In Russia, there is no meaningful distinction between the "elected" government (Putin), organized crime and the FSB, the successor to the KGB, the most secretive organization on Earth. The degree of certainty may not yet be "beyond a reasonable doubt", but it's fairly certain that Trump became president because the Russians tricked the election. That means Gorsich and Kavanaugh, and many federal judges are not legitimate. A lot of Americans don't mind if the Russian mafia influenced the election, perhaps decisively. If that's what it takes to get their right-wing judges and lower taxes, they'll go along. Good luck finding out what the FSB/KGB really did. This is a nightmare.
14
Many people voted for Trump (myself included) out of sheer overwhelming contempt for the smug complacency of the Democrats. We feel it is better to see the entire system destroyed than to allow the fake veneer of American exceptionalism to continue its blind lurch into the abyss.
57
@Pinchas Liebman I don't understand what you are trying to say but Republicans are the ones that are always talking about 'American exceptionalism'. And in my opinion, Republicans are the ones leading us to the abyss.
332
@Pinchas Liebman : "We feel it is better to see the entire system destroyed?"
Who exactly is this "we"? The tens of millions of nihilists who have become acolytes of the Cult of Donald Trump? "We" certainly does not include those of us who remain sound of mind and would rather not engage in national mass suicide.
What you describe sounds an awful lot like what David Koresh preached at Waco and what Jim Jones did when he passed out the toxic kool aid.
You can't be serious. If you are, and if a significant portion of the population shares your view, this nation is in a lot more trouble than we realize.
503
@Pinchas Liebman I understand and share your disdain for the hypocrisy of the Democratic Financial Elite who control the party just as the Libertarian Financial Elite now control the Republican party. However, the time has come to stop stabbing yourself, and me in the face to register your discontent.
The democratic party is the only viable path right now to restoring actual representative democracy. That path involves ultimately overthrowing the party establishment by electing at least one of the two candidates who openly address political corruption...Sanders and Warren. Job # one has to be restoring legitimate representative democracy. After that I'm fine letting the chips fall where they may and should fall.
Restoring democracy and improving, not destroying, our institutions has to be the path forward. It's that or succumb to the Libertarian Neofuedalist nightmare our crumbling institutions are in danger of giving way to. I far prefer democracy. You?
198
Nice try, Mr. Brooks. You nicely outline 3 of 5 actors in this unfortunate episode in our history. It’s telling—who is included—& who is left out.
—The Russians. They seemingly just can’t behave themselves. They’re like that kid in the neighborhood who breaks into cars and graffitis buildings. The threat of real damage is always there, but no buildings get burned down—more nuisance than real threat.
—Julian Assange’s hacking community. Funny, Mr. Brooks—if Assange hacked and released damaging info about the Trump Campaign, he’d be a hero to Liberals. You don’t like him, simply because he wasn’t playing for your team.
—Donald Trump. True, he acted like a raging bull. But you leave out several facts: he didn’t collude with Russia, and he always knew it was a hoax. You can’t blame him for being frustrated—or trying to upend the hoax. And ultimately, NOTHING he did succeeded in obstructing the investigation. Therefore, if justice was not obstructed, there can be no obstruction of justice.
But Mr Brooks—how telling the actors you leave out of your story.
—Hillary Clinton. She surreptitiously paid for, and handed to the Deep State, contrived opposition research—the Steele Dossier. Where is your disdain for this level of dastardly political chicanery?
—The Deep State. 25 officials were fired, demoted or resigned for bias, lying and covering up. How can you ignore this, Mr. Brooks? But how convenient that you do. It fits your Liberal narrative.
57
@Jesse The Conservative
Brooks...Liberal...I never thought I'd see those words together.
David is a pragmatic political thinker, understanding the societal imperative; balance is needed between conservative fiscal restraint and compassionate social policy.
145
Hillary and the “Deep State” are just distractions and obsessions for the right, in the same way that (from the perspective of the right) “trump derangement/delusion syndrome” is a liberal obsession. I think it’s quite clear why Mr. Brooks left them out of his discussion. But in any case, despite the purported machinations of two of the right’s bugaboos, trump is still in the white house. Based on the arguments in your post excusing Wikileaks and the Russians, there was no harm, and therefore no foul.
It’s quite reasonable to think that people who didn’t want trump in office will view the Russians and Wikileaks with greater alarm than people who enjoy having trump in office. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t reasons to be concerned more broadly about their tactics and goals.
And that leaves us with trump himself. Yes, there is no evidence that he and his campaign recruited Russians to guide his election strategy. Vicariously enjoying the fruits of the Russians’ efforts to interfere with US elections, or having members of his entourage interact with Russians for unclear reasons, is not a crime.
But trump was very worried about Mueller; we know that now. He tried very hard to interfere with and end the investigation. And all because he knew it was a “hoax”? Why worry so much about a hoax? trump has been far more blasé about things equally deserving of an investigation.
148
@Jesse The Conservative
I, myself, am only interested in the thoughts of those who have read the report. I am wading through it now. Are you?
104
You are right, David. The key word is corruption.
62
It does say a lot about our world, David, but also about you and the GOP.
You all made Trump inevitable.
For 30 years, since Lee Atwater on the '80s White House team, the GOP has preached sermons of hate, fear lies, and division. Those sermons worked! They helped create the hate, fear, lies and division in our country.
You helped make that happen. And down deep, you know it.
164
Racism vs. the rule of law
I condense all these forces into one: white people or race! That’s the foundation of Trump’s election, hence, the immigration focus.
Most of his voters, who are white, support him for mostly one issue, racism or immigration.
So, at the end of the day, I think this is about most white people and what they’re willing to do to stop people who don’t look like them from coming into the country or perhaps even getting ahead of them.
That’s Trump’s connection to his voters I think.
So, to me, this boils down to race, racism and the politics that Trump believes he needs to be in office, which is the divisive politics of race.
So, I think, Trump’s illegality will only be stopped when the majority of white people who support and enable him with their quiet support, due to his racial promises to them, decide his wrong outweighs their racial fear. So, in my view, people can twist themselves in all manner to avoid facing it the racism that has now put him above the law, but till then we’ll have to wait!!!
Trump is above the law, because most white Americans believe he’s doing something much more important for them, protecting their white world which is under threat. This according to them is a bigger problem than his illegality!!!
56
So, I get out of bed as usual, make coffee, pop open the laptop and log in. As usual all the news is about how our values have crumbled and we continue to divide.
I read a mountain of facts all exposing Orange Julius as the contemptible orc that he is. After I finish reading several news sources (NYT, Chicago Trib, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Fox, Wash Post, CNN...etc). It's really not all that hard to cover lots of sources and decide for oneself what is truth or maybe what is close to truth.
I make the assumption that people of both stripes (left and right) behave fairly similarly in regards to their thirst for knowledge and their modern ability to access all points of view. Well, at least some people that are intelligent and have a natural curiosity.
I can only come to the conclusion based on this premise that this next election will be interesting to say the least. At least one can enter the voting booth and make a decision alone. That alone, gives me peace.
16
It’s not the collusion or the corruption it’s now what are we going to do with what we already knew. We have an autocratic impulsive president who does not honor American values from gold star families, freedom of speech, the rule of law, norms of immigration. We can go on. Now what are is the America. Congress going to do and can we really survive a Pence run White House?
America is in trouble.
26
“Centuries ago our founders created a system of laws and not men.” That's a lie; then, and now; and is a large part of the reason Trump is ascendant: we won't stop lying to ourselves as a nation about who we are and what we have created. There can be no greater example of the FACT that we are a nation of men and not of laws than Donald Trump; yet, boldly, baldly—just like Trump—Brooks just lies about the observable truth to make his point. Yes, our corruption is systemic.
16
"But the U.S. is being attacked from below, at the level of the foundations we take for granted." Foundations are built on strong beliefs. Now, Trump controls the executive branch and half of Congress. Mitch is helping him control the judicial branch. Our government is only as strong as these three branches and with Trump, the GOP, and McConnell taking an ax to what is left, I fear things are going to get worse. The saddest thing I see is that our educational system has truly failed in educating our citizens to understand how important integrity, and honor are in our leaders. We now have the government that was created by Wikileaks, Fox News, social platforms, etc. Only a reality star would understand how to use and twist those to his advantage. Too bad so many cannot see the truth.
41
Not collusion, its corruption? OK Mr. Brooks, prove it in a venue of legal consequence. Otherwise you're simply shooting from the lip. No surprises here.
3
"What the Mueller report says about our world."
True to form, Brooks points not at the Republicans but at everyone. Booo, Brooks!
28
"The American people have a right to know if their president is a crook. Well, I'm not crook." - Nixon
Crooks and corruption acts one way, honor and decency act another way. The guilty act in one manner and those with a clear conscience act in another.
If Trump didn't act guilty, didn't act corruptly, or had honor and decency none of the Trump cult would need to be defending him. We'd all just being going about our business biding our time before the next election. Just as he have done for many, many election cycles. Face it, the reason the cult has to circle the wagons around Heir Trump is that he acts the part of crooked and corrupt man.
25
Can I add a brief concluding quote to your otherwise fine piece?
Here it is, coming from that great (and late) American philosopher, Aretha Frankin;
"Chain, chain, chain.........chain of fools...." Repeat as necessary.
12
"What the Mueller report says about Trump and his world."
There, fixed it for you.
13
The mood of our time does seem to be nihilism. As a reader of history I recognize that much worse conditions have existed before now, but the direction we are going does not bode well for the future. The profound ugliness of the Village Idiot is celebrated by a sizable minority while personal restraint and responsibility while working for human progress has been cast aside. Perhaps the theory that humanity needs to throw a fit out of boredom once and a while holds true.
12
David, does this mean you rescind your demand that Democrats apologize?
31
A very fair and patriotic assessment of the Trump phenomena, brought to us by a tacit Republican supporter , who doesn't disavow any responsibility for fostering Trump's idiocy as president. Very typical of Mr. Brooks. I'm waiting in vain to read his attack on congressional Republicans who are most directly responsible for our sick government.
26
Bibi wins while under indictment, DJT's loyalist will accept anything, MBS and Putin are murderous criminals pillaging their respective nations...yes indeed these are very troubling times...
23
I believe he will disclose his tax returns and it will be a nothing burger. Similar to Obama furnishing his birth certificate to satisfy unnecessary speculation.
1
Good article....though I have to say that there are many, many more basically innocent and 'good' people in the world than is implied, David. Most are just trying to survive and yield the big, vital decisions to their leadership and social institutions.
But when voters allow their personal political beliefs to become tribal and quasi-religious, then anything goes in the efforts to win the Crusade: lying, corruption, prostitution...immorality of pretty much any kind will be 'forgiven' because it was done "in the heat of the moment". If the 'other side' did it or is even said to have 'done it' then 'my team' can do it too. Evil is rationalized.
We need to vote first and foremost for morality, and look in the mirror. The biggest root cause of our situation is the corruption in ourselves. We must stop voting for our own 'wallet' and for our 'team'.
The Dems/Reps are not your 'team': the USA and your neighbours are your "Team". Debate, argue and agree to disagree....find common ground on the Mission and 'shelve' the big differences for the next bull session. Stop letting politicians and their media 'game' you. Vote with your soul and your mind, not your heart. Vote policy and change your political party frequently, as needed. They stink after awhile.
It's not a trivial thing to re-program oneself; I have to work on this too.
Good luck and perserverance to us all.
9
We, as a relative civilization, need all of the transparency we can get. Wikileaks helps by emptying the hidden to our relief and viewing the reality.
Get beyond/through all of the lies and deceit. The ranting and obfuscation.
Enlighten us.
1
We can blame Russia, but the reason their methods work is that Americans have been an increasingly ill-informed people, who don't know how to assess credibility of news sources and don't care to, if the information fits into preconceived beliefs and biases. We are being preyed upon because we have made it so very, very easy.
41
Today's Republican political leaders have one goal...to become wealthy by following the orders of their wealthier overlords. They do this by stoking fears in white people and getting them all riled-up about immigration, abortion, and gun-rights. Their accomplices are Fox News, the leaders of the so-called "evangelicals," and the right-wing ownership monopoly of AM radio.
18
Amazing! This liberal old lady didn't find anything to disagree with in Mr. Brooks' Opinion piece this morning.
8
It is, in fact, collusion, conspiracy and cooperation of the Trump Crime Syndicate with many many many Russians.
7
And yet the Republican Party focuses on playing its fiddle......
8
Thank you, Mr. Brooks, for your clear-eyed analysis. The Mueller report is a devastating indictment of a president devoid of integrity and patriotism. Those who continue to defend him must be, in my opinion, either fools or Russian trolls.
14
I am not a religious person, but amen, Mr. Brooks.
Ronald Reagan thought he was a Sun God, too, David. He just was much much better at pretending to be things, like a president.
Reagan didn't appoint William Barr, but he did try to get Robert Bork on the Supreme Court. Ronald Reagan did agree to testify about Iran-Contra, but said "I don't remember" countless times to cover up his role in it.
Ronald Reagan didn't call in to Fox News, he just eliminated the Fairness Doctrine, which paved the way for it. And he didn't put immigrant kids in cages, but he caustically ignored the AIDS crisis and allowed thousands to die before he left office.
In other words, David, your heroes paved the way for this mess. Thanks a lot.
14
Not our world, Dave. Your world. The world of the Republican Party and the conservative movement.
17
Thanks Mr. Brooks for enunciating the general conclusion I reached after the report landed. The idea that we should throw a ticker tape parade (and tear our garments and beat our breasts with contrition) because the report narrowly found no actual collusion misses the point. The description of the assault on our democracy is chilling and hangs over us like Damocles' sword. With grave doubt I continue to hope for 2020 deliverance.
4
No Kidding!
1
I am guessing that Brooks couldn't find a book on philosophy to preach about this week so he read the Mueller report.
I have to admit I agree with what he writes today; but I am still waiting for the Mea Culpas regarding his embrace of the party for all these years that has given US this train wreck and the party that is still trying to ignore it.
8
Everyone of conscience who is represented by a Republican in Congress needs to get on the horn to them and tell them that they must either cut their support for Trump or risk losing their seat. Trump is going to be increasingly emboldened and authoritarian and will continue to break laws and dare Congress to come after him. If Congress won't, then there goes democracy in America.
11
My humble opinion is that Donald is not the disease itself but a symptom of the disease and to some extent the disease comes from the "free market system" (trade treaties and high levels of immigration), which the political class has designed and implemented over forty years- not just in the United States, but across the western world.
Simply put -- there is much more money to be made for the elites by selling out American interests --economic and strategic -- than by protecting them. Plus our values have become: me, myself and I-- now-- not a good remedy for treasonous temptations.
Let's not lie-- both parties do this -- using different means and employing different foreign and domestic actors and corporations... but the result is always the same-- an enriched and empowered elite-- engorging itself on the hopes and assets of the middle and bottom.
Bill Gates, the Amazon guy, Zuckerberg, and Jobs have made every bank account in the United States and every computer file -- globally accessible. The Russian secret service, and I suspect the Chinese, reads Facebook and has more information available for free immediately than what the Gestapo or KGB 80 years ago got through torture, bribes and threats.
Who will stand up for America and the West -- and put country and society ahead of profits and self interest? Who has a vision that will make the 21st century an American century again? or is it too late and we will just double down on the policies that got us here?
4
David Brooks! Readers have been worried about your ligaments for some time now. Glad to see it's out in the open. What are you going to do to stop Trumpism in your GOP?
8
Watching the Dems pursue Trump is nothing short of a never-ending Tom and Jerry show.
1
Congressman Nadler wants the Full Report so he can see who testified to the Grand Jury. Then he will go after those people and ruin their lives out of nothing more than pique that Hillary Clinton lost the election.
Grand Jury testimony is kept secret to protect innocent people from this precise manner of hounding and witch hunting. This is the law. Is Mr. Nadler above the law?
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
2
I’ll probably hate myself in the morning (or maybe even later today), but I think Brooks is right.
All political systems, all laws, all financial systems, all contracts social and otherwise, run on certain axioms, warrants and assumptions. In Western societies, those are fundamentally liberal: everybody deserves a chance, everybody deserves at least a roughly-equal chance, and government is mostly there to more or less assure that.
Oh, and they all run on the notion that there is such a thing as a, “more perfect union,” and we ought to pursue it.
But if those underpinnings go, no law or contract or pledge or promise or hymn protects a blessed thing.
This is why, by the way, that Charles Sykes was probably right about the nihilism of Trumpism. It isn’t FOR anything, at least not for anything worth having: it’s just a pile of resentments, angers, jealousies, all circulating around the simple organizing idea of, “I been done wrong, and I want payback. Not a better country, not a better life...just make Them miserable, is all I want.”
It’s Nietszche’s slave mentality, of course. The only diff is, there’s a ton of greed in it. Far as I can see—and here I part company with brooks—what plugs up the hole in the middle, for a little while anyway, is buying stuff.
6
julian assange is more or less a kind of hero watchdog. He certainly doesn't belong in this category. He tried to work with the NYT. Bill Keller didn't have the courage. The collateral damage/murder video assange got from manning sent the ball rolling. People have short memories. You would do well to consider this. Both the cake and the eating are not compatible with your clumsily hatched tri-partite scenario. sorry.
2
“But it also shows that working relationships were beginning to be built, ”
The problem with Democrats is they have no patience. Republicans plan ahead and lie in wait. Block Gorsuch, wait for a Republican President and an opening. Not the Dems. Rather than wait for Trump to blow it, they started on him before he ever took office. He’ll have the codes! He is unfit! Oh wait, what’s this, he’s a Russian, or at least a Russian asset, or, um at least working with them! We demand an investigation.
The truth is, had the Dems been patient, Trump would have certainly run afoul. Look what he did with the spotlight of justice shining on him. How much more would he have done if he thought his actions would remain unknown.
Dems, you not only came up with nothing in your investigation, you put the President on notice to walk the straightest line he knows how. And this put him just beyond reach, by a hair, for the first two years, and what will now be his next 6 thanks to you.
Dems need to learn patience.
1
Clearly stated about Trump, and about threats to our democracy clearly stated in this essay.
The metamessage, is the NY Times and other established News Papers have done an excellent job of reporting on Trump and his campaign,and the Russian interference. The Mueller report confirms the accuracy of those many news articles.
Kudos to the reporters and commentators.
9
All true, but this has been said for over two years now and no one is stopping it. So where does this leave us? Are we doomed? As you or one of your colleagues said earlier this week, will Trump be aberration or the first of a line of crazy Roman emperors.
Everyday, as more fuel is added to the fire and the fire department doesn’t show up, I give up a little more hope that the country won’t burn down.
6
This is not news. The Russians have been spying and interfering with American institutions since the Cold War and never stopped their cat and mouse play. I am relieved that there was no collusion with them.
The real issue is the FBI and CIA and their attempts to spy on a campaign under the cloak of secrecy. Why wasn’t the campaign notified? That is real institutional corruption!
4
Brookes can rarely keep on subject without trying to moderate any criticism of this corrupt Republican regime by using some tangential story about a Democrat (you know?like comparing a tiger and a house cat) but he does a great job here outlying the problem that America is now facing. I like it and will pass the article along to others.
Good job!
9
DT is without question a very dangerous rogue president. The fact that everyone who works for him has to constantly corral him tells you there is a serious problem. They may think they are doing it for his good but the real underling reason is these are all very loyal patriotic civil servants acting to protect our democracy. Congress needs to take this example to heart and do their duty. DT is a real threat to the furtherance of our way of life. Republicans, by their actions, are now accomplices to the denigrating of our way of governance. The Congress needs to push to Impeach. It is not a matter of a minor indiscretion. This is a clear defined pattern and it must be stopped.
11
donald trump has earned no respect whatsoever in his 5 plus decades of self promotion. it's a mystery what his 'cult' sees in him. hope the electorate votes him out in 2020.
8
He is a Svengali.
For months, as a lawyer, Chris Cuomo has been saying that he did not see a crime here. Then he asks is this the standard we want in our President, lies, deceit, corruption but no provable crimes? It appears that this standard is acceptable to the Republican Party, but it only applies to one of their own. Politics is hypocrisy by its very nature, but the present stench is overpowering.
10
The Barr travesty bears witness to the privatization of the White House and the Executive Branch. There's no America left in that. Note the posts in here, that brag about Trump "destroying the system." That's the key. Trump isn't a constitutional president, he's tool of Bannon-Miller, a putsch that ate the Republican Party, even though the Trump-goal is Trump profits. Trump will not step down when he's defeated in 2020. He's already hinted at it. So why is any Dem-Party strategist weighing tactical considerations? Trump is a cult figure on a quasi-religious media loop. Fanatics don't ponder, they shriek. At the very least House Democrats must create a detailed record of this, by hearings conducted under oath and leading to a motion to impeach. Let the Trump Senate destroy America. Murdoch won't shed a tear. Do it now, while the constitution still exists on paper.
7
It is obstruction and collusion. He said it publicly, “Russia, if your listening, I hope you can find those 33,000 emails.” He is a Presidential candidate running for the leader of the free world and he publicly asks an authoritarian dictator of one of the most corrupt governments to hack a Democratic candidates email. Also, he fired Comey and brags to the Russians in the Whitehouse about it then does an interview on television saying,
”He fired Comey because of the Russia thing.” Not to mention the Helsinki Press conference siding with Putin over his own intelligence officials. I don’t need the Mueller report. Wake up! He is normalizing breaking laws by speaking flippantly and off the cuff. The emperor is completely naked.
8
Brooks elevates every issue into cosmic proportions.
The Mueller Report is only about Brooks' political pals in the GOP.
2
What I particularly like about this piece is the point that things begin to topple when people use whatever office they hold to further personal or partisan goals.
So true; and yet built into our politics is the sad fact that a politician’s personal career-related interests trump everything else, for out of office she or he is no longer in a position to function as a politician.
Holding office is effectively an existential imperative, for a politician.
The need for politicians to do virtually whatever it takes to attain and keep his of her office naturally creates a war-like dynamic, in which truth is the first casualty.
In other words, to the extent that democracy relies on the personal morality of politicians as that which incentivized then to rise above personal and partisan interest, it is a pipe dream—and an exercise in stupidity.
We need to get a handle on this. Step 1 is to acknowledge it.
5
Step 2 is to repeal Citizens United and remove the mad scramble for campaign cash.
8
I don't know how you can say the "system more or less held this time," when the Republican Party and its members continue to deny the importance of the facts that have been demonstrated
and remain unwilling to do anything about the assault on our country and its electoral system. The fact that a shameless con artist, reprobate, and ignoramus like Trump was even elected at all shows a shocking failure of our nation's intellectual and moral education. The fact that he continues to lead in spite of all we've discovered since could only inspire the most foolish optimist to look for silver linings.
12
Who is this highly immortal man
who was allegedly legally voted to be our president? Where did he learn about right vs. wrong? Was he raised by people who did not explain the rules of life? I am truly afraid for our country.
2
The comments are a revealing as Davids article. The foundation is already crumbling
4
"[T]he U.S. is being attacked from below."
Brilliant. Whoever suspected we'd have to stoop to the likes of Donald Trump?
5
Mr. Brooks fails to mention a crucial fourth force in this "thriller": the republican party.
Republicans have spent decades trading good governance for special interests or lining their own pockets. They put big med, big pharma, big ag, big gun makers, big etc. ahead of the welfare of their fellow citizens.
The party greased the skids for Trump, and even now it defends him. They claim there is nothing to learn from the Mueller report, still call it a witch hunt despite clear and convincing evidence that Trump is a very big fat thuggish witch.
The fifth force is, of course, Trump's mesmerized mob, the glassy-eyed supporters who cheer his every silly empty utterance and will stick by him no matter what.
I guess we should be glad that Trump has only sold out the country and hasn't, yet, shot someone on Fifth Avenue.
12
So, Mr. Brooks, how do you feel about Loretta Lynch's, James Comey's and Eric Holder's "impartiality and trustworthiness?
2
No matter what the report says or doesn't say, I can't help thinking about Trump urging Russia to steal Clinton's e-mails. Verbally and online. No shame attached, he asked another country to break our laws. To my mind, this is treason.
11
Thank you Mr. Brooks for your cogent, impassioned overview of the disintegration of our once great country. As a Viet Nam vet, I weep for what we are allowing to happen in full public display. My college students are frightened and resentful of us 'babyboomers' and are under the impression that they should have been handed a perfected, shiny country with no obligation from them to continue with this work in progress. Wasn't it old Barry Goldwater who proclaimed that the price liberty is eternal vigilance? I'm a liberal, but the man spoke the truth. Being that the human animal responds viscerally to image over mere words, I suggest that all patriotic Americans (roughly 60%) immediately display the flag in inverted position. Once the herd mentality of the media kicks in just imagine the force of wall to wall coverage of millions upon millions of American homes displaying old glory in inverted position.
7
So right, Mr. Brooks, the turncoat Republican of NYT columnists!
Trump has been the subject of media attention a long time. There is a pattern to his method of operation. First, he enthusiastically initiates and promotes an enterprise. Next, he becomes bored with the tedium of management and becomes discouraged by the results of his own incompetence. Finally, he quits by declaring bankruptcy to stiff-arm his investors and contractors.
Is it wishful thinking to surmise that Trump will resign the Presidency soon?
9
“... The system more or less held this time...”
That’s quite a bit premature, don’t you think? As the saying goes, we’re at the end of the beginning.
12
Good analysis David. The rot comes from within the body politic and is exploited by those politicians who can smell a rotting carcass from a mile away. We are getting what we have so justly earned.
1
The US has fallen down and shows no capability whatsoever to confront its fatal flaws. We won’t even have a popular vote presidential election in 2020.
3
We should not lose sight of the fact that "president" Trump still refuses to defend the U.S.A. against foreign attack, still refuses to admit that such an attack was conducted to help his campaign, chooses instead to call the investigation that confirmed the foreign attack "an illegal witch hunt".
7
"Julian Assange and WikiLeaks …. are a threat to our deliberative infrastructure". Never heard that one before. If one of the functions of an institution is to knowingly mislead the public, then I don't care if exposure of private conversations occur.
1
David, once again you take the time do more than merely to attempt to score points, thereby avoiding over-heated, hyperbole. I think your analysis is spot-on and touches the very real and disturbing behaviors of our political "leaders." Please make sure you get a copy to Christopher Buskirk, who commits most of the sins listed above.
1
I would add another force, FOX and Mr. Barr. FOX and Mr. Barr provide misleading information and coverage that meant to support Trump. Mr. Barr is intrinsic to limiting the legal liability of Trump, while FOX provide false information to mislead the public. This is no difference than having TASS and Aleksandr Konovalov (Russian Justice Minister) working on behalf of Putin. One must acknowledge that democracy is not as robust of a system that is able to overcome corruption and demagoguery!
7
Quotes from the article:
And today, across society, two things are happening: Referees are being undermined, and many are abandoning their own impartiality. (Think of the Wall Street regulators, the Supreme Court, the Senate committee chairmen, even many of us in the blessed media.) Things begin to topple.
The system more or less held this time. But that’s just because people around Trump often refused to do what he told them to do. And we happened to have Robert Mueller, who seems to be a fair referee.
The Justice Department has not been defended from political assault. William Barr’s news conference before the report’s release eroded any claim to impartiality and trustworthiness.
Trump doesn’t seem to have any notion of loyalty to an office. All power in his eye is personal power, and the government is there to serve his Sun God self. He’ll continue to trample the proper systems of government.
It’s easy to recognize when you are attacked head-on. But the U.S. is being attacked from below, at the level of the foundations we take for granted.
In truth, we have been hit below the belt . . . by smutty Trump, his lack of common decency and his lack of patriotism for our USA . . . instead, Trump worships greed, arvice and smut in the gutter.
Trump committed treason by going along with Russia's efforts to taint, disrupt and discredit our 2016 election and election system infrastructure --- our polls, tabulated election results, etc.
We can peaceably act to end this mess.
7
I stopped reading after Brooks lists 3 forces assailing our country and did not include the GOP. This is not an honest assessment of the problem.
7
"WikiLeaks has violated privacy and made it harder for institutions to function."
You'll have to write a column explaining how WL differs in this respect from a free and vigorous press.
@Andrew Dabrowski
A free, vigorous, and responsible press reviews all content and considers the consequences of publishing documents before doing so. They will often work with governments to get the truth out, while respecting the privacy of the innocent and or the need for secrecy to ensure the safety of operatives.
WL just grabs documents and makes them public with no regard to the consequences. Their actions have literally gotten Americans killed.
2
@I want another option
It's true the WL made mistakes with some of the material they released. But we can't grant the government the right to decide what gets released.
Note that the charges against Assange include ones that most investigative journalists are guilty of. We do not need to lock up Assange in order to allow "institutions to function".
Mr. Brooks you state "the government is there to serve his Sun-God self. He'll continue to trample the proper system of the government." What I believe is more truthful, "the Republican is there to serve his Sun-God Self."
7
Brooks takes a lot of flak from some devoted haters, but he is expressing well (for me anyway) the erosion of the institutional structures (like acid on tendons!) that the corruption of Trump and his ilk are working through our nation and global institutions. I think the American people are waking up to the fact that we need a serious and hopefully civil debate about what we want to be and can agree on as a nation. What values do we want in government and law? What we have is the incompetent (yet elected) racist alt-right nationalism that inspired the MAGA movement in a third of our country with apparently blind loyalty to an incompetent liar, based on fear-mongering. Mueller cannot stop that. Stacked against this are over 20 candidates, mostly talking similar language, suggesting what America needs is a “green deal” or other gibberish that from where I come from sounds as bad as “socialism” to most. America must shake free from 9-11 and it aftermath — a reactionary over-reaction that has led many to fear Others. And for one-third of this country, the foreign “Other” was Hillary & Obama. Both Mike Pompeo and Mike Pence represent that kind of mentality. The corrupt powers ruling China and Russia are enjoying their schadenfreude as we disintegrate. Beto and Buttigeg are NOT the answer.
2
Actually, it's both. The collusion and the corruption. There was collusion by the way. It just wasn't directly between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. By the standards of Trump supporters, you would think Trump needed to sign a contract with Putin on national television in order to prove collusion. Oh wait. Didn't that already happen?
Anyway, the point where I have an issue is with the "rigged system" line. There's a difference between claiming the system is rigged because you are losing and claiming the system is rigged because the system IS actually rigged.
Trump falls squarely into the former category. However, you here the same line from Bernie Sanders and you have to admit he has a point. More than one point really.
The 2016 Democratic primary was in fact rigged. That's one specific example. However, his broader message is about economic injustice and money in politics more generally. He's right of course. The system is rigged in both instances.
Let's keep this in mind before we go associating the term with Trump exclusively. Trump is a loser. Whenever he loses, he blames the game. Whenever he wins, the game can do no wrong. Example A: The FBI. They are fine people when they exonerate Trump but criminal partisans when they don't. Need I say more?
1
Party Conventions and caucuses are not run according to civil laws but according to their own internal laws. You don’t like it, Bernie fans—start your own party!
Oh that’s right, Bernie has his own party; he is an Independent.
2
I think trump supporters like him because of his corruption. It makes them feel better about themselves. Just watch the people at his rallies. The lower he goes, the better they like it.
8
Trump will come and go the way Josep Broz Tito did, and 100 or 150 years from now, after more politicians in Washington have followed Trump’s winning formula - that of sowing hatred - civil war will break America into pieces, the way Yugoslavia broke into 7 so-called republics. “The center cannot hold.” Hatred is winning - it’s making this country ungovernable by its ludicrously inept federal bureaucracy - and its momentum is now unstoppable.
2
Climate Change will obviate these concerns.
3
I'm confused for the hate by D Brooks of Wikileaks. This is the same newspaper that initially exposed the Pentagon Papers. Their job is to be excited about the transparency of our government and uncovering any duplicitous behavior whether is is democrat or republican.
Don't shoot the messenger and instead aim your ire at the exposed about their behavior and general lies to the American People.
Trump is guilty on all counts.. and more..
GOP has enabled this monster in the search of power grab.. and I see that Mitch M will go down in history as a first man to start the destruction of western democratic values.
5
Pundits like David Brooks regularly portray Russia’s misdeeds as a case of deep-seated aggression and thuggery, resurgent empire building on the part of Vladimir Putin. They rarely consider that Russia might be acting on legitimate grievances. Russian misbehavior represents push back against US arrogance and even lawlessness on the increase since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Consider the Obama Administration’s placement in Eastern E. of highly advanced “Aegis ashore” missile installations that the Russians rightly insist could be used offensively. See Theodore Postol (New York Times 2/19/19). Consider too the idea originating with the Bush Jr. Administration that NATO extend its reach into deep into former Soviet territory. Recall too US interference in Russia’s 1996 presidential election. Former Deputy Secretary of State, William Burns, recalls a conversation he had with Putin in 2008. Confronted with NATO expansion into Ukraine, Putin tells Burns:“No Russian leader could stand idly by in the face of steps toward NATO membership for Ukraine. That would be a hostile act toward Russia….We would do all in our power to prevent it.” Yeltsin similarly stated in 1995: “I see nothing but humiliation...It’s a new form of encirclement.” Yes. Trump is probably the most corrupt president in US history. But seen through the lens of anti-Russia hysteria his criminality has been enlarged and distorted along deeply dangerous lines, increasing the odds of nuclear war with Russia.
Thank you, David Brooks. Good points all. Now how do we shake off Fox News and the vast right-wing media machine? They are more responsible for more misinformed, sick, addicted Americans than anyone, and a large part of why Trump's in the White House.
Then there's the GOP ...
Republicans in the House and Senate support Trump up and down. McConnell refused to give Merrick Garland a hearing and he refused to go along with Obama in hitting back at Russia immediately. It's not that McConnell and the rest (including Ohio's own Portman) don't understand the destruction you've described--it's that they are in on it, and, like the Russians, see themselves slipping into the disorder and grabbing what they can. They do this to enrich their donors, consolidate their own power, and found an oligarchy that outlives them.
It's really time to take our government back from these dishonest people and their unfair ways.
1004
@Eric. Well said and i agree with your perspective except in that instead of railing at the other side, what positive steps are the Democrats (and Independents) going to take? Trump's base is around 40%- where are the remaining 60%?
51
My only quibble is that Mr. Brooks hasn't yet understood that the what was once the Republican party is now a John Birch Society of political opportunists and sadly seriously disturbed apparatchiks will to do anything to further their fortunes and careers. They now appear to stand squarely behind Trump and are willing to drag our institutions into the cesspool Trump is creating.
588
@Glenn W.
Brooks also fails to acknowledge how the GOP, with his support, helped create the world in which Trump became inevitable.
44
I can't believe I completely agree with David Brooks.
3
NOPE!
It really is the conspiracy with foreign hostile governments.
It used to be called:
treason.
5
As (almost) always, thank you, DAVID BROOKS!
1
Since Trump was elected the share of Republicans who view Russia as an ally has doubled -- from 22 to 40 percent. If we are at war with Russia then we are also at war with Republicans; they are traitors.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/237137/republicans-positive-relations-russia.aspx
3
Absolute astonishment that Barr & Rosenstein are so despicable. LAW & Order means nothing to them. The greatest defense for this President & his family is that they are ignorant? An ignorant President & family is a defense? We elected feigned ignorance? How lucky are our enemies to our country.
So what they are saying is that any charge brought against anyone can avoid conviction if ignorance is claimed? Not even Nixon was this stupid. Or corrupt. Or treasonous. Nope ,Nixon was treasonous , he extended the Vietnam war by 8 years to get his electoral victory. GOP, the party of lies & corruption.
1
Give it up Brooks.
@PinchasLiebman The fake veneer has been duly exposed. We have venal Republicans in Congress and a stupid populace that applauds a corrupt president because he didn’t get caught. Happy now?
4
Is it me or did Brooks only blame liberals a little bit here?
That’s a marked improvement from his usual insufferable equivocating. Well done, Brooksy.
I think the next question is what is the proper response from society. Should it be impeachment or wait till an election? Trump is symptomatic of greater problems in our polity(mr. Brooks has written a lot on this with insightfulness), but he is also a bull in the china shop. Do you wait for the bull to exit on its own, or attempt to take the bull by the horns. A lot of damage either way, but maybe for the people Spence if d mocratic dignity the horns are necessary.
Boom! Given that Mueller states that he believes a sitting president cannot be indicted, he may done the most damning and damaging thing he could have done to the Trump debacle: NOT exonerate. Maybe he intentionally set the table for the Congress. Your analysis is devastating, for it may reveal - not unlike Climate Change - that it is already to late to shore up the pillars holding up this democracy. From below and from within - yes - this is indeed where the attacks have been (and are) most harmful, and as disturbing as is the "reveal" by this report and the actions of "trusted" people like a Barr, these attacks have been strangely hidden in plain sight. We could not believe it. And we are plummeting. Can we as a society pull up? The alarms are blaring. What will we do?
2
David, you are the token conservative at the Times. A nevertrumper portending to represent the GOP. Your ideas have failed, your wing of the party has been eviscerated and now you (along with Kristol) are extolling the virtues of the good 'ole days where regime changes in the Middle East were more important than economic policy. What this means is that your opinions are less relevant than ever. They serve only to further the liberal agenda of the Times editorial staff by providing very weak counterpoints to the liberal drumbeat.
The Times was wrong about 2016, they are wrong now and I see no reason they will shift the pattern in 2020. You, by association, are wrong, misguided and I am beginning to wonder whether you even understand what is happening in this country the last couple of years.
Donald Trump is a bad man, totally lacking in morals, ethics and empathy. It is time to focus on that.
Is he a compulsive liar?
Of course.
Is he a traitor?
Yes, and ignorance of the law is no excuse.
Is he profoundly stupid, a loser and a failure at everything except his idiot-savant talent as a con man?
Definitely.
But let us not focus on that. Let us relentlessly focus on his complete lack of humanity. Most Americans who support him know this, they just have to be reminded of their own humanity to make them think twice about voting for him again.
Dan Kravitz
4
Bingo, Mr. Brooks
Glad I did not stop reading your column Mr. Brooks.
Yes, this. Corruption. It has grown because the powerful have escaped accountability, whether they are
- a President who fakes weapons of mass destruction
- a President who lies about trickle-down economics
- a Wall Street banker who steals via fake financial instruments and loan sharking
- a Governor who changes a lead-free water supply to ‘save’ a few bucks
- a bishop who who protects a child abuser
- a rich realtor who buys his son a Harvard degree
- an Air Force General who bombs a bus full of school children
- a quarterback who deflates balls to win
or a businessman who accepts and hides millions of dollars’ worth of campaign contributions from foreigners in the form of targeted propaganda.
Because this behavior has been accepted, it is considered acceptable. The perpetrators have driven this type of behavior into every corner of our society in order to gain impunity and continue.
To be considered unacceptable, the perpetrators at the highest levels must be stopped. The only way to do that is public punishment and forced restitution.
4
A Brooks opinion piece I actually agree with, with one small exception. The Supreme Court, with its clear political decisions stretching back to Bush v. Gore, has undermined its own foundation. Roberts himself may realize this, but the right-wing partisans like Gorsuch and Thomas could care less.
1
I hope that what comes out of all this will be a change in the laws to prevent so much power (and protection) being bestowed upon one person.
1
David there is a fourth force determined to undermine our democratic institutions: your own Republican Party. They have not only failed to hold Trump accountable for all his corrupt actions, but have themselves destabilized our country. Their failure to faithfully advise and consent, by changing Senate rules to fit their need of the moment, and by packing the courts, to name just a few examples, they have damaged the institutions that make our Democracy possible. By failing to acknowledge Republican abetting of these assaults,you too become a part of it.
5
I hold the congressional Republicans responsible for the downfall of our system of government. They abdicated their duties of advise and consent. Had they stepped in
and put country over party we would not be in the mess we are into today. Trump must go. McConnell too.
2
Question David......What does it say about you? Who did you say needed to apologize to Trump? On another note, the key now is for the MSM and even the House Chairmen, to synthesize and simplify the report and MAKE AMERICA READ AGAIN. Clearly Trump and Barr have made the most of their phony head start. Too many people asked are regurgitating Barr"s lies. Why? Simpl
Workout those legs and move those goal posts. 2020 is going to be fun for flyover country. The coasts are going to lose there minds and we are going to love every minute.
1
Finally a colum i can agree with.
2
This is typical of the NYT. Don't admit you were wrong for years. Just obfuscate. Brooks doesn't like Trump, apparently because he doesn't have the air of respectability that people in public office have. You know, like Clinton bonking an intern in the Oval office or JFK or LBJ, who were hardly paragons of virtue. The issue is whether the President is effective. Given the state of the economy and the devastation of ISIS, it's hared to argue he isn't effective at anything. As for Trump hampering the investigation, that just isn't true. Trump didn't fire Mueller, even though he had the right as the Chief Executive to do so. Brooks tries to imply obstruction of justice, even though there is no crime to obstruct. Russia tries to interfere in our elections. What a shock. Obama tried to interfere in the Israeli elections! As Brooks must know, if he read the report, Trump didn't cooperate with the Russians. PERIOD. The Russians were trying to interfere in mid 2016. Who was President then? I must have forgot
Brooks is finally naming R names (Trump! Barr!) rather than his usual equivocating “both sides do it” rhetoric.
Golf clap.
So... how do you reconcile this piece with https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/opinion/mueller-trump-no-collusion.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fdavid-brooks&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=collection?
1
Correction> the Henry Adams quote: 1910, not 1919.
thank you
Hey David: it’s both.....
Ah, geez, give it up already.
It must be hard for Brooks to start taking a peek at the fruits of what he has helped sow.
But David, what about Hillary’s email server?
Again, you’re just a little late to the party.
The way the White House and most GOP senators are behaving is reminiscent of how absolute monarquies in Europe used to function: No one dared to contradict the monarch's orders, or else... But, unlike absolute monarchs, US presidents can be elected and removed. What is worrying is the (increasing?) support from GOP politicians, regular citizens, and certain media to the President's slow but steady undermining of basic American democratic values and principles. It is not an overstatement that reelecting Trump could well mark a turning point in US history.
For American to make it through Trump, citizen have to become America first. Second political they support.
State level again America First, state Second, followed by political party supported.
Goblal weather pattern change, temp cycle cold to hot. Precepation range and frequency having 1000 year events, vers 100 year events. Past being 50 years and norm of 10 year events.
Good morning, Mr. Brooks. It is nice to see that you have awakened. Now is the time for all self-proclaimed conservatives to band together and work with the lesser enemy (that is, progressives as compared to the Axis of Evil your column discusses) to attempt to restore our nation.
I am not holding my breath.
Mr. Brooks appears to finally coming around to the idea in his last few columns that the ideology of the Republican Party is essentially a destructive one. Let's see if he finally acknowledges that or if he continues to serve his own self interests as a spokesperson for Republican conservative thought.
The release of the Mueller Report reinforced for me a sensation I’ve had since election night November 2016. I’m sitting a death vigil for my country, at the same time I’m using the tools at my disposal to resuscitate it. Resuscitation seems to be one step forward, two steps back. The grief is intensifying, and it physically hurts. I see videos of Trump performing his vulgar, mean spirited act in front of Americans who seem to revel in his revolting antics, and I cannot fathom who these people are, in their souls. Despair isn’t a strong enough word.
Donald Trump: Brooks claims that Trump runs roughshod over public institutions and procedures. But the Mueller investigation found that Trump was not guilty of collusion with the Russians. Shouldn't the NY Times pundits respect those findings, obtained by the procedures which Brooks claims to value, and move on?
Russia: Yes, the Russians did try to influence the 2016 election. But the US has been influencing foreign elections for decades. Why exactly, is Russian meddling so surprising?
Julian Assange: In earlier times, journalists would have come to the defense of Assange. After all, he is merely providing Americans information that might be relevant to making rational choices in an election. It is true that the information was obtained illegally. But in the past this was not regarded as culpable behavior for those trying to disseminate knowledge.
Cynicism: The real reason Donald Trump came to power is that a growing number of Americans have become cynical about the integrity of governmental institutions. And about the integrity of the media.
America has over 2 million of its citizens in prison. The US has an incarceration rate 14 times as high as that of Japan, for example.
Yet, after the Great Recession of 2008, when there was evidence that CEO's of the big banks (eg Dick Fuld of Lehman) had defrauded investors, those CEO's didn't face criminal charges.
Donald Trump was watching, and realized that the wealthy are not called to account
That's corruption.
This, and many other summaries about the state of our country is just one small part of the tsunami which will eventually overwhelm all the dishonest people who hijacked our country in November 2016.
If we have to wait til November 2020, we will.
And now, Mitch McConnell is getting serious; he is attempting to raise the age of cigarette smokers to 21.
Voters, "let's get serious." It's now or never. Our country depends on it.
1
What’s interesting isn’t what David Brooks says in today’s piece but what he fails to mention. To wit, what turn of event precisely set-off the Mueller investigation? Answer: A salacious fake dossier sold to the media and FISA Court by the highest law enforcement officials in the land. Indeed, the real story being the corrupt action by the FBI and DOJ that led to the Mueller Report. It appears indictments of certain individuals responsible for this brazen criminal action are soon to be announced. Stay tune.
Mr. Brooks is right, this time. of course, what he doesn't say is the nutso right in America, warped into a pretzel by selfishness and its special case of greed, has spent years unlocking and then propping open the door to America's underlying political structure and inviting in every possible manefestation of evil. this is the real invasion crisis at our border: making ourselves vulnerable to anyone powerful and determined enough to take advantage of our country for their own ends. it was slow but fairly easy once enough Ameicans were sold the bill of goods that our government is not us, but a problem we confront.
You can thank the Democrats for this entire mess. The corrupt bargains that gave us eight years of dignified nothingness in the White House also gave us Candidate Hillary in 2016 and the improbable election of Donald Trump. After that shoot-yourself-in-the-foot debacle they set out to delegitimize and destabilize the Trump presidency. In that, they’ve succeeded brilliantly but they’ve deeply harmed the country in the process.
1
Immediately, after reading Mr. Brooks, I thought of Yeats' The Second Coming, "...Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, / The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere / The ceremony of innocence is drowned; / The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity."
And by blaming everyone David Brooks gets what he wants, responsibility for no one.
If it is just societal, it can’t be Republicans. It can vaguely be Trump but not with any consequence. It will not be the Republicans in Congress who shield and obstruct for this President.
This is the problem with David Brooks. There is no personal responsibility, and if they are white men, it is a society problem not them.
David Brooks wants the blame for Trump to be on black men in the Sports, and foreigners like the Chinese. Like that was the point of the Mueller Report.
If David Brooks actually wanted rule of law, he would call for the enforcement of our laws and standards. Instead he deflects and gnashes his teeth on scapegoats of his own creation.
When it comes to action, the only way David Brooks knows is to place it on people not like him. Bigotry does not make for justice. Holding wrongdoers responsible for their actions would be a start. But one David Brooks will never demand for white men.
I am sorry: "OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT there are procedures in place, based on certain values — impartiality, respect for institutions, the idea that a public office is a public trust ..." is hooey.
Impartiality, respect for institutions, and the idea that a public office is a public trust - these values are upheld by men and women of integrity.
To ascribe these values to "our system of government" is just American hubris! How did "our system of government" elect such venal people to office?
I think it's time to admit a country united under law, operating as an open and accountable democracy, and values equality and liberty is a fraud, just like Trump says it is. America is riven by partisanship, vast inequalities of wealth, education and opportunity, has the legacies of racism and religious intolerance baked in from its origins, and bears the scars of one violent and controversial conflict after another, beginning with the revolutionary war (Americans tend to forget the domestic opponents), relentless and bloody territorial expansion against indigenous peoples and Spain, a terrible civil war, a string of imperialist wars, and extending all the way up to invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen. Tax laws favour the wealthy, plutocrats get hefty tax deductions for sponsoring foundations that pursue private rather than public interests, election financing is deeply corrupt, Congress is and always has been venal and self-serving, and lies, slander and propaganda have typified the political landscape and the media all the way back to 18th century pamphlets and broadsheets. Maybe it's time to recognize these things and aspire for the democratic republic envisaged by people like Tom Paine and Ben Franklin. Trump all too accurately reflects an unpleasant reality. No shift from Republican to Democrat will change anything; sunny ways presidents like Clinton and Obama just obscure it with their rhetoric.
Terrific column. I would like just to point out that this scenario accurately described by Mr. Brooks is happening around the world. India, France, Spain, Portugal, Israel and UK, you name it. Here in Brazil the outcome of last presidencial election was determined by fake news and a toxic athmosphere against teachers, universities and free press. As result, today the academic world, the press, and the Supreme Court is under systematic severe attack. The threat is against the foundations of democracy itself. The fundamental values of the Western world are under threat and the snake egg of fascism are lurking. It's time to react.
1
David Brooks' best column EVER. That the Republican Party refuses to recognize the substance of this column does not bode well for the future of this country -- particularly after it attempted to crucify the Clintons and Obama for a lot less.
1
There is a fourth force which you consistently and conveniently ignore. Yes the President is malevolent and destructive. But he is enabled by the passive and supportive Republican Congress. Indeed, this may be the greatest force we face. Why don't you address this?
Thank you for finally assuming a role you have been flirting with but evading for a long time - that of unequivocally taking up the cause of whomever runs against this abhorrently detrimental excuse for POTUS.
It is the collusion and the corruption.
What it is not is a conspiracy, which involves peoples conspiring to work together.
Trump and the Russians saw the opportunity to use each other to obtain their own ends and cooperates to do so. Wikileaks the same.
The Republicans who should know better refuse to recognize that they have made a deal with the Devil to destroy the USA in order to win elections.
296
What's wrong with the US? In Tom Shadyack's brilliant documentary "I Am," he relates an anecdote about G.K. Chesterton. Shadyack recalled a competition The Times of London ran, asking Britons to ansawer its question, "What is Wrong with the World?"
Chesterton's submission to the Times:
Dear Editors,
I am.
(signed) G.K. Chesterton
David owes a vote of thanks to his headline editor. It's that summary which elevates this column to the author's personal hall of fame.
New morality here: If you act out of anger, you are not guilty of anything.
2
You weren’t concerned in the least about corruption during the Obama years. Why are you concerned now?
Let’s look next at the corruption of the Obama DOJ.
@Once From Rome, Loretta Lynch and Eric holder were very loyal to Obama but worked for the whole country, not just the President.
Once Eric holder completed his term he went to bat for Hillary in the 2016 elections especially to get out black votes in the south.
1
Typical weak tea from Brooks. Has he issued a mea culpa yet for his past labors in building support for our current Republican disaster? If so, could someone share a link? I’ve missed it if it’s out there.
1
Welcome to reality, David.
"...the U.S. is being attacked from below, at the level of the foundations we take for granted."
This is exactly the gut feeling I've gotten over and over since I started using a computer in my middle age. After reading just this line in your article, I made a list of the most alarming developments I recall since 9/11.
They had overlapping sources: 8 out of 13 were associated with computerization and security, 4 with law and deregulation, 5 with greed and power.
After quilting our infrastructures into an insecure computer medium, often without judging the deep vulnerabilities created, the results are mythic, starting with Pandora's Box and the Tower of Babel. Good law is a type of common language, best built from a broad-study perspective, in the imperfect quest for some mutual ground-level trust amid tectonic changes. I hope that it carefully enables us to live together for a long time to come.
1
There's one easy fix that David Brooks, a Republican, forgot to mention. His party could quit supporting Donald Trump. Senators and Representatives could side with Democrats on reasonable bills that would save the U.S. from this corruption and make our democracy work again.
1
We just finished more than two years of "The Sky is Falling" regarding Russia. Now we're supposed to transition to "The Sky is Falling" due to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks? (What exactly was revealed by WikiLeaks that wasn't already known and/or obvious?)
Wouldn't our long-term success be more likely a function of how well our young people do on the PISA test?
1
The report shows, among many dangers, the distinct tragedy in electing a person to national office who clearly puts him or herself ahead of the American people and the nation. For this reason alone Trump must be "drummed" out of office. He is an affront to our democracy.
2
I read David and feel a kind of rage towards him. I see him on TV and he projects is a whining, pleading, decency. He doewsn't feel like the reactionary ideologue of his youth. But can't shake the hold those ideas and attitudes still have on him. He talks about alienation and pain as basic cultural, social, political realities that need to be addressed. I feel similarly. And yet he can only imagine them being addressed within the institutions that create those conditions and continually reinforce them. Nothing seems to have shaken his basic arrogance. No matter what he will express as much anger and contempt, at those that are really trying really to change things as those that are doing everything in their power to make things worse.
2
The Mueller investigation, as important as it was, has distracted everyone from Trump’s constant, unwavering, extreme, and puzzling support of Russian interests at the expense of America’s allies and America itself.
2
The 3 mentioned are the current manifestation of the One Retrogressive Force that has always been against Life, Liberty, and Justice for All. The all sleep in the same bed.
1
Pulled from another opinion piece....
“A failure by political leaders to condemn the activities of a Trump campaign that openly welcomed Russian hacking and privately encouraged timely releases of damaging information about the campaign’s opponent would put our nation at further risk.”
The party of Lincoln, of “country first”, of “law and order” has become a sad joke.
We are many months away from any potential impeachment hearings. That said, congress must do its job. And ultimately the votes of ALL senators must be recorded....as it will be the defining moment when this fragile democracy officially became an autocracy.
4
While I agree with two of Brooks's threats to our democracy, I part company on the question of WikiLeaks and the divulging of Democratic National Committee e-mails. The messenger might be a creep, but the message was vital. It exposed the corruption at the DNC and the determination of its leaders to nominate Hillary Clinton and block Bernie Sanders. And we now see where that led--the elevation of one of Brooks's threats to the Oval Office, with the aid of the other threat.
2
@MDeB
I wish someone could explain to me how the corruption at the DNC gave Clinton a 4M vote margin over Sanders in the primaries. I hope that all of the Bernie Bros who sat at home in a fit of pique on election day in 2016 are happy with where we are today.
2
@Rex7 Perhaps the "Bernie Bros" you speak of might have voted for whom they wanted for President rather than who you and the DNC wanted to be President? Maybe throwing the working class over the side to go after Schumer's ephemeral "suburban republicans" might have been an unforced error?
1
"And we happened to have Robert Mueller, who seems to be a fair referee."
This is my only problem with an otherwise excellent column. How can Mr. Brooks not recognize that the words "...seems to be..." only feed in to the personality cult and denial of facts of the Trump followers and the GOP.
Robert Mueller is as fair a referee as exists in human form on this planet. Period. To say anything else is flat out outrageous and totally dishonest.
Mr. Mueller deferred at every turn where there was any doubt or uncertainty to Trump and his family. What more could you ask from a lifelong dedicated an honest public servant?
Thank you Mr. Mueller and team for you incredible work and service to this teetering Democracy.
Mr.Brooks, please recognize the danger in leaving these kinds of openings in your writings, and/or stop throwing out bones no matter how seemingly insignificant to the GOP and Trump Base.
4
This is the most important commentary written about the investigation and about Trump and Trumpism I've read or heard so far. The only thing missing is the role of the Republican Party since Ronald Reagan declared, "Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem." Ever since, they have been trying to make government fail the people who need the power of government to counteract the power of big and bigger corporations, unrestrained capitalism and the greed and amorality of its practitioners and beneficiaries. In the coming election, a few brave Democratic candidates like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are trying to restore the balance of power but Republicans attack them as "socialists" in hopes of scaring enough wage workers to, once again, vote to further empower and enrich the biggest, richest and greediest as they struggle to pay rising rents, childcare, health insurance premiums and college tuition, while trying to save for a "rainy day" and retirement without pensions. There are hopeful signs that the reality of ordinary working Americans' lives is exposing anti-government Republican propaganda for what it is: the means to keep honest, hard-working Americans working harder, come what may, without threatening the power, wealth and privilege of the ruling class. We shall see.
5
"We’re now in a situation in which some of the worst people on earth get to determine what gets published."
This is not just wiki leaks. This statement should include the press, social media, political speeches and cable news.
Lies and disinformation by our own leaders, talking heads and institutional organizations have been given equal time in efforts to impact citizens decisions. Social media is weaponized and our current leadership on both sides, use it as one.
It is time for us to stop accepting this and we must demand that integrity and truth to be restored to it's place as core to our Democracy.
As I go through the various information outlets, I see my fellow countrymen in various states of denial, despair, contempt, ignorance, happiness, concern or complacency. Ignoring the lies and moving on to "more important things" is now being heavily pushed. They show so many people who have decided or have been convinced, that they should not care that the truth and the oath sworn to the Constitution by those who serve us. If this does not change, our Democracy will fail. I am very concerned.
I do not agree often with Mr. Brooks but I am grateful for his eloquent and seemingly, very accurate response to the behavior of 45 as a candidate and now president, our new vulnerability to cyberwar by the wild card Wikileaks and the thuggish Putin. Our system of checks and balances is being tested and has survived thus far but I fear we are not to safe harbor yet. The powerful propagandist machine we know as fox/briebart/sinclair news/etc. and the enormous $ behind them will continue to provide an environment favorable to a charismatic strongman who can use a 30-35 % base to take over our government. More to come. Thanks to David for his clarity and honesty.
9
"The system more or less held this time." Did it? The "system" is crumbling before our very eyes just as we witnessed fire ravaging Notre Dame Cathedral. I am uncertain whether our walls are holding as Notre Dame's did. The Constitution is rapidly becoming a suggestion with dodges around its intent. The Mueller Report certainly did in no way exonerate Trump as he and his consigliere Barr claim. Yet little can be done unless Trump is removed from office or is voted out. There is little doubt that Trump can be impeached, it would be an exercise in futility to pursue that course. If Trump wins the vote in 2020 and the Republicans maintain control of the Senate and win back the House, no doubt there will be some kind of "fix" to keep Trump or his family from being charged with any crime.
Roger Stone will not cooperate with prosecutors just as Paul Manafort did not. They were and are key to connecting the last dot to proving that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to interfere with the 2016 election. Both are expecting pardons for at least any federal crimes they committed from Trump, (for whom loyalty is a one-way street).
We are at a crucial turning point in our history. If Trump is re-elected, and Republicans control Congress, we will be impotent to stop the destruction of our democracy as we have known it. We will start the full descent into becoming controlled by oligarchs. Trump is treating the country like his empire, and it rapidly is becoming just that.
4
Mueller's report doesn't show there was no collusion. In fact it shows the very opposite- there very much was lots of collusion. What the report did say is that there wasn't enough evidence to prove criminal conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.
11
I wonder if it's nihilism or a weird kind of optimism and confidence. It's as if these folks thought they could do whatever they want and things would wind up OK anyway. Like a lumberjack who thinks the forest will go on forever, the Trump team seems to think that they can harvest whatever they get their hands on, and there will be no permanent harm. This fits with Trump's adolescent attitudes - calling names and making a mess, figuring that "the adults" will come along and clean it up after you've had your party.
Brooks conflates Trump's failings as a human being with his handling of the presidency which, from all objective indicators thus far, seems to be, at the very least, a modest success. So, as Bentham would have it, cheers for the Greater Good.
I think the most stinging aspect of this report is how President Trump was viewed by colleagues and staff. Clearly, they didn't think of him as a genius. It also makes sense why Senator McConnell handles President Trump the way he does when it comes to legislation and deal making. I can't believe that this is the best Republican for the Job now nor in 2020.
8
Trump is the "best" Republican for the job in the sense that he is the one who is able to excite the base, and the votes of the base, usually against their own self-interests, is what puts it in the realm of the possible for Republicans to win elections. they don't need to invite or even cooperate with outside influence to benefit from it. but with a little gerrymandering, some election fraud, and a cynical expertise at playing our outmoded Electoral College game, Republicans have a chance to squeak out election wins. everything else being equal, people who actually benefit from Republican policies would probably never be able to muster enough votes among themselves to carry a small state, let alone a national election.
1
"The system more or less held this time. But that’s just because people around Trump often refused to do what he told them to do. And we happened to have Robert Mueller, who seems to be a fair referee."
Held this time Mr. Brooks? What makes you think it's over, or that the threat isn't growing?
2
When it's all said and done, the final arbiter to this tragic political nightmare will be us, the American voter. If this man is reelected then the judgement will be a preference for autocracy.
If the voter prefers a democracy then this man will have to be rejected with an overwhelming defeat.
Congress needs, and is required to investigate all avenues to reach a truthful conclusion, while at the same time moving forward on the issues that face the nation today. In other words work and chew gum at the same time.
The day of Nov. 7, 2020 will determine the fate of this nation.
6
The business of Congress is political fundraising.
Brooks argues the system more or less held this time. But let's remember why. The Obama Administration was tipped off that the Russians were interfering with the election and that members of the Trump campaign were willing to receive assistance in that effort. Sanctions were imposed against the Russians to protect the nation. That was the origin of this investigation. Everything that has come after is about Trump, his appointees like Michael Flynn, and the Russians doing what we don't know. And we still don't know.
2
@North Carolina Not only did Obama impose sanctions on the Russians (that the Trump Ad has been dilligently weakening), but he closed their two compounds from which they were operating and expelled from the country 30 Russian operatives masquerading as "diplomats". Obama and his Ad attempted to warn the nation in a joint declaration in congress, but Mitch McConnell (who else?) nixed the idea and denied partisan support for the protection of our country. Traitor!
One issue seems to be missing here. While the Russians worked to manipulate the media to sow misinformation I have not seen any estimates if it was material. Did their efforts actually mean a hill of beans or not?
Certainly we should do whatever is required to respond to the Russians, in what way is not that easy to discern, but lets not get over reactive to something that has been going on for years not just in this election. For example, the Russians are known to be active in supporting anti fracking properganda, trying to protect their own production.
A response to this style and level of misinformation needs a sophisticated response.
2
I agree with your assessment. But we will not be able to change the conditions that lead to the contributions of Assange and Trump to the onslaught until we first recognize that we all have the potential for their behavior. Pogo had it right.
1
There is a fourth force, I'd posit, and that is the Democrats.
It is astounding to me that despite Mueller's Report making a pretty solid case that the president attempted to obstruct justice on numerous occasions, the Democrats have no desire to investigate or impeach. This is a gross abdication of Congress's constitutional duty, and all because they're afraid they might upset conservatives.
For a democracy to endure, all parties have to commit to uphold their duties. We know the GOP has chucked that out the window, but - perhaps naively - I thought the Democrats might take their oath seriously. Turns out, as has been the case in my lifetime, the Dems fear of their own shadow outweighs any principle or duty to country they might have.
6
@Vin Moreover, taking a close look at the money trails and legislation passed over the last fifty years 100 years, it becomes easier to see how and why both major political parties become corrupted and dance to the tune of those who "pay."
By rolling back our election contribution laws, we now have wholly "legal" corrupt campaign cash contributions and secret slush funds flowing to pay many of our politicians and in order to "own" the current political system . . . except for the voters whom they must deceive to remain in power.
2
Impeachment is futile with the Senate controlled by stooges of Trump.
Democrats like to talk about empathy and how we need more of it in today's society. Unfortunately, this whole episode affirms that position. Unfortunately, it is the Democrats who are proving the truth of this position. Trump's behavior following the beginning of the probe is alarming. But what began this probe is equally alarming. The Clinton campaign solicited opposition research from foreign nationals, and that research formed the basis of this entire probe. Coincidentally, the opposition research solicited from foreign nationals by the Hillary campaign alleged that the Trump campaign had done the very same thing. However, the Mueller report has proven that Trump campaign surrogates did not solicit opposition research from the Russians. They were offered that information from third parties that had obtained it from the Russians. Perhaps they knew the source. But does the source matter if it's true? Ultimately, the Mueller probe was instigated for political motives. Special Prosecutors are not supposed to be appointed for political reasons. What the Mueller probe did, should have been carried out by the FBI counterintelligence unit. Trump's conduct to disrupt this probe was not an example of virtue, but neither was the probe. Impeaching Trump will only distract from the issues most Americans care about most. Health Care, Immigration. infrastructure, etc.
@James Roen serious question here, I hope you will answer. What did you think about the impeachment of Bill Clinton, who lied about a sexual affair? After a long investigation by an admittedly and self-identified right wing special prosecutor. Egged on by "conservative" members of both houses of congress, such as Lindsay Graham. Personally I saw that as a "distraction" to what could have been the most successful presidency since Eisenhower. Did you find that go-round to be a "distraction?"
Reagan is finally right — government is the problem; that is a government headed by another politician who has no regard for the law. A President who is supported by an extensive list of faux patriots like Senators McConnell, Burr, and Graham and Congressman McCarthy and Scalise. In addition, it is has become evident that there is an endless supply of lawyers who have worked or are working in government that have no respect for the Constitution and the laws that support our democracy.
At age 70 I have been witness to the corruption and malfeasance of six Presidents and the morphing of the Republican party into a political organization that has no interest in protecting our Nation from threats foreign or domestic.
We the people cannot sit back and hope that Mr. Mueller and other true patriots are successful with protecting our Nation from corrupt politicians and foreign governments. No, we must become politically active and confront the politicians that put self, party and patrons before Country. If we do not our democracy will become just another banana republic or worse.
6
This article by David Brooks is spot on. Our nation attacked, at its foundations and most important structures, by our own president, as well as foreign adversaries. The attack is ongoing and successful, eating away at everything that makes our nation functional and great. So how do we protect and defend our great nation when suffering such assault? And how do we get the Republican Party to stop aiding and abetting the destruction of their own nation?
8
Missing in Mr. Brooks list of forces attacking America is the biggest threat of all: the Republican Party. As a conservative, Mr. Brooks is still blind to the treason from within that conservatism and its attack cult represent. This force of division is now so strong that it has weakened our institutions to the point where their weaknesses are visible from other countries. Russia and China have chosen to attack us only because they sense we are too weak and disorganized to resist. The election of Trump is a signal to them that they were right and all we can expect now is a ferocious follow up attack on us during the 2020 elections, an attack that we are still unprepared for. Trump has made sure our national defenses are down and that the next wave of Russian approved Republicans will be swept into office.
We are far past the point where discussions of legality and collusion have any meaning. We are entering a battle for the institutions that make America free and facing a threat more serious than WWII. Instead of FDR leading an army of allies to protect us we have an enemy agent in the White House opening the door to our enemies to allow them to destroy our institutions. This is a war that is being fought with computer code and social media instead of guns and bombs but it is a war for our survival just the same. The enemy must be removed from the White House and all domestic stations before we will be able to attack the foreign enemies that surround us. It must begin now.
4
"a sort of warfare." I don't think it is a sort. It is warfare.
7
I would like to thank, deeply, not only Mr. Brooks but the brilliantly well-informed and deeply caring NYT readers, whose comments are all worth reading. It is a gratifying pleasure to be part of such an enlightened "community."
7
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. Relationship guru, John Gottmann, lists the four horsemen of the relationship apocalypse as criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. Individually, they spell impending doom on marital relationships and together they make any relationship other than active hatred impossible. These behaviors are writ large in our society and amplified and unified by social media and venal self-interest to destroy the social fabric that holds our republic together. We have collectively denied our shadow side and scapegoated our neighbors who embody what we hate most about ourselves. We have emulated Wiley Coyote and run our republic off the cliff. Our present day free fall feels pretty good until the ground rush finally reminds us of our final destination.
3
After spending 4 years on the borough council of our small lake community, and watching what goes on in our state and local government, I reached a conclusion.
That conclusion is that there are many people who don’t want fairness, as best we can administer it, they want things to go their way. Every time, all the time. They are okay with shady leaders and politics as long as the leaders are shady for them. They don’t understand that government is to be the arbiter in a society of diverse people’s and opinions. Unfortunately, our politicians have also lost that understanding. It’s not about people anymore. It’s about party and if there are people in that party who benefit, okay. Otherwise, they forge ahead and lie and cheat to get their way.
I believe those are the kind of people who support Trump. They perceived Trump as someone who would be shady for them. He would attack the people they didn’t like and he would be against the government that didn’t seem to favor them. He would act like them, talk like them and be one of them.
It is difficult, if not impossible, for these kinds of people to be objective. They cannot look at a situation that went against their way of thinking and see the fairness in it. They cannot see it from someone else’s point of view.
What they fail to understand is that Trump is not for them, he is for himself. And if their wants and needs conflict with his, Trump will always choose his own..
11
Money politics is a guarantee of paralysis, as raising money becomes the sole purpose of the system.
3
@JKile
True enough. That sort of behavior is what drove most good people out of politics and left the field to scoundrels who see governance as a process to enrich themselves and their clients. This is true of both sides.
To have a virtuous democratically based government, you need virtuous people. So if instead you develop a polity that wants freebies paid by others. What you get then is a people who cannot "look at a situation that went against their way of thinking and see the fairness of it." And like it or not, most people in politics lie as a matter of routine. Neither side has a monopoly on that sort of behavior.
But alas, as Churchill put it, this flawed system is the best there is.
The Mueller Report exposed no explicit quid pro quos between the Trump campaign and the Russians. But it certainly established that Trump and his associates were aware of what the Russians were doing, attempted to profit by these criminal activities, and were kept from obstructing the lawful investigation only by subordinates who were worried about criminal liability.
To anyone who represents this report as an exoneration of Trump, I suggest that you consider who is going to keep Trump in check the next time he tries to break his oath of office.
5
All of Trump’s Senate enablers are as crooked as he is.
What scares me the most in all of this, is that there are no longer any of those principled people who refused to obey Trump's orders that felt improper or illegal. So, now for the remainder of Trump's presidency he'll have free reign on what damages he may want to cause, and free reign to further enrich himself at the expense of the American citizens, and the institutions by which we are governed....Who will help then?
5
@Wendy Melton, such a great point. I wonder about Jeff Sessions in all this-- how did he manage to not only do the right thing as AG, but to put up with abuse from the president? I saw him as a "confederate" type good old boy; I was and am glad to admit I was not fair. On the other hand we now have Rosenstein who stood on during Barr's travesty of a speech yesterday, his face blank. How can he not resign in abject shame? As to Barr: well, one must wonder what his motivation is-- to take a law career and throw it down the sewage drain that is trump and his family. But this circles back to you point: these two will still be in power the next time trump commits a corrupt or even treasonous action. They will do nothing.
Great article. I am amazed at the GOP.
Our country is at great risk now, and foreign powers including China are methodically infiltrating our intelligence through academia which houses our defense research. We're distracted with all this chaos. The fox is guarding the henhouse.
4
Don’t expect people who believe that God runs the US to be responsive to reason.
Thanks you Mr. Brooks for such a brilliant analysis of this debacle. Your description of the three forces accurately describes the forces behind the 2016 elections. I may just add the internal forces of the lack of moral compass in the Senate and the failure of a great portion of the population to keep informed other than to view the right wing media. It seems all of these forces combined to crate the mother of all storms. If it was not for a few good Americans who do not accept Mr. Trump's behavior, we will really be in trouble. May God keep them.
The expectation of relief from God will never be requited.
The conclusion that I can draw after reading Mr. Brooks's excellent Column is that the Russian and Chinese systems are well in process of overcoming the American system.
The essential failure of the American system is that it was conceived in the belief that it should be a system of laws and not of men. The only reason we have a "system" in the first place is because we have "men" and women on the planet.
Laws can be broken and corrupted just as easily as men and women. Two hundred and some-odd years after the fact, we can see that the American system was ill-founded and got the United States off on the wrong track to begin with.
1
Not Brooks’ point, not at all.
And if any two governing systems on earth embody the corruption of the hope and the faith with which they were founded, it’d be the governing systems of Russia and China.
3
Lenin and Mao never dallied with hope or faith.
Laws are commonly ignored. The most obvious example is “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. If this were enforced, the Congress would not be infested with people on religious missions.
Thank you, DB, I always appreciate your objectivity and clarity of analysis. Your thoughts bring to mind the word "discipline." That is what is lacking across many modern landscapes, including, dangerously, our federal government. I listen to the podcast Ear Hustle, and am struck by the demeanor of long-term inmates. Their isolated, restricted lifestyle appears to make them self-aware, humble, articulate, honest, sensitive and good. The antithesis is our elected leadership, who with all available freedom become the most depraved among us. I wish for a return to discipline, respect and dignity--to the extent those characteristics can co-exist with power.
Mr. Brooks hit the nail on the head with this statement: "the Trumpists, the Russians and the WikiLeaks crowd all understood that they were somehow adjacent actors in the same project."
They didn't have to coordinate, conspire or collude. There didn't need to be emails or voicemails or documents to show that they coordinated, conspired or colluded. Why? Because the coordination, conspiracy and collusion was out in real time and in plain sight.
5
David Brooks should be commended for providing a clear "big picture" analysis of this triple threat to our democracy and our governmental institutions. He gives form to what can seem overwhelming in it's formless menace. Like a disease you feel but can't see. Thank you Mr. Brooks!
5
Thank you, Mr. Brooks. We agree but the question is what should we do about it? This has to be dealt with as we are approaching another election in 2020.
1
I never agree with David Brooks, but it’s hard to argue with what he says here – as far as it goes. It’s what he leaves out that is important.
“In all societies there are rules defining good conduct, and there are supposed to be impartial, honest referees that enforce those rules and make sure the game is fair.” “Supposed to be...” Brooks has always had a wistful appraisal of American history anchored in a fanciful nostalgia. Was there ever a time when “impartiality, respect for institutions, the idea that a public office is a public trust, not a private bauble” was the rule of the day? To varying degrees at times we have been closer to that ideal, but the game has always been rigged, the playing field was never level.
What we are experiencing in Donald Trump is a lifting of the veil. Trump is what happens when we live for too long under the veil with illusions and myths – that simply standing during the national anthem, going to church, and having blind trust in our institutions will provide sufficient glue to hold us together. But underneath these myths conservatism’s free-market runs amok, inequality and racism prevail, our educational system fails, and the oligarchs dominate. All because we worship the myth of self-reliance and dismiss the “common good” as socialism.
The mistake is to put blind faith in those institutions – and then suddenly be surprised when they don’t work the way the myth says they are supposed to.
5
This is one of the best analysis I have seen about intrusion upon us by a foreign nation and I applaud DB for accurately outlining the danger we face today. Complicit in all of this are the quiet voices that are enablers, acting as encouragement to an man who swore to defend the constitution and has done more to do the opposite. I will not live long enough to witness repairs to the disaster of the past 2+ years, never mind the rest of this term in office and Heaven forbid re-election in 2020, but I have faith deep within me that we will one day overcome and come out a stronger nation. After every storm there is a cleansing, sun breaks through and a brighter day follows. Hope springs eternal in me that those who survive me will see that better day.
5
God bless you, Annie.
1
Agree. Corruption and moral collapse. Appreciate you focusing on the threat of our being under attack. The effort to misdirect our attention with the "you're were wrong, it ain't collusion" is underway and will get stronger. Keep focusing on the real danger.
4
Dante, in The Divine Comedy - The Inferno- assigns a special place in Hell for the sowers of Discord.
I wish also to say that we are very fortunate to have David Brooks as a public intellectual
6
Brooks is finally sidling up to the ugly truth, but he still can’t quite bring himself to ask for an autograph. He writes: “It is as if somebody is inserting acids into a body...” And who could this “somebody” be, this demon-ex-machina who cannot be named? Could it be the Republican majority that has been braying its unconditional love and unstinting support not only for its present orange-hued deliverer (now revealed, to no rational person’s surprise, as one of American history’s great mountebanks), but that long lineage of “somebodies”—-Gingriches, McConnells, Ryans, and collect-‘em-all political action figures of the oleaginous rogues, enablers, strategists, “Citizens United” financiers, media apologists, pulpit-pounding charlatans, race-baiters, gay-bashers, xenophobes, climate-change deniers, and doublethink-tankers—-who ride herd on a party that’s been steadily blazing a divide-and-conquer, disenfranchising trail from democracy to oligarchy for decades. True, Democrats can’t always cast the first stone, and would benefit from their own new broom. But Brooks and his Grand Old Party might do well to heed the advice of the spiritual traditions whose wisdom he often cites: when you want to locate that “somebody” who is somehow screwing up your life, the best place to start looking is...within.
6
The hilarious (if deeply disturbing) title of this column brings to mind a New Yorker cartoon from long ago, in which two damned souls--one a longtime resident and the other newly arrived in Gehenna--are conversing in a fiery pit, the sulphurous fumes ascending through the air around them. The caption is the first man saying to the second "It's not the heat, it's the eternal damnation."
1
The Mueller Report is "kastistocracy" defined.
I am astounded that you do not recognize the corruption of the previous Administration spying on US citizens and spying on the Presidential campaign of the opposition party. You have your head in the sand because you so despise the duly elected President that you want to continue with the penumbras of the Russian collusion hoax and express your angst.
Our journalism is so married to the liberal to hard left political spectrum that it is no longer capable of effective investigative journalism. Even more sad is the fact that our commentators no longer provide probing analysis of events but continue to provide a narrative that does not coincide with the common person's view of the facts.
2
Have you even read the report?
“Liberal to hard left” has nothing to do with it.
In this real, fact-based world: Robert Mueller - a decorated Marine combat vet, lifelong Republican and career lawman - described in detail, with sworn testimony and other evidence, how Donald Trump lied repeatedly, encouraged others to do so, and played footsie with a hostile foreign intelligence operation against our country.
Conservatives used to value character and honesty. What a shame so many have abandoned them on the altar of Trumpism.
1
Much of what the public thinks it knows is delusional.
So what now David?!
Better late than never David!😎
Will the investigative reporters at the NYT please find the connection between Trump and the Russian mob to which he owes millions? Many believe this is why he acts as their puppet president and does Putin’s bidding.
6
Bravo! David Brooks!
Are you listening fellow Republicans?
3
If anyone who never attended Yale University gets invited to join the Skull & Bones club, it could be Barron Trump, to better control his dear old dad.
Oh, really? David - you were so forgiving of this horrible slob when he was first inserted into office.
What did anyone expect of this cheap con-artist? He has permanently degraded the office of President. It will not recover from this.
1
America at its nadir, no question about that. Trump will eventually be indicted, convicted by the SDNY and sent to jail. He is a loser. America elected a con man. A presidency of ill repute. Aarhg!
Brilliant!
This is David Brooks' best column, ever.
3
Trump and his advocates lie through their teeth; they brush them with mendacity and gargle with turpitude.
1
And yet, after the Barr summary came out in March, you, sir, called for Democrats and the “liberal” media to apologize. Puhlease...
b ,I read these stories about republicans,fox commentators and I think of something about a whale!!? we need the guys in the white hats!!!
Thank you David Brooks!
Insanity is when you repeat an action over and over again with the expectation of a different outcome. Go ahead democrats , left wing media and NYT , make Trump's day.
Mr. Brooks says it's the corruption , well . check out Fat Jerry Nadler being corrupt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIWfrSIOWh4
2
The belief that everyone else is even dirtier than you obviously governs your life, as it does Trump’s.
Remember when David Brooks used to have something valuable to say? Me neither...
3
David: Please be sure Chris Buskirk reads your column today!
3
Amen David Brooks. As he sets the scenario, we are forced to deal with those in society who scream "the game is rigged" after themselves rigging the game. Curiously there are those who see this man trump as an "interrupter" a "disrupter" and yet personally financially or otherwise seek the confodence and security of the Ubited States government...in protecting their wealth THEIR freedom of
(fill in the blank).
The upshot is the very selfish nature oof these types: it;s only good for me.-you-whomever you may be-don't get the benefits I seek alas from having power.
No it's not. The system we have in the US always requires tweeking; that's Congress' JOB. Th job to prtect outr nation's our populations' rights a a society. We are in a oeriod of the extreme ultmate "ME" characterization. And you, trump, you Koch brothers, you "anti-governemnt: nihilists, have little sense of your corrosive effects...and how ultimately they will undermine the very free socier=ty you so c;laim to defend.
Hypocrites. Narciisiststs. Selfish louts.
It's time for a whoelsale house cleansing. And David, that means either a 180 from the GOP (unlkely) or the demise of the party, and the rise of a new one, one where ethics plays a key role . Ethics is non-partisan.
1
Imagine that a corporation is a “person.” Then imagine that that “person” becomes president. Self interested; greedy; barely regulated (with the help of one political party in particular); operates to win at all costs; treats its workers like they’re disposable; doesn’t pay its fair share of taxes; advertises its products through the media as good for America, even if toxic. And when the toxicity of its product harms, no one is responsible (including the media). Prosecuted & convicted? Costs passed on to consumers, who continue to buy the products it sells.
Donald Trump is the logical outcome of a democracy in which a corporation is considered a person. In a sense, those who voted for him installed not Trump himself, but instead the Trump brand/organization - his hotels, planes, steaks, etc. They installed a corporation to run the government, and true to form, it is running our government in the ground.
That’s bad news -and corporate persons have always been bad news - for our democracy.
2
US Courts mostly provide only delay and sophistry. Don’t ask them to distinguish individuals from institutions.
David, thank you for your crystal clear synopsis of the Mueller report which points to how the simple act of lying, whether it be by the President or your best friend, leaves us in no man's land.
There is a reward for honesty - trust, which is the foundational essence of both personal and global strength. Remember, it is fortifying to be called trustworthy, and no matter what people say, it will never be the other way around.
1
Everything we do to other countries are now being done here. Is it strange that our actions to undermine foreign governments would one day boomerang -- not really.
Complaints about Trump’s alleged corruption from Hillary voters is laughable.
Agreed!
Well said, Mr. Brooks.
Thank you, David Brooks. You are brilliant.
No, the three malevolent Forces all reside in one carcass, that of Donald J. Trump. The multiply Bankrupt “ businessman “, the ridiculously cheesy and scripted “ reality-Show “ host, and the, Literally, born and bred, lifelong Con Artist. Everything else is incidental, and confluence of incredibly good “ luck “ at his
“Election “ and his Collaborators.
Days until the Election on November 3, 2020 : 565.
Goodbye GOP. Free at last, free at last. You WONT be missed.
Blame the Russians is getting old now! Who colludes more in our election process than Israel, but they are the darlings, and more aptly feared, by both parties who stumble over themselves saying nice things about them at AIPAC hunbubs...Other countries too have a lot of influence in our elections to include England and China today. But Russia is the big, bad bear and so easy to blame for everything the politics choose to blame them them for. Good for votes.
2
They all knew!
"The Mueller report indicates that Trump was not colluding with Russia."
No, it does not, and had you read it, instead of pulling a lame GOP talking point and circling the wagons like your pathetic party, you would have concluded that it determined that insufficient evidence was available to reach a conclusion on the matter.
Sorry, but in my world words matter, and the GOP is utterly bereft of integrity at this point.
3
Beautifully said, Mr. Brooks!
And yet you, David Brooks, suggested a month ago that the likes of Beto O'Rourke should "apologize" to Trump for suggesting collusion, based on Barr's specious 4-page whitewash letter.
Own your mistakes.
3
NYPD arrested a guy yesterday who walked in to St. Patrick's Cathedral with two jugs of gasoline, two cans of butane and two lighters. They didn't wait until he blew the place up.
I suppose that makes him an un-ignited pyromaniac.
But the President can't be charged for what he tried to do, but was prevented from doing, because he's the President?
No, we have to wait and watch him blow the place up.
6
Thank you Mr. Brooks. Well said.
In this time of national insanity, does Trump trump Barr or does Barr bar Trump? Of course, Trump might bar Barr or Barr might trump Trump. Or, Hu's on first...
2
"The first force is Donald Trump, who represents a threat to the American systems of governance."
Yes, David Brooks, but now what?
I wonder if you know the "Democracy" song by Leonard Cohen.
He sang, "Democracy is coming to the USA" back in 1992.
My sense is the Trump's threat is waking up the nation, to a new
wave of democracy, right now, as we approach the 2020 election.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, Trump is destroying democracy, but he is waking people up.
Now, I wonder if the NY Times would care to study "Democracy",
line by line, to see if Leonard Cohen's prophesy makes sense.
"Democracy is coming to the USA"???
------------------------------------------------
2
How Mr. Brooks (or any other self-professed Republican) still associates himself with the derelict Republican party is beyond me.
1
A sickeningly spot on description. Nauseatingly true.
So right!! It is corruption in such a blatant way!! PLUS: regardless whether it can be proven according to strict legal standards, this is such a clear example of: If it looks like a duck, talks like a duck and walks like a duck: IT IS A DUCK!!!!
No Collusion.
No Obstruction.
But corruption, why YES!
Remember when Donald Trump received $500,000 for a speech in Moscow that was paid for by Renaissance Capital, a company tied to Russian Intelligence Agencies.
Oh wait, that was Bill Clinton.
Remember when Donald Trump approved the sale of 20% of U.S. uranium to the Russians while he was Secretary of State giving control of it to Rosatom, the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation.
Oh wait, that was Hillary Clinton.
Remember when Donald Trump lied about that and said he wasn't a part of approving a deal that gave the Russians 1/5 of our uranium, but then his e-mails were leaked showing he did lie about it.
Oh wait, that was Hillary Clinton and John Podesta.
Remember when Donald Trump got $145 million from shareholders of the uranium company sold to the Russians.
Oh wait, that was Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.
Remember when Donald Trump accepted millions in donations from Russian oligarchs like the chairman of a company that is part of the Russian Nuclear Research Cluster; the wife of the mayor of Moscow and a close pal of Putin's.
Oh wait, that was the Clinton Foundation.
Remember when Donald Trump failed to disclose all those donations before becoming the Secretary of State, and it was only found out when a journalist went through Canadian tax records.
Oh wait, that was Hillary Clinton.
2
@George Orwell
So then, why would Russians hate Hillary enough to hack her party’s emails and attempt to destroy her campaign?
@rebecca1048To disrupt and weaken the electoral system and presidency of the obvious winner, Clinton.
Brooks managed to write an entire column that didn’t suggest all our problems would be solved if we would just join our neighborhood’s YMCA. Impressive.
2
And the light came into the world, but people preferred the darkness
How fitting on Maudy Thursday
Trump is such a narcissistic man that you can almost forgive him for being clueless about the job of the presidency. But not quite.
The true evil in this play is the GOP. The GOP is tacitly endorsing the complete corruption of America, in order to cash in on the transaction. They should have worked to keep Trump out of the election. Pay him off, buy a hotel, whatever.
Mitch and rest of them only care about having power, being in power, getting more power. They have sold out America; it's ideals, it's Constitution, it's heart, for money. It's always about the money.
3
Well said.
DJ Trump is a termite.
What a ridiculous column.
Of course Trump tried to derail, confound and obstruct the investigation. Trump is, at bottom, a dolt and spoiled, petulant brat who has never had to face consequences for his actions. It is a symptom of supreme hubris and comfort in the knowledge that his position, extreme wealth and complete dysfunction of the U.S. government borne of wholesale, systematic corruption, which ignores and rewards rather than punishes abhorrent, illegal conduct in the powerful and well-connected.
In spite of this, there is zero evidence to support the original purpose of the investigation: collusion with Russia to steal the election from queen Hillary.
Meanwhile, the real collusion, the one bringing the nation to ruin, that between corporations and the U.S. government continues unabated and apace to destroy and steal what little remains, so it seems, to the point of extinction.
The fact that David Brooks thinks that Julian Assange/WikiLeaks is a threat to American democracy (lol) just shows that he doesn’t believe in actual journalism and thinks that his job is to be a stenographer for the establishment.
Sad.
1
David, we are still awaiting your apology for your column supporting Barr as he tried to exonerate Trump.
I think this is the first time I've agreed with David Brooks.
Oh. The other news was fake, but never mind you’ve got more?
3 out of 4; pretty good.
1. Trump
2. Russia
3. Assange
4. Republican senate
2
The fourth force is Fox “News” and Rupert Murdoch
The fifth force is gullible American friends
1
Constitutional scholars say they didn’t need the Mueller report to know the Founders would have impeached and removed the Orange Clown from office for his high crimes and misdemeanors.
As Lindsey Graham, the ultimate hypocrite, said during Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings (paraphrasing): A crime doesn’t have to be proven. It’s up to congress to determine what is a crime.
The Mueller investigation was allegedly started to investigate Russian interference in the last presidential election, during the 0bama administration.It was also empowered to find out if there was any collusion by Americans, including Trump, with agents of or the government of Russia. According to Mueller there was no collusion or cooperation by any American, including President Trump.Many fellow citizens accused Trump, members of his family , members of his administration and supporters of nothing less than treason. They have been proved wrong and should be ashamed of their wrongful accusations. They may firmly believe that Trump is a man of low character and unfit to be president. He is not a traitor. You were wrong . You defamed him , his family , his administration and his supporters. You will not admit your wrongdoing, the truth is not in you.
So the president of the United States is an amoral, vulgar, craven, liar. The Russians succeeded in disrupting our democracy. And Mitch McConnell couldn't possibly care less, as long as he's able to stuff the federal judiciary full of young, right-wing stooges with lifetime appointments who will be a pox on our country for the next 30 to 40 years.
Have a nice weekend everybody.
2
You forgot to mention the arch enemy of truth, Rupert Murdoch.
3
"We’re now in a situation in which some of the worst people on earth get to determine what gets published." Sure, David. Only YOU should be able to determine what gets published. Wiki-Leaks is the equivalent of ethical sunshine.
1
OMG, David! I pick nits with your columns and poke fun at you (I still prefer Mark Shields), but when it comes down to what's fundamentally important, you always cut to the heart of what's at stake.
David, the systems have changed to where the referees are no longer the last arbiters. In the NFL and NBA the coach/manager can challenge a referee's call and have it over turned after video replay review. While the final call is still made by the referee/umpire upon video review, the power of being challenged by the coach/manager has changed how games are refereed/umped.
In politics we have a Supreme Court that can simply stop votes from even being counted (Bush v. Gore), and select the "winner" without the voters. Likewise, gerrymandering, voter ID laws, Citizens United, etc. are all intended to remove the voter (the referees) from the field of play.
What should shock The People is just how much power We have lost and continue to lose. The Mueller Report with all its revelations (just imagine how horrific the un-redacted with appendices report looks must look like), and a utterly sycophantic AG to a psychotic completely corrupt President just reinforces that The People (the referees of our system) are no longer in charge. We The People have been exiled from our own government.
1
"The system more or less held this time."
Premature conclusion!
So far we're hanging on, but we're a very long way from being out of the woods.
1
The underlying force for the three you mentioned David, has been right wing media from Fox to Limbaugh. They created Trump, they weakened the institutions by supporting tea party and they frankly aligned themselves with Russian propaganda.
3
Amazing, how life-long Republicans like David Brooks look at Trump and say, "what, me"?
Where were you when the groundwork was laid? How about McConnell? Or Graham? Or GWB? And the accepted lies, not merely about some think should be hidden, but what's in plain sight? Tax cuts increase revenues and the ice isn't melting?
It's so much easier to blame Russia. Or Wikileaks, for revealing the institutional criminality and self-dealing which goes on beyond public view, aided and abetted by the political classes of both parties.
It *is* the corruption: and the buck begins on this very page.
Many people all over the world are saying 'but the US has interfered in other countries' elections for a long time, so what's new about this?". Once in power, the Republican Party has tried its best not to listen to the Boss all the time and lose that power! I have to read Edward Gibbon again.
And as our country is attacked from below, the GOP is telling us to look up.
2
Of course Trump is corrupt. But so is almost every POTUS in America's History.
If you're going to go through that path, then you're in trouble.
Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Nadler you have a constitutional duty to begin impeachment proceedings and then it will be the responsibility of McConnell and the Senate and Chief Justice Roberts. I would love to see and hear Mitch and Lindsey squirm. House Democrats must look forward to all the republicans especially Senators up for the 2020 elections .
There is only one person protecting Trump and Barr and that is the number one enabler Senate Majority leader McConnell. The Republican members of Congress and especially McConnell and his cult of Senate enablers are supporting The Con Man in Chief in his assault of the rule of law. Impeachment proceedings must start now.
Barr and McConnell are the current twins of dishonesty.
2
We may never have a "fair" Presidential election again in this country, thanks to Trump and the complicit Republicans.
Collusion means a secret (or illegal) cooperation or (conspiracy) especially in order to cheat or deceive others. The irony of the Mueller report is that it clearly found collusion (Trump’s word) although it did not find sufficient evidence of a criminal conspiracy (the US Code’s term). There was tons of collusion. Trump & his cronies were just too incompetent to pull off a conspiracy or at least enough of one that the Mueller team deemed sufficiently provable beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the report’s collusion takeaway.
1
Don't worry Mr. Brooks. Despite the truth, clarity and insight of this piece, the professional Brooks haters will be along to find fault or at most to give grudging praise. Some will be Republicans posing as progressives.
Where have our values gone in this country? When someone who once was an establishment Republican (A.G. Barr) is now a sycophant for Trump, is there any hope left?
Trump is already dropping hints (in front of armed law enforcement and military audiences) that he will not peacefully leave office if defeated or even after a second term (God forbid). That there are not more Republicans like Brooks and Stephens here at the Times who have joined the never Trump faction is most concerning.
1
What are Trump and Congress doing to keep Russia from interfering in future elections? Hello? Hello? Anyone out there?
3
And what of the “acids” inserted into the body politic by the Democrats with this unicorn hunt of an investigation? Two years of discord and disunity and all we get is confirmation that Donald Trump is not a nice man or a particularly skilled leader, things that everyone, including his supporters, knew long before the election of 2016. A complete waste of time that has dangerously destabilized our country in ways that will continue long after Trump is gone.
As usual, this writer is determined to deflect attention away from Republican culpability. The main theme of Mueller's report is not the corruption of "our world," but the corruption of the Republican Party and its 2016 candidate for president.
2
"Trump doesn’t seem to have any notion of loyalty to an office. All power in his eye is personal power, and the government is there to serve his Sun God self."
Anybody who has been following Trump in the news for the last 40 years shouldn't be surprised by that.
2
Mr. Brooks,
Yes, I agree it may not be the collusion as much as the corruption. The question is how we should behave under such a corrupt presidency. should we all be corrupt and follow the president and his family members? How about the congress and the senate (I mean GOP controlled)? should they also be corrupt to support the corrupt president? The GOP controlled senate is selling off our country to Russia and corruptions. Some of the high level admin did not follow the Prersident's order sound like a white noise because nobody cares and Mr. Trump is boldened more than ever to boost his corrupt scale.
There is Good, there is Evil, Robert Swan Mueller III, and Donald J Trump.
There is ID, EGO, Super Ego, if you find that model helpful.
There is The New York Times columnist David Brooks, educated at The University of Chicago, married, divorced, and newly educated in a world of personal pain about which he speaks and writes so well.
David Brooks is a good man.
We experience what he has... or we are kidding ourselves. Few speak so well about it.
David Brooks says he’s better, he’s coming back. The United States of American is his subject today... as we fall to a new bottom.
Let’s hope we come back... with help from thinkers like David Brooks.
We cannot trust our government... if we ever could. The structures we hold so dear are under attack from within.
Our obese AG William P. Barr is a disaster. But he is not former AG John Mitchell.
When David Brooks writes, I read. He is among our best. His struggles are ours, his subject is us, we are his students.
Today, Mr. Brooks mentions a new form of nihilism from within. He’s right. But it’s worse.
We are experiencing a suicide epidemic driven by the issues of our day. There are so many. Denial pursues us.
Whole nations are abandoning decency. Warming is a myth? The smallest living things are not under attack? We are not losing species and drowning in the evidence of our collective genius? Greta’s tears are childish?
Are our children in Denial?
What do we do about Trump, Barr, Pence, McConnell.
Ourselves?
There is a fourth force participating in the attack on our society, Mr. Brooks: Fox News. Failure to mention its power is a grave omission.
1
Simply put, life itself is corrupt.
1
Donald Trump is an amoral person, which sometimes is the worst kind of person. He has demonstrated time and again that he has no interest in preserving our democracy or learning any of the basic rules of governing. His expectations of loyalty by everyone surrounding him smack of dictatorship. Why our elected officials don't want to work together in a bipartisan way to clean up this mess is a mystery to all of us. It's very clear that Att. General Barr is acting like a toady to the president. We can only hope that those in power in congress muster the strength and courage to do their jobs and protect the rule of law and our country.
I weep for the nation. I weep for the world my grandchildren are growing up in. At 60 years old I now realize it’s all been lies. You know the ones, the commandments, the social contract, the golden rule, that we are governed by laws which are just. It has all been exposed as lies we tell out children only to watch the republicans trash every good thing in their desire to be vindictive and petty. We try to train our children to be good people and citizens and then in real time, in one, oh so significant moment, we watch as all that we are taught means nothing, that the very people we trust to hold this truths evident have failed us. I weep for this nation.
1
So, David: impeach? Or no?
Please make sure you actually read the report before you defend or criticize it. Don't go based on what the pundits are telling you it says. Form your own opinion. Don't just hear what you want to hear. Read it.
1
"It’s Not the Collusion, It’s the Corruption"
After two and a half YEARS of howling "COLLUSION!!!!" this is hilarious.
Talk about moving the goal posts.
The show's over.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com/
1
David, I mostly disagree with you: your recent story rings a bell with me. I am a bit older than you, but you most know that Joe McCarthy had wrought on the American public the same sort of lies, and, I have been living with these memories believing that America's behavior has changed. We see in Trump the same sort of lies and nearly fascitic behavior. As a high school kid at the time I remember one of my father's professors lost his job at Rutgers--as he sought out to his former students they all said he was their favorite professor, but the damage had been done I have been living with these memories and hoping that America's behavior have changed--it has bee too long since Wendell Willkie utter "one world"--the last major Republican with a sense of decency. Note, the Majority Leader of the Senate supporting A.J. Barr.
"The Mueller report indicates that Trump was not colluding with Russia". My question is why was Trump meeting secretly with Putin during all those trips abroad? No one knows what they talked about. Colluding together on the game plan?
2
I would argue the following:
Clinton exhibited a similar pattern of obstruction during the Whitewater Investigation. Nixon exhibited this as well. If you would peel back the onion on other presidents - Reagan, Iran-Contra, Bush, Iraq War and Obama, Iran deal - you would find similar patterns of obstruction to achieve a singular goal.
The culture of Power in the President and the process to become President is the issue, not the individual person. To give 1/3 power to the President over Government...the founders never envisioned the size and breadth of future government giving so much power to one person.
When all the parties understand they are "somehow actors in the same project", that's akin to a wink and a nod. It may not fit the dictionary definition of collusion or conspiracy, but Trump's history with and understanding of Russia's oligarchical structure and mentality and his actions to take advantage of whatever help their players offered shows at the least a tacit kind of collusion. The rest is just arguing over words, definitions and legalities. Maybe Webster's unabridged dictionary already has a definition that fits this behavior, one attributed to Trump for his other business and moral pursuits: sleazy.
1
Is anyone really surprised how the release of the Mueller report played out? Barr's whitewash?
I'm certainly not.
What's the next thing to look forward to? Mueller's congressional testimony? Subpoenas which will be ignored?
In the meantime, we can look forward to increased taxes, loss of our rights and freedoms, more violence and perhaps a nuclear war.
No, I'm not optimistic.
6
Many times I have disagreed with David Brooks, but not this time. He is absolutely 100% correct! Our very way of life, our wonderful American culture is under attack. Please do not fall victim to these abhorrent behaviors! I consider myself so fortunate to have lived during a time in our history where my parents, my school, my community ALL stood together in reinforcing honesty, trust, citizenship and "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". I am 82 years old. Please take heed and think of our newest generations.
8
here: "Mueller’s report says: “In evaluating whether evidence about collective action of multiple individuals constituted a crime, we applied the framework of conspiracy law, not the concept of ‘collusion.’ ... [C]OLLUSION IS NOT A SPECIFIC OFFENSE OR THEORY OF LIABILITY FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES CODE, NOR IS IT A TERM OF ART IN FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAW. FOR THOSE REASONS, THE OFFICE’S FOCUS IN ANALYZING QUESTIONS OF JOINT CRIMINAL LIABILITY WAS ON CONSPIRACY AS DEFINED IN FEDERAL LAW.”
2
Murder is clearly a crime. So attempted murder, though the punishment may be less.
Conspiracy is a crime. So is obstruction of justice. What about attempted conspiracy and attempted obstruction of justice? What should the punishment be?
7
There is a deep and profound loss of dignity and integrity in our country,. We have truly forgotten that honor matters..Our system is built on that belief and we teach our kids that having a deep moral code and honest behavior matters.
To allow this report to be ignored and permit Mr. Trump to soil those values is a direct insult to every American who believes in what we used to embrace and fight for.
He is the symptom and we, unlike our parents, grandparents of the "Greatest Generation" have not lived up to the legacy they tried to build. We embrace the weakness of personal "victimhood" as normal.
Trump is OUR failure. Time to look in the mirror and recognize that we are allowing a degradation of our best dreams and settling for tacky excuses for our own mistakes. Being weak and whimpering about problems is not an American value to celebrate....
The world is watching to see if we have any values left.
15
The fundamental threat to this country is the abandonment of facts and reality. Trump is the pure embodiment of this, but the GOP has been engaging in lies and double-speak for decades — viz., the "death tax," "making the rich even richer helps working people," "Obamacare creates death panels," "corporations have freedom of religion," etc.
What is dissolving is the idea that there are things that are true and things that are false, and that complicated problems have to be addressed with reference to a shared appreciation of what is in fact so. Putin's disinformation machine didn't just support one political candidate, it's far more fundamental than that. It supported the power of lies throughout our institutions of public discussion. That will bring this country down if we can't find a way of combating it.
5
David concludes: “Trump doesn’t seem to have any notion of loyalty to an office. All power in his eye is personal power, and the government is there to serve his Sun God self. He’ll continue to trample the proper systems of government.”
We might add that Trump’s methods as described above are matched by his motives, which have nothing to do with scruples or with the welfare of the Nation.
7
Mr. Brooks: excellent commentary!! Truly keen insight, organized and presented clearly, v-well written. Thanks for your clear-headed non-passionate depiction of these issues...
5
I'm hoping teachers and professors across the nation will require their students to read and discuss the Mueller Report.
4
Only if they do it impartially.
Reagan is finally right — government is the problem; that is a government headed by another politician who has no regard for the law. A President who is supported by an extensive list of faux patriots like Senators McConnell, Burr, and Graham and Congressman McCarthy and Scalise. In addition, it is has become evident that there is an endless supply of lawyers who have worked or are working in government that have no respect for the Constitution and the laws that support our democracy.
At age 70 I have been witness to the corruption and malfeasance of six Presidents and the morphing of the Republican party into a political organization that has no interest in protecting our Nation from threats foreign or domestic.
We the people cannot sit back and hope that Mr. Mueller and other true patriots are successful with protecting our Nation from corrupt politicians and foreign governments. No, we must become politically active and confront the politicians that put self, party and patrons before Country. If we do not our democracy will become just another banana republic or worse.
4
David Brooks writes about "what the Mueller report says about our world". I'm not sure what world David Brooks considers our world, but it's not the world the rest of us live in. It's a delusional world, where Donald Trump is the root of all evil.
In my world, the Mueller report says that Donald Trump had no links or relationship with Russia during the 2016 campaign. All the reporting and investigation leaks that said that he did were false. He fought against that, and now finally his name is cleared.
In my world, defending yourself against baseless allegations is not corrupt. It's the right, and indeed the duty, of a free man to do that.
7
@John Smithson You obviously haven't read the report or even its summaries. Mueller NEVER says that Trump had "no links or relationship" with Russia; in fact he details numerous contacts. But he did not find enough evidence to establish a conspiracy in court.
59
@John Smithson um, did you read the report?
12
@John Smithson Donald Trump has stated "I love money" repeatedly. It is Christian belief that "The love of money is the root of all evil." Therefore those who perceive Trump associated with the "root of evil" are either following this belief or proving America is not a Christian nation. In any case all the leaks merely prove he is corrupt.
4
In reality, the malevolent forces are the ones you love -- the Establishment did not want Trump to be President, and did not accept the election results. Thus, it has from day one of his election tried to undo it -- even you said he may resign or be impeached before he had even taken office.
A bogus investigation was launched against him to undermine his Presidency. Trump knew he had done nothing wrong and wanted the investigation over, because he knew it was baseless (thus no corrupt motive). A low-life prosecutor named Mueller used everything in his power to manufacture a case against him, to try to get people to lie about collusion, and when he failed, came up with bogus theories of obstructing an investigation into no crime.
The problem was not Trump, it was the decision of you and others that the election should be reversed. It is you and them who were and are the greatest threat to our democracy.
5
Misinformation bias and confirmation bias. Worth studying and discerning how they regularly operate in our “certainties” about the politicians we champion.
7
If the president did nothing wrong, he had nothing to hide and should have just let it all play out. Pretty basic. So Alan, why all the lies? The country would like to know.
10
@Alan Oh yes, that explains why Trump said "that's the end of my Presidency. I am f'd" when he heard about Mueller's appointment. Totally not guilty!
I’m not sure why the Democrats are so focused on Trump. Our biggest problem is Russian discord sowing machine. They pried open the healthy levels of cracks that exist in a deliberative democracy to such an extent that it’s now looking like an unbridgeable chasm.
What the Russians are doing is not “sort of attacking a building”. It’s worse. When someone attacks your building who and what are clear. One of the protestors who went to a Texas rally organized by fake Russian Facebook accounts were asked if they feel bad for being made a tool by the Russians. His answer was that he didn’t because he hated the other side so much, obviously not realizing the circular reasoning there.
Athens fell when Athenians no longer could trust the basis on which democratic consensus was reached. It was a slow process. The Russians are boiling us slowly!
15
@GV. The problem is that Trump doesn’t see the Russian interference as a problem. He has done nothing but support their antics and his pal Putin. Trump’s comments in Helsinki were a world-wide embarrassment. Trump’s televised invitation to Russia to find Hilary’s emails was, to me, unethical and immoral. This enabler of Russia fits hand in glove with the election interference. There is a reason Putin admits that he wanted Trump to win—Trump is more malleable and easily controlled than Mrs Clinton would have been. These are just a couple of reasons why people (of both parties) do not see the Russia problem in a vacuum.
By the way, remember Trump’s stirring speech about ensuring that our elections would never be interfered with again? No, because he’s never done that. It is elevating him to call him incompetent. As a Republican once said, “Lordy.”
10
@Meryl
The problem is that making this about Trump in this hyper-partisan environment just leads to defensiveness and “alternate facts”. But Russian influence is something that can get broader attention. Changing public opinion on Russian influence might change Trump’s attitude about Russia.
You are right because Trump took full advantage of a large segment of the white voters who loathed the political elites in the country. Trump "turned up the hate" as Bannon wanted. Hillary Clinton's fly over campaign allowed her to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Trump carried the electoral college but lost the popular vote. The anti Russia hysteria that the NYTs is grimly determined to kept promoting is the most over the top aspect of the media and political elites dishonesty. The expansion of NATO into the former Soviet Union, the supporting the illegal anti Russian coup in Ukraine that led to Russia removing Crimea from Ukraine, Crimea being the home base of huge Russian military installations and having nearly 70% populace ethnic Russian, the false story of Russian aggression against Georgia, the sending of jihadists to bring down Assad's regime in Syria show plainly the US is aggressively attacking Russian interests around the world. Assange basically supplied the US media with important information about American misconduct in Iraq, which was the basis of the destruction of the balance of power in the region and the horrible rise of ISIS. Now Trump has been helped in 2020 with the Mueller report. The NYTs has done a great disservice with their botched reporting.
4
To paraphrase the late Joan Rivers, "Oh, grow up!". The US has actively interfered with the elections in numerous countries since the 50's, and has directly participated the the overthrow of at least a handful over the same period. President Obama ridiculed Mitt Romney for suggesting that Russia was a security problem. Stop the pearl clutching and wake up.
6
@Ken So in essence you're suggesting that all past mistakes will always justify any new and current mistakes? Because others in power made mistakes in the past means nobody in the future can be held to account?
Well, that's certainly convenient.
24
@Martino. The way I read is that things like this have been happening since 50's and those who are making the noise now are just hypocrites.
@Ken
Being angry at Russia for meddling is kind of like being angry with your dog for going through the garbage. They, and we, have been doing this stuff for as long as any of us can remember, only this time, they were more successful. Does anyone remember 'Spy vs. Spy' in that great political document, Mad Magazine. How about the Voice of America?
1
"It may not be bombing buildings or shooting at people, but if a foreign government is attacking the factual record on which democracy runs, it is still a sort of warfare."
While everyone focuses on Russia, Israel and Saudi Arabia continue to systematically use money and influence to suppress and alter the factual record. Both have committed obvious factual crimes yet are protected by the American "democracy".
35
I am off FB after "Zucked" book, now with this report it's even worse than imagined. I miss my friends and families updates, but I can not longer trust this platform. It's too bad it isn't regulated more. And I don't want to hear about self-regulation......look at the greed in the world.
I wish others would get off too, I don't understand why they stay esp with 2020 around the corner.
6
Does Mr. Brooks retract his statement that we owe Trump an apology based on the Mueller's initially reported findings that there was no collusion or obstruction? It has been clear from the beginning that Trump's conduct did not comport with the standards expected from the POTUS. His repeated attacks on our system of justice and the press, coupled with his repeated lies, defense of Putin and abandonment of our allies, were sufficient for most rational folks to reach this conclusion.
3
Thanks David for a good analysis of what is happening to our Democracy. We have watched during the past two years and we have been so disappointed in how the Republican Congress via Mitch McConnell have not protected our Democracy from this attack on our institutions. We have no confidence in our Attorney General or the Supreme Court to deliver any protection.
4
Never before have I felt a President hated me or wished me ill because I voted for a different party, had different beliefs, or lived in an area of the country that did not support him.
Now I do.
I disagreed with George Bush and objected to most of what he did, but he was still my president, the president of the U.S.. He stood up against anti-Muslim hate after 9/11. He didn't personally vilify everyone who opposed him. Trump is not my president -- because he does not want to be.
20
I don’t know if his actions meet the legal standard of obstruction of justice, but they certainly meet the common-sense standard of interference with justice.
Was it common sense to hunt witches either? The New York Times amongst others took us down this path only to hit a dead end and then pleads ignorance? Well golly, I thought it was a witch. We forgive you, next time don’t put a big pointed hat on something yourself and then pretend you don’t know how it got there. Someone scrambling to try and take it off while the flames rise should not be a crime.
3
Do you folks ever look in the mirror? Ever? Do you ever acknowledge that your own team rigged the Democrat primary of which positions and jobs were lost. People were fired. People were exposed.
Does it ever cross your minds to take a serious look in the mirror. Here in Canada we just had a Provincial election of which a landslide occurred for the Conservative candidate. We will have a Federal election in the fall. With the exception of one Province on the West coast and Atlantic Canada, our entire Country has gone conservative, especially after watching identity politics get used ad nauseum with all naunce Progressive ideology is dying before our eyes globally and you guys are still trying to pin it all on Trump. Look outside your own bubble and you'll see for yourselves. Try fighting Trump with real ideas vs this perpetual coup.
7
@Deanna
David Brooks is -- or was -- a Republican.
And perhaps Bernie's campaign staff should look in their mirrors and acknowledge they made mistakes. Obama ran in the exact same scenario against Clinton and won. W Whenever he lost a state primary, he took responsibility instead of claiming it was "rigged."
4
Doug Ford the recently elected Premier of Ontario is like Trump an abomination. He has made serious cuts to education including special programs for the disabled and students with autism, increased class room size, and reduced the number of teachers. He has disavowed the science of climate change refusing even to implement conservative approaches such as a carbon tax. His impact on health care is expected to involve more privatization and greater inequality of access. As for corruption his attempts to install a friend as head of the OPP is well known. And like Trump he openly violates democratic norms and responsibilities. And that is only within a few short months of becoming Premier. More Trumpian horror to follow.
1
Brilliant analysis. Thank you.
4
"No collusion" is just as false as "I didn't have sex with that woman".
It is legal to apply your own definition, but both defy common understanding.
6
David, we need you, and clear thinkers like you, more than ever. Please continue to give this issue your voice. paul in bessemer
6
I agree with the title and I want to know what El Trumpo is so afraid of being found out.
2
Thank you Mr Brooks. I guess we have only ourselves to blame for this pickle. We’re in Wonderland now.
1
David Brooks expresses alarm over the ingredients in the Mueller report. Representative Kevin McCarthy says its time to "move on." Which Republican to believe???
1
Well said. Thank you so much.
1
The fourth is: Us.
1
Blah, blah, blah. It's awfully hard to admit when you're wrong. And when you're wrong the usual path is to change the status of the question. Mr. Brooks drifts from the accusation of a crime to a wool-gathering distraction of how bad things have become. President Trump is boorish and crude. We know that. And all of his other obvious failings. But, Mr. Brooks, what about those who undermined the credibility of the press by abandoning the principles of journalism? It takes a real man to admit a mistake.
2
why has the report not been leaked ?
2
Right. Where is Wikileaks now?
The central theme of this article is corruption, yet not a single mention of the corruption of the Clintons and their brutal corrupt takedown of Bernie Sanders. The corrupt tarmac meeting between WJC and Obama’s attorney general, or the most corrupt of all, the use of Clinton/DNC opposition research, totally invalidated, to repeatedly justify spying on Americans involved with the opposing political party. Why no discussion of that corruption?
2
@Patrick
Have you noticed that Clinton is not president?
1
Wait, aren't you the guy that suggested a few weeks ago that Democrats should apologize???
4
That was before the report was released.
So true and so sad. Not "sad" in Trump's mean spirited and nasty way but sad in the sense that the majority of the Republican Party has trashed all sense of right and wrong in their headlong rush to curry favor with the most corrupt and evil man to ever become president of this country. In his first two years there were still a few honest and honorable people trying to work with him. The are gone or going now and they are being replaced by completely lawless trash. The attorney general is Exhibit A for this.
4
One of your Best!!!!!
We must add the GOP is Mr. Trump’s enabler and accomplice
2
The Mueller report could be read as an updated version of “The Shame of the Cities”, a book written by American author Lincoln Steffens. It was originally published in 1904 and a classic pay to play primer.
FCPA, RICO were never directly mentioned in the report. Yet, tantalizing clues seem to emit embers that hopefully House oversight will fan.
They’ll be no “Checker’s” speech and the American people already know who’s a crook.
You ask men in office to be honest; I ask them to serve the public. - Lincoln Steffens
Good idea, David, if you can’t aim the gun straight move the target.
2
Thank you, David Brooks.
Now, stay here with us.
2
I fully expect that AG Barr will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award from Trump. These are the hideous times we are living in.
5
David, we don't need the Russians to pollute our social media with lies, distortions, propaganda, invective, and poison. Americans do this just fine all by themselves. To pretend that Russian posts swayed the election in Trump's favor is to give them too much credit, or the American voter too little. In fact, the hand-wringing over Russia's so-called influence on our election is profoundly anti-democratic. Its basic premise is that the average American voter is a moron. I've said this before in these comments and I'll say it again- if our democracy can be subverted by some Facebook posts, it's not worth saving.
3
@Paul McBride
You know, there a reason corporation spend billions of dollars on advertising and social media. There's a reason that authoritarian regimes invest heavily in propaganda. IT WORKS.
2
Looking at the moron that the average Americans voted to be president, I have to think that that is just what a great many of us are. “Stupid is as stupid does”.
Spoken like a true lib Mr. Brooks! I commend your willingness to break with the orthodoxy. If only you and others of your ilk had earlier seen the threat posed by the radical right that began 30 years ago, we may not be in this horrible situation. All we can do now is lament and hope that the detritus of our democractic institutions keep us afloat for the duration of this full frontal assault on our nations core principles.
2
Isn’t this what Americans always secretly wanted, everyone out for himself, the way Mammon intended? I used to think Americans were different, that they lived by ideals, that they were in fact ‘better’, representing values the whole world could aspire to. Now I see they were just talking the talk, that when things got economically rough, they fell apart and voted in a psychopathic imbecile who promised them riches and false dignity. The greatest tragedy in all this is that Americans have been reduced to everyone else on the planet and America itself now represents nothing...
6
Very well said.
Oh and don't forget the 4th Force. The Republican Party with McConnell as the king of the Termites eating away at the load bearing walls and foundations of this democracy.
5
@Shivas Irons
I can like Trump compared to McConnell. McConnell blatantly held up democracy!
All this...and he's untouchable. David Brooks article is superb...he's had an epiphany, he's been touched by humanity. Saw him interviewed for his new book...the tragedy is DT doesn't read.
1
“It is as if somebody is inserting acids into a body that eats away at the ligaments and the tendons.
...
It’s easy to recognize when you are attacked head-on. But the U.S. is being attacked from below, at the level of the foundations we take for granted.”
How long can you keep this up, Brooks, without recognizing the attacker is the Republican Party?
3
"While this is the best Brooks column I have ever read," he has kept your interest to have had his opinions to propel you to have kept you reading him for the last eight years. Don't you think he is great columnist to keep the reader, such as you, involved in his extraordinary perceptions on subjects that I, alas, have no time to mull over and salivate on the implications of the future yet to come? Hey, not everybody can call, a home run ...at bat, to center field.
1
It's time to bring back civics to high school classrooms across the country. You can't support values you don't know and understand.
3
Trump famously says he could shoot someone on New York’s Fifth Avenue and suffer no loss of support. He shoots holes in common decency, truthfulness, and our Constitutional values every day and is getting away with it. No wonder David Brooks and all men of good will are pulling their hair out watching our vile president destroy the country we all love.
1
Trump is an awful President. I agree with that. The rest of this is mostly twaddle.
Russia’s interference amounted to two things— social media and stolen emails. The social media stuff was trivial, a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the vast ocean of lies that corporations and yes, politicians drown us in all the time. It is magical thinking to imagine that Russian propaganda is somehow uniquely effective.
The stolen emails might have made a difference, but because they revealed some embarrassing but newsworthy facts. The unfairness here is that Russia didn’t steal Republican emails, so the embarrassment was one sided.
As for Wikileaks, sorry, but Americans were told that our government committed war crimes under Bush and Obama pressured other governments not to go after American war criminals in court. We did nothing about it. Our democracy is sick from the inside and not because evil dastardly foreigners are corrupting us. But it is more satisfying to blame evil foreigners.
2
@Donald
Two things: Propaganda works. Corporations don't spend billions on advertising and social media for nothing. Social media especially gets low-cost amplifification as it gets shared. Propaganda as much as fear keeps North Korea in darkness. It led Germany and Rwanda into the unblinking mass slaughter of their neighbors.
And Wikileaks is selective. It ignores Putin's crimes, but it doxxed 20,000,000 female Turkish political group members and voters. Right after a coup attempt and in a country with a serious domestic violence problem.
They may have exposed criminals, but they took ZERO precautions to protect the innocent.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/07/why-did-wikileaks-help-dox-most-of-turkeys-adult-female-population.html
"The power in his eye is personal power....".
That in a nutshell sums up the antics of Trump-we are here to serve him, and, that is what we witness.
The GOP in Congress has abdicated its duties as a co-equal branch of government and allowed Trump to believe he can govern unfettered.
Nixon, when confronted with his own report still believed himself to be innocent of any wrong-doing-if a president does it, it is not illegal-comes to mind.
Trump possibly believes if he does it, then it is legal and those who disagree do so at their peril.
Nixon lost much of his support when the sordid details emerged. Trump may very well feed his oversized ego off of the report and the country will be further torn apart.
But, the power....
Hillary was right. With trump in the lead, there are more investigations than we can keep track of.
2
The time is at hand for taxpayers to see his tax returns and for all Americans to read the transcripts of Trump ‘s private/secret/highly indictable talks with Putin.
645
@Prunella
While I've read that Robert Mueller's report was written “with the intent of providing Congress a roadmap” to investigate President Trump for obstruction of justice, I firmly believe his tax returns could be the compass that would point and lead us in the correct direction bypassing any unnecessary side roads, detours or oasis to rest our eyes.
34
@Prunella
I believe there were no transcripts. Trump ordered the one interpreter to destroy everything she had.
16
@Ellen Which, along with everyone else, leads us to ask, "What is he hiding?" All he has to do is release his tax returns, release the transcripts, and if he's done nothing wrong, he has nothing to fear.
24
The conclusions drawn by Mr. Brooks are correct, our system is being undermined.
The first and most immediate threat is the Russians. for the record, POTUS has held only one 30 minute meeting to address this and has left it to the states to figure out.
Of course the second is rump. He is to incompetent to run a Dairy Queen and to ignorant to passa high school U.S. history test. Yet he is instinctively brilliant at the con and manipulation. He is narcissistic and seeks only glory and wealth for himself..
Its the third threat Mr. Brooks has wrong, Information. Yes there are state secrets that need to be kept. Yes, Assange and WIKI are a threat, but for a different reason. They have contradicted and convoluted their own message by being partisan and manipulated by the Russians. If they truly supported open governments the dirt on Putin would be enormous.
No the third threat is willful ignorance. Supporters of rump have surrendered all objectivity. He is their guy and therefore he can do no wrong. Thus when he does, it its not illegal or unethical. He has told them what they want to hear and they bought it. He has failed to deliver on every policy promise: Healthcare, prescription drugs, (real) tax reform, infrastructure. He is ignoring the greatest threats: climate, Russians, N.K.
Democracies collapse from within because people are conned to give up their rights and bestow ultimate power to a false prophet. The greatest threat.
Vote in 2020 to save our Constitution.
6
Oh David ... I got to "The Mueller report indicates that Trump was not colluding with Russia." and knew you again were going to search under rocks (all the way to China) for a way to avoid criticism of Trump. Mueller explains very clearly that collusion is not a legal term, not the issue. But, you (and Barr) will use this irrelevant term to blow past the Trump and associates/family efforts to get as much as possible from the Russians. There was contact and transparent yearning to work with Russians to at a minimum beat Hillary. Probably because of lies and obfuscation, proving criminal, indictable coordination and conspiracy was beyond Mueller's team.
1
Great job David Brooks. You managed to blame everyone but the Republican party that's now solely responsible for the destruction of our democracy. By failing to properly place the blame you continue to be party of the problem.
3
Sorry, Mr. Brooks but you haven't done anything courageous nor worthwhile compared to Julian Assange. Assange hit at the highest levels of our power structure & will pay the price for doing so. You, on the other hand, what have you done to expose corruption & crimes by our powerful? Tell me where have you actually stuck your neck out & publicized something horrific & criminal at the highest echelons of power that was hidden from the American people? Don't even dare mention Assange, Mr. Brooks if you're not willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of journalism!
2
@Michael Sorensen
Assange is not a hero. He didn't care about collateral damage to the innocent from his unedited information dumps. And he ignores war crimes and human rights violations by dictators he likes.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/07/why-did-wikileaks-help-dox-most-of-turkeys-adult-female-population.html
Do you still think that being neighborly and thinking good thoughts can turn this cheating, greedy country around, David Brooks? Or do you admit that some measures must be taken to ensure a more equitable society - those measures being government regulation to rein in the dishonesty and craven greed that is unfettered capitalism.
In short: are you still a spokesman for the Republican Party?
4
Thank you Mr. Brooks. I never fail to hear your comments on Friday's PBS Newshour, and they always make sense -- as depressing as some of them can be. The question is, how do you see ENDING this catastrophic reign before it truly beomces monarchial? How do you see smacking the GOP in their faces to wake them up? We all have stood by for the past 3 years watching in horror - a horrific reality show -- that goes on and on and on ---- the Mueller report clearly disrobes his ugly mind and narcissistic thinking. How can we make his "believers" see the real picture? Should they look in the mirror only to see themselves in his image?
2
Inching your way to redemption David. The institutions have even taken over by the destroyers, obviously.
WikiLeaks performed the service of disinfectant, revealing uncivil and criminal actions. That is what saves democracy.
1
@Dwight McFee
Did the entire female voting population of Turkey need "disinfecting."?
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/07/why-did-wikileaks-help-dox-most-of-turkeys-adult-female-population.html
Attempted obstruction is just as much a federal crime as succesful obstruction.
IMPEACH Barr now to prevent him shutting down other investigations, or give him the recusal option.
2
Let's never forget that if we had a Republican Congress with a whiff of backbone, patriotism and ethics, we wouldn't be in this boat. THEY have failed us, the founders, the country, by letting the amoral liar in the WH run amuck.
4
See Masha Gessen’s columns in the NY Review of Books. She was way ahead on these issues.
3
Time for Americans to stop proudly beating our chests, blindly saluting the flag and breathlessly expounding on "democracy and rule of law." This fish was never not rotten, and the rot is taking over. Good, intelligent people must no longer tolerate the stench while uncritically admiring the fish.
1
It's not just Trump, and it's not just Mitch McConnell who are taking sledgehammers to our democratic institutions. The entire GOP nationwide is undermining the will of the voters at every turn. Floridians vote to give ex-convicts the right to vote, and the legislators work to ensure that doesn't happen. Here in Colorado, we voted in a trifecta of Democratic legislators, and the GOP is already working hard on recall elections for state legislators and the governor. The GOP is not content to abide by the results of elections and the will of the people. They are desperate to stay in power and will stop at nothing to achieve that.
1
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Perhaps he should be reminded.
1
In 1919 Henry Adams wrote: "The whole fabric of our society will go to wrack if we really lay hands of reform on our rotten institutions." We haven't, and we won't. We want, as the Editorial Board of the NYT preaches, reform while maintaining "stability."aka the status quo. So we continue with new, improved snake oil sold from every political faction. liberal last time, conservative this time. The circus moves on, money still buys power, justice and morality remain topics for losers in the global market to dream or whine about. Hasn't it always been this way?
1
"But the U.S. is being attacked from below," As well as internally by an enabled toxic WE-THEY culture which violates, by words and deeds, created, targeted and selected "the other(s)." Daily! All around US. By an enabling culture of personally unaccountable policymakers. In all parties. At all levels. Locally. Regionally. Nationally. For their harmful voiced and written words and deeds. As well as for not expressing, in a timely manner, words and deeds which are critical in order to plan, carry out and assess the outcomes of policies which seed, process and harvest civility. Mutal trut. Mutual respect. Mutual help, when and if needed, in order to create equitable types, levels and qualities of wellbeing for ALL. "Epidemic"-like complacency, in addition to active ummenschlich complicity, spiced with wilfull blindness, deafness and ignorance enable those values, norms and ethics, which are the necessary underpinnings of a live, dynamic, democracy.And people from within a sought after, self-isolating, to-BE-walled-in, divided United States, [united in letters only for all too many] with its diverse populations, are behaving as if family, friends, neighbors, etc.are enemies. And none of this is new in America's violating history. Traditions. Legacies. Even as it has been a welcoming home for so many "strangers."A port of unlimited opportunities; for many.Being exploited, marginalized, disempowered, discriminated, excluded, for all too many others."Bridges" are needed for..."
While everything David mentions in this op-ed piece is true, he fails to make the final connection: that the GOP has become more interested in permanent power and wealth rather and antipathetic to their very oaths of office to serve the voters, the nation, and the Constitution.
Times like this require one to criticize one's party--as William Weld's (probably vainglorious) candidacy seems to do--or one remains just another collaborator--as David is.
David Brooks, you have atriculated very well what we should all take away from the Muller investigation. Sir, you have hit it on the nail! At the core of the issue is that multiple corruptions do not need to be related, they can be disjoint, nevertheless, they are are all illegal.
1
Yes, America is rotting from within. But it's not just Trump and the Republicans, it's not so much Russia or wikileaks that is doing this to us. We, American society as a whole (meaning the majority forces in society) have lost our moral compass. We elevate consumption in all its manifestations as our prime value. We want more and more, so we go after the money it takes to have more and more, bigger and bigger: wardrobes, homes, cars, toys, fame, status, pleasure. This national corruption is bigger than our politics; American politics reflects the rot at the heart of our societal norms. Too few of us seem to have the personal integrity, the support of family and religious/spiritual values to withstand the forces that scream at us, "Have more."
3
When Pearl Harbor occurred the nation was shocked into action from a complacent attitude on the world stage. When the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorists the nation was again shocked and went off the rails counter-attacking anyone wearing a turban or a keffiyeh.
Now that the most insidious attack has occurred the Republicans are flailing in midair, and have no concept that it is one of their own who attacks the basis of our democratic existence. Or do they?
1
Trump has serious personality disorders - at the minimum. As Mr. Brooks describes here, he cannot see anything beyond his self survival. That is how narcisism disorder works - a false self takes command of existence to ward of endless imagined attacks to the underlying basic human self. He is a slave, out of control. What we are witnessing are SYMPTOMS, not thought processes - his is a desperate man. Desperate for attention, desperate for validation. Thrives on bulk stimulus. Empty, lost. Obviously, he should never have never been allowed to run for office - the epitome of unfit; he is being used. All this is symbolic of the situation in our culture that David Brooks describes here.
1
Wow. So David Brooks has finally caught onto what a former Bush speechwriter figured out a while ago:
“If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.”
― David Frum, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic
2
The best summary of the Mueller report you'll read. Thank you, Mr. Brooks.
This needs to be force fed to all Republican senators, congressmen/women, Trump voters. For God sakes what is wrong with you people ?
1
The part that gives me how but also great worry is the list of people who resisted Trump along the way. It is heartening that people McGhan, Comey and others who held the line. Unfortunately they are all gone and have been replaced by toadies like Barr. I believe it is likely that Barr will quietly kill the spin off investigations that came out of the Mueller probe. The only thing I don't understand about Barr is the clumsiness of his support for Trump. He would have been a much more effecting advocate for Trump if he was not so blatantly partisan. His characterizations of the findings of the Mueller report are more than inaccurate they are blatant lies.
1
Mr Brooks - we are being attached from within. The GOP's anti-government campaign has been going on for 30 years - it was nihilistic and anarchist fro the start, but there were bulwarks in place. When the Murdoch machine ginned up the propoganda on Fox, those bulwarks started to crumple and he delayed response from the decent people int he GOP and journalists like you let the thing mushroom. You need to tighten up- or as Ann Landers would say - wake up and smell the coffee - it's burning
@Beachbum
Great handle! But, it all started in 1980 with Ron Reagan. We fell for it - great smile, funny. "Government IS the problem." An actor doing what actors do. Smooth, convincing, great voice. But, not too smart. Our finest hour was WWII. After the war, we went on an irresponsible economic free-for-all; anything to avoid falling back into the pre-war depression. Get the next guy elected. Anyway, here we is, Pogo. From Paris, all this must be interesting to observe. So it goes (as Kurt Vonnegut would say).
1
Perhaps you would have been better off if no one had defied Trump and everyone had just done what he asked. At least then, the non-MAGA Trump supporters—moderate conservatives who have been conveniently averting their gaze—would have been forced to acknowledge what's going on here and get off the fence at last. Your country's future lies in the hands of those people. If they don't put country over party, you'll have no country left.
2
and trump and his acolytes in the republican party are absolutely complicit in these efforts to undermine the bonds of our nation all in the cause of power
1
This was a perfect piece you captured what we are seeing play out everyday.
When you are hater of democracy sitting in the White House there is nothing that person will not do.
Trump cares for nothing but his own
Enrichment, I tremble at the thought that this abuse will just continue to escalate , how much is to much now we have to watch the actions of AG Barr because he is nothing more than a fancy legal enabler hack for White House corruption.
It will be difficult to bring back civility to a society that apparently has been focusing on hatred vs taking care of each other. Putting children in cages taking away health care, keeping asylum seekers in detentions forever. Giving tax breaks to the overly wealthy.
We all can work together ,turn the corner and be better Americans. Better citizens of the world
It’s darkest before the dawn and Mueller’s report is our candle light in a dark corner highlighting the way forward.
The stakes are to high to believe in an administration that is a patsy for the Russians.
Very insightful and quite angry. Thank you. I wonder if your right wing friends will start blaming you for being angry and declaring it is because you wanted Hilary to win. Anyone who has followed you know that, like most of us - liberal or conservative - you simply didn't want a charlatan in the White House. Now we see all the reasons why we didn't want him there being confirmed. How odd that anyone can believe that this report exonerated Trump or his remaining buddies. It is clearly stated therein that it doesn't.
I hope that Congress will manage to get the un-redacted report and act wisely. Most of us have had enough.
3
Once the Mueller investigation determined there was no collusion, most moderates in my circle lost interest. The corruption, sadly, falls into the 'dog bites man' category when it comes to Trump. Congressional Democrats and the Media will feast on the bones of the Report but most of us would prefer to see actions directed toward winning the 2020 election back from the clutches of the corrupt and ignorant.
“Trump is destroying Americans’ trust in government!” Because Americans have historically had a great deal of trust in their government? Trump is a symptom of a larger problem of executive overreach and a bloated federal government. Honestly I’m happy we’re getting this wake up call; three years into a Clinton presidency we’d probably be debating whether or not it was a good idea for her to declare war in Syria, not the dangers of an unchecked executive.
Thank you for being a conservative with a sense of decency.
"The first force is Donald Trump, who represents a threat to the American systems of governance."
When the forenamed is occupying the White House, do the second and third really matter?
In their excellent “The New KGB” authors William Corson and Robert Crowley relate a set of instructions from Lenin to Feliz Dzerzhinsky, newly appointed director of the Cheka, which include one “to abolish personal trust”. Doesn’t seem that much has changed.
I fear that the Democrats in the now House have no choice but to press their investigations, flesh out the obstruction of justice and almost certainly, open an impeachment inquiry. As for subordinates who will refuse to do what Trump commands, they have left the building. AG Barr is the Attorney General Trump wanted, a man who looks in the mirror and sees Roy Cohn and who will soon take his place in the pantheon of traitors and sycophants right next to Robert Bork.
1
We need to STOP and consider that this president was informed both about Wikileaks AND Russian interference and did nothing to stop it or fight it - instead, he welcomed it. Collusion is a word without meaning. Did the president "conspire"? Perhaps not in the legal sense of having an agreement. But what would we say about a president who knew an invasion was coming and let it happen? He's still not on our side!! What can we do about it?
1016
@Susan We act . . . during the Civil Rights era, the Peace Movement and with "Tricky Dick" Nixon, we had to get out in the streets, block the hallways and doorways of Congress, march in the streets, hold "teach ins" and rally in the public square.
It took too long but we finally reached the majority of people who came to agree we needed to make some changes regarding our racial divisions, ending the Vietnam War and removing Nixon and his henchmen.
It takes an enlightened people's peaceful "political revolution" and I believe we are on the verge of such change occurring. Our "critical mass" is formulating . . . we just need to remain peaceful, open, cooperative and understanding one another as we proceed forward.
I support impeachment of Trump but do not support violence, disruptive divisiveness or any other approach then a reasoned inquiry and vote to impeach, if the evidence remains as clear as it does today.
15
@Susan
Yes, why is Trump not accused of being an accomplice?
10
@CMK
We call it "dereliction of duty". As he is a member of the armed forces (he's commander in chief, after all), it is grounds for a court-martial.
34
So now that all the people that surrounded Trump in 2016 are gone or in jail, who do you suppose will work to get him re-elected?
David, I rarely agree with you, but this time you are absolutely on target. I hope your words will help take the scales off the eyes of so many Republicans.
The real corruption is in the inability of our democratic system to create the learning that supports the people’s involvement in their democracy
Mueller should have made a call on the obstruction charge - he only increased turmoil by punting ..... Some of it may qualify as obstruction, but our system is off if it’s illegal for the President or anyone else to call something a witch hunt even before being charged with a crime - if the first amendment does not protect that, it protects nothing .....
Trump may be disloyal to the office, but then his 63 million and now more supporters are too. Trump is not disloyal to the rule of law anymore than any red blooded rebellious teenager is, which is what he and his mob of 63 million are. Mobs of frustrated grabby teens reinforce the power of specific rules by picking those ones to mock. It's up to us, as adults, to show up and participate in the dialogue with them by making our expectations clear and by holding the red line. Trump and his 63 million are counting on us to correct them so they can grow up and we are counting on ourselves so we won't be chastised by our conscience, which we know, as mature adults is the biggest threat of all. We need to take the keys for this president and his party are under the influence of a kind of collective intoxication of power. It may damage the Democratic party, but appeasement of the conscience is not an option.
1
Let’s not forget the Republicans as led by Mitch McConnell. It was McConnell who when informed of Russian meddling threatened to make it political instead of defending our country from attack. Shame on Obama as well. He should not have acquiesced to McConnell’s threats.
4
David Brooks, Jonah Goldberg, George Will, Charles Krauthammer - all conservative or conservative-leaning journalists - have renounced Trumpism for eroding the foundations of our democracy for the sake of personal gain and aggrandizement. The Republican establishment, meanwhile, allows it to persist for temporary control of the government and the opportunity to push through policies favored by its constituents. What is worse, however, is the fact that roughly 40% of the population is so disengaged or ignorant or deluded as to lend their support to a fundamentally corrupt, self-dealing, and divisive president. They, and the rest of us, will get the government that they deserve - one where the rules of law and conduct are so discredited that he rich and powerful can grab what they want. This is what happened shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union and which allowed the oligarchs to steal Russian wealth. In this sense, Trump is not Putin's agent but his protege.
1
An up close and personal look at the atmosphere in DC at present can be taken by looking at the relationships between Trump and Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, William Barr, and Bret Kavanaugh. The fact that Trump was not found to have committed a crime amid all his wrongdoings, lies, and corruption, emboldens these relationships bonded by party loyalty. The Senate Judiciary Committee that would take the lead in any impeachment trial...the leader of the Senate...the AG...and the Supreme Court, all important levers of power still in the grasp of Trump. Brooks is not exaggerating. Our democracy is threatened.
Donald Trump is the replaceable face on the body which hasn't changed since our nation came into being. None of the mansions built for our founding fathers were constructed by union labor anymore than the fortunes accumulated by those who are among the wealthiest in the world today came about as the result of their sweaty backs.
Russia, always a less open society, was hijacked by those who, without subtlety, used greed and guns to obtain their wealth.
Forgive me if this observation carries the taint of scepticism, but it appears Mr Assange and his leaks were backpage news until James Comey, for reasons purportedly known only to him, decided Ms Clinton needed to be stopped before the guy who grabbed em by the ...... was irreparably damaged.
Our nation was founded by men who were steeped in European ways which they incorporated into our not so free society. The aristocracy in most nations, ours included, simply learned to relegate the gold braid to those who are used to enforce their laws, rather than flaunt it before their de facto subjects.
Our world has never been ours, it has always been theirs.
Those of you longing for impeachment proceedings to begin must realize that the feckless, venal GOP controls the Senate. They will not vote against Trump. So we must vote against Trump in 2020.
What troubles me is that my Trump neighbors believe that the erosion of institutions and laws is a good thing. Their reasoning is that liberals have put these institutions in place, with all their laws and regulations, and Trump is draining the liberal institutional swamp.
426
@Amanda Jones
This is a powerful argument you've put forth. The observation that a deep cultural mind set has captured our thinking in many places holds, for me, the ultimate scare about where we are going. Less education, more fear (of immigrants, etc.), less community building -- the list is long of what is eroding our values and judgement.
52
@Amanda Jones
It is mind boggling. They hate Hillary and Pelosi so much that they are either blind to Trump’s corruption or willingly accept.
29
@Amanda Jones, what happened was exactly the opposite of erosion. The staff around Trump persisted in averting disaster. They stood their ground in defiance of their boss’ orders. So the system actually worked thanks to the bureaucracy in place. They may have been low tier staff and aides but they managed to keep our country unharmed. Their boss is totally unhinged, totally out of control, totally incompetent, totally unprepared to run the country (forget running a business) and totally morally bankrupt.
32
Thank you Mr. Brooks for a well written opinion. And that is why I subscribe to your newspaper.
Of course the trump tribe will never read or agree with you, as you point out.
Donald Trump brought to the White House his personal history of running his corrupt business organization like a mafia boss.
Most people saw that he was unfit for the office, but a minority have said, "So what!" The problem is that that minority includes Republicans in Congress and their voters across America.
In effect, that minority is saying that what America is, what America has striven to be, to live up to, is not worth protecting and that to the majority that wants to preserve what the founding fathers bequeathed, "So what!"
As someone who has spent considerable time inside the Beltway and knows personally several current and former members of our "esteemed" Congress, I can promise you that the stench from the corruption is well endowed on Capital Hill. The corruption is certainly not limited to the White House. Rome is burning.
1
Notice that David always finds some cause for the corruption and disintegration of our society while ignoring the elephant in the room -- the Republican Party. Party leaders have promoted hatred and fear as a way to gain power.
If nothing else, trump aided and abetted a hostile country in attacking our very foundations. His obsequiousness to Putin is a tacit admission of approval. There may not be a criminal conspiracy provable beyond a reasonable doubt, but it is guilt writ large of an arms-length collaboration. They each get their desired prize: trump gets the presidency, Putin gets the destruction of American democracy. Maybe the charge Mueller should have been looking into was treason.
3
And Trump's accomplices are the Republican party. Their complicity in this entire process from the cover ups to the confirmation of an obvious stooge to the position of chief law officer of the country is an astounding dereliction of duty. That a man like Trump could be elected to the presidency and then protected by one of our two major political parties is evidence of the degeneration of the American political process. Corruption indeed.
2
War is coming. We have to start wrapping our minds around the probability that whether Trump is impeached (a dastardly political coup) or defeated (rampant voter fraud!) in the 2020 election, he has no intention of leaving the White House. As soon as a new president takes the oath of office, the Southern District of New York will arrest him. There's no way Trump will spend the rest of his life in prison, so he can't allow that to happen. Trump keeps whipping up his base into a frenzy NOT to win re-election but to be ready for armed rebellion when he doesn't.
Mueller's report is a blue print for either Congress to file articles of impeachment or if they do not decide to proceed, this report will additionally serve as a blue print for prosecutors once the President is out of office.
Brooks should have noted that the SC report does not use the word collude. It is not part of the federal code.
Any sensible being that has read this report should be utterly appalled at the conduct of this President.
And any sensible being can see that this President has committed high times and misdemeanors.
1
Great article by DB on the existential threat of foreign powers subverting our democracy. What is only briefly mentioned but not enough however, is how countries like Russia can depend on media outlets to report their misinformation as if it's fact. They then feed off each other and before you know it, it's a publicly held narrative of truth. Americans can't turn to the NYT, MSNBC, Fox, WSJ because of their complete loss of credibility. Even today, despite the Mueller's emphatic denial of collusion, few media outlets are admitting that they got it wrong in reporting such conspiracy theories that they got from their "credible, confidential sources with knowledge of . . . ." These sources were plainly lying and using the media also. I agree Trump is a disgrace. But what's more sad is the absence of non-biased media from whom Americans have no choice to try and get information.
42
You can thank the creators of Fox News for the loss of unbiased news casting. While it was predicted by others, like Paddy Chayevskys brilliant screenplay Network, Fox really made it a cornerstone of their work. Tremendous damage has been done to critical thinking in my lifetime.
53
The report itself says that it does not deny collusion. It was concerned with conspiracy, which it did not find. And with obstruction, which Mueller left up in the air and Barr says did not occur. And with the Russian conspiracy against our elections, which the report clearly stated did happen, in spite of the repeated denials by our subversive president.
32
@David The facts are that the reporting in the main stream media were mostly accurate and when inaccurate were corrected in print and on air. The exceptions are the Murdoch controlled Fox network and Wall Street Journal who consistently and without significant corrections misreported and amplified the Trump, Republican and Russian narratives.
47
It's moments like these that I miss and long for the witty and pithy genius of our late Larry Eisenberg.
I am in desperate need of a hearty belly laugh.
4
You paint the picture clearly as it is. Formalized coordination wasn’t needed. The nuances of cooperation were clearly understood. Michael Cohen gave us the answer, Trump asked questions or made seemingly insignificant comments that were in reality orders. Barr and Trump’s Senate enablers are walking on the edge of illegality and perhaps treason. Putin didn’t need a formal agreement with Trump. All he needed was for Trump to win, and then Putin wins.
The real question now is, what and when are we the people going to take our country back?
5
It's not just the corruption, David, it's the hypocrisy. While the Mueller report focuses on Russian interference and collusion, the United States interferes and manipulates elections in countries all around the world. How many foreign military installations are there in the United States? None! How many U.S. military installations are three in other countries? In the thousands! Who is supplying military equipment and weapons to Sudan and other areas of conflict? The United States! The Collusion and the corruption start here, not in Russia.
2
For once I pretty much agree with Brooks and his assessment. It would be nice if he went just a bit further and called upon republicans to face up to their role in dealing with this.
7
Thank you Mr. Brooks for another spot-on column (and for recommending Mr. Lewis’s brilliant podcast). Speaking from a Canadian perspective, this Trump/Russia travesty is nothing if not an assault on democratic values and the underpinnings of civil society. If America goes down, the future for the rest of us is bleak indeed. What we can’t understand is why the American people can’t unite around one indisputable fact: President Trump has failed to identify and then defend the United States of America from systematic and hostile foreign attack. He defends himself using every means possible, but not his country. If the “Leader of the Free World” is not fired for incompetency and disorderly conduct now, surely Russia will double down in 2020 and then, God save us all.
4
Good as far as it goes, David. However, Trump was not elected in a functional democracy. The system had been undermined long before Putin and Trump and the rest arrived. They just recognized how to use its corrupt mechanisms for their purposes.
Trump and Putin and many business interests in the US don’t want the government of the US to function because it harms their interests. That’s tacit collusion. All that money in politics is a feature, not a bug. Without that money lever, the rich and powerful would be reduced to their own votes, which won’t do the job.
It’s not enough to cry foul about Trump. The rich and powerful loaded the gun pointed at the head of the US system. What Trump, Putin and others have shown is that the US governing system is for sale to any and all bidders whether in the US, Israel, Russia China, wherever. All money is equal!
8
Thank you Mr. Brooks for writing this opinion piece. Your metaphor "It is as if somebody is inserting acids into a body that eats away at the ligaments and the tendons." is frightening but sadly on point to describe the pervasive feeling of social unrest in face of the way things are played around us.
1
Excellent column today.
I would add a fourth conspirator: Fox News. Fox might have begun as an effort to correct liberal bias. But it went off those rails long ago. Like the other three conspirators Mr. Brooks mentioned, Fox News urges its viewers to believe there is no truth at all, that what is true during a Democratic presidency is false during a Republican presidency, that truth is merely an aspect of tribal identity.
Without Fox News, the other three conspirators would not have succeeded.
10
This is the best from you in a while. Perfectly clear and
straight to the target. Well done!
3
I often disagree with Mr. Brooks, but he's occasionally spot on, as he is here. But he misses the fourth, fifth, and sixth forces in our current national nightmare: The Republican Party, led by Sen. McConnell, who is willing to trample on any an all procedural norms in order to advance his (Kochs'?) agenda; FoxNews, who spews right-wing propaganda 24/7 to a substantial portion of the citizenry; and the citizenry itself, who has abdicated its responsibility as the bulwark of democracy in favor of the brute excitement of a WWF smackdown.
4
I’ve wondered about your thinking recently Mr. Brooks, but here you have nailed it. Perfect. Thank you. Maybe we might add one more thing...collusion—not with the Russians, though their interest certainly dovetailed into Trump’s—but with the lower inclinations of those who blindly cheer him on. Trump could not bring down whole institutions and traditions on his own, without tour nodding complicity of his own power base. Who has what to gain here?
2
Trump is the GOP's mouthpiece, reckless and dangerous as he is. The biggest reason why he has been allowed to do what he does is because his party endorses his decisions and behaviors. PERIOD.
I used to think the GOP was inundated with a plethora of spineless and intimidated members. There is probably a certain percentage who are, but it appears that the majority of these folks truly embrace and subscribe to the mindset and ideology of their leader.
I cannot help but feel that the tax cut was the "30 pieces of silver" and sweetheart deal promised to these members of the GOP if they continued to support Trump in the days, weeks, months, and two years ahead.
There is something seriously wrong and sinister in this administration. Talk about the giant elephant in the room. And yet, more and more of Trump's cronies pile on the support of that whitewash story which was presented and told by AG Barr. I fear they have gone from sipping on the cool aid to drinking the well water.
I understood John Dean's statement that "a cancer on the presidency" existed in the Nixon years. However, something more deadly and illusive, something comparable to the mysterious fungus, Candida auris seems to have taken hold.
I worry the damage that has been done thus far is so severe, this country may not survive.
There is misguided leadership and then there is dangerous and destructive leadership. I hope the Republicans recognize the difference before it's too late.
4
The corruption of this administration has been obvious from the start. But I still say Mueller interpreted his brief too narrowly. Instead of confining his investigation to a possible conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, he should also have followed the money and other parts of the Steele dossier on just how much kompromat Putin has on Trump and how much of a threat this poses to our national security. As for obstruction of justice, most of the 10 points outlined in the Mueller report were out there in plain sight for all of us to see and if Mueller himself chose not to render an opinion he clearly intended for Congress to do so -- not a porcine attorney general trying to emulate Giuliani in servile defense of the president.
@Christy
If I’m not mistaken, there is mention of kompromat in the report. I’ve been following Seth Abramson, he did an excellent legal analysis and tweeted his findings in real time. He says the counter-intelligence portion of the investigation, by the FBI, is ongoing.
Thank you for this thoughtful and insightful column. One point regarding the Michael Lewis podcast is that it reports that the breaking of norms and objecting to those enforcing the rules occurs more among the superstars and the rich than among the run of the mill athletes and the less affluent. Mr. Lewis concludes that there is a growing sense of entitlement among the haves. This just reinforces the points David Brooks makes in this column. Whether this sense of entitlement is just the result of inequality may be an open question, but it is certainly a force tearing society apart. And a fundamental flaw in Trump's character.
3
Thank you for sharing your observations. Your words have helped me clarify my thoughts and critically reflect on this moment in our American History. I believe that the majority of American Citizens, no matter which political party they support... value the principals of a free, democratic society envisioned in our Constitution. It is time for ALL Americans to openly and respectfully reach out to family members, neighbors, friends and citizens and discuss how we repair and protect the American Democracy. We do not all have to agree on every political issue but we do have to embrace and utilize critical thinking skills. WE THE PEOPLE have the responsibility to step up to the plate, do our part to rebuild this nation. Also, WE THE PEOPLE have the power to stop the rampant manipulation, greed and dishonesty that is threatening our nation's survival as a free and open society. It is the responsibility of every American Citizen to protect our society from the perils of elitism, racism, sexism, misogyny and greed.
3
"He asks his lawyer to hamper an investigation. He asks his F.B.I. director to take the heat off his allies. He tries to get the relevant investigators fired."
As a kid, I was told it took just two words "Go ahead" by Nixon, to implicate him in Watergate and towards impeachment.
This seems to be much more. And Mueller leaves it to us to decide if Trump is 'guilty' and should be impeached ?
2
"We knew this already, but it was still startling to see the fact declared so bluntly — that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election “in sweeping and systematic fashion.”
What Brooks fails to mention is that Russia interfered specifically to get Trump elected. Most republicans fail to mention that.
2
In talking about the 2016 election, I wish people would stop talking about collusion. Mueller was charged with investigating crimes. Collusion is not a crime. Therefore, Mueller did not find collusion, although there was ample evidence. He did not say "no collusion;" he said there was not enough evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy.
I often disagree with Mr. Brooks, but today his understanding of this critical issue of governance rings deeply true.
5
To me the most important revelation from what I’ve read about the report is the dysfunction of the White House and dangerous behavior of the President. That needs to be the central focus of Congress; forget about collusion and obstruction; focus on the man and his behavior which is who he is and is not going to change. And focus on what it is doing to the executive branch of our government. That’s the biggest danger to our society.
5
Excellent assessment. Thank you.
When situations like this occur, it looks like civilization is going backwards. I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling powerless to change anything.
Question: What is my role as an individual and as a citizen to help shift this? What can each of us do? Help!
3
@Kath
Vote! In primaries, local elections, and national elections. Communicate with your elected and appointed leaders at all levels as well as the news media. Support candidates who you agree with and trust. Encourage others to participate in our democracy. Support civics classes and critical thinking in our schools.
3
''there are supposed to be impartial, honest referees that enforce those rules and make sure the game is fair.''
The corruption in the referees feeds our cynicism as well.
The golden rule is and always has been he who has the gold makes the rules.
3
Weak points. No mention of the conspiracy to undermine the President after winning the election. That’s the real effort to undermine our institutions.
1
As opposed to the conspiracy to undermine President Obama: "Our mission is to make him a one term president," never voting for anything he proposed, refusing to consider his nominee (of a candidate actually suggested by Lindsey Graham) for the Supreme Court. Many may be predisposed to oppose Trump, but that is based in his lifelong history of lying and cheating. Others may have opposed Obama's policies, but no one ever found a single example of substantive, intentional dishonesty in his actions, despite looking hard for eight years.
5
A fine and fair report from Brooks today about the madness of our King Trump. But let's not forget who placed him there. It's also the forgotten madness of Progressives, whose errancies for more, more, and more placed Queen Hillary as Trump's combatant.
Yes it was a close election, but the lesson here is that whatever we think political, there's someone with a "star upon tharz" who vocally thinks the opposite.
We have brought about our own collective demise.
1
And whatever Trump, Russia, Julian Assange, et. al., have been doing to undermine our system of laws and ethical norms, they have done their damage without firing a shot.
The $700 billion+ we invest annually in the military has done little to defend us from these real threats, both foreign and domestic, for which we now have evidence. Somehow, neither the Department of Defense (whose homepage states "provides the military forces needed to deter war, and to protect the security of the United States") nor the Department of Homeland Security (which, its homepage states, "has a vital mission: to secure the nation from the many threats we face") have proven up to the task.
In the aftermath of this report, I think we need to have a national discussion about what both "defense" and "security" mean, because I don't feel neither well-defended nor secure at this moment.
8
I would add a fourth element: an American education system which seemingly has failed to educate a voting populace capable of sustaining liberal democracy.
11
@Ben Bryant you hit the nail on the head, ben. being a high school graduate doesn't mean much any more. no civics, no cursive, no government. it's so disconcerting.
The belief that this infantile zoo is “under God” dumbs it down to idiocy.
Mr. Brooks assures us that “[t]he system more or less held this time.” I would add, “so far.” Trump has been described, aptly in my my view, as lawless, that is, as unconstrained by law (or ethics). Look how much damage he’s done in half a Presidency. Now that he’s been exposed for what he is and, once again, escaped real, concrete consequences, so far, who knows what he’ll do or try in the next two years. And, what if he’s re-elected . . . . So, I’m not as sanguine as Mr. Brooks, about the system working. A cynic might say it’s working exactly the way Trump and Putin planned and hoped it would. Those of us who want to foster America’s true greatness need to do what we can within the bounds of the law to minimize the risk of more damage and begin to repair our broken guardrails.
2
Robert Mueller, is NOT the "fair referee," but more to David's excellent points: he's the compromised referee cowardly refraining from calling a technical foul but at least citing a traveling violation instead which is a turnover nonetheless.
As many have said before, what's really a scandal is what's legal. The courts have decided most corruption is not criminal, just part of regular politics. Money laundering through the real estate sector, including receiving outlandish sums of money from a hostile foreign power, is also legal. Receiving things of value from a hostile foreign power is now also apparently not a criminal violation of campaign finance laws, as long as they weren't aware that it would be a criminal violation (that seems to be a pattern - for most laws, "ignorance is no excuse," except for white collar crime, when prosecutors have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the perps knew what they were doing was illegal - that's how SCOTUS overturned the conviction of Arthur Anderson partners). My blood is boiling! All this should be ample grounds for impeachment! I understand the political calculus but letting all this go establishes the precedent that this conduct is not only not "criminal" it's also not even "impeachable"!
8
I can't let this day go by with all the attention on trump to remember that Mitch McConnell is part and parcel to all this. When given the chance to participate in a pre election bipartisan statement on Russian interference he refused. Now, recently, he has the audacity to blame the Obama administration for not being proactive in confronting that interference. This isn't just a trump problem this selling out of our country is a systemic republican problem.
24
This exactly what I thought yesterday. Trump wants to blame the Democrats but Mitch could have prevented all of this but he wanted nothing to do with Obama.
With his extraordinary grit and cunning ways of gaming the system Trump may have escaped the legal indictment by the Mueller investigation but, with his repeated acts of moral depredation and constitutional transgression the damage he has inflicted on the institutional foundations of the US political system will not be easier to repair and reverse.
6
I was always told by my father that it is important to play by the rules. When someone changes the rules and doesn't tell you, then there are no rules and you can play it anyway you see fit. How are you going to play this, America?
4
The next step has to be sworn public testimony in congress. The facts need to be put in the public domain.
Some will read the report. More will just check the headlines, which are all over the place. This variation will allow the public to conclude "politics as usual."
Public hearings will force the entire media (I'm looking at you Fox News) to deal with the forces Mr. Brooks has discussed.
5
I take issue with the characterization of Wikileaks in this article. I agree that the wholesale release of diplomatic cables is unnecessary. But the vast majority of Wikileaks revelations were made because of systematic lying by our government.
If the standards that David suggest were applied to the Pentagon Papers we may never have known the extend of government lying that resulted in the deaths of millions in Vietnam.
Obama promised a more open government and then did an about face. We now vastly over classify even routine government reports keeping our government hidden from the people it's supposed to serve.
When that happens it inevitably begins to serve the powerful rather than the many.
Whistle blower protection has been a sham. Honest civil servants have had their lives ruined because they wouldn't cover up the misdeeds of their bosses.
Wikileaks is hardly without fault. But without their revelations we would have believed James Clappers testimony before Congress that the NSA was not doing domestic spying. They were, and still are!
When open government is a threat, when following the constitution, especially the First and Forth Amendments is a threat, then the values that Brooks writes about no longer exist.
History offers a very critical lesson. Empires erode first from within, not from outside forces. Trump is the perfect example of this.
6
It hard to see how the United States can continue to exist as a democracy as long as the Republican Party continues.
14
"These forces are motivated by self-interest, but their common feature is an operational nihilism. They are trying to sow disorder at the foundation of society. "
Absolutely agree. I wonder -- at what point does dereliction of duty rise to be an impeachable offense? The President takes an oath to "preserve and protect" the Constitution. The Mueller report provides clear examples where the President was derelict in meeting these responsibilities -- failing to take actions to prevent continuing foreign interference into our electoral process, undermining the rule of law, suborning perjury, etc.
8
Watching the Barr press conference, I kept asking myself where he left his MAGA hat. It probably was in the off-stage area.
When asked if he was 'spinning' the report in Trump's favor, he immediately turned and left the stage. I have never seen anyone move that fast who wasn't running a marathon.
14
A very thoughtful analysis. Thank you.
You've written often re. "destruction of the commons themes", their potential remedies, and how our system of government depends strongly on shared values and basic human decency. Unfortunately, these are declining in the face of rising economic inequality, and increasingly tribal affiliations. But as you've indicated, there are ways to address those problems.
Have recent social, economic, and technical forces rendered our Constitution an anachronistic relic? How does it need to change?
Let's pretend the President is in charge of the Executive Branch, including the FBI. What supervision, if any, should the President have over the FBI Director and the investigations they undertake? Should it be more or less than the role the White House has in regard to other agencies.
No one seemed to mind when the President wanted the FBI to get tough on violent immigrant gangs or drugs. Supervision, and even meddling with the FBI priorities is something we expect from a leader. Of course, someone who has every right to tell the FBI to get tough has every right to say take it easy, this is not a bad guy or a major threat. Follow my lead or you may be fired.
Mr. Trump did everything he should have done - no more and no less. He exercised the executive judgment that only he has and no one else.
@Eugene Patrick Devany
But you are ignoring the major differences between your example and Mr. Trump's actions. Changing or altering law enforcement priorities is 100% within the authority of the Executive branch, no one is arguing that. The problem arises when the Executive branch is attempting to influence investigations into its own conduct. This creates a conflict of interest (or to be extremely generous) or the appearance of one, and is why the proper thing to do is to remove one's self from the investigation so that it may proceed in a fair and impartial manner- That is why Mr. Sessions recused himself in the first place, it was the proper thing to do.
Unfortunately for him, doing the right or proper thing doesn't seem to be correlated with success in the Trump Administration.
3
It’s not what the report says about our world. It’s what it says about Trump world and the Republicans in Congress, Christian evangelicals, billionaires and Trump voters. They may be part of Brook’s world, certainly not part of mine.
9
Well written. Politics has always been a dirty game and you should not get involved unless you are willing to get some mud on your shoes. But this has taken it to a whole new level. And lots and lots of lines were crossed. And lots and lots of people are more than willing to look the other way. And we are told to civilly converse with them. We are told to not let tribalism control our discourse. Do we turn this around or let it proceed unimpeded? The notion that this is over, that the country should move on is most worrisome. Move on to what, exactly? More and more of this. If you say this behavior is OK, where is the line, exactly? I am not if favor of impeachment for one reason: There is no red line for Republicans. The question is have the voters had enough? Do they want 4 more years of this? This is who Trump was, is, and will be. There's no lesson learned here. So....it's lonely at the bottom time, America. Time to say we don't want people like this as our leaders. The ethical and moral compass has had its needles removed and 35% of America are just fine with that. I very much hope that the voters who were on the fence are willing to help put a stop to this. Because if Trump feels a winner here and wins reelection, there will be nothing stopping him. It can and will get worse unless you stop it. We need an adult in the room. So Democrats need to nominate one. And make sure lots of people vote.
15
Schumer will never get 67 votes to remove Trump, never. Deal with immigration, healthcare, infrastructure, and the needs of the people. Congress must act now, not hope to win the next election. The economy is humming, unemployment at record lows, manufacturing jobs coming back, and incomes rising. Democrats don’t really want to challenge the president, they want to do anything but debate the progress Trump has already accomplished.
3
@Jay
Republican intransience is no reason not to impeach Trump... in fact it is an excellent reason to do so.
After all since Mitch McConnell has no intention of allowing ANY meaningful legislation that Democrats favor to come to the floor of the Senate, then the most productive thing for the House Democrats to do is to list, at length, ALL of the crimes of the Trump administration in formal Impeachment Articles (not only what is listed in the Muller report, but including money laundering, emoluments violations, and all the instances of crass corruption that's become the norm in this administration), force the Trump lawyers to defend each and every charge publically, and force the Senate Republicans to vote on each and every one. Make them do it THIS year so the record of their votes can be part of every election ad for 2020.
Make the Senate Republican OWN Trump.
@Jay
They should pound Republicans on the things like healthcare and childcare. As a grandma who has stepped in to care for grandchildren in an area where daycare is inadequate, I cannot believe, I will need to draw my husband’s social security. (Just put in 12 hour days, while one was out of town.) I cannot find a more vital job contributing to the future, than caring for and preparing the next generation of taxpaying citizens and I think all childcare providers should have a way to opt in to social security, receiving credit for time already served (in my case) so that they may draw full benefits in their own names. And, parents at home caring for children, should have had an option years ago.
I would include the GOP Tea Party, Freedom Caucus, Mitch McConnell, and Rupert Murdoch (and to a new degree, Lindsey Graham) as another source of attack. They together are destroying the foundations of our system of government with its checks and balances, one person-one vote, and our understanding of how our government is supposed to work. Because of them, the Trump supporters think our Constitution is not based in democratic principles but instead, the rule of law as interpreted by self interests. The spirit of the law is being corrupted because the letter of the law is not explicit. What is needed are very clearly written laws to make what is obviously corrupt in government and information distribution, also illegal and punishable going forward.
Facts contained in the Mueller report may not be illegal but those facts destroy good government and people’s faith in it. As long as Mitch McConnell is in power, there will be no clean up of government corruption. He will never allow a vote on anything which does not benefit him directly or indirectly. He will not put The United States first. I fear the authoritative power of the new GOP and its supporters is now consolidated, entrenched, enshrined.
9
Brooks is correct, as far as he goes. What he never says—and it needs to be stressed—is that the entire GOP is complicit in this perversion of government. I suspect that if he had taken a different path, he’d be sitting in Congress today, fingers crossed, voting the party line.
16
We must look to Thomas Jefferson and his views on the 1st amendment. We need to shine a light on government all government, and make sure we understand what it is doing and if it is telling us the truth. That is the role of the press in a free society. Corruption can only exist in the dark. So more conversation, more discussion, and control over things like Russian tampering and Wikileaks that would corrupt us.
4
Bravo. Coming from a political conservative, this is the message we must pray that everyone hears.
13
@Paul Bernish
A NYTimes version of a conservative and a NeverTrumper.
The new Three Stooges - Donald Trump, William Barr, Rudy Giuliani.
12
David's summation of the present state of world affairs really hits the nail on the head: "The goal is not really to convert anybody to a cause; it is to create cynicism and disruption that will open up the space to grab what you want to grab."
It almost makes one long for the Soviet Union -- at least the Communists believed in something!
3
Oh David, the word you are looking for is "unindicted".
6
Someone on Facebook went to the bother of pointing out that the Mueller report definitively unmasks Sarah Sanders' as the lying dis-informer the working press has always maintained, but Sanders isn't the problem. It's the American people who are the ones in the moral hot seat. We are the ones responsible for Donald Trump. After all that we know after the Mueller report, if the next election is close or Trump wins decisively, we have our answer about who we are as a people. Jimmy Carter was correct: Americans deserve a government as good as they are and a Trump redux damns us to hell along with him.
12
So now the Times writers are telling us that it was never about "collusion"?
Really?
Two years of nonstop, hysterical accusations from every corner that our president is an agent of a foreign power! A puppet! A TRAITOR!!!!
... and now, at long last, after this nonsense on stilts has come crashing to the ground, you go into Emily Litello mode and say "never mind" the collusion, it's ... er... ah, corruption.
Stop. Just stop.
6
Actually, had you been listening more carefully you would have known that Mr. Brooks has rather consistently expressed doubts about the Trump campaign’s capacity to carry out such a conspiracy. For Brooks, the story has been about corruption and cultural/institutional corrosion from the start.
7
Oh, now you tell us...? Lol! This rag has been touting this story for years. And now, that it's finally proved wrong, it's time to change subjects? If you people want to be relevant again to people outside your click bait liberal bio-sphere you will start practicing journalism again.
5
@Kevin Daniel
The report proves how right the Times was in several instances, especially those times when Donald accused it of being "fake news". Those stories not only weren't fake, his denials were the lies.
Please David.... use your talents and make your impervious case for Impeachment.....
You have the pulpit, you have the intellect, and you have the motive and values.
Do It !!
6
Crucified, dead, and buried . . .
Descended into hell . . .
Can our democracy rise from the dead?
Happy Easter everyone.
8
I'm intrigued. David Brooks has been an apologist for the Conservatives for so long that I'd lost any sense of common ground with him. So I was somewhat "relieved" to find that he didn't wish away the findings of the Mueller report like, say, today's column by Christopher Buskirk.
"I would say that’s the report’s central importance. We are being threatened in a very distinct way. The infrastructure of the society is under threat — the procedures that shape government, the credibility of information, the privacy rules that make deliberation possible."
I don't think Brooks has been "converted" but his opinion gives Trump and his ilk more reason to rail on about the "failing New York Times."
3
The US hasn't had a President worthy of the office since Kennedy (or maybe the benighted Carter). Trump, however, is in a class of his own. The venality and corruptions drips from everything he touches. History will not be kind.
8
"These forces are motivated by self-interest, but their common feature is an operational nihilism."
Mr. Brooks was probably about to mention here Grover Norquist, Wayne LaPierre, Sheldon Adelson, the Koch klan, et al. then thought those inclusions a bit of a reach for today's essay.
4
I agree with Mr. Brook's headline if he was referring to the crooked Obama administration. The spotlight is finally being turned to focus on the FISA warrants obtained with only the fake Dossier. Strozk, Paige, McCabe, Brennan, Comey & Clapper all tried to create a modern day coup of the office of the president and got caught. All coming out in the next few weeks. Look for the upcoming IG report in May. Talk about collusion and election meddling.
5
I'm intrigued. David Brooks has been an apologist for the Conservatives for so long that I'd lost any sense of common ground with him. So I was somewhat "relieved" to find that he didn't wish away the findings of the Mueller report like, say, today's column by Christopher Buskirk.
"I would say that’s the report’s central importance. We are being threatened in a very distinct way. The infrastructure of the society is under threat — the procedures that shape government, the credibility of information, the privacy rules that make deliberation possible."
I don't think Brooks has been "converted" but his opinion gives Trump and his ilk more reason to rail on about the "failing New York Times."
2
The media’s descent into naked partisanship based on nothing but wishful thinking has been the most detrimental outcome of the Russian Collusion Hoax.
4
David, give it up, find a safe place, and sit out the next six years. You’ve been wrong about so much for so long, you out to be embarrassed to the point that a Trappist vow of silence is your only face-saving move.
2
For decades the GOP player the “race card”. For decades the GOP attacked our institutions, calling government the problem, denying climate change, holding politically motivated hearings, obstructing the functioning of government.
Trump is but a symptom of the problem. Until people like David Brooks admit they were wrong to support the GOP thereby helping create this problem the repair and healing cannot begin. Yes, corruption is the problem and you help bring it on. Ow admit it and help fix it.
3
This sounds like your own jumping off point for impeachment.
Our leader is undermining our institution. There is a truckload of now public evidence.
That should be enough to meet the standard.
Impeach.
4
So the NYT which has been leading us to believe it's all about conspiracy and collusion now want to go on a different tangent as Mueller and Rosenstein found NO COLLUSION.
Trump could have exerted executive privilege and kept all the embarrassing details from the public eye. There was no point as he did nothing criminal. All this Trump this Trump that and not one iota of a decent policy from Democrats except give everyone US$1000 per month, give them medicare for all without being able to pay for it, give them free college education without being able to pay for it.
Democrats are going to be crushed in 2020 as they are blinded by their hatred of Trump, fueled by a Trump hating media. But do go on as all this free media attention focusing on Trump and no one else is just free advertising for Trump.
3
Mr. Brooks usually adds an unnecessary "and there's blame on both sides" to his scolding columns. His sin this time is one of omission: Mitch McConnell and his gang of Republican Senators.
5
We need a new Republican party where conservatives like yourself who reject the corruption in the WH and the complicity of current Republican elected officials can have a home. Do you have the courage to take your outrage to a new level?
Ex mayor Giuliani was on tonight - sounded just like Trump - spinning everything in a ridiculous manner - trying to say that Trump never lies - making a complete fool of himself - though he is a bright dangerous fool. The worst kind.
3
How many times did Mr Mueller participate in cases where people ended up indicted for conspiracy and were jailed on a whole lot less evidence than the Trump Treason Train? White people with money got their own standards for illegality. Sad.
2
My thoughts exactly.....or really terrific analysis. Way back at the beginning George Washington did not want to be king or stay in office for life. He had intelligence, humility, courage and dignity, qualities this president doesn't have in abundance or at all. It is sad to see it all laid out before us to ponder. And congress hasn't even seen the redacted parts; lot of black lines to look under. Lastly why do so many stick by him? Living in NC I should not be surprised to see so many Trump 2020 bumper stickers, but hey this is liberal Asheville. Hate to think of how many I'd see if I lived in another part of the state. May the report open their eyes if just by a slit or maybe Trump is right he could shoot someone in broad daylight on 5th Avenue and not loose support. Sad day in Mudville.
Gawd!
It's not the corruption that the liberals imagine exists. It's the hypocrisy of writers like the one creating this strained attempt to impeach a political opponent.
He so righteously decries the attempts to thwart the rule of law while at the same time demanding that Trump release to the public his personal income tax records. It's not required by law that he release that information.
"We’re now in a situation in which some of the worst people on earth get to determine what gets published." But of course that means the NYT are the chosen ones who determine what is published. Julian Assange hardly meets the definition of the "worst people on earth". Brooks wants privacy in government communications but he wants the full record of the Mueller investigation made public. But the NYT were among the first to proclaim that Trump was spilling national security secrets to the Russian Ambassador in a White House meeting (fully authorized by LAW) that required that a person had violated the law to make such accusations possible in the news media.
They proclaimed the president was attacking the 1st amendment when he revoked the security clearance of a radicalized loudmouth former CIA director who was violating government regulations in regard to maintaining that clearance.
Liberals only respect the law when it suits their agenda. Otherwise they attack the referee themselves if the law goes against what they want.
4
Utterly brilliant. It’s remarkable to read an entire column about the Mueller report and the corruption of this administration with virtually no mention of the Republican Party enablers. Not a word. That takes a lot of skill. Or something.
The field force, to use Brooks’ description, is not Donald Trump. It’s the stinking, rotting heart of the Republican Party. At dead center is the corruption of a single senator like nothing else we’ve witnessed in our lifetimes: the ethical and moral vacuum of the gravedigger of democracy named Mitch McConnell. But that problem doesn’t exist in Brooks’s universe. For shame. Shame on him.
2
Merrick Garland, nuclear option, Bush V. Gore, Citizens United, Iran Contra, Socialism for the rich.
I am glad you finally see it
1
David it is worse than you say in your fine piece. The center did not hold. There is the real danger of Mitch McConnell and the Republican will to power, greed, and craven wish to grab power for white rich men for the next 100 years.
At risk is we become an Oligarchy like Russia. Teach people hatred racism scapegoating and fear of others and we will have the loss of our democracy.
Women in jail for abortions. No immigration. No health care no medicare no social security. Global warming. Mass poverty drug use and mental illness. Shortened life expectancy.
And a very very rich upper class of white men.
1
Now. What are we gonna do about it?
3
Sadly, the portrait you paint is of a society that cannot survive. How do you propose we go on? Mired in nihilism and robbery everywhere we look?
3
The American Presidency is determined by the electoral college. None of the damning stuff in the report will filter down far enough for most voters to see that he truly did bad stuff. Trump has already won the message by declaring complete and full exoneration and vindication (even tho the report clearly says otherwise). Fox, and Barr and Trump have today secured another 4 years of his lousy presidency because he wins the messaging.
Sadly, in 2020 Americans in the determining electoral states will still be feeling the short term economic sugar high from the Trump tax cuts for the rich (even tho in a few years they will see otherwise-this is how a short term businessman works-quarterly short term profits at the expense of the long term), and will feel good about the vanquishing of the immigrant menace that Trump has based his presidency on. His evangelical base cares not about his philandering and lying (he rids us of the brown menace! all transgressions are forgiven).
Call me cynical, but most Americans it seems care more about what is in their wallet RIGHT NOW than any kind of actual America value on which our country was founded. Sad!
3
Thank you, David Brooks, for this thoughtful column.
2
You're correct, " ...they rig the system, then cry the system is rigged!" I might add: they create fake news, then cry fake news. The unwitting enablers of this rot show no signs of letting up.
3
As many have been saying, so far very little of this information is new to the American public. What's happened is that it's confirmed. A more disturbing fact is that the Republican Party, Mitch McConnell, and Paul Ryan were aware of all this and aided Trump in suppressing the truth. I am stunned at how many Republicans are so comfortable with corruption that hurts our democracy.
4
To Brooks's credit, he early on recognized, and spoke out about, the bogus nature of the purported Trump "collusion" with Russia.
But, if we're talking about corruption, we need also to talk about Obama's involvement in the surveillance of Trump, and, of course, Hillary's creation of the bogus Steele dossier and the fomentation of collusion as an excuse for her loss of the election.
2
So well said and so scary! Thank you Mr. Brooks for putting all of this in perspective! My question is what can be done about it? I do not believe that if the House tried to impeach Trump that he would be convicted by the Senate which means Trump gets away with his misconduct and the institution of the presidency is tarnished by his behavior. I hope the American people have learned a lesson- people need to learn what propognada is and what it can do to our system of government.
President Trump, narcissistic Entertainer-In-Chief that he is, wants nothing more than to make everything about him. This column and most of the media (including this paper) are only too willing to play his game, giving him power he otherwise wouldn't have.
In any case, Brooks gets it wrong with sins of omission, not commission. Trump may well be all the things Brooks says, but there are two serious unmentioned causes of our current situation.
Over the decades, people have been happy to increase the power of the Executive Department in general and Presidents in particular as long as they were doing something you liked. Unfortunately, that established power in those institutions for others to do things you don't like. Second, the traditional check on those powers, Congress, has largely disappeared, as members of both parties sacrificed principles for reelectability, and the Republicans of current vintage have disappeared altogether, replaced by a Trump cult.
Congress used to exercise its most sacred Constitutional responsibility by declaring wars we fought. However, Korea, Viet Nam. Iraq, Afghanistan, and a number of lesser conflicts have been fought and financed by Congress without going on the record by declaring war.
There is little if anything President Obama did by Executive Order that President Trump cannot reverse by exercising the same power. There is little President Trump can do if Congress exercises its Constitutional authority to simply cut off funds.
13
Anyone surprised by the cataloging of Donald Trump's outrageous behavior and his disregard for norms and rules clearly hasn't been paying attention. He has moved the nation from debating legitimate policy differences to debauching the fundamental principles that Americans have long held sacred.
The challenge for America is what to do with the realization that Trump is destroying the very foundations of our government, toying with it as his personal plaything while eroding the confidence that a majority of Americans have in our institutions.
Trump has built his entire career on being a disrupter. He has never bowed to convention or decency, and has always operated with an edge that runs roughshod over others in order to achieve his own selfish, personal goals. For the most part, he has gotten away with harming them while leaving the cleanup to others still, which only reinforces his propensity to continue misbehaving in increasingly outrageous fashion.
The actions outlined by the Mueller Report only confirm that Trump has not changed, and that he continues, as president, to behave as he always has, spitting in the eye of authority and, in this case, trampling all over the entire country and the principles we have long held dear.
The question for Americans is whether we will sit by idly and watch while Trump degrades our way of life and system of government beyond recognition, letting him bury them in the swamp he continues to fill to overflowing.
11
First, there is a fourth force acting as the enabler: Social media. And a fifth one: the GOP. When Mitch McConnell says things like he is against the executive order concerning the "wall" but will support it anyway, I am thinking, come on Mitch, what the heck does this mean?
Second, the theory that government and education should be run like a business is another enabler. Yes, some concepts from business administration are useful, but the missions are totally different.
This is how great powers begin their downward spiral.
The sad part of all this is that the Democrats are handing him a second term on a silver platter.
7
Everyone focuses on the Mueller Report which seems to confirm everything we know about Trump and his admin but no one seems to want to talk about the enablers, McConnell, Ryan (he will not be able to get off the hook - ever) et al.
Without the Republican Stepford wives, Trump's damages would have been minimized even if he could not have been booted from the White House.
The Dems are not too smart either. Only Speaker Pelosi realizes impeachment so close to 2020 is counterproductive to their cause.
Ultimately, had the moderate Republicans resisted the Tea Party's seduction harder, Trump would not have happened. By allowing him to use birtherism as a springboard, the Republicans like yourself, Mr Brooks, have essentially swift boated your own party and taken America with you.
A bit too late to complain now, irrespective of collusion or corruption
4
“Some of the worst people on earth get to determine what gets published”.? Assange might be flawed in a number of ways, apparently very unlikeable, and cavalier and irresponsible in publishing certain confidential documents, especially those that could endanger government critics in countries with limited human rights protections. But among the worst people on earth? Seriously? As for his and Wikileaks being motivated by a cynical desire to disrupt society - what evidence do you have that they don’t simply want to shine light in places where the powerful don’t want it shined, just in an extreme and occasionally self-promoting way? I.e like a lot of good journalism?
4
“Real” journalists don’t like when “fake” journalists like Assange try to sit at the big kids’ table. Little do they seem to understand that the exact line of attack being used to prosecute him could be turned against them.
Well, the report, to me, really wasn't a surprise. I have learned to hold astoundingly low opinions of Trump and anyone who works for him, or who champions him.
No, to me, the biggest surprise was how I was fooled by Barr. I listened to his audition for the job when he appeared before Congress, and if I had a vote I would have voted to have him be the Attorney General. He seemed built of the right stuff.
Instead, he is just another Trump tool, willing to toss America and the values of independence to the curb.
Hugh
7
I hope America’s short attention span doesn’t space this out before 2020, instead chasing some shiny object again, like The Inasion of the Caravans.
But we might, or, Trump could lather us up with some other jingoistic trope, or, more dangerous still, play a game of nuclear chicken with North Korea.
But maybe, out of disgust and exhaustion, we will simply dump Trump, simply because we’re tired of him, so much drama, so much me-me-me. Because we just don’t care anymore. We just can’t take it anymore. We want our life back. The thrill is gone. I don’t know what this is, but it’s not working for me. Where is the love you said was mine, all mine? It’s too late, baby, it’s too late, though we really did try to make it. Something inside has died and I can’t hide and I just can’t fake it. Oho, no, no.
We’re gonna wash that man right out of our hair.
4
There is nothing new about Russia and Wikileaks being hostile to U.S. interests. As for Trump, he was revealed to be understandably apoplectic about his presidency being mired in a pointless investigation that was justified by the false Steele dossier, commissioned by his political opponents. We have problems with our system all right, but the "force" behind it in this instance was HRC, Elias, Comey, Brennan, Stzok, Page, and, possibly, Obama himself. How odd that they did not figure in the Mueller report, or in this column.
1
@Dave Oedel tRump never should have been elected. He is and was not qulaified. Why you people can not see that evades me.
@Dave Oedel
How odd?
This is a newspaper, not Faux News.
You are obviously addicted to that state-propaganda outlet.
Mr.Brooks it's your political party thats doing this and it didn't start with Trump. Forty years of cultural war has ripped the county apart. Trump took it to the next level. Trumps talent or genius if you will is that he realized its was all a house of cards and there was nothing or no one from stopping him so he just kicked it all down and spit on it and smiled. He's shameless and so is the Republican Party. They can not be shamed and they believe in nothing but survival and money. The Republicans are now the party of nihilistic politics and if history tell us anything that should worry us.
5
Right, it is always the case, when a corrupt immoral system is on its last legs and about to collapse the "threats" begin to come hard and fast from all directions. It tells a lot about the current American system's proximity to the dustbin of history that a single person (Julian Assange) can constitute an existential threat to it. Should we even be trying to prolong the agony of such a system?
2
The Republican lunacy that culminated in the Trump tragedy is the direct result of a lack of moral and intellectual leadership by those who were needed most to provide it -- the liberal elites.
It's a long road back with no shortcuts, but the current alternatives to American leadership in the world are far worse. I am rooting for you, and salute any Republicans courage to stand up, and any Democrats with the honesty to own up.
Trump came into power exactly because of the intellectual and moral “leadership” of the liberal elites. They told us proles “we have superior intellects and morals, and thus you need to shut up and do what we say.” Somehow, that didn’t work out too well.
If you don't like a rule, ignore it. That is Mr. Trump's family motto. He knows no allegiance to any person or entity other than himself. He doesn't understand why he should. He is our President because he can be bought and he is useful. All of those wealthy people and corporations who got their tax cuts, and regulations removed are pleased as punch with Trump's performance. What possible difference could it make to them that American values are taking a hit; that our nation stands for nothing but greed and ruthless power? The saddest part of this grim tale is the reaction of our Democratic Party leadership, who in the face of this administration's corruption, simply want to move on to the election and ignore the horror of Trump's actions. Trump needs to be set back on his heals, along with his handlers and braying followers. He is a clear danger to our democracy.
4
I feel as David Brooks peeled a bandaid off a deep wound we already knew was there but tried to ignore. We already knew the Trump administration is corrupt. We know the Supreme Court is stacked with extreme conservative justices who are corrupt and don’t care about the inequality and longterm impacts of their decisions. We know there are Congressional leaders and committee members who are beholden not to their constituents, but those on Wall Street who pad their pockets with wealth and power.
We know this, and Mueller had made this all clearly visible. However, as long as our “honorable” supreme court justices and members of Congress keep wearing their blinders and rose colored glasses nothing will change until it gets so bad there is major civil unrest.
When I tell friends about my frustration and anger, even those who are generally optimistic reply: “they’re all crooks.” We’re in really bad shape.
4
There are five “conservative” justices and four “liberal” ones, and Supreme Court jurisprudence really hasn’t changed much since Obama was in office. I’m curious what has caused you to loose faith in that specific institution. Is it simply your partisan alignment or do you have a specific ruling(s) in mind?
America is structurally only one step away from a dictatorship given the results of the Mueller report that outlines Trumps extensive corruption.
Trumps authoritarian modus operandi is hiding in plain sight. Only a willfully blind citizen, including members of Trumps base, could not see him for what he is.
With a biased Supreme Court, we Americans have little recourse other than to pray that democrats in Congress will find a way to prevent a second Trump term!
4
I'd agree with the first two forces Mr. Brooks mentions but not as much with the third. That said, 2 out of 3 will still get you into Trump's Hall of Shame. The greed, corruption and hypocrisy inflicted upon this democracy by this kakistocracy will take generations to repair yet it must, can and will be done starting today as our true patriots assume the responsibility to rid us of this horrible mistake.
Do your part.
Vote.
2
I actually have a tear of hope in my eye reading Mr. Brooks today.
While I know we view our history with some rose colored glasses in my day as remembered Conservatives and Conservationism was NOT in an alternative Bizzaro World.
They did offer diverse (vis-a-vis Liberals) but worthy ideas regarding priorities, feasibility, and implementation strategies.
Basically they were "just" a part of the impartial scientific process (least falsified hypothesis wins) to get common objectives done.
We actually had COMMON OBJECTIVES - at least between the intellectual spheres of Progressive/Conservative thinking.
And importantly both "sides" shared appreciation of what real Patriotism is; the value of truth, justice, and rule of law; the overwhelming importance of character; the value of being grounded in reality.
But today's Conservationism is a religious like cult with cult leaders and indeed a religious-like disdain for secular reason, facts, and testable models.
It has the fluff of religion without the appreciation for REAL ethics, morals, and character.
Worse it makes its OWN truth from fantasy.
The Mueller report FACTUALLY does NOT exonerate Trump. Rather it FACTUALLY indicts him as a crass venial self-serving scared little petulant amoral person. As a dangerous authoritarian. ALL Americans should be interested and concerned!
In my day Conservatives would be APPALLED by a Trump! Not so much today is seems.
Yet Mr. Brooks gives me some needed hope not all lost!
3
Yeah. Maybe. How'd that Vietnam War work out? Who could ever trust the government or the military after that?
My trust in institutions went totally out the window when it was revealed that Volkswagen cheated on emissions testing. I trusted Volkswagen. What's next? Patagonia buys an oil company and starts drilling off Santa Cruz?
Trump's Presidency has shown that pretty much everything I learned in school about what makes America great is a sham. Ezra Pound's poem on the Statue of Liberty should be removed and put next to an exhibit of ancient artifacts.
Here's what's also true. My partner and I run our business with the promise of being brutally honest with our customers. We often crush their dreams, but they thank us for giving them bad news straight for short money rather than flattering them to suck 50X more out of their pockets. Our business is growing nicely.
In today's world honesty and decency are a real competitive advantage. Capitalists take note!
2
America has been unraveling for at least the last 40 years.
The politicians, our institutions and bureaucratic class are all corrupt and have failed the American people. And this corruption of the government has been undertaken solely for the purpose of enriching a small number of people at the expense of not just everyone else, but the very planet we live on.
Mr. Brooks and much of the corporate media have a narrative that basically says we had a strong and beautiful country, but we failed to realize how many ignorant Deplorables there are in the country, and they were duped into voting for the biggest con this country has produced.
An alternative narrative is that the parasitic class of lobbyists hollowed out the foundation of the country to further enrich their corporate masters, in collusion with the government class and aided and abetted by a sycophantic media, at the expense of the masses.
If you believe the media narrative, like so many of the neoliberals, then this bizarre obsession with Mr. Trump makes sense, since once he’s gone everything will return to being beautiful.
Unfortunately this obsession with Trump is preventing us from dealing with our absolute failure as a country.
Rather than learning from the Trump fiasco, the NYT just ran a piece yesterday about how the wealthy democratic donors want to thwart the front runner and find a way to install their favored candidate.
The wealthy neoliberals would rather have Trump. They might get their wish.
2
We took the bait. The bait was the world collusion. The Rosenstein letter about the appointment of Mr. Mueller was to find links between Russia and the campaign. We all saw and see that i) Russia interfered aggressively and ii) it was linked to the campaign.
The current president of the United States inserted himself in the investigation and with the word “collusion, colluded”, he moved the spotlight to him as the master puppeteer and defined the narrative of national security to a characterization of himself as the victim. But he is no victim. We all are. We should be demanding that this administration imposes sanctions to Russia. That we defend our elections and that we take the threat of national security seriously. If this president doesn’t act on this, then he is the national security breach.
1
"In all societies there are rules defining good conduct, and there are supposed to be impartial, honest referees that enforce those rules and make sure the game is fair."
This foundation of "honest referees" is what is being systematically destroyed. Look at the FAA and the Boeing 737 Max safety oversight. Look at the U.S. government historic blind support of Israel's actions and billions of dollars in annual "defense" aid - in the last election, in order to win, Netanyahu was forced to publicly expose Israel's intention to expand settlements in the West Bank. Where was the outrage by our elected representatives in Congress and the White House? And, in the Supreme Court, the groundwork is being prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade.
3
One of David’s three malevolent forces attacking this country is the President of the United States. The Founders were very clear about what to do if this happened.
Donald Trump is the one and only Article II executive office President of the United States because 63 million Americans including 58% of the white voting majority delivered him a meaningful Electoral College majority.
Trump did not run a covert stealth subtle campaign. Every American knew who he was and was not and voted accordingly.
The American people have the President that they deserve. Blaming Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin and Julian Assange for the American partisan political predicament is cowardly, dishonorable and unpatriotic.
4
@Blackmamba,
This basic truth must be understood and digested if we’re to have any hope of charting a different course.
Unfortunately, the Democratic Establishment is in deep denial, like an alcoholic who insists that, since he doesn’t add vodka to his morning orange juice, his drinking isn’t a problem.
There’s nothing that can be done for the alcoholic until he recognizes that he has an actual problem. Same with our so-called democracy.
1
Trump is simply the ultimate extension of the philosophy of your (former?) hero, Reagan: greed is good. Over the last fifty years, greedy people, in the guise of conservatism, have attacked all the institutions that created the conditions for the values you now espouse. I will take your attacks on Trump more seriously when you disavow Reaganism, because otherwise, you just sound like a sore loser in the battle for control of the Republican Party.
As a former (and 4th-generation) Republican, I continue to be appalled by the degree to which GOP leadership and the party's basest core are willing to turn a blind eye to existential threats to our democracy --- all to seize and maintain temporary political power. This has nothing to do with political ideology and everything to do with humanity's worst instincts. I desperately hope our nation survives reasonably intact.
1552
"But the U.S. is being attacked from below," As well as internally by an enabled toxic WE-THEY culture which violates, by words and deeds, created, targeted and selected "the other(s)." Daily! All around US. By an enabling culture of personally unaccountable policymakers. In all parties. At all levels. Locally. Regionally. Nationally. For their harmful voiced and written words and deeds. As well as for not expressing, in a timely manner, words and deeds which are critical in order to plan, carry out and assess the outcomes of policies which seed, process and harvest civility. Mutal trut. Mutual respect. Mutual help, when and if needed, in order to create equitable types, levels and qualities of wellbeing for ALL. "Epidemic"-like complacency, in addition to active ummenschlich complicity, spiced with wilfull blindness, deafness and ignorance enable those values, norms and ethics, which are the necessary underpinnings of a live, dynamic, democracy.And people from within a sought after, self-isolating, to-BE-walled-in, divided United States, [united in letters only for all too many] with its diverse populations, are behaving as if family, friends, neighbors, etc.are enemies. And none of this is new in America's violating history. Traditions. Legacies. Even as it has been a welcoming home for so many "strangers."A port of unlimited opportunities; for many.Being exploited, marginalized, disempowered, discriminated, excluded, for all too many others."Bridges" are needed for..."
2
@Dick Dowdell
Agreed. Only slightly more appalling is the willingness of the “Christian” right supporters to turn a blind eye to “thou shalt not lie.”
68
@Dick Dowdell
The bottom line of the whole situation is for Republican, especially leadership, that "This has nothing to do with political ideology and everything to do with humanity's worst instincts." Regardless of whether one believes in the tax cut and general polices of slashing of environmental regulations, the incessant lying and publicly insulting individuals and vital institutions, and complete lack of understanding of international alliances, economics, and denial of science reveal that this man is totally unfit for office, with more "impeachable offenses" than any President in living memory, including Nixon. Press for impeachment NOW!
25
Next week, Brooks will say just the opposite about Trump. He's part of the infrastructure of intellectual cravens he claims to scorn.
3
It was mind altering to watch the Rachel Maddow Show on YouTube tonight, as some of the key findings of the report were explored, and then see that followed by Sean Hannity, who had several people on, all agreeing that the main problem was corruption at the FBI and predicting that heads will role.
Rightwing media and many Republicans have long been assaulting the informational infrastructure and working against fact, democratic values, and civil rights.
2
Yes, David Brooks, they worked with alacrity on parallel and apparently non-intersecting paths -- those Russian influencers and their American operatives. And what's still jaw-dropping is that they all lied about these efforts to subborn the will of the US electorate -- each and every one, from the President himself, to the Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and the National Security Advisor Flynn. They lied because they knew what they did was wrong -- even reprehensible. The whole sordid mess is morally intolerable.
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Barr has given license to Trump and people like him to destroy this fragile Democracy. Put any fair minded, loyal to this nation and the Constitution in Trumps position and we would be in a totally different place today. A Patriot would have informed law informant of Russia’s attempt to compromise our election. A Patriot would protect this country from people like Trump and Russia or any enemy of our Democracy. Trump is not a Patriot and it appears neither is Barr. Robert Mueller is a Patriot, now is the time for all good Patriots to come to the aid of their country.
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Democracy and Capitalism like all human systems are not perfect. “Majority rules” will lead to incompetent and dictatorial governments if the majority is ignorant and easily mislead. Capitalism without any controls ends up as a one “corporation” controlling all means of productions, governments and properties.
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The open wound in American Democracy, that permits all three infections to fester is Citizens United. Money is not speech.
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Once upon a time, we had taxation without representation. We revolved and formed a new nation dedicated to doing better. Today, we have come full circle. The government we bankroll has been purchased by the most powerful among us. That government has enabled and abetted the actions of Mr. Trump and his corrupt ilk. There has to be a better way.
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Trump's response when told of Mueller's appointment, and his subsequent multi=pronged vendetta against him, are not the actions of an innocent man being framed. They are the actions of a man who knows he is guilty, of something big, and is also deathly afraid he will be caught. Give it any C-word you like, the man is surely mixed up in something much bigger.
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I agree with other commentators: the fourth malevolent force that Brooks doesn’t have the courage to mention is the Republican Party. Trump is a junkie, his drug of choice is power, and the GOP is his dealer, cheerfully giving him as much of it as he wants to abuse in exchange for a judiciary packed with young conservatives. The few voices in the Republican Party who spoke up against this malevolent narcissist squatting in the White House are gone or dead. Sitting Senators like Susan Collins who recognize how foul a president Trump is, have moral laryngitis, saying not a word, voting for every incompetent nominee, and investigating nothing. For everyone of them, party trumps patriotism. History will judge today's Republicans for what they are: utterly cynical, corrupt enablers of the nation's worst president ever.
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"It’s Not the Collusion, It’s the Corruption"
Except to those whose eyes are open. We know it's *both*.
I love the authors opinion of values in the political system. There has always been back stabbing and corruption that is the definition of politics. This has been going on since the beginning of our country. At one point we had two individuals actually duel to the death over political differences. You do not like Trump your newspaper does not like Trump and never will like Trump or give him credit for anything.All you have to do is look at all the negative articles and and all the negative editorials.I do not necessarily like his style but I like what he is doing.Especially waving the magic wand and getting some manufacturing jobs back which is good for the little guy. The guy your paper has neglected for years.As a liberal you should be ashamed to be part of a system that traded away so many good paying middle class jobs.Your newly elected Democratic representative helped squash the Amazon deal. What a good idea.
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What about Fox News? While Trump, Putin and Julian corrupt our system, Fox News is giving legitimacy to such corruptions by shamelessly promoting Trump for its own profits. What are we to do about media that propagate the message that acids are good, that the system deserves to be destroyed?
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It may be too early to conclude that WikiLeaks, Trump and Russia have not conspired to drop stolen emails to affect the election outcome. Last I heard, Stone is pleading the 5th, and much of the WikiLeaks section has been redacted. To claim these three monsters have not worked together, given what Barr clumsily said today about WikiLeaks today, given the redactions, and given all the lies by and around Trump about this, the only thing we can conclude is that we don't know yet.
Mr. Brooks.
Please let this go already. Two years waisted on folly, I am a life long Democrat, and I have had enough. If there remains any interest in "the truth" it would seem the best place to begin would be the dismissal of Adam Schiff. He has stood before us and lied for two full years.
The NYT and most all of the press has fed us a steady diet of bologna for two years. I sir have had enough. Indeed it was ALL ABOUT collusion.... that was the basis and the meat of this far fetched hunt to determine why the worst candidate of my lifetime did not win the 2016 election.
Has any democrat other than myself wondered how we could have found the one single person on earth unable to defeat Trump, then run them for president? THAT is the question of absolute corruption.
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@Alan,
Well said! Thank you.
I’m an Independent who has almost always voted for the Democrat, and I really don’t want to see Trump re-elected, but I’m increasingly fearful that he could be, for the exact reasons you mention in your comment.
If Trump is re-elected, we’ll lose the critical time we need to form an adequate response to climate change, and it will be the fault of the greedy neoliberals and their counterparts in the Republican Party.
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I agree with this excellent column. But please explain why Adam Schiff owes Donald Trump an apology, as you claimed last week.
Sorry, but you lost credibility when you called for an apology to Trump based on nothing but AG Barr's 4 page gloss on this report. Maybe now you will consider apologizing to the public for reinforcing the myth that Trump was innocent, that "we were all wrong."
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More than half the people don’t bother to vote, Americans disdain politicians and the media .
The entire population of Canada, Australia, New Zealand,Russia , that’s how many Americans don’t vote
Yes, Mr. Brooks it’s Corruption
That is why I don’t blame Trump as pathetic a president he is, this started long before Trump
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