is a feminist. He is a long time NY Democrat after all.
It is his Republicanism that is fake!
Frank, did you not know the before-turned-president old Trump?
5
A real man who never misses the chance for self aggrandizement The man is a parody of a president Americans may not be the stupidest people on the planet,but our choice of leader puts us in the running
13
Someone once said—
“Who you are speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
That was my experience last night.
8
How could I not imagine Donald Trump scanning his creepy eyes at the women in white trying to figure out if there might be a few that were extraordinarily “hot”? No matter Melania looking on.
There was a sense of weirdness, discomfort when he looked over that way to that white wave....
3
“Many of his biggest lies are to himself.”
Bruni is wrong here. I’m pretty sure Trump is aware he’s putting on an act.
3
See, surprise, surprise...even a wolf can put in sheep’s clothing for an evening....it was just another Trump diatribe- we’re going to have the bear listening and reading about it for at least a week.....ugh!
Trump has told us that all that matters in TV is the chyron.
So I'm wondering: what did the chyrons say last night on Fox, CNN and MSNBC?
2
Reckless of Bruni to write this Feminism op-ed without any mention of what Trump said about rolling back abortion-rights. Substance please!
2
"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask rather what your country can do for me."
4
Anyone who pals around w the likes of Roger Stone and Jeffrey Epstein and paying off playmates is hardly pro women.
No one should pay any attention to the meaningless, vacuous, platitudinous text of his speech. Hollow, empty words, divorced from his actions and mostly from even what passes as his brain. Turn off the sound and see the ocean of rapturous white males adoring him in their thunderous applause. The glorious last gasp of Trump’s America.
5
Polls show he loses with women, so he responded with lies and make believe. That's what he does.
3
Imagine anyone still occupying the White House who daily makes Benedict Arnold look good. Am not sure there is any bleach of forgiveness that can ever wipe out the stain Donald J. Trump has put on this country and our flag.
3
Typical dictator even claiming victory for his losses
3
In response to Trumps speech my only question is who is his speech writer?
@Bonnie
The alt-right wonk Steven Miller reportedly wrote the speech, which also contained some "thought" from trumpster.
An unsuccessful collaboration explains the lone-thought-filler content and lack of transition between subjects.
If this was a paper I was grading ---D.
anyone can say words... we already know what this "president" is all about.
2
“his worst fictions aren’t statistical. They’re spiritual.”
Frank Bruni - BINGO!
2
"when he attached a fecal epithet to countries with largely black populations"
This is worse than the original solecism (possibly because of the verb "attached"). Please don't do that again.
The speech certainly scratched the itch of his base in this intergalactically televised rally, (less the red caps and camo), but brimming with the same old delusions.
When I hear him speak I turn off the volume on my radio on line tv and have for years
Nothing has changed He’s a revolting fraud who cannot speak basic English.
What a waste of time and space .
7
I actually took the sudden burst of applause/laughter/standing by the women in white as irony. That is, they were acknowledging that they were the women who joined the work force, and it was because of him. Because women disliked him so strongly they decided to run and vote against him in the last election. I felt he did not pick up on that irony at all because he has no sense of humor or empathy, the ability to feel what others feel. He just didn’t get it. He some how thought the applause for him was genuine. Since most of the country is not sociopathic, the moment was epic in showing the deep division between him and us—the majority of America.
6
@Electroman72
You got it - he didn't!
Frank Bruni has listed Trump's vaporous verbal wanderings with his usual adroitness.
As I listened to Trump's SOTU speech last night, his endless falsehoods and empty promises had me rolling my eyes so often, vertigo settled in and didn't subside until I retired for the evening. Perhaps the promise to myself that I would take a sip of chardonnay for every lie and other falsehood he blurted contributed to my wobbly situation.
There was, of course, his wish list of demands, and empty promises of bipartisanship, with red meat tossed on the floor for both sides of the aisle. Among them, healthcare for Democrats, anti-immigration (among other conservative causes) for Republicans.
Then he heaped praise on the new female members of the House dressed in white — a curious tribute to his opponents who won based on anti-Trump sentiments by their voters. He seemed to have no clue that HE was the dominant reason for their victories that gave Democrats control of the House.
Throughout most of his speech, he was looking to the Republicans in the audience for approval.
On a minor point, I suspect someone in the role of White House advisor will be crucified for not telling Trump his bright red tie was askew as he strolled into the House chamber shaking hands with well-wishers, and up to the podium. It was his Dilbert moment. (Note: Scott Adams has Dilbert's tie out of control, as if caught in a breezy moment, as a symbol of Dilbert's office life.)
On one level it's just a guy reading a speech someone else wrote. It's meaningless. But the theatrical side of Trump is worth dwelling on. The Trump we normally see is in part an act, a caricature (Mr. Outrageous or perhaps "THE boss"); one he knows disaffected people find entertaining and cathartic. He's of course filling an established blowhard-authority niche. But it's now as much weird theater as politics or news. Mr. Outrageous Goes to Washington is both real and unreal.
Have you ever told a lie and decided to keep defending it and found that it didn't take long for you to start believing it yourself? Or, as a child, did you ever fake sickness to your mother to stay home from school so convincingly that later in the day when she went to work you actually started to feel sick? There is a level of belief in oneself that becomes a mind-sickness and it is easy to spot.
3
Did anyone else notice that when the Congresswomen stood up and applauded their great victories in the mid term elections, Trump said "Thank you"?!
It was as if he took the applause as his own? It was a typical and symbolic narcissistic moment.
The rest of the speech was downright scary. It was his and his enabling speechwriters' and sycophants' twisted version of reality.
5
Just so you know, I was amazed last night that Trump could stick with the script. I don't know who actually wrote the speech but for a public Trump publicity event, which is clearly how he saw it, both writer and orator did pretty darn good.
No I actually didn't listen to the full address. I knew it would be full of misstatements, untruths and outright lies. Who wants to sit through 90 minutes of that after a full day of work.
I also knew that if there was a major policy reversal or revelation, that it would be reported later and most likely more succinctly than Trump blather. And if there were some huge gaff, well that would be today's headline. So I felt pretty confident that if I missed something major, I would be able to get up to speed quickly this morning.
For those of you who come to a NASCAR race just waiting for the pileup and walk away being disappointed, I already got my dose of poorly spent TV time on Sunday night. No need to repeat. That is not to say that I disrespect your desire to watch an extremely important annual address. I was simply not strong enough.
But I did tune in for a few minutes at the beginning of the SOTU just to see that sea of white. Now that was truly historic and something not to be missed live.
2
Thank you Mr. Bruni. I listened to the speech thinking how stupid does he think we are. His assuming the mantle of feminism was annoying to say the least.
But the thing that really left me fuming was when he wrapped himself in the heroism of WWII veterans and the stories of those who survived the Holocaust and the Tree of Life shooting. This from the man who said there were good people on both sides in Charlottesville. CHUTZPAH
3
After a hundred years of being given the right to vote, we have zoomed right along to where we now can brag that we women have gotten pretty close to filling one-quarter of the seats in Congress. Our menfolks have done this for us, and we're very grateful, naturally. And in only 100 years!!!
Australia -- where women were given both the vote and right to run for office 117 years ago -- is happy for us. And Finland -- same thing, 113 years ago -- is happy, too. And so on.
Last night's SOTU speech was just like that book I saw in an Ikea ad - a wheelbarrow full of scrabble tiles.
1
Until such time when at least 50% of elected representatives and Cabinet members are women and a woman has been elected President, anything a male politician says about “gender equality” will be at best, a hollow platitude, if not, as in this case, cynical hypocrisy.
Before concluding that the president is a master of irony, it might be prudent to urge Trump to go ask the Wizard for a brain.
Dressing a bit more like Scarecrow might solve the hair problem too.
1
I didn't watch. I can't take the smirky face or the rasping voice. The lies and gaslighting make me sick.
Instead, I watched a few episodes of the mild, soothing, British "Great Interior Design Challenge" on Netflix.
Resist! Persist! Vote!
2
I see him more as an emotional abuser. He will call you names, lie, gaslight the lie. Then when you have had enough and are about to leave, he will say something nice to make all the other abuse go away, all while making you think this is your own fault. This will happen over and over again , until we are so beat down we will accept anything just short of the worst...
2
I wish your column was required reading for everyone. Thank you.
1
Anybody else thinking that there’s nobody left at the WH who even wants to write a speech for this actor anymore? Looked a lot like a bunch of the random toadies each threw in a couple of minutes of their old refrains, but nobody was willing to edit, and thereby, take responsibility if it didn’t go over, or worse, the guy went off script and really balled it up.
Applauding the increase of female congresspersons is exactly like taking credit for the privacy fence your neighbor felt obliged to put up because of you.
1
Is he that delusional as to think those glorious women in white were standing for him? Yes he did have a hand in their attaining their position it was in spite of him and because of him. He is heinous, his ideals are not the ideals of the majority of people in this country. They won because he is a misogynistic liar manipulator and grafter whose days are numbered. As we still await the report from Mueller. Can impeachment be far behind? As I watched the SOtU in its entirety I became more and more enraged at the applause from the right. Are they that out of touch with reality? And my answer is yes they are. How sad for this country, I thought it was divided under Obama, this is far worse than ever imagined.
Mr. Bruni this column was in a word.........BRILLIANT.
1
trump's idea of unity is: you give me everything I want and I'll throw you a few crumbs.
3
POTUS clearly came out as not feminist with his statements about abortion (a medical procedure).
What is it about this dude that makes me loathe him more than George Bush whose underlings convinced him to invade two countries and cause massive death and destruction. As was once observed about this “President”, at least he’s not a cannibal. It is something visceral that works both ways for those who say they support this man and those that find him repulsive to the nth degree. I don’t get it. I feel like I have somehow crossed over into a parallel universe, another earth. As much as NIxon drove me nuts, this guy is off the “hook.”, and that is about as civil as I can be as I approach 75 years of existence on this rock.
5
Trump, so well known as a misogynist, now a feminist? What a sore joke! Charlatans abound, but Trump, we must concede, gets the ribbon.
1
"Many of his biggest lies are to himself."
Well, yeah. If you were Donald Trump, you'd have to lie to yourself (constantly and phps. unknowingly) just to get out of bed in the morning. Honest self-reflection would be too much to bear.
Re: his admirable goal to eradicate HIV/AIDS, I notice he mentioned no specifics at all. Like his lip service to combat the opioid crisis, I expect he forgot his promise as soon as uttered the last syllable.
(Also, because he's Trump, if he really does have a plan, I wouldn't be shocked if it involves no AIDS education, communications outreach or input from the CDC, but instead simply identifies current patients and at-risk people to be quarantined in detention centers like the ones at our southern border. I take no joy in thinking so little of a sitting president, but this is the level of "solution" I expect of someone deficient in both intellect and compassion.)
I was also struck that he (with zero irony) decried late-term abortion as the ripping of a child from a mother's womb, with no concurrent realization that his immigration policy has ripped thousands of infants and children from their parents' arms, with no means ever to reunite a large bulk of them. It's the same lack of realization that lets him not connect the new crop of women in Congress with the fact that most of them ran for and won their seats specifically as a rejection of him and his policies.
Yes, Frank, America's POTUS lies to himself all the time.
4
The SOTU speech was like that book I saw in an Ikea ad - a wheelbarrow of scrabble tiles.
Of the many scary deluded views of the world I witnessed tonight, I am chilled to the bone by the normalization and consequent acceptance of a reality that continues to evolve stemming from an election that we know in our heart of hearts was scammed and relentlessly enhanced by a incessant torrential onslaught of the brain washing shameless lies emanating from its puppets and authored by its puppeteers.
Trump is not anti-women, anti-black, anti-anything. If it helps Trump, he be the most pro-choice, pro-woman President in history. He'd also send his children to jail, run over a disabled veteran with his car and marry Pelosi. He prays to only on God, and he/she/they are named Trump
In addition, Melania Trump, in choosing a guest to exemplify the problems with bullying, doesn't select someone with a dramatic story (say one suffering long-lasting psychological or physical problems) but someone who's bullied because his last name is Trump. In that way, the president also gets to feel aggrieved, which is one of his favorite emotions.
5
He dominated last night.
Politics is about optics and accomplishments.
Trump won both and liberals are in trouble.
Pretend you care more about this country than you do about your party and then I'll believe your complaints about what is fake and what is not. Trump is better than any politician you have right now...and that is your game, isn't it? Politics?
28
@Fantasy Dude
well no actually, my game is to elect leaders that are kind and thoughtful and willing to make choices that will benefit the middle and working class, and will shore up our entitlement institutions like social security and medicare.
I don't really care about optics or trophy wives
116
@Fantasy Dude
You are funny.
Trump reading from a teleprompter is all about staying on track and appearing presidential, which he may have done. That is the optics you speak of.
But as we all now, it will be only a matter of hours before he tweets himself off the rails, once more.
The man is a human wrecking ball. If this is what you consider to be the best politician on the field, than we have a bigger problem.
And that problem is the people, who in spite of the mounting evidence of corruption and criminal activity by his corporation, campaign and administration, still support the man.
Mental healthcare professionals call it selective inattention. You see what you want to see. You hear what you want to hear.
That is the crisis we face today.
105
@Fantasy Dude
Correct. It was a huge win for the president. He sounded very presidential and generally killed it on a whole bunch of levels. He used his guests in the audience more effectively to make his points than I've ever seen done. Typically I find it extremely annoying when politicians use personal interest stories in this manner, but this time it worked extremely well. And it's tough to hear all the facts about how well the country has done under Trump and argue that he hasn't done a good job especially since his economic agenda has been essentially, "everything Obama did, do the opposite" (i.e., unwinding business killing regulation and lowering taxes to encourage investment). Now suddenly the economy is firing on all cylinders after a long but meager recovery under Obama, and people are coming off the sidelines to join the labor force which was perpetually dropping under Obama. Notwithstanding how ridiculous it is, some people actually have the gall to imply that this is still Obama's economy over two years after Trump turned things in overdrive (even though we were way overdue for a recession when Trump came into office and interest rates are finally coming up after an unprecedented period of ~0% interest that essentially overlapped with the entire time Obama was in office)...yeah right.
6
Ironically he is congratulating the women who will be presiding over his demise. I find this all the more insulting. He has done nothing for women. There are almost none in his administration, nor have any of his policies helped them.
Kudos to Nancy Pelosi and the House women for artfully drawing attention to this moment. I could not bear to watch the speech, but this highlight is being well publicized and should galvanize women even further.
"He presents himself in a positive light, as one kind of person, when his actions paint him in a negative light, as a different character altogether. Many of his biggest lies are to himself."
Great observation.
The president was caught by surprise as the women in white self-identified with Trump's bragging about women and jobs. When I heard it, as they did, it was so clear that he was speaking about women like them.
It was really funny in a way the president just didn't get it, grinning as he did over the Democrats' wins after all his lines against the evils of resistance and "revenge"--qualities he exhibits on a daily basis.
Frank, what you label a "bossy streak," I call authoritarian. Of all the lies the president tells himself, that is the worst--that he has more power than he does, which makes him blast past the boundaries of separation of powers.
For a man who professes to love America and its values, his actions don't reflect it. Yes sir, "many of his biggest lies are to himself."
237
@ChristineMcM
Your last sentence sums up trump and his entire republican party!
21
@ChristineMcM
Anytime we hear a so called man like him use the word love as much as he does we can be sure there is no love anywhere in his soul.
8
@ChristineMcM
The women in white were disturbing... it looked like a group of KKK women who left off their hoods so as to not mess their hair.
Very bizarre.
The newly elected Democratic House members did an admirable job restraining their revulsion for Trump. But the undertones were apparent. Trump could have achieved at least a degree of rapprochement by acknowledging their success in the mid-term elections but of course he missed that opportunity. Anyone who believes Trump is a champion of women would also believe that Putin is a champion of democracy.
201
@nzierler
He did acknowledge their success in the mid-term elections. That's why they all stood up and applauded.
6
Vladimir Putin is a champion of the concept of "one man, one vote", since he's the one man.
15
@Samuel Russell
Correction. He saidmore women are employed than ever before. He did not mention their success in the Mid-terms
10
As a long time AIDS activist, I was pleased he mentioned HIV/AIDS. Just so happens the States with the highest transmission rates are States without Medicaid Expansion. We need access to health care and affordable housing to end this epidemic. Unfortunately, the Republican Party has so far refused to seriously address either need.
395
@JohnMcFeely Don't forget his proud smile when he talked about kneecapping the Affordable Care Act, then praised the little girl who battled cancer. My head throbs from the cognitive dissonance.
3
It's probably too much to ask of any politician, but I wish the next president would end the practice of inviting guests to the State of the Union address.
Or am I the only one who winces at the sight of people being used as means of turning the address into a public-relations stunt? Like photo-taking with similar guests invited to the White House (in any administration), it's about letting the president gain credit by association. He introduces someone who deserves our admiration or good will, and it's as if he were the champion of their cause. With Trump, who is never really the champion of any cause but his own, it's especially painful.
The guests were not invited to receive recognition, but to make the Man of the Hour look good.
549
@Longestaffe..But they did receive recognition and that recognition seemed to be very sincere.
9
@Longestaffe
At least previous presidents would only invite guests who were noteworthy for something that happened during their terms. Not to belittle his guests, but trump had to reach back to before he was born, to WW II to bask in their reflected glory.
22
@Longestaffe
Trump is guilty of using his guests to not only bask in their glory but to promote racism, bigotry, and exclusionary white nationalism.
This was a disgusting display of the most indecent inhuman trait of this man.
Donald Trump is a sociopath - manipulative and evil, immoral and unprincipled. And yet pundits are analyzing his speech as if he is normal. He is not.
This speech is the rambling of a dangerous man.
66
This should have been the State of the Union. As usual Bruni’s perspicacious observations hit bullseye, squarely in the jaws of Trump hypocrisy. Touché for the women in white, long May we live.
4
Great column Frank! The hardest part of the Trump presidency is that so many people voted for him and continue to support him and think he’s great. I know I’m in a bubble here in metropolitan New York, but it’s still bewildering, and I guess you really can’t fix stupid.
4
Your final comment largely explains your first observation. Not everyone who disagrees with you is stupid. Ill informed? Yes. Marginalized by the political process? Certainly. Trump was elected not because of who he is but because of who he is not. His failed marriages, slippery real estate deals, broad ignorance and bankruptcy as a business plan notwithstanding, he isn’t Hillary, he isn’t currently a Democrat, he isn’t a woman, he isn’t a career politician, he’s not a DC insider, etc. And defining those who gravitate toward him as stupid or deplorables will only strengthen that image.
We all know Trump's real opinion of women, and like everything else about the man, it's shrouded in lies. We don't need to be completely Trump-obsessed, but we do need to be Trump-concerned. While praising the intelligence of the American electorate, Trump secretly knows that they can be led around like bulls with nose rings - only instead of bullrings, he uses their beliefs and prejudices to lead them wherever he wants.
If DJT doesn't destroy our fragile democracy, he has published the blueprint and playbook for some other demagogue to do it later. If a democracy like America's is going to exist, there will have to be a paradigm shift in human thought throughout the world.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a linguistic "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of all. When we understand this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
1
Has Trump previously expressed concern about those with H.I.V.? Well, there was his worry that the US was taking in AIDS-afflicted Haitian and African immigrants.
Has Trump previously addressed women's empowerment? Well, he dismissed many in the MeToo movement as liars, saying that it's a scary time to be a man in America, and mocked Dr. Ford in particular. Trump is also an instrument of the anti-choice movement. As for women in political power, there is the condescending way he's treated Merkel, May and Pelosi.
Forget what Trump says when he's following a script. What counts is the rest of the time, when his own true, crude character comes through.
3
“Altered States” of the Union larded with ‘alternative facts’. Contradictory, false, venal and desperate is what I heard. As Bruno makes clear, it is such an unwieldy diatribe, stilted in delivery. The president ached for applause as he is seeking reinforcing feedback, it felt like forced validation where his invited guests ( of whom there was plenty of honor ) were props in his show. It was virtually subterranean versus any soaring heights of inspiration. A collection of empty calls for collective progress. It stank.
1
Bruni did such a masterful job of capturing the incoherence and immortality of Trump. Aside from the points Bruni captured I was struck by the assertion that the US never become socialist and cheers in the chamber. Really? So are the republicans in favor of eliminating social security, Medicare, benefits for veterans? Do these people even know how ridiculous they sound? Or maybe that really is their game plan
5
The Apprentice convinced millions of gullible Americans that Donald Trump was a tough, no nonsense, highly effective CEO. The reality was that he was constantly mired in bankruptcy, couldn’t get loans from US banks, and most likely funded his enterprise through corrupt laundered Russian money.
The President of the United States, in his State of the Union address, convinces those same gullible Americans of his compassion for others and desire to bring people together to move a fractured nation forward.
For all of his faults, Donald Trump does excel at one thing: using television to effectively manipulate the minds of millions of intellectually lazy Americans who are too star-struck to know that in both cases he is simply acting.
4
Feminist 'til he got to reproductive rights, then he was his most exaggerated, fear-inciting self. And PS, the Republicans aren't really interested in those unplanned births once they arrive-forget healthcare, nutrition, decent schools.
1
THE most tone deaf man in the world continues to shout at the top of his lungs. Unity? Trump. Unity? This guy? He can spout off the words others write for him and act like they're his words, but we know better.
His words were, if you want anything from me, quit investigating. If you want peace, leave me alone. Give me my wall.
1
Why do these State of the Union addresses even exist? For years now they have been silly spectacles in which one side gives a standing ovation for the most insignificant utterance and the other glowers in sullen silence. The audience is seeded with story-supporting pawns who get their 15 seconds of fame and soon are forgotten. Stated 'agendas' are exercises in wishful thinking. "Accomplishments" are eagerly acknowledged even if undeserved.
They are, to be blunt, a waste of time. And this president, who exemplifies emptiness of thought and spirit, makes them a mockery.
5
I no longer pay any attention to what Trump says. I am waiting for Congress to do its job and get rid of him.
1
I was still on a treadmill at the gym when the orange load appeared on a TV directly in front of me - it was disgusting.
2
That was one of the most embarrassing things I have ever witnessed. There is so much ripe comedic material there. Trump saying 3 words, and a boisterous sycophantic group of Republicans howling over every line he uttered. He seems particularly unnerved by the growing popularity of socialistic programs. His most divisive shot saved for the 'radical left', because he knows we are coming for him. The great irony of his speech--that will be the only one of any historical significance--was his pronouncement that socialism will never work in this country... the irony being that he will be a one-term president who is usurped by a socialist, Bernie Sanders. He knows it too. That was the moment that that speech will be remembered by. Everything else was pure word-vomit, only at a seering slow pace, and toward a group of followers who had no autonomy. You want to talk about freedom--the people in the audience didn't seem to have much of that--lots of fake smiles, fake applause, clearly some were worried about their job--if they were not overtly and exaggeratedly enthusiastic. I can tell you one thing, his working class base was most likely sickened by the theatrics, and the only impression you could possibly be left with after watching that is--that we clearly have a new disgusting ecosystem of swamp creatures.
1
Last night's SOTU speech should instead have been labeled the SOTM: the State of Trump's Mind, such as it is.
Correctly described, that state would have been unprincipled, evanescent, ephemeral, unstable, jaundiced, self-absorbed, child-like and malicious. And that's being kind. In any case, what was in Trump's mind bore little resemblance to the state of the nation in which we live, let alone the one in which a majority of Americans wish to live.
Trump lives in an alt-reality that has little to no relationship to the truth. Like any practiced con artist, he says what he thinks he needs to say at any given moment, regardless of its veracity, and regardless of his incoherent, if at all existent, belief system. He lives only to manage the moment. To him, the relevant world exists only in his head, while everything and everyone else is irrelevant.
We are entitled to far better from a president. We are entitled to a national conscience, one who reflects our ideals and the moral fiber woven into our best moments, not our worst. What we have is a Manipulator-in-Chief, disassociated and disconnected from anything except his whims and his dwindling hard-core base, bereft of convictions of his own, other than being recognized as Number One.
As for the State of the Union? Trump wouldn't know, and doesn't care.
2
This is "Trump's brand of a President" on display. He divides "himself" out of himself so that he can create a new image to manipulate "we the people". He has divided himself out of himself many, many times, and it is becoming evident that his creativity is wearing out. You can see from the way he looks at who he's speaking to that he only sees the delusion he has created inside his head. There is no way out for him but total insanity, eventually, hopefully soon!!
I did not watch because what Trump says is worthless. Not meaningless -- because words do matter, very much so -- but worthless because his words can never be trusted.
2
Bottom line: This person has proven himself as completely and utterly undeserving of my trust. I disregard everything he says. His actions do not align with his words. We call such a person a liar. I do not associate with liars.
2
Trump proclaims the need for a wall based on preventing human trafficking and therefore Speaker Pelosi supports human trafficking. The president is unmoored by truth or shame.
I didn't watch. Listening to tRump speak is to subject oneself to abuse by a sociopath and narcissist. Anyone who's ever been in a bad relationship with such a person had the TV off last night. I don't care what he says or does. It's all lies.
2
Trump threw a bone to most important voting blocks -- African-Americans, LEGAL immigrants, evangelicals, Jews, swing states, and women.
This was nothing but a public relations stunt paired with anti-immigrant fear tactics, after Trump's approval rating took a dive due to the shutdown.
You can be sure that part of his obsession with The Wall includes kickbacks to himself from the contractors who would build it.
3
Right you are, Frank....given their purer ideals, the feminist champion has already been claimed by those in the Democratic party. That's the former party of the powerless and the poor, now better known as the party of the empowered and the rich....the coffing-contributors.
Sadly, both parties have not stood up and delivered, with many powerful men of red and blue affiliation violating women. A true champion is the one who respects women and their rights.
Of course, he is feminist enough to take money away from Planned Parenthood and is anti-choice for women. Has had so many dealings with women in his life that he surely knows what women should want.
2
Great column. But it also needs to be pointed out that Trump obviously didn't write even one word of the speech and didn't understand, much less believe, half of what he was robotically, phonetically mouthing.
2
Frank you very well tease out own word - delusional. There are many takes on the president well applied, yet delusional is often a good summary of it.
1
Trump's morphing of his presentation, the utter inconsistency of his words and deeds, his apparent unawareness of any of these traits is more than notable. When does this sort of disassociative personality cross the line into mental disease? It is not the only set of "symptoms" observable with this man.
3
When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
I don't like Trump. Never have, never will. He's not my cup of tea, but I did vote for him.
The NYT and Frank B in particular seem to not have a cell in their brains to allow for the possibility that Trump is atoning for a life of excess and brutal political games. As he said in 2016..I've bought and paid for nearly every politician in the Congress, including Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, and many others.
You didn't think he gave Hillary Clinton a $100,000 check for her and Bill to attend his wedding for his health, did you? He was buying access to political power.
So if you take him literally (instead of figuratively..which the NYT is still doing after 2.5 years), you see a man who seeks redemption and forgiveness for his past sins and has been delivering on that promise ever since he was elected President.
That's the frustrating part for Mueller, the NYT and the rest of the pitchfork mob after him.
He used a lot of very unsavory people in the past to get to where he was. That's the life of a NY real estate developer. He paid for a lot of access and favors, and those members of the swamp delivered for him. The fact no establishment types would associate with him during the campaign or early in his Presidency meant he needed to find people who would join the campaign...later to be purged when he found they were not buying into his Redemption and Forgiveness tour.
Open your eyes!!
He's doing what he promised.
@Erica Smythe
Atonement?
How do you connect that to the fact that he purged his "buddies" when they were under scrutiny, but failed to purge any businesses, many of which have earned him more because he exploits the office of the President as a lure. And when he gets direct control again. any property sales will be taxed even less because ot the Tax Bill.
The poor boy. To think that anyone might beware of a snake.
2
@cheryl He purged his "buddies" because they weren't up to the task of adhering to the rules he had in place for when he took office.
And what do you mean...purge any businesses?
Is the only qualification for POTUS that you own no property or business? You want career politicians running for office only?
That's how you end up with the Clinton's who didn't own their own home until they were out of the White House at over 50 years old...and are now worth in excess of $50 million.
I'd rather have a Trump, Bloomberg or Schultz in office....and they can put their business interests in a blind trust...as Trump was required to do.
If you can't believe your own lies, Frank, how can you expect anyone else to do so.
I was reading "Hillbilly Elegy" last night when my better, much prettier half, channel surfed into Trump's speech about the time he congratulated himself on the fact that he was responsible for so many women representing America in Congress. Come to think of it, that wasn't a lie at all.
As Trump refilled his lungs to launch back into his mendacious meanderings, my wife hit the "Off" button and we went to bed.
1
Democrats, Trump gave you a gift last night. He gave you an early look at his campaign strategy. He is going full-tilt populist: slash drug pricing, cure HIV, protect pre-existing conditions, support women in the workplace; and yes, finally for his base, babies are being murdered, latino immigrants are mostly murderers. The sheer glare of his cynicism and hypocrisy cannot stun you like a deer in the headlights. Democrats, now that you know what his messaging is going to be, you have to have an alternative populist narrative that exposes his hypocrisy. The Stacey Adams soaring idealism, is admirable and appealing to the liberal base, but it will lead the Resistance to the path of defeat and another 4 years of Trump. That would be tragic.
As to Trump’ s denouncing anti-Semtism, he erased the context of the Tree of Life massacre from the reality of the event: the killer was incensed at the signature mission of the congregation- the welcoming settlement of refugees in our country. Listening to the speech and the heartwarming tribute to the holocaust and massacre survivor one could forget that Trump and the murderer share a common bigotry.
3
Frsnk: This is a truly great column. Every paragraph is a bulls eye. It represents what the press is really all about - giving us the truth in the midst of "standing ovations" for lies.
But there is sadness also in that few of the millions of his "twitter and voting" friends will ever read the NYT and those that due will simply call it "fake news."
Of course we should all feel reborn by the words of his press secretary who claims God wanted him to be president. Would you please ask God what was he thinking?
It has been said He/She works in mysterious ways.
Which newspapers “try not to mention” a certain word for a body part? You must be joking. In the wake of that one videotape, “the word” was all over - repeated and repeated and repeated, in print, on television, on social media. Hats were named after it; blouses were referred to by it. The media couldn’t get enough of using trump as an excuse to keep repeating it. The public couldn’t decide if they were affronted or wanted to appropriate and “empower” it; couldn’t decide if it was a term of derision or a badge of honor. Be honest.
1
Meh. Who cares? It isn't news that politicians are two-faced propagandist hypocrites. Why not have one who is overt about it? Would you rather he stick to his divisive guns? Bring on the peaceful, feminist pantomimes- it is truly unlikely to numb the masses. It has a better chance of confusing his followers into piping down for a minute, so we can continue to organize against the reality of the actions taken by his administrations.
DT actually has promoted a substantial number of women into positions of power. You have to be very specific when you tell the genie your wish. As always, devil is in the details.
2
I'm so happy I didn't watch it.
Trump's lies fool no one, not even himself. Fortunately, the SOTU speech will not be remembered for even 48 hours.
1
Maximus the gladiator to Commodus the weak and cowardly emperor: the time for honoring yourself will soon come to an end.
2
Trump can be credited for one thing - the resistance. Most of us here in CA are part of this resistance. We stand against Trump's obliteration of environmental laws, civil rights, women's rights (overturning of Roe v Wade), LGBT rights and more.
He's responsible for energizing a new generation of young women who realize women's equality has still not been achieved and our president has no interest in it.
3
I wonder, since trump loves praise and approval so much, whether the positive reinforcement he experienced from his feminist stance last night might become a reality for him. If he is praised for it, perhaps he'll really act accordingly. They call me a cockeyed optimist.
6
@J.Sutton
He may enjoy saying similar words.
But I doubt we'll ever see behavior to match.
1
I did not watch the speech . After more than 8000 lies, that we know of, what' the point? His words carry no integrity.
15
Don't believe anything Trump says. Every word is designed to enhance his own image and/or maintain the support of his base. Trump doesn't care about the truth or falsehood of his statements, it's all about the 'positive' impact.
We have the most insecure president of modern times, who knows that all his claims to success are hollow, that his wealth is entirely due to the unwavering support of his father, and that he is scared to death of being found out.
5
My kids once shared with me that they truly never listened to me, especially when I raised my voice. Since they have, by reasonable standards, become responsible and successful adults, I was surprised to learn my rantings went "unheard".
When I inquired further, they both shared that while they didn't listen, they did watch. My daughter looked at me and said "you aren't what you SAY, you are what you DO".
DJT could learn a lot from a couple of kids.......
10
Don't be fooled. After the recent government shutdown, Donald Trump's approval ratings are tanking and he knows it, so if anything this last ditch effort to appeal to women voters and pleas for bipartisan unity are just part of the game plan for his survival. He hasn't changed. Just wait and see.
It won't be long.
14
Even his speech was chaotic. The only uniting theme in it was about him. Indeed since becoming president, everything has been about him in his eyes. No one has a good reason to oppose him, challenge him, ask him the smallest questions, or even say he might be wrong. He is as false as they come. So, too, are the Republicans who applauded for him.
It's very clear that this administration is one of the most incompetent in modern times. The best part of Trump's speech was its end.
22
Frank Bruni gets it completely right. He seems to have Trump’s number, which is not that hard to get I suppose. Trump is no feminist and his attempts to play nice were often overshadowed by his penchant for bossiness and self-congratulations. There were also plenty of non sequiturs — reflecting an unrealistic, sometimes unrelated and growing laundry list of policy changes that will probably never happen. Trump was clearest when he denounced “socialism”, seeming to direct his comments at Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, symbols of the rising progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Ironically, we can only hope that these progressive figures and others can undo the mess he already has made.
15
You know, I kinda like Trump. Nobody else could have injected this much energy and focus into progressives, nobody else could have galvanized those disparate forces intent on restoring this nation to a path of progress, toward the future. He still has work to do - he has to make the reality of our environmental and climate degradation even more palpable, though he and his cohort are well along that path. He still has to champion the overturning of Roe, which is sure to further motivate the women of this country. I've long thought that our national situation had to become even worse than it had already become since the days of Reagan and his trickle down idiocy. And, sure enough, it has, and Trump is the walking, talking, lying embodiment of our crisis. Yes, he still has a little work to do. And then we have a lot.
35
Perhaps this was too obvious, but the Congresswomen were celebrating because they had won some of those "new" jobs by running against Trump, an irony he did not seem to appreciate.
52
Not to mention that some of those 300000 jobs were government employees taking new jobs.
3
For one who watched with horror the grilling of Anita Hill in the Thomas hearings by all white males in dark suits, it seemed like poetic justice to watch a group of white -suited women, including one in the House Speaker's seat. Our time is coming!
333
Not until we Get Out the Vote and stop voter suppression, removal of Democrats from voting roles and get more working voting polls set up. There’s some very heavy lifting we still need to do to make 2020 a #BlueWave2020
27
Those women of the Democratic Party who cheered with Trump are fools. And so was Nancy Pelosi for standing and applauding Trump when he asked for a new era of bipartisan cooperation. What Trump meant was that he wants Democrats to cooperate with him. You can forget about him giving you anything you want in return, that he doesn't want. The same goes for all Republicans in Congress. It's time for Democrats to realize what's happening in American politics. On the right, we have Republicans who are very effective at selling their ideology with weak lies. On the left, are Democrats who are equally terrible at selling their noble positions. Case in point, Nancy Pelosi saying that Trump's wall is immoral. If only she had meant 'immoral in the sense of wasting taxpayer dollars'. But she didn't. It is not immoral to protect our borders. It's immoral to build a useless wall that won't protect our border. Republicans want what they want, and will never give Democrats what they want. They know they can lie to Americans and win. Bipartisan cooperation is dead. So, let's stop pretending. The December 2017 tax cuts were sold by Republicans as necessary to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Meanwhile, the Fed simultaneously raised the discount rate to prevent the economy from overheating. The justifications for those tax cuts were an outright lie. They were a gift to rich Americans and corporate America. They were thievery on the grandest scale.
23
It is tough to watch that sort of obsequiousness. But sometimes a bit of demonstrated courtesy and touching the olive branch is acceptable. When a brutal murderer aka a Middle Eastern dictator meets a Western leader - they shake hands, sit together, drink tea and speak in moderated tones. It is part of the great game. So take heart more than disgust, the Dems are not gonna get played by this speech.
@Aurora You miss the point that Pelosi pointed her finger at Trump as she rose to applaud. In other words, she was saying "right back at ya, Donald Trump, or as I like to call you, Donald!"
3
At some point the media is going to have to concede that Trump is not the monster they have been portraying to the American people and that he's actually a pretty good president. The constant hate coming 24/7 from the media is wearing thin and losing credibility.
6
@rpe123 I actually think the credibility is lost everytime he contradicts himself and his advisors, distorts the facts and outright lies time and time again. You can buy in to the fake news theory if you want, but the facts are the facts.
1
What, in your view, makes him a good president? Is it the lies about fixing the North Korea problem, when it was Trump's provocation of Kim that drove us closer to war last year? North Korea is still building and hiding nuclear warheads and missiles. This is an utter failure. How about the lies about the US economy, which is definitely not the hottest one in the world right now? His boasts about minority unemployment levels, which had been the lowest historically but are now creeping up as the temporary stimulus of giving 2 trillion dollars to the obscenely wealthy fades? His lies about a slightly altered trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, which amount to rearranging the deckchairs? His utter fabrication of a crisis on the southern border, which requires billions of dollars of wasteful spending for ineffective fence, walls, or whatever he's calling it today? Some of the children that he deliberately separated from their parents in order to make their lives as hard as possible to discourage other asylum-seekers will never, repeat never, be reunited with their parents. This is a crime.
Trump is not an excellent president. He's not a good president. He's not even a fair president. He's the worst president of my long lifetime. I pray we will not see another of his kind this century, because we simply can't afford it.
4
Over the years I have put forth the idea, in conversations with contemporaries and on comment boards across the country, that my generation (I am 64 years of age) came up in the most amazing time in human history. I suppose many generations have felt the same way in their time, so I won't bother to defend my position.
If it were within my power to go back in time to any point in my life, it would be very difficult for me to choose one.
But right now, after forcing myself to sit through this most recent State of the Union address (mostly to observe the historical import of the women and people of color in the Democratic caucus) I would pick any time before this country had for a leader a man who, as reported by Rachel Maddow in the MSNBC coverage, required phonetic spelling on his teleprompter to get through the night.
And this from a man who once ridiculed President Obama for using that same device.
Talk about a disgrace.
39
Trump is a pathological wizard at twisting reality to fool us all.
Good analysis of his sleight of hand, Frank, who knew he'd be so brilliant at it, getting seemingly normal Americans to fall for it and are still defending him. That's the real terror.
I didn't watch it, being unable to bear the sound of his voice anymore.
19
@suejax Rather than listen to Trump speak, I chose to watch and listen to a Sarah Brightman performance.
1
Thank you for the recap. I left the TV off. That pouty-mouth makes me sick to watch, much less hear.
40
Yes, Frank. We need the sincerity of Democrats rather than a fictitious alter-ego. Who were in favor of tight border security and voted for border barriers and derided illegal immigration for years ... until Trump did the same. Who called for disengagement of the US military from Mideast hot spots and an end to endless nation-building in other parts of the world ... until Trump said the same. Who supported free economies until the Left socialist fringe no longer became a fringe.
Oh, and never ever trust anyone who has ever changed their mind on anything, whatsoever, at any time under any circumstance. Such behavior couldn't possible be sincere. At least not if it's Trump, that is.
4
The leitmotif in Trump's SOTU speech was his Reality TV persona shining through his lies, promises, braggardry and smug patriotism. We saw through his fake pleas for unity and comity. His speechwriter, a shrewd Millennial 40 years the president's junior, crafted clever words underscoring the blatant disunion of our democracy.
There is a crisis in our country and it's not immigrants invading the US from Mexico. Trump's speech to us didn't mitigate our present reality, an unfit president. Donald Trump will surely face the "ridiculous partisan investigations" he sneered at. We all witnessed our Congressional Democrats opposing our nationalistic president last night.
7
While I was listening to Trump tell the world how great women are I cringed at the hypocrisy. Women are great and that is why he treats them as his track record proves? Good for AOC who did not join the standing ovation.
13
The State of the Union address was like an owner of a defunct university promising the moon but lacking any specifics about curing childhood cancer, initiating bold infrastructure projects or lowering drug prices.
Just like the con artist that he was in trying to reinvent himself after being a failed university owner and gambling entrepreneur, Trump is finding that as president he can fool some people all of the time.
9
"So Donald Trump is a champion of women. Who knew?"
You should have known from the fact that our ambassadors to the UN have both been women. From the fact that he has given Ivanka a bigger role than presidential daughters typically get. His first wife and ex-wife has been a supporter of his.
True, there is also the down side of his sexual talk and his sexual behavior.
But every man is a patchwork. Plus and minus. Obsessed with his negative aspects you have pretended that the positive aspects were not there.
But they were there all along. you just did not have the eyes to see them.
1
Trump calls women who disagree with him dogs, pigs, low IQ, it goes on and on. The only variation in his utter disdain for women is when that woman happens to be African-American, and he can also denigrate their intelligence as well as their ethics.
Trump is appointing judges who will either repeal or nibble to death Roe versus Wade. Trump consistently makes bad decisions because he doesn't know anything, doesn't want to learn, and has the same sexist and racist attitudes that his own sexist and racist father instilled in him as he was raising Trump in a bubble of wealth and privilege. He is the least introspective president of my lifetime, and he is doing irreparable harm to our environment, our social safety net, our standing in the world, and our economy. You cannot run an economy on the sugar high of a 2 trillion dollar tax cut to the obscenely wealthy for more than a year or so. Unfortunately it won't be Trump who bears the brunt of the worst of his clueless decisions.
3
Is this sarcasm?
3
I did not watch the speech but had a good laugh this morning watching the Times’ recap video, especially the part in the speech about women in office.
Frank you nailed it! In addition to seemingly taking credit for the record number of women in Congress, I was surprised Trump didn’t also try to take credit for the iPhone’s creation, the Patriots’ six championships, and NASA’s photos of Mars as well; though such claims would have been as ridiculous as his sudden respect and support of women. He is a living breathing SNL skit.
22
If Trump were a feminist, he would give asylum to all those women he claims are marching through mexico and have been sexually attacked. If Trump were a feminist he would apologize to every woman he has hurt and maligned over his life time. Of course that would take the next two years, but it would be more valuable than anything else he will do.
Yes, he helped all those women who gained election in House, but as a clear negative reaction to his misogyny.
8
Attributing reason, meaning or direction to what this president says is like making such an attribution to a magic 8-ball. Sure, the 8-ball will "get it right" from time to time, because it says EVERYTHING from time to time. It remains, however, a lump of glass and water, with no actual direction or ability.
It is a curio, and nothing more. I think that description fits DJT. The nation will probably survive him, but will suffer political rheumatism under the smallest pressure for generations to come.
(I think of US race relations as rheumatism left over from slavery days. The disease may be gone, but oh! those overcast days are tough.)
5
Your thoughts are such a welcome breath of fresh air. Trump still emits foul odors with his jumbled words and his self-serving actions, but you cut through the miasma of noxious fog that surrounds everything Trump, especially with a sentence like, "He pretends to care about matters that don't move him in the least." In that incisive sentence, you shed a desperately needed spotlight on the rotten core of trump, his soul-shattering hypocrisy.
9
Trump is a part of the success of women in elected office this past year in the same manner that the Rams’ offense was a part of the success of the Patriots’ defense on Sunday.
12
His biggest delusion is taking credit for the economy, even calling it a miracle. If there was a miracle, it was performed by Obama and his able advice from Bernake. The economy was swooning when Obama took office but the stimulus, maligned by the GOP as bailouts, worked. Unemployment was cut in half and the DJIA tripled. Trump's "miracle" is quite measly on those two criteria. Then add more than 100 months of job creation that started under Obama.
Trump's boasts on the economy are like him taking credit for denuclearizing Korea. Psychiatrists have a term for people who believe their delusions: crazy.
15
I appreciate the rundown of the night, given that I can't stomach listening to Trump talk. It is truly an exercise in torturing the senses. I definitely prefer that he pretend to be civilized than if he is his normal self. Like everyone else, I wished he could be a good leader. That is not possible for him.
6
Self-adulation is never an attractive quality. I checked in on Trump's speech and there he was, chin thrust out (like Benito M) basking in a manufactured applause line that shone a bright light not on something positive about our nation, but about himself.
Having had enough in just under 30 seconds, I hit the remote.
11
The great white father speaks and the tribes tremble.
Regardless of the content of his speech, the content of his actions speak louder.
Glad I missed it.
4
"He alone can fix it!"
Actually, we all can fix it.
Vote him out.
November 2020.
The End.
31
This is the best character study ever written on Our presidential disgrace.
3
The usual excellent writing from Frank Bruni, thank you.
Love the line "...and it was like an alliterative butcher declaring that we must reject red beef."
So much to comment on here but very disturbing elements also came from the audience. Congressional Chants of "USA,USA,..." are, to me, so jingoistic that they frighten. And the display of sycophancy was worse than ever. Not to mention the smug Georgetown prep alum costumed as a SCOTUS judge.
But thank God we elected the man - otherwise the war with North Korea might have gone nuclear.
If it were not so threatening to all of us and our loved ones it might be funny. But it is not in the least. This man is a genuine existential threat to our Republic and the world we share with all life on the planet.
17
How I long for that far-off happy day when we don't have to discuss anything at all about the third-rate, money-grubbing mind that currently occupies the White House, and the mini-me cronies that surround him.
More than anything else, the damage of the Trump administration is the colossal waste of time that we should be spending actually creating a more perfect union.
6
You don't say "congratulations" to other people when you're taking credit for something, for what it's worth.
2
Zero regulations and a tax cut for the already rich. That is what the Republicans were applauding. The rest is a smokescreen. There was a "speech?" Let's not be naive.
209
@Mark
I watched the first 10 minutes and them the same old, same old started getting on my nerves so I switched to the Great British Baking Show. At least I learn something there.
True, Trump's tone was more measured tham he usually is - no shouting or arms raised an waving like a psychotic street person, but it was esse tially the same self- serving blather he usually spouts.
Asking for comity yet calling Schumer nasty and Warren Pocahontas.
THAT is the REAL Trump, not that Not Ready For Prrime Time and fools only the gullible performer we saw last night.
Come on Mueller! Do your thing for us so we who were Born Free will be Trump FREE.
18
I went to a showing of School of Rock and skipped the SOTU. I don't have any interest in watching Trump pretend he has had an epiphany or is burying the hatchet. The hypocrisy of sitting a bullied child next to his wife is absolutely amazing to me. I am surprised he didn't have a woman who had suffered finding out her husband was having an affair right while she was tending to his infant son sitting on her opposite side. I am done with this. The leopard does not change it's spots. My #1 wish for America would be if the election was held tomorrow. Better yet, yesterday. So we can kick his butt back up the gilded escalator. And I hope we all get white baseball caps to wear with a vision of sunlight on the front.
305
Totally agree. Can barely muster interest in the news coverage today. All I can think is “Liar says whatever is convenient.” No other info needed?
20
Urbandictionary.com defines “gaslighting” as “a form of intimidation or psychological abuse, sometimes called Ambient Abuse, where false information is presented to the victim, making them doubt their own memory, perception and quite often, their sanity.”
Trump’s presidency is just a relentless exercise in gaslighting. Women ran for office in 2018 in record numbers in protest of everything Trump stands for - and won(!) in record numbers - so of course he wants credit for our successes. Authority figures are rightfully being called to account for their racism and racially insensitive remarks. Meanwhile Trump has pronounced himself the least racist person on the planet while also pronouncing white supremacists in Charlottesville as good people.
I, like many other commenters here, skipped his SOTU address. I know that what Trump cares about most is ratings and attention. He doesn’t care if you disagree with him, just if you stop watching. So I stopped watching.
15
I am still trying to wrap my brain arond what is ‘gaslighting’ , thanks for the comment. In this speech case , it applies from the speech writer’s input. Yet, I believe Trump is beyond ‘gaslighting’ because he really is disconnected from the two sets of information - real and false. And further, while he knows himself to be less that honest and sincere, he is so far gone he no longer discerns or filters his deliberate falseness from any semblance of a genuine, truthful broker.
1
@Will Eigo
A gaslighter’s lies are intentional. It is a form of psychological abuse, not a case of ignorance or unintentional misdirection. You are correct: Trump deliberately spins lies to suit himself, but he also aims to confuse his audience, to make them think that maybe he isn’t abusing our institutions.
2
Actually, Trump had an opportunity to be a consequential President, if he had the discipline, intellect, and disposition to follow through on several policies he listed in his speech. But, alas, he is who he is--a sleazy Queens real estate broker---who, this morning will enter the Oval Office, at about 11:00, watch some Fox, maybe an early burger with Mike, and tweet the day away---all of which will demonstrate that the soft parts of his speech were like most of what he says---big lies.
17
As he walked through the gauntlet of those craving a fleeting touch on the way to the podium I saw only one woman positioned at the starting. After that it was a tunnel of all white males until the finish line where he had to make nice with Nancy.
So many more women and African Americans in the workplace but clearly all but one worthy enough to be seen on camera with him.
3
Trump's cagey, along with his enablers-especially Kellyanne Conway, and it shows.
Look how he hasn't come up with a disparaging name for Nancy Pelosi, instead flying under the radar but still calling her, continually. Refering to her as Nancy, he's doing this to belittle her, instead of refering to her as Madam Speaker or Ms. Pelosi Calling her Nancy just rings as insincere.
I believe he fears strong women but most importantly knows he lacks the goods on Pelosi, while she has a grab bag to reach into.
That potpourri seems bottomless:
From women who've engaged him sexually and refer to Trump as 'Tiny', his being spanked naked by a famous porn star and revealed on national television, and by attrition-in front of his family, his enjoyemnt of grabbing women by their genitals, stating "because they like it",.
And let's not forget, how he's denied payment to contractors who performed work for him. And there's plenty more, including his refusing to rent housiung to African Americans because of their skin color. And then there's his having the police shoo-away 'homeless' former GI's from the heat escaping from grates in front of some his hotels in Manhattan.
Trump has skeletoins and many are not locked away in closets.
And with 12 year attorney for Trump, Michel Cohen, about to reveal what he knows about Trump, Inc., Trump has to be frightened.
11
Brilliant Frank Bruni. Gorgeous transitions. And hilarious. Thank you!
5
President Trump walked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and did not wait for her to introduce him. The House speaker traditionally introduces the president before he begins the speech. Petty, sexist, childish, and cowardly, same old same old Trump.
33
Last night we "learned" that Trump is a feminist, a peacemaker, a healer, a uniter, a promoter of minorities and diversity, a defender of the L.G.B.T. Who knew? But it's what we haven't yet "learned" that is more amazing.
Donald Trump has yet to "teach" us all there is to know about who he is. Don't worry, he will "inform" us.
That he avoided a war with North Korea he "informed" us last night, but what about his guiding our nation through the troubled waters with Canada? Did you know he negotiated the peace, preventing an invasion from the north? Did you know that he ended the Vietnam War, that he invented the cell phone?
Nor I'll bet, did you know that it was he who brought our soldiers home from the front lines in the war Obama started with China. Oh, you didn't know we were in a bloody ground war in China? You see, we have much to "learn," especially of Trump's accomplishments and glory.
Donald Trump has told us to expect great things of him, that he alone can solve all problems. He gives us glimpses of his coming greatness by revealing his past and recent amazing accomplishments. Did you know he led the Women's March in 2017?
This is the world which Republicans have created. It is a bizarre world, an absurd world. It is a world of division, distrust, delusion. It is the world of Donald Trump. Trump is both the Republican Party leader and it's creation.
This is the darkest time in American history since Lincoln was assassinated. Truth and reality are under assault.
12
The question is: What is he doing today? Continuing to "unify" or his usual rant and divide tweets?
79
Trump can no more change to be a feminist and no longer divisive than the leopard can change its spots or a tiger its stripes.
a good speech writer (oh wait can anyone believe that he wrote the address?) and a con man. the question is how many will be conned again. watch for the bait and switch.
1
Trump doesn’t like people. You’re tremendous if you are useful to him. You are disposed of when no longer useful. He is deeply characterlogically flawed. He doesn’t like people, and that includes Americans.
6
Well Frank, I did not watch it, after I saw the total disrespect toward Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi refusing her to introduce him.
That was not a sign of being a feminist.
BUT this morning everyone is watching the picture of Nancy Pelosi clapping at trump and trump is staring at her begging for her approval.
7
Look up the definition of Border Line Personality Disorder, ask a shrink. Mr. Trump is classic and that is more terrifying than any other explanation. Truly in his own mind he is not lying when he lies. His bait and switch reality is in fact to him fulsome and consistent. Show him a tape and he is able to exorcise it from his consciousness. The man has a terrible affliction. Trouble is most psychiatrists, therapists, doctors will not treat those with Border Line disorders. Only we can by voting him out.
8
Believe me I am not Trump supporter. He is an ego maniac, pathological liar, bigot demagogue and those are some of the nicer things I can say about him.
However, you don't defeat him by playing down to his narrow-minded ness ie Cortez calling for socialism or a 70% tax on the wealthy or newly elected women standing out with white outfits saying we ran because we want to put women first instead of Americans.
Albeit on opposite ends of the spectrum, Trump and the two groups mentioned define what is wrong with America today, narrow-minded ness, dogma, take no prisoners, it's war, zealotry, it's you or me, identity obsession, when its white, male, female or socialist.
28
@Paul You are being dishonest Paul. No one is calling for anything like a 70% tax on anyone. We all know it is a marginal, tax on income above a certain amount (ie $5 million a year). The wealthy will continue to pay there gov't subsidized lower tax rate for their first $4.9999+ million and keep 30% of income above $5million. It is about sharing the burden of living in the greatest country on earth. This is how we became the GCOE, the 90% MARGINAL tax through the 40's-60's. Money that was used to create a world class infrastructure that anyone who has made any money in this country takes for granted.
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@Paul
Actually the white outfits were to honor the 100th anniversary of the winning of the right to vote by women. In their parades and protests the suffragist leaders wore white dresses with accents of purple and gold. Last night the white was also to highlight issues that are important to women.
No one is saying that women should come first before other Americans.
Get a grip!
73
I wonder what dartboard is used to select NYT picks.
On what evidence doe wearing white to show solidarity and bring attention to the newly enlarged minority of women in congress “put women before Americans”?
In what way is taxing the rich at economically sustainable levels, or extending Medicare to cover everyone “socialist”?
How is addressing real problems — climate change, income inequality, healthcare, and education — the mirror image of fomenting fear and hatred, and proposing nonsolutions like a border wall and tariffs?
Trump lied about his signal accomplishment, his tax cut. He said it supported working class Americans, but 84% went to the richest 0.1%.
The two aren’t at opposite ends of the spectrum. One is rooted in the land of make-believe, the other in reality.
54
I mostly enjoyed watching the ongoing ovation the Republicans gave at Trump's entry. I suppose that if know you're going to be walked on like a door mat you might as well celebrate it.
8
It must be nice to be Frank Bruni. What could the President have said to satisfy you, Mr. Bruni? The truth is, nothing. So he acknowledges the obvious about women in Congress and you pounce. The truth is that as a person, Mr. Trump has shown that he trusts smart women in his life, treasures their advice and takes action on their counsel. His advisers tell him we can eradicate the last remnants of the scourge of AIDS and he accepts the challenge. Yes, he separates other LGBT issues from AIDS. Accept the focus and effort on that front. North Korea? Well, that story is yet to be written, but talking can lead to surprising results. The North was increasingly overtly aggressive until the President stood up to them. Any other President would have taken credit for even small steps to a resolution of that conflict. Can you really be surprised or outraged that President Trump saw his efforts, as unconventional (and frankly, undiplomatic) as they were as averting a potential war? What about the remarks about sentencing reform, infrastructure investment, ending useless and seemingly everlasting wars. Surely you agree those are priorities you could support. But, you won’t and neither will the Dems and so because you hate the man so much, the country will suffer through two or four more years of impasse. One thing we agree on...someone has to work on how to convey on the TelePrompTer when there is a transition from one subject to the next.
4
@RJC27I'm sure Mr. Bruni would have been glad to praise Trump if any of his preceding actions deserved that praise. But any good thing he said was, as indicated, illusory, deceptive, and especially self-deceiving.
10
@RJC27
"What could the President have said to satisfy you, Mr. Bruni?"
First, no one applauds hypocrisy. (You don't get to talk about grabbing women by the private parts and then claim you're pleased to see their advancement.)
Second, no one applauds undeserved bragging. (And yes, he does not deserve the applause he showers on his own head, including his delusional take on NK.)
If a person's actions have been pretty uniformly destructive, dishonest, self-seeking, damaging to others, and based on self-aggrandizing delusions, then it is hard to see what kind of statements would draw honest applause.
Perhaps one that admitted to his viciousness, his failures, how he himself has disparaged others to push wedges between people? And his intention to do better in the future?
3
So, you're satisfied!
Frank, maybe Clear & Present Danger 45*'s recent dealings with Pelosi have made him suddenly realize that many of the tough, swaggering, strong-men characters he appears to idolize grew up under the influence of tough, strong, steely grandmothers ?
Just sayin'.
7
Trump's speech was not authentic -- his words were hollow because we know who he is and we know what his administration has done. He should have brought with him some of the children who have been separated from their families at the border and now live in detention centers or the families of the children who died in US custody. He could have apologized for the inhumane policies of his administration. He could have apologized for dehumanizing our southern border neighbors. Actually he could have spent most of his time apologizing to the American people for a lot of things -- countless things -- Maybe then we could give him a round of applause.
40
You gotta admit, though (as Jeffrey Freedman hints at in his column), that Trump is a good actor. Better than Reagan. (At least when he's speaking someone else's words; left to his own thoughts, you get the kind of stuff typically in his Twitter feed.)
As much as I hate to say this, for most of the speech he came off as easygoing, approachable, even affable. Of course, all that is in direct contrast to his actions and words at other times. But he knows when he's on camera, and he knows when he's got the big audience, and he can smile that smile that he knows calms the anxious people that fear a black/brown planet and the possibility of hearing Farsi spoken at their supermarket.
He knows that for his people, the optics and the aurics in these situations matter far more than any fact-checking from "fake news" media outlets. They hear what they want to hear, see what they want to see, and would vote for him again.
We face an extraordinarily talented manipulator of perception; it's the one talent he has and which got him elected. In a better world, more people would be savvy enough to recognize the huckster, the grifter, the snake oil behind the smooth sell. But Trump knows that too many people are not smart, not perspicacious, and remember the image, not the after policy analysis. Too many out there want to be lulled, and gulled, and Trump knows the buttons to push.
Hopefully, self-control will continue to elude him on a regular basis--that's his Achilles heel.
24
I spent last night watching re-runs of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and taking a nap and I feel so much the better for it.
From what I read this morning, I have deduced that the president presented himself as the great phony he is. I think that was the most he could do for us.
All I can say is, "hurry 2020!"
50
Preserving America: after an hour, I switched to I Love Lucy reruns. Similar preference.
It was great to see the many successes we have achieved as a country celebrated.
6
We also found something else to do last evening during that time period when the President spoke although we did listen to Stacey Abrams who did not disappoint. When writing or speaking, I believe conviction and honesty add the necessary values to make a communication worth my time. We avoid commercials and marketing pitches. People who are friends offer me the delight and challenge of their convictions and honesty. Even if the person is the President, I won't waste time with a person who has no idea exactly what conviction and honesty mean in a person's life and reflect that abundantly in their words and actions.
47
Yes, but what about the ratings? How many people were watching? That's all he cares about.
I haven't been able to bring myself to watch Trump's State of the Union addresses. I just can't go to my grave with that image in my mind: it's kinda like living under occupation and watching my new overlords send out a demolition crew to take down the Statue of Liberty.
A viewer boycott should've been organized to hit him where it hurts. Of course, low ratings could only be fake ratings.
Not even the potential satisfaction of seeing Nancy Pelosi sitting again where Paul Ryan last smirked was enough for me to expose myself to that large a block of unmediated Trump infection.
62
There was a central theme to Trump's SOTU: He will say anything, true or not, that he believes will get people to do what he wants, whether that involves demonizing immigrants to cater to his base, or applauding women and claiming how much they have benefited from the thriving economy. It's a simple strategy by a simple man without a conscience.
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@Jay Orchard: And, unfortunately, it works all too well. That's the worst part.
27
@Jay Orchard "...to get people to do what he wants." And all he wants is their adulation. There is no depth of thought other than that.
3
“…And wake the devil from his dream.”
That’s a line from a song by Kate McGarrigle, which in context just meant to play “The Devil’s Dream” fiddle tune with great enthusiasm.
But when I first heard it the president came to mind. All I could think of was, Wow. That’s just what we need to do.
We’re trapped in the narcissistic nightmare of a malevolent egomaniac. We must disabuse him of the notion that he can invent our reality for us. We’ve got to squirm out from under his fetid form and breathe clean air again.
He’s trapped us in a fake reality that is maintained by the very laws that were designed to prevent people like him from gaining power. We stumble around, stupefied, looking for the exit.
But we’re blocked by Republicans who enable his worst urges. Rather than serve in heaven, they’d rather rule in hell. But there’s a downside. In Terry Jones’ book, “Fairy Tales,” a clever doctor discovers that if you sell your soul to the devil thinking that you’ll impress him or gain his favor, you’ll be shocked to learn, too late, that the devil is stupid.
We need to wake this devil from his dream. In the light of day he’s not powerful. He’s just pathetic, and history will record him as such. Future generations will roll their eyes and wonder how we were duped. The only good to come from this embarrassment might be to serve as a cautionary tale for future generations.
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@gemli
Outstanding letter, gemli. Beautifully written and painfully accurate. Your response has almost justified sitting through the SOTU.
Almost.
11
Well done.
5
I taught English in South Korea for two years. I learned Hangul and how to read it enough so that I could identify signs and even speak a couple words. But I really did not know what I was saying and, even more telling, one could forget a nuanced dialogue---or any dialogue---with me. I am reminded of that experience of reading characters but not quite understanding what I was reading---not really being able to communicate in Korean---when I listen to Trump read "his" speeches. Can it simply be that, at times, he does not really understand that nuance of what he is reading? (And to be fair, he is irredeemable. I am not defending him. Let his gaggle of attorneys and Trumpets do that.)
80
I suppose Trump does deserve SOME credit for the increased measure of women serving in Congress. It’s because opposition to his policies and rhetoric motivated more women to run, and more voters to support them. Seems an odd thing for him to brag about, though...
190
He predicted a nuclear arms race that we would win - why is everybody else not terrified? Consider the idea that most of his foreign policy decisions seem to be inspired by the assistance they provide to Moscow, and then ask: why does Putin want an arms race?
105
@Gerard
And when Trump grinningly pushed the Doomsday Clock closer to a nuclear midnight, his lackeys in the GOP sprung to their feet with cheers of “USA! USA!” as though the contrails of ballistic missiles were just pretty pictures in the sky.
(USE THIS ONE, PLEASE)
1
@Gerard
And when Trump grinningly pushed the Doomsday Clock closer to a nuclear midnight, his lackeys in the GOP sprung to their feet with cheers of “USA! USA!” as though the contrails of ballistic missiles were as just pretty pictures in the sky.
Your idea that, "Many of his biggest lies are to himself", is one that I struggle with. Does he believe what he is saying, even if it is just when he is saying it?
I usually come down on the side of no, he doesn't. He only says what at the moment serves his purpose, which is heavily weighted to gain for himself, whether that gain is money (probably first), adulation, (false or true, it doesn't seem to matter to him), or defeat of others.
There is no other depth that I have seen.
87
Trump used people to make his points, including the impressive class of newly elected Democratic Women.He saw them as a group which would inspire an applause line.The many heroes he introduced deserved recognition but they, too, were used to make his points.Trump is no feminist-not even for five minutes.He had nothing gracious to say to Nancy Pelosi and did not even wait for her to introduce him which is usually done.He strode into the House and proceeded to The Donald Trump Show.
106
@Janet Michael
I prefer to wait a bit before I deem any new representative of either party as impressive.
1
Better that Pelosi didn’t introduce him. She’s not worthy of the task.
1
The State of the Union is always theater. Last night, President Trump again proved he is an experienced master at utilizing the media to his benefit. Despite most knowing that he deserves credit for the increased numbers of women in the House because of the backlash toward him, he successfully made it look good for him. The democrats played into his narrative with the high-fives and chants of "USA." It may not be easy to defeat President Trump in 2020.
33
And if he ignored those women in white, you'd say he was willfully ignoring history.
I didn't and wouldn't ever vote for him, but at some point it seems too many seek to find a problem where it doesn't exist. He smiled and congratulated all the women who won in a historic election (and a few smiled defiantly back- it was a nice moment).
It seems for too many, he can never do anything right, which of course says more about them.
15
@profwilliams well, yes, it says that those who you say don't cut Trump a break are quite perceptive. They - we - recognize the smarmy lies that some media have counted over 3000 in speeches so far. Your 'whataboutism' is telling.
3
@profwilliams I think the problem was the sincerity -free manner with which he conveyed his remarks along with two years of behavior which directly contradicted his remarks. Sort of like Leave it to Beaver’s Eddie Haskell who would paste a big smile on his face and say “That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing Mrs Cleaver”! She was on to him, just like all the newly elected women in congress ( whose presence is a reaction to his misogyny) are on to Trump.
5
@profwilliams: Just speaking for myself here: I can think of something he can do right. Resign. And the sooner the better.
3
I couldn’t bear to watch however I have read the entire transcript and the fact checking.
The speech was a cut and paste job, cobbled together by whoever happens to be working in the White House this week. Ivanaka got to insert a few lines about women. Stephen Miller’s vision came through loud and clear. Donald has nothing to add; he was just trying to get through the evening and return to his executive time. I am sure he was grateful to have the hours of the speech to pen in on his calendar as presidential work to break up the days on end of executive time.
178
@Njlatelifemom-My favorite late night joke was Jimmy Fallon's- "executive time is when your dad brings the newspaper into the bathroom"
7
@Njlatelifemom
I listened to an interview of Obama's principal speechwriter who crafted 4 of his SOTUs. He described the process as taking the wishlist of every Federal agency and filtering them down to a chosen few. No different here.
2
@Njlatelifemom: you do realize that EVERY President has speechwriters (well, maybe except LINCOLN 160 years ago!) and every President uses them, plus advice from staff (which is their JOB) and every President uses a teleprompter and wears makeup (because otherwise they end up like Nixon in 1960, sweating like a pig).
Did you apply your lofty standards to Obama, or did he get a free pass on everything?
I think he'd prefer to run against a woman, because if he does, she's much more likely to be well left of centre than Biden.
That would encourage Schultz or someone else to run as an independent centrist. Advantage Trump.
I hope Schultz's stealthy intention is to get Trump turfed by scaring Democratic candidates into moderating their positions, then bowing out of the race. I can see how he might feel that the emerging Democratic platform is simply the best possible strategy they could devise for losing.
I happen to like some of it (tax cut reversals, single payer, college tuition breaks) but who in their right mind thinks it's a winning platform? You have to work with the electorate you have.
At a hospital mass shooting, you can't start patching wounds till you get the lunatic out of the operating room.
16
In 2020, Trump will still have failed to control healthcare costs. Americans will have witnessed two more years of Republican witlessness and fecklessness on the issue. They have no plan, because no plan is compatible with their ideology.
You can’t cover everyone without socializing the cost. We do some of that with Medicaid, but every time we add a patch, millions still go without coverage. Only universal healthcare will make healthcare universal.
Americans have seen the face of Republican healthcare and found it wanting. The Democratic house was elected in no small part on calls for Medicare for All. It’s likely the 2020 nominee will be, too.
Once you get past the lies, the case for Medicare for All is obvious. Democrats should run the old Harry and Louise ads with subtitles exposing the deceit to illustrated is old are the tropes about rationing and “government bureaucrats”,
It’s a winning issue: fiscally sound and humane. Americans like Medicare and upwards of 70% believe the government should guarantee healthcare to everyone. We’ll never win over the 30% who think Trump will restore factories and deport 12 million immigrants. But there’s more of us than them. Usually, that’s how elections are won.
5
@Dixon Pinfold
Some of these things are only not "moderate" because they have been resisted for so long.
But for many of us, the healthcare situation has gotten desperate. We can't go without it any longer. The situation has been neglected for so long, it's a disaster for those of us who are sick and can't even afford a proper blood workup because of high prices and high deductibles.
There's nothing "moderate" about letting ordinary citizens continue to go without healthcare. In fact, when you look at the success of other advanced countries with universal health care, it's radical to suggest that people should just go without.
3
@Tokyo Tea: thanks to Obamacare with HIGH DEDUCTIBLES ($9000 a year for just me, one healthy woman)....I cannot afford a necessary blood work up.
Prior to Obamacare, I had a complete blood panel. It cost $2500!!! I had insurance, so I only owed 20% -- $500.
Is that AFFORDABLE? for many people, that is the rent or food money.
NOW, it would cost me the whole $2500 (or more!) because my Obamacare has a $9000 deductible! I have to pay for all my costs until I can prove $9000 (and even then, on "approved" expenses).
I don't have $2500 laying around. And if the tests showed ANY problems...any doctor visits or medications would also come 100% out of my pocket.
So I do not get to have the tests.
THANKS OBAMA!
1
But Trump isn't lying. He not only inspired all those women to run, he made their running an absolute, existential imperative.
Trump is the Great Uniter. Never before have so many Americans been brought together with a shared cause at a time our nation was not at war.
He is the creator of the great Trump resistance. History will consider this resistance the greatest political movement of this century if it succeeds.
We may be seeing the reformation of the Democratic party into a fighting machine that not only annihilates Trump but saves us, our government and our planet from the selfish excess of our corporations.
409
@alan haigh,
Given that Trump is the culmination of 40+ years of selfish Americans ignoring their own self governance and treating citizenship as a "free market" competition for stuff, it'll take a whole lot more than a political party to save us. We built this, only we can save us. Here's hoping we've awoken to that fact.
37
@alan haigh
I hope you are right! Long live the resistance!
15
@alan haigh - Nor does he lie when he says that only he can "fix" whatever it is he may be addressing.
It would just be closer to the truth if he used the word "rig" instead.
13
I sat this one out. I think Trevor Noah will represent well the spectacle of this year's state of the union. Shall we go on?
65
@Gordon Alderink - a good decision, wish I had back the 3 hours wasted on listening to him and the pundits. My head hurts !
15
This is exactly why I did not listen to trump speak last night. [I can't even write President in front of his name, nor can I capitalize his name as a form of respect.] The trump who reads a prepared speech is not the real trump who wings whatever is in mind. What he said last night will not be the same as what he says today or tomorrow.
Mr. Bruni is right about trump, who takes credit for anything good (large number of women elected to Congress), without self reflection that they were elected BECAUSE of his treatment towards women.
472
Yes, Mr. Fieselman, the only positive thing I will attribute to The Con Don is, “Exactly one century after Congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in Congress than at any time before.”
According to news reports he preened like a peacock when they rose and shouted. He actually thought they were cheering for him.
What an arrogant fool.
16
May I say: revolting?
Trump, his speech, his faux feminism,
the constant smirk on his face.
What has become of this country and
reason? Why is this man in the White House?
601
@Carla
You got it! Have you watched the Pamela Meyer TED talk on "How to Spot a Liar"? Watch that and then search on her name + Trump for some articles on how to spot the lies in Trump's statements. The smirk is called "duping delight." It's pathological, and you need to learn to recognize it in people you encounter in your daily life. Understanding this mannerism could save you from a lot of trouble with the wrong people. (Unfortunately, it didn't save us with the 2016 election ...)
21
@Carla
The Russians helped put him there, that's why.
20
@Billy
California's population exceeds those of the following states COMBINED:
Connecticut, Iowa,Utah, Nevada,Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, W. Virginia, Idaho, Hawaii, New Hampshire; Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, Delaware, North & South Dakota, Alaska, D.C., Vermont and Wyoming, yet each state is automatically allocated only two votes in the electoral college for its senators. This is not democracy.
17