Decades of GOP negative investment in public education seems to have paid off!
Take away civics class, de-emphasize American history and current affairs, and eventually people will believe "if it was any other president they wouldn’t be doing it"--and not for the reason that no other president would bring such baggage to the job.
The country's bifurcated reality shows the impeachment paradox: the more it becomes obvious to many that if Mr. Trump doesn't deserve it, a president never will, the less advisable it becomes for responsible Democrats to urge it. That's because unless it's propelled by Republicans, nobody will ever convince the voters quoted that it's not a persecution.
1
The Cohen hearing proves just one thing: Michael Cohen is willing to say and do anything that profits him. For Cohen, truth is a fungible commodity. We know he's an inveterate liar. That others are liars, too, is beside the point. If we collectively refused to pay neither attention not credence to Cohen, he might just sink back into the swamp from which he came. Lying liars lie. And that's all we need to know about Cohen. Of course, he'll soon have a book and movie deal, and will laugh at those he fooled all the way to the bank.
The deplorables as usual justifying immortality and giving a pass to unethical behavior just because the care more about the unborn than the ones on foster care.i really gave up on any overv65 that is conservative their time is up and the cant do anything but whine. so sad.
4
It’s disheartening that Mr. Gonzalez considers hiring minorities in low paying jobs as a sign of not being a racist. Curiously, he says nothing about golf club membership and how minorities are reflected there.
3
Trump is ignorant regarding racism. He doesn't recognize it. That's part of his naiveté regarding many social issues. Could we ever find a president who is not locked in his own private world? I believe such men exist, but I do not believe that the American public would recognize such a person.
No, I do not have faith in the masses.
1
The writers of this article seemed to select out only those who were favorable to Trump. Notably, look at the locales where they chose to interview people. All in Trump country. Look, this article's conclusion simply does not match Trump's poll numbers. Reading one would think the entire country thinks it is all a watch hunt and that simply does not ring true at all.
4
Seven Springs, a modest mansion in mid-state New York, a bargain for $291M. Just ask Deutsche Bank.
3
Maybe it won't make a big difference with Trump's base. But I'll put my money on the independents who might not think a crook in the White House is worth a few policy victories. And on polls, versus anecdote.
It may not hurt Trump's chances of surviving, but it sure won't help. If the Southern District indicts, maybe his loyal followers can visit him in prison.
4
Right-wing Trump defenders seem to fixate on the point that Mr. Cohen is an admitted liar.
So, when it comes to lying, it's the fact that someone admits to it that bothers them? Then, I suppose if someone, say the president of the U.S., lied to them multiple times a day, but never admitted to it, they are okay with that fact.
Makes perfect sense.
4
I don’t understand why some liberals find the behavior of the Trump base surprising. Of course, the ideological commitment overrides facts, or rather, facts are rearranged to fit the ideological narrative. If you want to know how it works, take a look in the mirror. How many liberals defend Maduro because “American imperialism”? How many push for socialism despite its historical record? How many refuse to engage with the serious discussion about pros and cons of Medicare for All, falling back in the empty slogan that healthcare is a human right (it may be but how do you pay for it?) Of course, such liberals are not the majority (I hope) but there are probably as many of them as there are die- hard supporters of Trump who indeed would not care if he shot somebody on 5th Avenue. Meanwhile the sane majority are waiting to see who the Dems are going to have as their candidate in 2020 and whether she will be an improvement on the current occupant of the White House.
3
"I don’t think most people believe Mr. Cohen.”
Oh, I think they did. It's just that some don't care.
2
A former boss of mine who had spent time in the military would often evaluate people on whether or not he'd want to go out on night patrol with them...the kind of person who would watch your back. Michael Cohen and Donald Trump were at one time out on night patrol together. And one of them never made it back to camp. I wouldn't want to go out on night patrol with either of them.
3
Doesn’t matter. Trumps so-called 40% Base is not 51%. Once gerrymandering is fixed and the Electoral College is abolished, the Republican Party will be forever banished to a footnote in history, never to regain power unless a really inept Liberal government is elected.
4
the big reveal in this article, besides the fact that the NYT bends over backwards to find Trump supporters (polls suggests they make up only 40% of the public on a good week, although admittedly, more in the states/areas this report comes from), is how easy it is to ignore news reports that counter your view of the world. Here's hour by hour, every network covering the airing of the president's dirty laundry, and his people not only try to ignore it, but take it as false testimony (without listening to it). Perhaps that was the brilliance of the GOP committee members: avoid engaging in an honest search for answers that affect the nature of our democracy and just go whole-hog conspiracy mongering.
4
I put this in the same category as the multiple Times interviews with nonrepentant Trump voters in diners last yer. And how did the midterms turn out?
1
Trump promised to help over turn Roe V Wade and became their savior. This is a simple act of a conman.
1
Anybody did the least bit of research already knows what Collins says is true. We all this long before he was elected and yet people's elected him. Denial
1
Looking on from the outside and being German (which brings it's own historic insights) I am not really surprised that trump supporters are immune to facts.
I am continuously reminded of the words Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in prison awaiting his execution by the Nazis:
“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
I hope for change through your young people, the females, the minorities. They are your only hope.
6
@Konstanze Ehlebrecht -- and we seniors who hope for
change through our young people, the females, the
minorities, and Democrat leadership.
4
As credible as Mr. Cohen appeared, and as strong as the physical evidence he brought to the hearing was, almost no Trump supporter, in or out of congress, and certainly no member of the right wing media will be swayed in the least. For me, the most compelling part of Cohen's testimony was when he addressed republican members of congress' blind loyalty to Trump: "I did the same thing for 10 years. I protected Trump for 10 years and that is the same thing you are doing right now. It puts you into the same position that I am in ... people that follow Mr. Trump as I did blindly are going to suffer the same consequences I am suffering." He should have included every American citizen who chooses to ignore Trump's dishonesty, racism and treasonous behavior.
110
The lack of outrage over the President's actions is really the root of the problem. If we as a nation don't care whether our leader is somehow tethered to the truth and standard, basic, moral values, then where do you go from there? It is disheartening, disturbing, and in my opinion, dangerous on a very basic level. A lack of empathy for his supported has been leveled as a criticism of his critics; I don't know how to get to a space where truth, civility, and basic decency don't matter.
35
Having invested so much energy defending the indefensible, I hardly think Trump supporters are going to let a little thing like the President's former lawyer and BFF turning Judas shake their faith. Trump is a cultural phenomenon and supporting him is an assertion of one's core identity, not a reasoned analysis of policy or issues.
62
@Gary F.S. you nailed it. Spot on
2
What I take away from this article is that there has been such a massive breakdown in trust that we no longer have the foundation to maintain a healthy society.
The foundation for any functional society is basic trust and goodwill. But our political system of legalized corruption, and all of our broken institutions from healthcare, education, criminal justice, etc...have deprived us of the ability to communicate in an atmosphere of respect and tolerance.
Media haven’t covered themselves in glory, either.
We’ve been unraveling for at least 40 years, but it has accelerated so rapidly that it feels like it’s happening all at once.
I wonder what it will take to heal our country, or if we’ll just continue to disintegrate.
38
@Annie Gramson Hill Thanks! several things have been "unraveling for decades," such as the middle and working classes- since the 70s; higher education; our infrastructure.
These have all, and more, been the gifts of the neocons and now creeping our creeping proto-fascism
9
@Dart
You are incorrect. When liberals are in charge, things get worse. Pay closer attention.
1
Regardless of your statement, look at actual facts. Bill Clinton left George W a surplus. He turned that into huge deficits and presided over the biggest economic crisis since the Depression. And Trump will leave us with Trillion dollar deficits for years to come.
Your choice of George Orwell as an avatar is the height of irony. (Unless it is your name, in which case I apologize).
3
His testimony changed my mind. I now believe Michael Cohen. And I now completely disbelieve the Republicans who showed how little they care for truth and how much they care only for grandstanding. The chairman, the witness, and AOC were the three persons that seemed focused on getting to the truth.
54
Those who voted for President Trump still support him and do not believe the testimony given by Michael Cohen. Those who voted for Hillary Clinton do believe Mr. Cohen's testimony. It all comes down to your political leanings. No minds were changed.
It was all about Mr. Cohen and hoping to reduce his prison time. Personally I do not believe him and think he only confirmed that he is a liar. He is as guilty as sin.
4
@WPLMMT Of course, the checks signed by Trump exhibited were all part of the lies. Some folks just believe what they want to believe and have no intention of changing their minds.
15
You’re probably right. Cohen lied about the “no collusion” part. I am tired of liars.
6
But you don’t think Trump’s a liar, or you think it’s okay he’s a liar? And what if the things Cohen said turn out to be true? What then? There is right and wrong. There is legal and illegal. These things are objective realities that have nothing to do with political preference.
11
I disagree. At least half a dozen people I know that voted for Trump no longer support him. Personally, people that still support him despite the evidence of his criminal and immoral behavior, are no longer in my circle of 'friends'. To pretend it doesn't matter about his behavior displays a serious lack of moral decency.
39
Thank you for this article. I’m always interested in understanding the perspective Trump supporters (because they seem so alien to me), and this nonjudgmental portrayal really helped
8
I am an old white male
retired physician who doesn’t quite fit my
political demographic. I think that the only thing of value that Mr. Cohen offers is what he can prove. I think that Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the people in 2020. There is not enough time
to remove him by impeachment, not to
mention the fact that the Republicans control the Senate. The hearings are
necessary to discover what can be proved
to have happened. What we learned
Wednesday was that Mr. Cohen has a check for 35000 dollars signed by President Trump while in office, that was partial repayment for the hush money
that Cohen covered in 2016.
The performance by the Republicans was
a one note symphony of indignity and
condemnation. For example, Paul Gosar from our state of Arizona pitched an absolute fit, then I remembered that Mr. Gosar’s own siblings publicly denounced him and opined that he was unfit for office prior to the 2018 election. Jim
Jordan seemed to be reading computer
generated anti Cohen tweets during the
unused seconds that his colleagues bestowed on him when they finished
chanting their identically felt and expressed indignation. How ironic that
Mr. Jordan who didn’t notice while he was a coach at Ohio State that sexual abuse
was being practiced by a team doctor. should be the Republican leader on the Oversight Committee; maybe they thought it was the House Overlooked Committee. The Dems had Cohen whose value was what he brought not what he said.
9
I believe the remorseful Cohen and the GOP fake conservatives should stand warned.
3
It's almost every day now that I wonder whether the type of people this are in this article are on the same planet as me. Scary how far this is come. It's almost beyond my comprehension that they first put them up as their Republican candidate, and then have gone on to support this poor excuse for a human. Also, their single-issue priorities of what's important just boggles my mind. This has got to be how the great tyrants of the world grabbed their power. Single issue non-nuanced politics, demagoguery, fear tactics, appealing to the lowest of human intellect. Apologies to the young readers who may not understand this old cliché: "Mussolini made the trains run on time". History repeats itself. It's about as good an analogy as I can think of.
9
It has.
1
The GOP representatives repeatedly tried to paint Micheal Cohen as a liar whose testimony cannot be believed, all in defense of Donald Trump, the most pathological liar that this country has ever endured
4
All this Hearing did was give Trump an excuse for why the Summit with Kim failed.
Of course, Cohen's testimony was not going to change minds. It's been evident for some time that the modern GOP exists solely to enable and cover for Trump. And the president's cultists...well, there's a reason why Trump uttered his famous "shoot someone on Fifth Avenue" line.
This is why, unless House Democrats want these hearings to be little more than a charade, they must move full speed ahead with additional investigations (such as the gems uncovered by AOC in her questioning of Cohen), and impeachment proceedings - regardless of where the Senate may stand. This White House is lousy with unprecedented corruption - it's Congress's duty to get to the bottom of it, and impeach if necessary.
5
Early on in his campaign Trump famously bragged he could "stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and not "lose any voters”.
What remains to be seen is if any of his voters will stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody to prevent his removal from office no matter what the laws of the land determine his crimes to be.
1
With all due respect, this article reminds me of a quote by Alfred E. Neuman of Mad Magazine: "My mind is made up. Don't confuse me with the facts."
6
My dad was fond of saying that well
before there was Mad.
Our justice system is the only thing preserving democracy these days, because distortions and misinformation lose their power in the courtroom. Time will tell whether the GOP's attempt to flood the system with far right judges will change that. If it does, and Trump is re-elected, heaven help us.
1
I believe it is a Mark Twain quote: “ It is easy to fool someone but it is very difficult to get them to admit they have been fooled.”
Or Winston Churchill said, “The greatest indictment of democracy is to talk to the average voter for 5 minutes.”
Hopefully these people are not the majority!
If they are the majority, our democracy is at risk.
4
I have no idea about Christianity, but it seems that for evangelical Christians, once they oppose abortion, they can do anything they like, including those revealed by Mr. Cohen.
2
Do you suppose that when President Obstruct-Manchild is found to have committed an assortment of crimes, 200 ethics breaches, and have told10,000 falsehoods millions of Americans will also receive that news with a ho-hum?
If so, other than an all-out civil war or an in - the- streets resistance to fascism, what could be more frightening?
8
When will we say finally "Enough is enough!"
4
Mr. Cohen's testimony sounds a bit like sour grapes.
Nevertheless, he has confirmed what most sentient people in the world already know; which is, that Mr. Trump is an amoral relativist, who believes, if he said it, it is true until he changes his mind.
He is a product of that very modern phenomena, moral relativism. That is, there are no objective standards for personal conduct and truth.
We all have our own "truth". We need to be tolerant, unless we disagree.
What is the standard? If everyone's truth is valid, there is no such thing as truth in this age of the world.
2
Last night Fox News on line opened w several gossip articles, followed by about 10 articles titled some variation of 'Cohen lied' and one buried article that believed Cohen. No wonder we are divided.
4
Donald J. Trump is a liar who has surrounded himself with liars. His supporters should accept that fact. Michael Cohen is already a convicted liar and would have only added to the charges against him if he had lied again during the hearing. Trump supporters need to get a mental hold on to the possibility.
There is no proof of collusion is not the same as there was no collusion.
Trump is guilty of some crime and should be brought to justice.
2
Obstruction.
1
Trump supporters gobble up his lies and Fox lies like candy and they don’t care.
I won’t let it bother me because Trump and his family will receive their just desserts from either Mr. Mueller and his Untouchables, the Southern Court District of New York, or the New York Attorney General in due time. The sooner the better, but rest assured Trump and his family will not escape prosecution for their crimes.
Just be patient.
5
It seems pretty clear that at this point, only the Times remains under the illusion that there will finally be an event that undermines the support of his base, thus their constant droning about whatever they think that next thing might be. The guys an imbecile but frankly, I’m sick of being reminded of it daily. Try a week of burying everything he says, does and doesn’t do on the equivalent of the 15th page and give us all a break. Don’t you get it, what he does isn’t news anymore, it’s just noise
4
@DVAB:
The Times should take no such break; maybe you (and I) should, just to get a little breath. I have friends who have done such and they say it's invigorating.
1
They can either admit to themselves and others(!) they were duped, conned, made fools of, were made to look stupid or they can say everyone’s the same, or trump’s being unfairly persecuted etc. For them it’s not about accepting the truth about him. It’s about some much, much harder- accepting the truth about themselves.
3
I don't think the hearing added any new information we didn't already know. Mr Cohen actually sounded more like a real person than the goofy Senators that never asked him a question. Elija Cummings closing remarks were clearly the highlight and was most moving. The Senate needs to get back to normal. This wasn't it.
2
I'm not sure where we end up as a society if we wait until Fox News viewing, hate radio listening, pawns figure out they've been used by the .001% to maintain power. If citizens can't depend on the rule of law and our constitution to remove a despot from power we have given up any claim to living in a representative democracy...but that probably happened long before Individual-1 occupied the White House.
7
The problem is, Trump's supporters already knew or suspected everything Cohen said. It's not a matter of convincing them that Trump isn't the "great negotiator" and "big business tycoon" who got to where he is by skill and hard work ... by now, even his most rabid follower knows it was all a lie.
They just refuse to BELIEVE what they KNOW to be true ... how can you deal with that?
6
You just described my brother and he’s a lawyer.
This article is irrelevant and misses the point. We don't govern by television reviews in this country. This was a Congressional hearing, not Dancing with the Stars. It is the job of our elected officials to investigate when credible evidence of wrongdoing affects the welfare of our citizens and the functioning of the government. After a long dry spell under the Republicans Congress is once again doing it's job. Thanks, Democrats.
10
What about the idea that Mr Cohen’s testimony represents a smoking gun in Trump’s hand with US integrity lying wounded on the floor?
2
I hate to say it but there are many Americans who prefer willful ignorance to accepting fact or truths that don't agree with their view of the world. That, in and of itself would not be a problem but we now have those types of people in power and their constituents are gleefully encouraging them to govern by gut feeling and comfortable lies. So there is no reason to believe Cohen's testimony would change minds and, quite frankly, I would have been shocked to see a Republican representative actually question Cohen about his knowledge of Trump.
2
The comments here are proof that Republicanis are another Species, Homo Repuplicansis, we have just been giving them the benefit of the doubt, it is obvious they do not have the same mental acuity as us Homo Sapiens. And evangelicals, they seem to be on an even lower order on the tree of anthropoids.
We expected some of this, but it is disheartening to see how widespread it is.
1
Why does the NYT write these articles? We get it...there are people in this country who will never open their eyes to the truth. If you want to write stories about these people, could you at least find an equal number of people who are able to accept the reality of what the President has done? It will at least make me feel a little better about the future of our democracy. Thanks.
43
@Debbie, try alcohol or pharmaceuticals to make youself feel better. The NYT, in my opinion, is not is the business of making you feel better.
And now the obligatory “balance story” we used to call Ask Any A...in journalism school, when you were assigned to walk out in freezing temps to try to take the pulse of the nation and inevitably returned to your classroom with your heart in your boots, because said sample of the public said stuff like:
“I pretty much read the headlines and don’t listen to a lot of it. I’ve disengaged.”
And you had to spin a meaningful story out of this.
5
Changing minds isn't the point though is it, the point is discovery and his testimony is opening more avenues for legal/congressional discovery.
Media, social media, click bait needs for an instant story aside, those discoveries ideally will lead to change. Great journalism should make that point in headlines.
Polls for the moment? Really NYT? I suscribe for 'All the news that's fit to print' , not all the news we need right now as you refresh your browser.
10
Not sure how much longer I can put up with American stupidity. Wish it was easier to find work abroad. I have a 2 year old and I do not want her growing up in this environment so I will start looking into it more seriously.
21
One must have an active, fully-functional mind in order to allow for changing it. That is all.
13
Not one Republican grilling Michael Cohen, said "I believe Trump didn't do these things", or "Trump would never break the law". They don't want those statements in the Congressional Record.
The GOP Representatives never mentioned Trump, and only baited Cohen, and insisted that as a newly convicted felon, he is an unreliable witness.
Now that Michael Cohen is going to prison , he is not going to jeopardize his plea deal by lying under oath.
He may also try and get a Rule 35 Reduction of Sentence, from the SDNY too. So he wasn't going to lie with his testimony.
But the Trump followers don't care. It's all "Fake News" or that's what Fox News tells them.
14
Nothing in Cohen's testimony will give rise to impeachment-- the holy grail for most of those that do not support Trump.
Perhaps there will be a slap on the hand for mishandled monies paid for hookers and artwork. Regarding Trump's financials, they are most assuredly unaudited, which is typical of real estate developers and provides for a convenient lack of accountability regarding the misstatement of values.
Trump was correct in one statement: Cohen--who would know--said nothing that would suggest Trump actually colluded with the Russians.
And so we patiently await Mueller.
6
@M. Winchester
Impeachment? Not without Republican support. Jail? More certain.
1
In response to yesterday’s world events, our local rural Ohio newspaper ran local stories and an AP article about the Korean talks ending. Not one mention of the Cohen testimony. Not one article, not one word. Not one! It’s not just Fox News.
20
Your “small town paper” is likely part of the Sinclair media empire.
3
@jkk You can learn more about Sinclair here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/22/the-growth-of-sinclairs-conservative-media-empire
Unless there is "smoking gun" evidence" no Trump supporter will change their mind, and even then I wouldn't count on it. He's "their" guy, and nothing will cause them to abandon him. For all the things he's done, he's kept his promises to them about the SCOTUS and the Wall, nothing else matters.
My only hope is that Mueller or the Congressional investigations now finally happening will uncover evidence that will open the eyes of enough of his defenders, especially in the Senate, to finally say "Enough!" I'm not going to hold my breath though.
3
What is clear is that Trump's base -- mostly rural white folks who love oil, coal, guns, God and unhealthy diets of hamburgers and sugary doughnuts rule our country -- those completely unaware of the dangerous authoritarian polity Trump and his GOP minions are intent on imposing on our nation. one infused with laundered money from foreign oligarchs and criminality in private and public dealings.
The con man and his allies have not and will not do anything to make their lives better. To the contrary, they and all of us will be worse off as Trump and his coalition of greed mongers, evangelicals, the fossil fuel industry and the NRA rape and pillage our democracy and national coffers for their own gain.
Maybe one day they will realize that their Bible and the pastors who preach to them on Sunday won't be able to save them. But I doubt it.
Cohen is right. Those who count on Trump for their livelihood or well-being will wind up facing the same fate that he, Manafort, Flynn, a host of others, the Trump University students, small contractors, local communities and Atlantic City have all faced: bankruptcy and wrecked lives.
17
Even though Mr. Cohen is a known "liar", this time - I believe that he is telling the Truth.
His lies were to "protect" the Trump he admired, and he wanted to be promoted with Trump's Team. As those lies stacked up from everyone around Trump, it became obvious what a con-man and liar Trump is; neither worthy of respect or support.
I think Mr. Cohen's testimony will be one more strong "blip" on Voter Demographics and turn-out for 2020. I think Mr. Cohen's testimony is "one more straw", stacking up really tall, to break Trump's back.
8
What is clear is that Trump's base -- mostly rural white folks who love oil, coal, guns, God and unhealthy diets of hamburgers and sugary doughnuts rule our country -- those completely unaware of the dangerous authoritarian polity Trump and his GOP minions are intent on imposing on our nation. one infused with laundered money from foreign oligarchs and criminality in private and public dealings.
The con man and his allies have not and will not do anything to make their lives better. To the contrary, they and all of us will be worse off as Trump and his coalition of greed mongers, evangelicals, the fossil fuel industry and the NRA rape and pillage our democracy and national coffers for their own gain.
Maybe one day they will realize that their Bible and the pastors who preach to them on Sunday won't be able to save them. But I doubt it.
Cohen is right. Those who count on Trump for their livelihood or well-being will wind up facing the same fate that he, Manafort, Flynn, a host of others, the Trump University students, small contractors, local communities and Atlantic City have all faced: bankruptcy and wrecked lives.
6
With a population this blind an ignorant, we're screwed.
102
Thats exactly what’s wrong with the country. All liberals think, whoever does not agree with them is ignorant. And that is why trump won in 2016. You don’t realize the truth.
3
@Mike K. We don't recognize the truth? Trump lies every day and the truth is a joke to him. What on earth would you have the liberals believe? Fox News? Fox may not lie but they definitely do not report all of the news. Information unflattering to Trump or related to Trump's lies are purposely omitted by Fox. The word ignorant means uninformed. It does not mean stupid. I contend that many Trump followers are ignorant of the truth.
5
@Mike K. This is quite a generalization. The tone of the original comment is sour and its language vague. But Mike K's second sentence cites no evidence for such a sweeping claim; personal impressions don't constitute either evidence or argument. The third sentence does not logically follow from the second sentence--Trump did not win because all liberals think other people are ignorant. He won because the Electoral College is arranged in a peculiar way. In fact, Trump lost the popular vote by three million or so votes. Sadly, both commentators are careless about spelling and punctuation. When I was a teacher that kind of carelessness usually went along with confused and impulsive thinking.
2
People quoted in this article represent the same kind of mentality that demagogues such as Trump know they can exploit. He knows he can lie to his gullible base and that they will believe anything he says. According to demographic studies, Trump supporters are among the less educated. This article proves it. It is scary because, as Socrates said ages ago, you can't have a democracy without informed citizens.
41
We won't know the impact of Cohen until the 2020 election, if then. It will depend upon who is motivated and paying attention to the path America is going down. And who doesn't give a damn.
8
It is puzzling how a story about how people react to the news, rather than about what the news is and what it means, gets a prominent placement on the New York Times homepage.
17
@Christopher Howard
Well as Trump said, "I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue, and my supporters wouldn't care". Michael Cohen gave credible testimony, with documentary evidence, and the people interviewed in this article just don't care.
So if people don't react to this smoking gun testimony, we are all doomed.
@Christopher Howard. Amen! Why not report reasons the testimony was important rather than sharing the opinions from people who didn't even watch the hearing? Articles like this contribute to the dumbing down of our society.
1
“It’s a bunch of B.S. If it was any other president they wouldn’t be doing it,” said one employee
That same employee would also tell you how many people the Clintons murdered. He's a blind Freddy .
27
“It’s a bunch of B.S. If it was any other president they wouldn’t be doing it,” said one of the American citizens proving we are too stupid for democracy.
Do these people not get that if it were any other president they COULDN'T be questioning the former personal lawyer of the President, who served the President for over a decade, before that lawyer went to prison, and have absolutely nothing to say in defense other than 1) to attack the lawyer's credibility, only proving that the President's personal lawyer for over a decade fits to a T the characteristic of a mob boss's personal lawyer; and 2) to point to the one black friend the President allegedly has, using her as a mute prop??
That circus was not possible with any other President, because none of them were mob bosses.
54
The statement below is everything that is wrong with this country. People want to ignore unpleasant truths because it might make them think differnently than the way they have been programmed to think. Ignoring what was said yesterday does not make it any less true. People may not like Michael Cohen -- I don't like Michael Cohen -- but to ignore his testimony is as reckless as voting for Mr. Trump in the first place. Sometimes, you have to admit you made a mistake -- and then be part of the fix...not continue to feed the mistake.
"So it went in restaurants, cafes and lounges in this Atlanta suburb, a city of about 4,000 residents in Paulding County, where Mr. Trump captured nearly 70 percent of the vote two years ago. The hearing either was not playing, or was being largely ignored."
9
The problem is that most Americans don't even have the intellectual level required to understand what is going on.
And the conservative representatives occupied 80 % of the debate at directing it to the question of the legitimacy of the witness and not on the subject for which he was asked to stand.
13
I don't know how the First Lady does it, but she deserves an Oscar for her acting.
15
And perhaps The Nobel committee could create a prize for Tolerance and give it to her.
3
@Hollis - She is cut from the same cloth as the creature she married. She was also on television years earlier stating that Barack Obama should show his birth certificate. I have zero respect for the entire clan.
6
I have been in shock for over two years now as one voice from Washington after another has cried out to the American public for help while a sizeable amount of the populous ignored, sneered or attacked them. They have basically been saying this president is a clear and present danger. We have had law enforcement officials, political leaders and people from the WH inner circle come forward only to be dismissed as colluding with evil "Democrats" or something. You cannot compare Trump to other presidents. This is not normal. Why aren't people getting that? Dignity, unity and respect for each other used to be the rallying cry for the United States. Yes, there has always been strife in politics, but this is beyond the pale. There should not be any of this "enemy of the state based on your political party" business. Our leaders, and country, must untangle why there is much angst among us and this needs to be addressed without the vicious rancor trying to upend everything. And I mean everything from the highest level in the land. Personally I do think we can wait until 2020 and really wish people would stop treating this mess as "business as usual".
9
@Night Sorry! Sorry! I meant I think we can NOT wait until 2020. this mess needs to be fixed now. So much wasted time when we should be focused and working on infrastructure, health care, etc. etc.
4
I don't think the point of an oversight hearing is to "change minds." It's to get at facts that illuminate an aspect of whether governance is occurring as it should.
The GOP representatives' strategy of attacking the messenger rather than elicited facts or admissions that mitigated the impact of an eyewitness's report of illegal and unethical acts was a failure.
With a few outstanding performances, mostly by newer members, the Dems were workmanlike. The too frequent showboating was an embarrassment.
Minds were not changed...facts are not going to sway cult members. But some good leads were developed and they will be used to paint a full picture of the place to which we have come with this accident in the Oval Office.
Men and women of good will can't change it unless we understand what went so terribly, terribly wrong.
The Chairman has made a good start on this oversight task before us.
9
It won't change minds, but it will make the coming months easier for entrenched Trump supporters. It was geared to land softly for those who expected to hear nothing new. However, those who are guilty will start spinning and reacting.
Cohen was like Mueller pushing his finger against a single domino. Signs point to a mountain of evidence. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Trump resigning. I am more sure now than ever.
6
Whoever thought Cohen’s hearing would change the minds of the Trump voters has not been keeping up with the all the news since November 2016. Trump has a solid base who will continue to vote for him regardless of the outcome from this investigation. Your article further proves that loyalty runs deep in the GOP just look at all the lawmakers that are doing everything in their power to discredit Cohen’s testimony. There is a misconception that Trump loyalists are mostly based in the Rust belt, look at all the Ivy League educated professionals working in Washington.
5
As one who has attended many congressional hearings, and who has testified, I have long since concluded that any televised hearing becomes a circus primarily for the purpose of affording the members an opportunity to grandstand, and with no pretense of actually seeking information. I have found this to be true no matter which party is involved. They both do it. It's all a spectacle . If you take it seriously, you are being either naive or manipulated. Again, this applies equally to both parties.
Private hearings sometimes actually have the purpose of eliciting information. But anyone who has attended a non televised hearing has undoubtedly noticed that the members drift in and out of the hearing, and are often distracted. After all, the tv cameras are not pointed at them.
Sorry to disillude anyone but that's the way it is. Cohen, Kavanaugh, Benghazi-take your pick. Nothing but sideshows.
8
@Gino G
Yeah, crazy isn't it?
A small shift at this point will be significant. Trump’s 35-40% is solid, but as the midterms clearly showed, there is a motivated, potent majority. At the margins, an event such as the televised Cohen hearings influences independents and indifferent Democrats—it shifts votes. That is news, and what reporters should be looking at, just as it would be newsworthy if Cohen’s appearance gave Trump a lasting bump in support. In other words, it is no longer news that 35-40% of the population is unmoved by evidence and facts, or as in this case credible allegations that are deserving of further reporting. You’re wasting your reporter’s time and not serving your readers.
5
If Trump came forward and said, "yeah, everything is true," his followers still wouldn't care.
My outlook is that i pay absolutely no attention to anyone who still supports Trump...they are hopeless in every sense of the word. But I do listen to the 70% who are against him and we are coming for him and his kind.
29
Trump's triumph, along with Fox News, is somehow making him a victim. Trump is a victim of law enforcement. People charged with upholding the law are out to get him.
5
Another Times article that reading it makes you think most of the country are Trump supporters who wouldn't believe the truth if it smacked them in the face. Mostly rural areas, mostly people over 60. It's actually become absurd. Can you not find anyone to interview that thinks Trump is a criminal and watched Cohen and thought he just confirmed what we knew? Grant you, I live in NYC. But we were glued to the tv and didn't think it was much ado about nothing....
16
@Elizabeth
Sorry, Elizabeth. There is no Santa Claus and there is disturbing gossip about the Tooth Fairy. Just the country (and world) I've come to understand after 87+ years. But puppies are still cute. And then there's that first coffee in the morning. And there's when you pull the lever against the bum in '20.
1
Given that Trump is a cult leader there is very little chance his devoted followers will change their opinion of him. Most traditional conservatives, and moderates, likely abandoned him long ago. This leaves a sizable number of 'never enders' consisting of conspiracy theorists, evangelicals, and political opportunists (such as Lindsey Graham). No around of facts or actions could dissuade them from their slavish devotion to their 'dear leader'...
1
This country doesn’t deserve this country.
8
Who wrote this ridiculous headline? Why does the NY Times continually put out these stories, where a handful of people are interviewed in some restaurant or barber shop and presented as representative of public opinion? And all these conclusions being implied, just 24 hours after the congressional hearing. Honestly, it’s tiresome and irresponsible reporting & headline writing.
23
As per usual, your correspondents believe that most of the "real" Americans, those worthy of interviews and polling, are those who support Trump, and the rest of us are supposed to be endlessly fascinated by their opinions.
One of the main reasons Trump "won" last time was the flood of free publicity cable TV and the press gave to his most uninformed supporters. Do your reporters actually know that Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million last time and that the Democrats picked up 40 House seats in November? Apparently not, since they continue to chase after the most reactionary part of the public for their opinions while virtually ignoring the majority of voters who know that Trump is a criminal. Pretty disgraceful "reporting."
17
Since the day Trump was inaugurated I have been waiting for his party, his base, to see through the con-man they elected, the man that Cohen described yesterday, but I was wrong. Nothing will move them off their position, and certainly not the likes of Michael Cohen, no matter what he says.
What is far more more worrying to me is their embrace of Trump as he sidles up to autocrats and dictators as if this is commonplace and normal. Cohen is just local theatre, Russia, North Korea and Saudi Arabia can change our world and that leaves us all vulnerable to your president.
3
Michael Cohen's testimony for 3 days before different committees in Congress, one in public with Republicans not asking any questions when clearly there were many topics that begged for more questions, will certainly make a difference to more moderate Republicans and Independent over the long run.
The fact that the Republicans have pounced on Cohen saying he didn't want to work in the White House is telling. What if he realized as the president's personal lawyer he thought he had more sway so he changed his opinion over the course of the last two years watching the dysfunction in the White House. That would be plausible.
Watching the Republicans disregard and refusing to investigate possible pervasive and wide reaching corruption by the president and his family business will have a lasting impact on the Republican Party.
2
Well this is a depressing article.
Somebody has to get through to these Trump supporters that life is not a Rorschach test where you see what you want to see and are incapable of imagining otherwise.
Won't happen I guess as long as we have Faux News to prop up an incompetent, bullying, demagogue, who takes from the middle class to give to the rich, runs the deficit sky high, lies more than he tells the truth, and manages to be a national and international embarrassment every day he is in office.
6
Ignorant is bliss and these ignorant people are as bless full as pigs in slop.
I wonder if any have EVER read a book other than a second grade reader primer.
I’m proud of the fact as non college educated white senior citizen I read 50 books a year and couldn’t tell you one network or cable show on TV.
6
I just love the 45 supporters conveniently bringing up Clinton after 8 years of Obama without any rape accusations, sex scandals, grabbing women's genitalia, multiple wives, or hush money payments. I know these are the same folks that will trot out their black "friend" from high school and all the other disingenuous tropes but still it's hard not to laugh in disgust at these people.
19
Trump is a terrible president. It would be nice if there was clear-cut evidence of an impeachable offense.
But Michael Cohen's testimony mostly confirmed what is already known.
Yes, Cohen paid Stormy Daniels about $130K to keep her silent about the affair she may have had with Donald Trump. But was Cohen responding to a blackmail attempt by Daniels? And Cohen evidently did discuss the payoff with Trump. But was Trump aware that the payoff would be illegal because it was in conflict with laws on political contributions? Or was his motivation primarily to keep the affair or the accusations of an affair from his wife?
Regarding collusion with Russia, Cohen provided little light. He felt that most likely Trump did not collude.
Thus the basis for an impeachment was not helped very much by Cohen's testimony.
And there is a likelihood that even if impeachment occurs in the House, the evidence will be too inconclusive to get a conviction in the Senate.
The result may be that we are condemned to have Trump as president until 2020. And this is bad for the country in several ways.
Perhaps the most serious consequence is the continued polarization of American politics.
Democracies don't function well when there is no chance for compromise.
And it is not just Trump. Extremists on the left are destroying what is left of the Bill of Rights. They don't let conservatives speak on university campuses. And the MeToo movement destroys lives of men without due process.
2
This is why our country will forever be divided. One part refuses to support a pathological liar and the other part does not care at all about integrity and truthfulness. Racism is a good thing to them.
8
For those who say Trump is not a racist because he hires Blacks (or Hispanics, or Muslims, or illegal immigrants), what's that got to do with it. He hires those who will do jobs at minimum scale just to eat and have shelter. To say Cohen has no proof shows you were not really watching as you were not listening. Cohen brought paper including a copy of a check, written by Trump after he was in office to repay Cohen for hush money paid by Cohen during the campaign. With Republicans largely still in control, I doubt the Democrats stand a chance of expelling Trump unless other investigations turn up more illegal acts, but, this may be the crack that begins to open the chasm Trump will fall in on his voyage to Hades.
3
“Minds?”
8
In this glimpse yesterday into the crime wave that is the Trump empire, as well as the excellent NYT investigation into Trump family tax evasion and the Manafort trial, Americans should be getting the picture about how how the financial system treats the uber wealthy and the rest of us.
I applied for a mortgage refi in 2012 and faced a months long financial interrogation in spite of a zero risk of default based on high home equity, savings, work history, credit score, etc. Every account and tax return was scrutinized, including inflows and outflows. (And all of that paper probably sits in a box somewhere, unguarded)
Trump, in spite of a serial history of default, property sales mostly to shell companies and publicly available evidence of tax fraud, is loaned billions by Deutsches Bank, elected US President and his numerous frauds and crimes remain unindicted.
One difference is that Trump employs an army of lawyers and has fought over 3,500 lawsuits. So why fight the big guy when you can go after single moms for possible overpayment of earned income tax credits based on some technicality.
We failed to hold the financial executives accountable for crimes that led to the Great Recession. So now would be an excellent time to throw the book at some highly visible figure, just to show that justice isn't totally dead yet, even if it is on life support.
Does anyone come to mind?
13
The standout comment within the story that is telling and most worth keeping in mind is that of the Independent voter. It will be that portion of the electorate, combined with a presumably enthusiastic Democrat turnout like we saw in the midterms, who will determine who gets control of the White House 2021 - 2024. Two years has revealed that the emperor has no clothes, so a substantial percentage of the electorate has justifiably begun looking for an inspiring, and qualified replacement. Only time will tell if one will, or has already, emerged. Regardless of the expected partisan comments of voters in red states, the numbers don't lie and an approval rating that hasn't broken 50% during the entire term doesn't translate to the kind of broad voter enthusiasm needed to win reelection provided there is a viable alternative.
9
Pachyderm Spongiform Encephalopathy is a very serious neurological condition.
Treatment requires turning off the FOX News channel and hate radio channels, lifting your head out of your prayer book and opening up your eyes.
Good luck, Trumpistan !
38
My wife's side of the family are virtually all (or were) Trump supporters. Their collective response was echoed by some of the Republican stalwarts quoted in this article.
They decide that the news about Trump is so (pick your own pejorative adjective) they just aren't going to pay attention to the news anymore.
Turtles invented this defense eons ago.
64
Five of those quoted here are Trump supporters. One is a college student, looking at this as a matter of evidence. Three are African Americans, of whom at least one voted for Hillary Clinton.
For almost two years, we have been inundated with the views of Trump supporters, and rarely is equal time given to those who do not support Trump. The Republican Party is a shrinking party.
This kind of unequal treatment suggests an equivalence between the parties. According to Gallup in January, only 26% of Americans identified as Republican. 30% identified as Democrats, and 42% identified as Independents in 2018. When party leaners are included, Democrats led by 6%. https://news.gallup.com/poll/245801/americans-continue-embrace-political-independence.aspx
In November 2018, Democrats flipped 41 seats.
To quote the always Trumpers is misleading. Trump boasted, "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters." Maybe so.
The Cohen testimony filled in gaps and provided the perspective of someone who worked inside Trump world for years. It was valuable to put Mr. Cohen's information, comments and views on the record.
Many Republicans and conservatives doggedly supported Nixon despite evidence of crimes. There is a sea change happening now with a generational gap, a gender gap, and a widening loss of minorities for the GOP.
47
Exactly. And the Times, despite the great reporting, is still giving the Trumpistas an outsized platform.
9
I agree with Rashaun Blankumsee when they say “everyone already knew what Trump was” but I believe the issue goes beyond that. Over the course of his enduring Presidency, America has grown resistant to character-defacing charges against Mr. Trump. We’ve known since the Central Park Five and the Birther Movement that he was racist. We’ve known since the Trump University Scandal that he was a conman.
What’s most frustrating about all this is not his inadequacies as a leader but that it never seems to matter. How many testimonies do we have to tolerate before any of it seems to have any impact on his position in power? I believe Democrats are waiting for a smoking gun in the Mueller report and now that they hold the house majority, perhaps real legal change can happen. Potentially, Cohen’s testimony is laying the groundwork for impeachment but perhaps that is optimistic. It feels like democratic mithridatism and If history has anything to say about it, I won’t be holding my breath.
16
Now that Trump is in the spotlight for alleged criminality, hopefully the vagaries of selective enforcement and the presumed indifference of rule of law will determine outcomes. May the bias of pro and anti-Trump partisans be irrelevant.
2
E Cummings should have started out with some Democrats asking pertinent questions and get the ball rolling. As it was, the first hours were filled with Republicans pontificating for the folks back home and getting their GOP bona fides in. So it was easy to think that this was another political Gish gallop. The latter 2/3d got interesting and M Cohen showed spunk and insight on this slow motion assault on democracy.
The GOP was afraid Cohen was telling the truth and tried to dilute the event with Republican talking points and indignant posturing.
16
So this is how our democracy slips away: Too many folks not absorbing the big screen, as the scurry about absorbed by their small screens.
13
Nobody can change whoever supporting trump.
@KP exactly
"Cohen’s Testimony Does Little to Change Minds"
It is terminally nonsensical to announce the effects of testimony that was not even completed 24 hours ago.
20
Cohen's testimony only matters to those who care about the truth, and the GOP hasn't cared about that since Reagan.
What does the word "Republican" mean anyway? It's mean "professional liar".
16
Evidence is evidence. If Trump's fans can't deal with that, they can't deal with much else in their lives.
Sorry, but if it were any more obvious, they'd be wearing ridiculous hats and screaming slogans at pep rallies along with neo-nazis and the KKK.
Ooops, never mind.
18
The Robert Mueller report will have a few more details and pieces of evidence in it than Michael Cohen's testimony.
That report will contain evidence of criminality and make its way to the House of Representatives and will result in a thorough airing of our Scofflaw-In-Chief's incorrigible criminality.
Trump will be impeach for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Let 35% of the nation and his Russian-Republican Senate continue to blindly defend our Criminal-In-Chief and see where it gets them in life.
You can't fix stupid, greedy and religious zealots who love 12 servings of Snake Oil every day of the year.
We'll move forward without Trumpistan.
59
In all the news coverage i see the emphases is on those parts of Cohen's testimony that relate to a liberal point of view. That Trump was a racist , a con man, and a cheat.
But these are not cause for impeachment. The conservatives would be more involved if some of the stories emphasized the 500 or so incidents of threating Trumps enemies. Or the rape cases that have been filed against him but no we get the same old slant.
Trump's future is in the hands of the Republications and as long as the parts of the story that relate to these people are skipped over we the public are underserved.
The Times should do better.
1
Your reporters went to Georgia, home of the governor who suppressed as many black voters as he could get away with every year and then ran a dirty campaign to "win." As if.
Honestly, it didn't change my mind much, either.
But it did make those listening aware of so many more crimes committed by the Trump family and their businesses. The other crime families must be jealous of everything they've gotten away with over the years.
I can only hope America wakes up from this nightmare and puts Putin in his place: Siberia would be best. Better yet, in one of the gulags there. Then he can parade around shirtless to impress the rest of the folks stuck there. And, of course, send his little boy Donnie there to join him.
Gosh, we could send Ivanka and Jared, too. Then they'd have a reason to wear their matching fur coats. Obviously, Don Jr. and Eric would have to be sent. Otherwise, the whole gang might miss each other too much.
Yes, America minus trumps would Be Best. And that should make Melanie happy, too.
11
Unless Cohen has documents to back up his testimony none of this matters.
As eager and willing as I am to believe the absolute worst about 45, a professional sleazeball and convicted liar like Cohen isn't the guy whose word is gonna move the needle here.
4
And he worked for a sleaze bag criminal organization run by world class Assi!
3
Have you not seen the hush money check signed by Donald J. Trump?
3
Amazing. Mr. Gonzalez thinks that hiring someone of color to clean up after you means that you're not a racist.
No wonder Trump loves the poorly educated so much.
84
That takes the cake. "If it was any other president, they wouldn't be doing it." The fact is that any other president would have been thrown out of office and impeached for less. Watergate and Lewinsky are starting to look like small beans. If I was Nixon, I would be pissed now.
There is no cure for Trump's supporters. They simply don't care what the people they vote for do, as long as they attempt to dictate to us how to live our lives, tell us what kind of sex to have, prevent us from seeing a doctor when we need one, steal children from immigrants and pollute the environment just for fun. They don't care about Trump's personal flaws because they support these great policies. I'd rather have them endorse the flaws and reject these reprehensible and dangerous policies.
89
@The Hawk
It's all about identity. The GOP became the "white party" of the South after the Democratic Party supported the end of de jure segregation. Too many people believe that they must support the GOP AND Trump or lose their identities (white, evangelical Christian, pro-military, etc.) and become pariahs in their communities.
1
Well, of course! they're going to yawn and turn on the boob tube. That's what Donald and the rich have always wanted:
Nincompoops.
Listen up: the GOP has, for decades, been doing everything it can to slash taxes to insure that the rich can easily hire at bargain prices cheap labor.
Typically, it's the just-out-of-highschoolers who find themselves been rewarded with those bargain basement wages.
Know how they've been doing it?
By cutting back on what is spent in our schools.
"Cut taxes!" is the GOP's rallying cry. And Mom and dad and all the others who didn't complete high school or suffered from being poorly educated by poorly educated teachers have languished in scaled-back classrooms. This has been going on a long time, and it is the biggest scandal of all: shortchanging our youth all for the benefit of those Donald Trump-wanabes.
You've been screwed, my fellow Americans.
Rise up! Demand top-notch teachers and fully equipped classrooms and special classes that teach challenging courses.
EDUCATE NOW!
24
It is disheartening to read many of the comments summarized in this article. It does, however, reconfirm that Trump, and by extension much of the GOP, is essentially governing by the amygdala rather than the frontal lobe. There is something startlingly basal about many pro-Trump responses: a persistent denial of facts, a skewing of reality, and when the pileup of facts is just too insurmountable, the cognitive dissonance leads triggers disengagement ("I'm fed up with Washington.") or false equivalencies ("Hillary is crooked too"). Trump wasn't kidding when he said that he could "shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose votes".
127
@Barooby
You can only excuse so much of what Trump says as hyperbole. The problem is that he doesn't ever turn it off. Everything is "tremendous", "the best", "the worst", or "the smartest". After a while, it's hard to tell if he's actually telling the truth, or if he's just an idiot with a limited vocabulary.
As for his "jokes", I think Ellen DeGeneres said it best when she said (to the effect of), "you can't call it kidding if we're not both laughing." A lot of what is labelled as Trump joking is really him just being a jerk and being called out for it.
9
I find it so sad and so revealing that people are willing to support a sociopath as their leader. It seems that propaganda, such as Fox, has tons of power. And it seems that seniors are especially vulnerable to propaganda. One of the downsides of longer lives?
The cost of Gen X and Millenials being passive and withdrawn from civic engagement is costing us.
2
I'd like to see the NYTimes write about attorney-client privilege and the intersection and influence of the Michael Cohen case. What about testifying that Trump is a racist (which of course he is) based on private conversations - where is the crime allowing such exposure.
4
@R.S. Mr. Cohen could have, and did, hear Trump make racist remarks OUTSIDE of circumstances where he was giving Trump legal advice. Furthermore, if he heard Trump make those remarks while asking and planning for advice on how to commit a crime, Trump's remarks are NOT protected. Let's make an attempt to know the law before we make comments, eh?
5
@Miguel Cernichiari
As a lawyer, I'd presume that everything a client told me was privileged. In the crunch in litigation, one could ask a judge to sort these issues out. Furthermore, the opinions of most witnesses as to racism, as well as other such issues, are of dubious value. But we're here in the legislature, with only the media watching over the process. The professional inquiry has yet to report in.
1
Anecdotal reporting without any basis for projection to a broader audience or a longer time period.
13
@Jpriestly
Thank you...I was reflecting on the same thing. These are random tales filling a news hole; for every empty headed Trumpist observation I could probably go to any downtown office building in a metropolitan area and find the counter-point.
NYT...we wait patiently on your coverage because we believe there will have been some thought applied.
You can do better.
4
I resent the fact the Religious Right has picked abortion as the most important factor in picking a president or a Supreme Court Justice. If I recall correctly there are 10 Commandments and abortion, which they relate to killing is only one. How about the others such a number 2. Taking the Lords name in vain, 6. Committing adultery, 7. Stealing, 8. Bearing false witness, 9. Lusting after thy neighbor’s wife or 10. Coveting thy neighbor’s goods. Looks like Trump has broken at least 6 or 7 of the 10 commandments. Yet they give him a pass on all these other Commandments.
Roe V. Wade doesn’t dictate that a woman must have an abortion, it basically says it’s a private matter that the government cannot interfere with. I am not an advocate for abortion as a means of birth control, but it is a personal choice and I am for individual freedoms.
If the US was ancient Egypt I would consider Trump as one of the plagues against our society.
Religion must be separated from our government if we are to remain a true democracy.
Cohen’s testimony may not change anyone’s mind, but he brought up key points with proof that need further investigation that hopefully the SDNY will result in charges against Trump so that we may start the process in removing this plague from our society.
100
@VMG - I'm not even sure these people care about the abortion. The issue is simply the litmus test that allows the zealots to know they have a believer they can count on to deliver power they crave to control everything. How else do you explain their hypocrisy with death penalty or giving Trump a mulligan (to name a couple)?
3
@VMG Christians support of this most unchristian man baffles me. I was raised Catholic and the Christ I was taught about certainly wouldn’t support him politically.
1
If the mass of American citizens will remain apathetic in the face of this rather overwhelming display of ugliness, revelations of high crimes against country, open criminality and chaos, perhaps it's the definitive sign that the American experiment is a dismal failure, and that we're getting ready to join the many other failed political experiments that litter our short but violent history as a species. Apathy is a cancer of the soul, and it appears that the condition is now malignant in the American body, the host is poisoned and on life support. How sad.
28
These spectacles are fascinating for partisans in Washington, New York, and San Francisco. In the rest of the country, not so much.
9
You can’t change a closed mind.
46
@Berk
Or dozen of millions of them. “I’m no fan of his tweets, but....” As if by disavowing his tweets, the pro-Trumpers would have us believe that their “other” reasons for supporting Trump are honorable or grounded in rationality. Somehow, every Trump voter always starts by distancing him or herself from him, as in: “I’m no fan of Trump, but...” and the “but” always precedes some frightening, awful revelation of why they love Trump. The fact that several “man in the street” interviewees cited Trump’s anti-abortion stance as the reason they’ll keep supporting him in eternity is ...crushing, yet expected from an America that voted for this man. Thanks for the man-in-the-street wake-up call, I guess...
4
The only minds that could possibly be changed by Cohen's testimony would be those of people who actually engage their minds, seek out reputable news sources, and think for themselves. Too, too many in the South and the impoverished mid-West are entrenched in circular thinking. They allow Fox News and their Evangelical churches to spoon-feed them their "opinions." The corporations and the billionaires who have created and nurtured those "opinions" are laughing all the way to the banks.
35
Reminded me of the Al Capone Vault 2 hour special. All the anticipation and climax to find that there was nothing in the vault but dirt and debris. A big nothing burger.
8
If this is true then we are not deserving of the Constitution.
It’s like the self made man whose millions are lost by his lazy irresponsible dim-witted children.
10