Alas!! The fact that the POTUS ... Donald J. Trump has been BOO’ed in the National Stadium is great news. This crowd response to the presence of DJT at a Wold Series baseball game is really about the fans responding to his presence in their “sacred space” ... a baseball stadium. In sports, there is a code of fairness and ethics where the players respect the rules. Trump is not perceived as ethical in this arena. The response of the fans was really about our playground bully president who has FINALLY ended up on the receiving end. He is under the microscope receiving his come-up-ence in the style that he has so joyfully inflicted on others. The boomerang has finally come back to hit him in the head. REMEMBER THIS: during the past 1000+days of his administration, hIs non-stop Twitter account is an endless barrage of hate toward anyone who dares to disagree or be disloyal to him. Many of the recipients of such nasty retorts and actions were Republicans. For some reason the Executive is so detached from what and who we are as a nation, that he has little if any concept of our history or our values, AND concludes that HE ALONE stands with his base and against the rest of us!!!! He is NOT one of US. Every day we have a clearer understanding of who this man really is. The important questions for the future of America is this: Do we want Trump representing America? AND furthermore, if re-elected, How will we live down the actions and menace of this ignorant clown?
93
Jennifer, you seem to be feeling guilty. But why? Donald Trump rationalizes discomforting things differently. You see, the booing was directed at Melania, who wore black instead of red. Hence, his weak, fake scowl. And the "Lock him up!" was intended for Rudy Giuliani, who Trump is about to sacrifice anyway.
Donald Trump, a narcissist, simply doesn't understand, or accept, boo's and negative, derogatory chants. He deflects them to others.
34
*HE* is the one who has dragged *ALL* of us into HIS mud, one audacious tweet, statement, appointment, lie, insult, sell-out, debasement, and crudity at a time.
There have been countless memes, letters to the editors, and exasperated social media posts declaiming the incessant onslaught of it all. "STOP!!!!", we scream. "I can't take any more of it!"
And then there is ANOTHER lie, and another lie, and another obstruction of justice, and another mean-spirited diatribe (that would have gotten us all washed-out mouths as children), and on and on and on and...
We have been beaten down, worn down, and just plain deflated. I dare say the vast majority of us are gripped by powerlessness and helplessness in this impossibly relentless wave of incomprehensible darkness. The degree of hopelessness we can collectively muster might make THE difference of if/when we overcome his mean-spiritedness and naked obsession with absolute power.
Yet in the meantime, it is critical to recognize that he has slathered us with his mud. I like to think that the boos and chant of, "Lock him up", are us shaking his darkness off, like a dog ridding itself of water from a rainstorm.
To say the least, these are not normal times.
45
I find it funny that some people treat the booing as "bad behavior [Trump's] begets bad behavior [Trump being booed]". The badness of booing is near 0 on a scale of 10 compared to what Trump rouses in his rallies. A better description would be "bad behavior begets mild, slightly impolite reproofs".
61
It's Rlreally not such a big deal to boo a public figure in a public domain such as a sporting event, who happens to be quite awful. I wouldn't get so caught up to write an essay about how conflicted you might be. The by-line covered it. It felt great to see and hear it. He deserves it. There ya go. Take that as professional advice from a psychologist.
42
40,000 Democratic and Republican baseball fans booing the president shows how bipartisan the outrage is toward this Twitter coward.
49
As a Independent Voter....It Did Not feel Good whatsoever....I felt sorry for the few people who made Noise to Voice their fragile egos........you could fill 10 stadiums that size and fill them with people who would Booo the Democrats!
11
I would have with a more typical stadium chant — nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey....good-bye. And had 50,000 people waving bye-bye to his sky box.
35
Our thin-skinned president has no idea how lucky he is simply to be booed at a ballgame. Meanwhile in Chile, 1 million people have taken to the streets to fight for democracy.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/27/chile-hundreds-shot-and-beaten-street-protests
While no one wants to see the violence and loss of life in Santiago, it beggars belief that Americans aren't even more moved to action by this president's wanton lawlessness and disrespect for his oath of office.
Some lusty Bronx cheers (in DC) are child's play compared to the feedback he deserves.
45
It was good to see him get booed and also away from those fake rallies which some are paid to attend in those buildings. I have heard some people say it was terrible his wife was with him SO WHAT! Unlike Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Bush what exactly does she do anyway? On the topic he is the President someone said so what he lost by 3 million votes. I am not like many that say stay high, he is nasty, vile and should be treated in the same manner. Like any bully when you treat them as if they are human they see it as a sign of weakness and feed upon it. He got what he deserved. I live in Ontario where the Premier who is down to 22% cancelled the legislative session that my tax money pays for for five months. Why he was told to lay low during the federal election. He went to the championship Raptors day and was booed. He was shocked guess what no one likes you or your policies so get out and meet the real people instead of that fake bubble of yes persons. Trump knows and I notice they even took his name off the ice rink boards in Central Park or it might be that he is cheap or never paid the bill which is probably correct. He mocks and makes fun like yesterday he takes credit for the commando raid all about him - sorry it was the men and women who pulled it off and he should have shut up. He gets it and should be locked and will when he returns to NYC. Jim Trautman
32
Has anyone noticed that he didn't bring Baron or any of his grandkids?
35
Trump stepped out of his bubble and got exactly what he deserved. Sorry Don unlike your rallies everyone doesn't love you. And now you know!
48
If ‚booing‘ means ‚going low‘ wait until I start.
21
Thank you to those who said Boo and Lock him up. You spoke for tens of millions of us.
66
It sounded great at the time, but Michelle Obama’s go high when they go low advice was some of the worst advice imaginable in a culture that either rewards or is indifferent to lies, low blows, fraud, tax evasion, sexism, cruelty and racism. When they go low, counterattack (with facts and sharp, direct, witty condemnations, including boos)—and vote. In a corrupt culture, that is what going high means.
26
You have to love the irony that on the very same day a major terrorist is killed, which for any other leader would win universal applause, the president gets roundly booed at the World Series. Sheer delight.
49
Booing in a ballpark is as American as apple pie and asking foreign nationals for dirt on your political opponent...
24
Gives you some hope y'know? The democrats are too weak, msnbc too soft, fox news is an open ended commercial for Trump's supposedly flawlessness. Those boos gave me some hope that some ordinary people, working Families, white people even, are NOT in lock step with this administration as I thought. It was freeing, beautiful even...
29
It felt even better the lock him up chant! I love it
27
Trump didn't just take over, (I have a hard time saying "won"), the White House; he took over the American psyche. He has poisoned the public discourse, and trashed the sense of tolerance and respect of others. We have to get these back before the Rob Drakes of the world take this country any further down their rat hole. Opinion pieces in the New York Times included
18
I thought that the booing and chanting was good natured venting by people who never get the chance to show their displeasure. Your right POTUS surrounds himself with yes men and women. He injected himself into their leisure time and expected that the people would show love for him because he killed the ISIS leader. People are not so gullible on the left anyway and they took advantage of the chance to vent. Something they never get a chance to do as a crowd. Thing is a narcissist will be looking for a chance to take revenge on the crowd instead of taking it as a heaping dose for a chance of self-reflection on his administration. A stadium of people booing and chanting can hardly be called fake even by this President.
36
Oh please! Stop it already! Booing? We haven’t gone nearly far enough yet.
Dems better grow spines real quick and get in the fight as in the actual fight.
26
As I commented on the article the NYT posted to Facebook: “For the first time in three years I felt proud to be American.”
35
Let him eat his own cooking. Turnabout is fair play!
27
When I drive anywhere in my predominately rural Virginia area I see signs for the current president and his enablers. I see his 2020 flags flying on every outing. It is disheartening. To see a baseball stadium of people booing this vile, heartless man lifted my heart and brightened my day. It made me feel less alone.
I, too, don't believe that we should sink to the rhetoric of the enablers....every time I see or hear him called a vile name I cringe. I hear or read "the orange cheeto", "dipshit donnie" and other vile names. it is too easy to sink to that level. If we can't show that we are better then what are we doing?
12
Don't give it a second thought Jennifer. Trump deserves more than just booing. If it were just a matter of him being an unpleasant person, that's one thing. But this guy is tearing our country, if not our planet, apart at the seams.
31
Don't beat yourself up. I watched and was proud of the crowd. They know he's a bum and wanted him kicked out of the game. Me too.
29
Proverbs 11:10 says:
"When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy."
And it feels sooooo gooooddd!
21
In case you missed it and apparently a lot of people did: Two things happened yesterday after the nation booed and chanted lock him up: Pelosi decided the nation was ready for impeachment, therefore, her previous lies about not impeaching Trump were utterly annihilated; and, McConnell rushed to announce his efforts to do away with social security, medicaid, and all other entitlements before the 2020 election. McConnell sees the writing on the wall. The down side of his wall is that he could be kicked out in 2020 too, and wouldn't that call for some serious national jubilation.
Those two people have been conspiring to protect Trump and obstructing an impeachment of the criminal since 2016, offering every excuse under the sun for why Trump could not be removed, and all of a sudden they find out that the nation has turned against Trump and THEM.
We have been telling them BOTH that we want Trump out. They didn't listen. Now we are going to make them get him out.
Well, it couldn't happen to two more deserving political hacks who have long overstayed their welcome in political circles.
They BOTH need to be kicked out of government on their rich, fat, rear ends!
4
Liberals, progressives, Democrats, non-Republicans -- sometimes you have to throw elbows -- even if/when they're simply rhetorical, as in this case.
The GOP has been at war with democratic (and Democratic) governance for decades -- it's a war they undertake with Straussian glee, and without hesitation.
If you're hand-wringing about Trump catching well-deserved heat at a baseball game, you're not going to be able to beat him in 2020. Play hard, play to win -- at this point, forget civility, if it means ignoring lawbreaking, criminality, corruption, and treason, or politely looking the other way.
Civility too often ends up being the paper handcuffs that bind the Democrats -- the GOP says and does whatever they like without apparent consequence, while the Democrats meekly try to be civil. There's no peace through appeasement, after all.
Wrongdoing is most uncivil of actions politicians can take. Try being just and fair and firm -- if the GOP can't handle that, who cares if their feelings are hurt? They're busy trying to destroy our form of government.
It should be on the GOP to account for their wrongdoing, not for non-Republicans to mind their manners.
13
Boos were totally appropriate. It wasn't a violent response, it was just letting Trump know that many Americans are displeased with his abnormal behavior. Interesting how thin-skinned he is given his relentless bullying of others. I wonder how the ride back home was for him. Did Melania and Trump's entourage have to soothe his hurt feelings? Did Melania explain his bullying of others, cyber or otherwise, caused this reaction from the audience? #BeBest.
26
Hey, this is just a little boo-ing and he deserves every bit of it with what he does at his disgusting rallies.
My husband and I went to the small protest outside the hospital Trump visited after the Dayton shooting. He was well-shielded but when his motorcade came out, we were all boo-ing so hard. I almost lost my voice. I tell you, it was cathartic. It must be because of the feeling of powerlessness, hearing his inanities day in and day out.
Remember how he said of the protests during his royal visit in London, oh, they were there to cheer for me? It’s because he says things like this he needs to be shown very clearly—this is NOT approval.
23
Yes, I know on the one hand it’s no laughing matter but... he needs to be laughed at, lampooned, satirised, like we did in the 1980s in the UK with Thatcher and her vegetables (see Spitting Image). Pity he wasn’t in a UK football stadium, the whole place would have been chanting.
12
Why did it feel so good???!! We sane people haven't expressed our disgust in a way the Perp-in-Chief understands. He hogs the microphone - literally and figuratively. Dem's have tried to behave well in the face of middle-school behavior for 3+ years. Deriding our politicians' best behavior as illegitimate has made them all afraid of showing how they really feel. I still smile when I think of the stadium chanting, "Lock him up!" I was at the GOP convention when he got nominated (protesting, of course) and people walked around Cleveland chanting, "lock her up!" Turnabout is fair play. Don't wring your hands, Ms. Weiner. We know the difference, trust us.
20
The man lives in a bubble surrounded by boot licking sycophants. He only watches and um, maybe, reads, news that makes him feel good. Thus, when he ever so briefly steps out of the bubble it is incumbent on the reality based world to give him honest feedback.
Boo.
19
Ms. Weiner thinks more highly of herself and her politics than the data and her writing's quality supports.
2
Of course it feels good. Trump is a bully, and like all bullies he is a coward who will not willingly face a cross section of the people he claims to lead - his ego is too fragile. Last night was a rare chance for him to experience what many, if not most, feel about his pathetic imitation of leadership and his many character flaws, unfiltered by a fawning press and fawning advisors. For now he will withdraw back into his gilded bubble. For now he can run, but ultimately he cannot hide from the public or the judgement of history. Every bully eventually meets their match and gets their just due.
13
Not to worry, Jennifer. The booing and chanting had no effect on Trump.
In his mind, Washington is liberal enemy territory, where almost nobody contributed to his historic Massive Victory in 2016. The people at the game who committed treasonous conduct therefore were nothing more than enemy liberals shamelessly showing the world how unpatriotic and just plain stupid they are. For how could any patriotic American not automatically rise to applaud and cheer the Greatest, Wisest, and Most Revered President in History? Indeed, those baseball fans proved everything Fox News says about how liberals hate America, and particularly despise everything that makes America great. And Donald Trump is the Greatest American, who has done more than anyone else to make America Great!
The previous paragraph is surely much more reasoned and coherent than anything that could have actually gone through the mind of the Stable-Genius-in-Chief. But the point is that for Trump, the boos and chants of "Lock Him Up!" had nothing to do with him. It was just enemies showing off their treasonous hatred for America. And perhaps, during his third or fourth term, he'll be able to send people like them to labor camps where they can be worked and starved to death, just as his beautiful friend Kim Jong-Il dispatches enemies.
12
Why? Because he DESERVES IT!
12
Yes it felt great. For once the bully in chief got a taste of his own medicine.
14
I see it differently. Booing him or chanting to lock him up is a very deeply felt opinion seated in values. So, i don't see these actions as “going low”. These were also spontaneous. Not the result of blindly following the direction of your slimy leader.
11
We progressives are a kind and forgiving lot. Far too much so. Nixon more-or less walked, and most people have no idea what a sweeping criminal enterprise he ran. W and the rest of the WMD liars walked, after thousands died because of their felonious dishonesty in front of Congress. Clinton remains relatively stoic and her party silent, considering the Presidency was stolen from her by Putin in the actual "over-turned election". This time, I suggest we throttle our natural sense of compassion for the weak (or in this case weak-minded) and use every legal hammer that can be found to smash the holy bejeezus out of Trump, Pence, Barr, Perry, Guiliani, Stone, and Pompeo, and destroy the hideously deformed GOP, a bunch of lying gangsters my father, a life-long Republican, would have loathed. Because we have let the Republican anything-for-our-side cancer grow, we now have to punish, to make an example and give any other rising fascist movement pause to reflect on the outcome. Show them what abuse of power, obstruction, smash-and-grab economics, lying, bigotry and election-fixing gets you. Jail, please, real sentences in a bad joint. And I won't feel bad about feeling good.
14
Make no mistake: It's not just Americans that feel that way. His reach, his whims, his mistakes oftentimes affect the rest of the planet. Boo away America!!! It's the LEAST you can do.
19
Maybe I am the skunk at the garden party but the crowd was spontaneously chanting lock him up.,.. wow primed
The candidate that stands up and says she will lock up Trump and then leads the chant will win. Kamala, this is your last chance.
1
It was a disgusting display of being unpatriotic. I guess you could call them deplorable. But then, the Nationals lost so that was a good thing.
2
This is nothing to do with ordinary politics: republicans and democrats. It’s about a petty, self-obsessed, abusive man holding the office of President. It is essential that he be booed and jeered by everyday Americans. There should be no tolerance for his disgusting behaviours. Respect for the office does not mean respect for this foul individual.
12
Perhaps he'll try to file some kind of ridiculous lawsuit?
6
Booing was certainly the mildest response to the worst three years of my lifetime. Nobody drove a car at him, like someone did to innocent people in Charlottesville, or roughed him up, called him names, groped him or put him in a cage. There was simply honest reaction to how he conducts himself and runs a country. He deserved whatever he got.
22
I'm a Chicago White Sox fan....baseball crowds are tough, and should be. At least the fans didn't pelt Mr. Trump with beer, garbage and other projectiles as they did to the unfortunate Steve Bartman at Wrigley Field (Cubs park). I'd like to join in....BOOOO!
13
Why do you assume that only the Democrats booed? We're all in this together!
339
The GOP will not boo him or publicly chastise him. Thank you baseball fans!
11
Ms. Weiner's explanation of the difference between Democrats and Republicans is a wonderful illustration of political self-deception and smug self-satisfaction. ("While Republicans support the fat-cat billionaires, we stand up for the workers. While they put kids in cages, we work to reunite them with their families. When they build walls, we say, All are welcome here. For them, the cruelty is the point. For us, kindness matters. When they go low, we go high.") She is living in a fantasy land, and right at home on the NYT's opinion pages.
2
Liberals think too much.
The people who wanted to "Boo" got to express their disapproval freely and that is their right.
Accept your right to "Boo" and move on.
11
It feels great and very liberating to get over the Democratic wussyness once and for all. No, we will not lie down and take all and every afront that Trump subjects us to. Time to show that we have red blood in our veins also.
7
Ya know, he's gonna win in 2020. What is the alternative? So renew your subscription to the Times and plaster your TV to CNN. This is the fault of the democrats. Who did you put up? A scary bunch that do not reflect the values or concerns of the average citizen. The average American does not want to pay for a sex change operation for a felon still in jail. This is not their concern. So Jennifer Weiner, feel good, it won't last I am afraid. The average American does not have lattes in SoHo and look for $3.2 million Co-ops or care about the noise their neighbors make while renovating. It reminds me of Greenwich real estate-its all crashing and people did not see it coming. We will survive Trump-but let's learn fellow dems.
5
Trump’s most rabid supporters (and there are many of them) are threatening civil war if things don’t go their way. They are threatening to kill me and people like me if Trump is impeached or even loses the next election.
So I won’t feel guilty for making Trump feel bad.
We will have to make a lot more people feel bad in order to reclaim our country because only our deaths in a civil war seems sufficient for them.
Time to put on our big kid pants, grow up, and realize that defending democracy sometimes entails making other people feel bad.
12
The writer is mixing apples and oranges. The issue of an audience at an event, or people at a restaurant, or people passing in the street - 'dising on Trump -- is not the same as Democrat politicians digging up salacious dirt, etc.
This is rather a false conundrum, because we don't have to "go low" to make trump look bad. All we have to do is report what he says and does.
Sure enough, below are respondents to the article falling for the false debate, whining, "I'm sick of timid Democrats not willing to get down and dirty into politics."
When faced with a NYT Op-Ed that just stirs up controversy where none truly exists, one should not just fall into place and take one side or another. Call out the Op-Ed writer and tell them that, next time a writing deadline approaches, think a little harder and come up with some substance.
No, we do not need to "go low," because simply reporting what Trump does and says make everyone involved feel dirty and ashamed that our nation has. . . . well. . .gone this low.
2
When a boor gets his well deserved comeuppance, that's not going low -- it's reality in action. Donald Trump surrounded himself with a bubble of sycophants and devotees, but eventually reality seeped in. It's why he's about to be impeached. No amount of lying to himself and about himself can stand the rigors of reality, and eventually -- like Thursday, maybe -- the tissue of lies must give way to insistent actuality.
Still... all those red hats not cheering for Donald Trump must have come as a BIG shock.
13
Had I been there I would have chanted at the top of my lungs "Lock him up." And like Melania - I don't care.
17
When an innocent kid shouted “ the king has no cloth”, everybody got his guts back and not pretending anymore.
When the crowds started boos Trump, every reasonable human beings start to get his guts back and not pretending anymore.
8
Americans have free speech and can boo a president if they wish. The people who were in the stands who did this obviously hate President Trump and were rude and arrogant. This will only bring more support to President Trump and people who were on the fence will vote for him after viewing this immature and unruly behavior. President Trump was correct to ignore this behavior and should know he still has his fans.
1
I could boo Trump to his face on 5th Avenue and not lose any friends.
17
Doesn't the USA fight wars to protect the Freedom to Boo?
7
Ms Weiner's question is nearly rhetorical but it's delightful to boo Trump because he deserves it. Trump has been a stain on the presidential tradition. His reprehensible name calling, race baiting, pathological lying, xenophobia, misogyny, and mob boss behavior is a national embarrassment. Even when he makes a good decision (taking out the ISIS leader) his narcissism ruins the moment. The adulation that he craves and receives from Trumpers at his obnoxious rallies should always be countered by boos from the rest of us.
9
Respect is earned. Trump is deserving of none. The booing was a good thing - Trump surrounds himself with sycophants, holds rallies full of his base, and keeps himself in a bubble - he needs to hear how real people detest him. Moreover, he always encourages booing at his despicable rallies - it’s time that he got a taste of his own medicine.
10
“Fight with Fire”. We have had Trump and his vile self with the never ending stream of lies shoved down are throats. I wish this him upon him daily from the tired and poor - the people who built this country.
7
Silence would have been the best way to hit him where it hurts. Imagine a stadium full of people who simply do not care about him, who turn their backs when his face comes on screen, who don't waste their breath. He would have short circuited. Too bad we can't muster that kind of organized response to this despot.
3
There is such a thing as being "too perfect". The people at the World Series game simply spoke truth to power. Donald Trump SHOULD be locked up for tearing innocent children from their parents arms and locking THEM up in cages, selling out America to Russia and Turkey and abandoning the Kurds to a horrendous fate. I am cheering with the crowd in this instance and am not ashamed of it one bit!
7
I wish he had thrown out the first pitch. Then we could have laughed at him AND booed him.. I can just imagine a Trump pitch rolling over the plate like a misplaced croquet ball..
3
I cannot bear to look at him. Had I been there I think I would have left the stadium. One cannot visit DC while he is in office. Yes, he is that loathsome.
9
Some folks ONLY understand the bile they spew when it is spewed back at them in like manner. My personal experience is that those folks are almost always 'Trumpers'. They lack empathy to begin with and will understand what it is they are doing and why they shouldn't do it when they themselves are the targets. So to make it clear to the spewers, I do support giving them a taste of their own medicine. One problem I have is that Democrats too often are much too much 'baby-waby' (feeble, feckless, spineless) to effectively make the point in the most emphatic and assertive/aggressive manner to the Trumpers. Trump Republicans may cry 'Foul Ball' when it comes their way but for everyone else, it's a 'Home Run'. Batter Up!
4
It was freedom of expression and when I heard trump was booed at and the crowd sang out with “lock him up” I felt like cheering! It’s way past time trump gets a taste of the garbage he has spewed I.e. mocking a disabled reporter, bragging about grabbing women just to name very few. He’s every adjective that describes a reprehensible, hateful deplorable and he was very deserving of every “boo” and “lock him up” - thank you to all who booed and sang!
8
Ms Weiner's article strikes me as somewhat morally constructed. Being worried about giving a bad example to her children because she positively gloats at The Unprecedented's humiliation ?
I am afraid Ms Weiner might have been a bad example to her children all along when she did not teach them that public misconduct (to put it mildly) by any politician MUST be publicly challenged.
A narcissist and schoolyard bully like Mr T is not the source of behavioural evil - he is a symptom. Millions and millions who would not wrestle the presidential pig….
There were times when at least half of Europe thought: "They cannot vote for this sleazy 3rd rate reality tv phoney."
Then came 3 yrs in which far more than half of Europe doubted the sanity of a nation that let itself be so blatantly marched into the social and political abyss.
FINALLY now the US public reacted spontaneously to the naked emperor.
Europe is proud of you !
Keep up the pressure. Give that man a good loud and long "boooo" and "lock him up" every time he appears in public.
He deserves it ! And he will snap much quicker this way :).
7
Apologize not. the man deserved it and then some. Hat off to the person/persons who started the chant "lock him up". Not including the campaign, the nation suffered 1000+ days of this mans psychosis. Locking him up will not happen, I'll settle for a good disgraceful, embarrassing removal from office.
8
Matt Gaetz is not smart enough to be embarrassed by his behavior surrounding this lying, mobster.
History will not be kind to Matt Gaetz, Lindsay Graham, or Mitch McConnell, to name a few.
7
I hope they put it on the loudspeaker and blasted it towards where Trump was sitting.
4
Beautifully written and expressed. I hear you. But if you asked me right now how I'm going to react when Trump gets booted from office? I'd have to admit I'm gonna hoot and holler til the cows come home
3
Do you know why this was so important? Because Don the Con got millions of nasty Americans to enjoin in some mob mass nastiness. And those same nasty types will now turn on him. Just as they do, when he appears weak. Bring it on.
6
When the Republicans went low and Obama went high, they took him to the cleaners. He played clean, they played as dirty as they knew how. He lost the Senate, and the House. It's high time the Democrats started fighting back. Treating Trump like the bullying pig that he is is a good start.
11
Maybe save the hand wringing for after impeachment and the 2020 election.
2
I will feel the way you feel me when I see the headline that he was convicted and will be sent to jail.
3
The fact that some of you even need to read an op-ed like this to assist your moral compass points to the problem:very few of you have street smarts. You don't seem to recognize there is a time for being nice and there is a time for fighting fire with fire. All this hand wringing and whining reminds me of the kind of clueless folks who, for example, would go to battle marching in straight lines without cover, because it was "proper." You do not confront a bully with politeness and the old I-won't-say-your-name trick Obama uses is useless as well. Sadly most of my liberal brethren are cowards, just like the Republicans who refuse to speak up. Same difference.
6
As long as we're still free to boo Fearless Leader, is there any reason why every single sports event in our country must be turned into a nationalist, militarist rally with never ending flag waving "salutes" to the Army and the police? . . . Can't we have a few hours respite to watch a ballgame?
2
Spare me the "when they go low, we go high" nonsense. The meek inherit nothing but abuse.
5
I have always said that the Trump haters are mean people, cold and sadistic and reptilian. There actually are some people who enjoy seeing others in pain, like the kids who torture animals. Look it up. It's a thing. Getting pleasure from seeing a man have his feelings hurt in public, and be humiliated, is a psychological problem. Jennifer Weiner is not a good person.
1
Trump went despite the sense of bad juju from the crowd with his appearance. I do not know what that means to the prez. I would guess he was wishing to be hanging with his core followers instead. He has more of a connection with the deaf and dumb segment of voters who believe in his ways.
For all the pain and distress this disgrace of a President and sad excuse for a human being has put us through these past few years, it's only fair and proportional that we take some pleasure in his humiliation. Never has anyone deserved a comeuppance like trump does.
6
I wouldn't call that "low" at all. It was a needed, deserving, and far-too-late-in-the-coming public shaming. The world needs to know that most Americans think he is a deplorable fraud, racist, and criminal.
5
We've been too kind to this corrupt man for too long.
5
seeing him humiliated is only just. we should send him to every stadium in Democratic America as part of his punishment
1
It was truly deserved and I don't feel bad about it at all. The creature is utterly despicable. Well done.
8
The hand-wringing reminds me of the claim that both sides were equally crass when Bill O'Reilly said something appalling and so did an anonymous commenter on Huffington Post. Trump, Chris Christie, Mike Flynn, Trump's loathsome sons chanted "lock her up". Baseball fans doing so isn't the same. It's sad that we have an utterly corrupt self-serving grifter in the White House and that our laws aren't adequate to deal with them, since they were written with the idea that we wouldn't elect such a crook. He deserved to be called out. And I watched the video more than once.
9
"Be Kent unmannerly when Lear is mad."
--Shakespeare, _King Lear_
4
This isn’t rocket science and not booing Trump is NOT the higher road. Only a Republican would suggest it is. Trump is a TRAITOR to the United States of America and to the American people, not to mention the Kurds. He is a criminal of the highest order as is his entire family. If we can’t acknowledge this as a Nation what are we?
8
This guy Donald Trump, the grandson of a German barber should not have run for POTUS. What motivated him to run for POTUS is a mystery. Only he can answer that question. With that many skeletons in his closet it is NO No for he being POTUS. He is a barber's grandson, profit motivated whole life , now at age 75 he wants to do public service? Laughable.
1
It feels good for several reasons: 1. first the media only shows the adoring, deplorables cheering his sick antics. 2. those of us who know the con man and his danger are not certain that the average sports fan cares. 3. it's our rallying cry to their hatred. 4. it gives hope that we can defeat the monster amongst us.
9
I simply can't reason how booing a person who is very likely the most deserving person to ever get booed in the history of the vocal protest, is going low. How is chanting, "Lock him Up!!!", to a person who has so little regard for the other pillars of government that he keeps proving the case against himself by being himself and obstructs with the ease of taking a breath of air, going low? No, it's different to behave negatively in protest to a dishonorable person dishonoring his office by repeatedly dishonoring his oath of office, than to act out like a misbehaving spoiled brat who's parents outsourced his upbringing to a pack of she-wolves.
5
When they go, we go lower.
2
I don't feel even remotely conflicted. On the contrary. Trump deserves far, far worse than this. Even if Trump were convicted for the massive criminality that has been credibly alleged against him - the fraud and the swindling, the sexual assaults, the campaign finance violations, the tax fraud, the violation of his oath of office and the treason - even if he spent every day of the rest of his life in prison, at his age, a life sentence wouldn't come close to giving him the number of years in a penitentiary that he deserves. And people are hand-wringing about his getting booed? I understand Weiner's feelings about this. But she should also consider that the same people who support Trump hung Obama in effigy and called for his death.
Here's my version of "going high." I don't want Trump to die. I simply want want him brought to justice.
8
Democrats should not simply “go high” no matter what. It’s ridiculous to allow respect for the Office of the Presidency to shield an undeserving incompetent who repeatedly degrades that Office with boorish, crude behavior.
The boos for Trump at the World Series was spontaneous and widespread across the stadium. The chant of “Lock him up!” Was more calculated - but unequivocally deserved.
Trump has crossed the line of decorum and even decency numerous times. Americans are sick of it. So be it.
4
The crowd wasn’t vulgar. They didn’t yell racist or sexist slurs. They didn’t mock disabled people, or Gold Star families. They did not sink anywhere near Trump’s level. In fact they did not sink at all. They stood up to him. And it was beautiful.
12
While some may say that booing Trump showed disrespect to the office of the President, it is my view that Trump is an illegitimate holder of the office and it is his presence in office that shows disrespect of the office. Since the first day of his campaign he has been a disgrace.
5
Best moment on TV in a long time. trump deserved every boo and no Impeachment sign is big enough. trump deserves to be ridiculed and disrespected every chance we get. Even when we go low, we never get close to his depth.
8
We could not agree more. We were delighted to hear the boos and chants. This president has done more to demean and diminish the Office of the Presidency than any President in modern times.
So boo him out of office too and boo when he leaves in disgrace.
1
Respect is given to those who deserve it by treating others with decency and respect. Trump has shown he is the least among us as far as deserving our respect. We who boo him and who take great pleasure in watching him fall are still very capable of treating others with respect, and we will do so once a person who has earned it returns to the White House. As far as locking him up? He Is a criminal. He deserves to go to jail.
5
We've (those of us who recognize the obscenity of this man) been so abused emotionally by his disgusting behavior and his complete rejection of everything civil and democratic, I think we are entitled to a small thrill at his rejection. Don't be too hard on yourself. The opponents of tRump are STILL better than he and his supporters are.
4
Trump turned a proud moment for the military into a grade school food fight with the Democrats.
No wonder they booed him at the ball game. That's what crowds do when someone commits an error.
The booing and chanting was balm for my soul. I only wish I had been there to participate and add my voice in hopes it could raise the decibels even higher.
Trump is a monster. Never forget what he is and never miss an opportunity to oppose him.
4
The ironic part of this piece is that the writer wrings her hands and worries about the ramifications of her feelings/actions while those on the trump side are blissfully devoid of any such concern. They sling the mud because they enjoy it. Trump is, and has always been, planted squarely in the gutter. Remember the absurd insults he would gleefully hurl at Rosie O’Donnell? He called her a pig, among other things, multiple times.
I would never taunt someone because of their race, religion, sexuality, or any other inborn trait. But when faced with someone’s deliberate actions and words, the gloves are off. I would shout obscenities at trump, McConnell, et. al. until I lost my voice. They have earned, and deserve, nothing but scorn and contempt. I, for one, will gladly give it to them, and will feel fine doing so.
2
The man lies, breaks the law, abuses and debases his office and America's good name and you are worried that expressing disgust directly to the source is wrong? It's called direct action. No one hurt him, his "wife" wasn't harmed so what's the problem. This reaction against those who booed as somehow not American or proper just shows how easily Americans acquiesce to a bully. Lock him up!
3
I regret that I wasn't there to add my voice to the boos. "trump" is so insulated by his cabal of sycophants that the public is seldom heard by him. I wonder if the author has ever confronted a bully that didn't care about her delicate sensibilities?
After wrestling with this issue for several years now, I have come to this: If you take the high ground against a sociopath that has no bottom, in the end, you are left wearing the stink of shame from all of his degrading assaults. All of Trump's petty, immature and disgraceful behavior should reflect badly on him, but , his base seems to lap it up and regard him as strong and confident. SO, since we are dealing with a bona fide bully and his minions, we have to speak their language. So long as Trump can hit below the belt and the decent people refuse to fight fire with fire, he will continue to gloat and strut. Humiliation is the only weapon that will penetrate a narcissist. Once he is defeated, we can restore civility and re-introduce a divided nation to the notion of mutual respect..
1
I did not see any progressives or liberals in the crowd booing the president last night. I only saw Americans, disgusted with 3 years of pathetic behavior by our president, expressing their sincere sentiments in an unscripted venue.
7
For the past three years Trump has been having rally after rally surrounded by his rabid sycophants. These rallies then get televised and give the impression that he has overwhelming American support. He doesn't. Most Americans are not that dumb. We should feel good that he was booed and that it was a spontaneous act. We should feel proud that this was televised not only nationally but internationally as well. We should fee good that the crowd chanted "lock him up." It shows the world that we all know what a criminal he is and that most of us are not MAGA cultists. The only thing to we should regret is that they did not thrown rotten tomatoes as well.
12
One more observation before saying goodnight:
"Don't bring a knife to a gunfight." (Metaphorically speaking, of course.)
It thrills my heart to see so many comments from people asserting their own First Amendment rights and supporting the exercise of those rights by others.
Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.
3
He gets what he deserves.... and we do the agonized self-analysis ...? Classic democratic response...
3
Thank you, Jennifer Weiner, for beautifully expressing the same thoughts I had, the same glee I felt seeing this happen to the man who so richly deserves it. Democrats have been too genteel, too patient, as if behaving with civility will invite the same from people like Trump, Lindsey Graham and that dim-bulb thug, Matt Gaetz, all slimily cozying up to him in the royal box. I'm sure millions more at home were booing along with that crowd. I haven't yet read Jennifer's novels, but they just went to the top of my reading list. Thanks for a column that made me smile.
1
I think it's nice to see an insufferable, loud-mouthed, racist, know-nothing-know-it-all, spoiled man-child who thinks he's gods gift to mankind get a well deserved public dressing down.
Then again, the last time that happened to Trump he decided to run for office. A decision which, hopefully, will turn out to be the biggest mistake of his entire life because it resulted in his impeachment, removal from office, and incarceration for the duration.
3
If there's one thing not thick about Trump, it's his skin. So it's appropriate the baseball fans metaphorically aimed at getting through that, puncturing the narcissistic bubble he exists in.
I can hardly imagine the bad time everyone around him got on that day!
3
Going high doesn't work with Trump. He is shameless, amoral and will lash out like a cornered animal. Dems better get ready to do battle or prepare to lose. Wars are not won in boardrooms, they are fought in the trenches and through sheer audacity, with courage and conviction. We had better have both if we want to save this nation, our Constitution and our rights. Wringing our hands, keeping our mouths shut so as not to upset anyone, worrying about the purity of whichever candidate we annoint, these had better not preoccupy us, or else we are doomed. We will need to fight like our country depends upon it. Because it does.
3
Trump ever comes in range I don't know if I could restrain my self. Wish he'd trip and fall into a hog pit, save everyone a lot of trouble.
Jennifer, your article was timely. I, like many Chicagoans, spent a significant part of today protesting Trump. Protesting was cathartic as my city cleansed itself of the filth and disgrace that is President Donald J. Trump. However, I recognized that merely protesting Trump did nothing to address social justice, get Chicago's children back in school or help a better person campaign for the Presidency. Oh well! Tomorrow's another day with new opportunities to work for a better Chicago and USA.
2
Get out of your east coast bubble folks. Many people were disgusted by the crowd’s behavior.
2
No, you're good. After 3 years of watching Trump ignore civility and trash the norms of government, one morning of glee and gloating over watching him get booed does not make you a bad person. It means you're human, and Lord knows we need to embrace our humanity.
2
I can't resist reposting the comment I made before he showed up.
"I don't see why so many commenters think Trump would be afraid of being booed at the World Series. After all, for his after-game activity he has already written a nocturnal emission for his mini-tweeter saying that the boos were from all the illegal immigrants brought in and bought tickets by the Democrats.
As to his appearance with a Kevlar toupee -- oh, excuse me, I mean vest -- he would simply note that it was an umpire's chest protector given him because he knew better than anyone what was a ball or strike, and that when the on-field umps went to a replay, it was Trump who was being consulted."
The Entertainer-In-Chief had to leave before the end because a Venezuelan and a Cuban were more entertaining than he.
3
It felt great, among other things,because it was
perfectly timed following Trump’s vulgar boasting 12 hours earlier about the killing of
al Baghdadi.
5
I'm ok with the abyss looking back...
1
Shankar Vedandem, on NPR's hidden brain, just this last Saturday, did a one hour segment on human outrage, evolution, and, how outrage excites the reward centers of the human brain.
Take a listen. Kind of similar to this column.
1
funeral snub just wasnt right. it def felt good in the moment but uncalled for.
trump getting a taste if his own medicine though.... very much deserved
You should expand your life. Get hobbies. Make friends. Politics should not be your source of pleasure.
2
It probably felt "wonderful" to join in with the crowd in Germany in the 1930s also. Displays of mob behavior are always wrong, all day long.
2
I'm all for booing but this is the kind of article that makes people vote Trump. It's not news it's just one person's personal opinion basically a twitter rant and had it printed in the Times.
1
We ---the millions -- would turn our back on this man if we were near him.
We would refuse to shake his hand in a greeting line.
We might want to spit in his face, but take the higher road and ignore his presence.
What concerns me greatly is all the people in red "smiling no end" as they take a selfie. Study the picture included.
It appears there are too many who do not recognize the present danger he is, if continually allowed to get away with defying the rule of law.
We cannot allow his fascism to continue.
3
In response to the headline’s question, because the man’s a titanic jackwagon who’s hurting my country.
2
Let's face it. Trump richly deserved those boos and the chants for locking him up. We've stayed silent for too long listening to him bully every Dem politician that means anything to us. Threatening our news media. He's a wanna be Mussolini, and if the Constitution would allow him to jail his enemies, he'd do it in a heart beat. If this booing incident makes him think twice next time about threatening others with jail, then I say those baseball fans did us all a big favor. This is not a contest to decide who is the best at
'What Would Jesus Do?'
4
I thought being a good person means you show restraint most of the time.
2
Donald Trump has watched many games over the last half century.
He even had his own TV show “The Apprentice” with “the unbelievable ratings, the best in the world”. He “wrote” the bestselling books how to run the business. The man was even selling his name across the world for millions of dollars.
He has never been booed till now.
Why now?
Would eighty thousand people during the World Series bother to ruin their mood regarding any other human being and get distracted from the game?
Not really.
So, why did the spectators boo Donald Trump?
The fact is they didn’t boo him at all; they booed the US president.
They booed the other half of country that voted for such a president.
It means that America booed self.
Is that something we should be happy about and proud of?
1
Why? Because he always appears before his own hand picked mob of supporters. In a neutral setting he will be booed every time.
5
Oy vey, this is just silly. People at ball games very strongly express all kinds of feelings about whatever is going on there. That's why they go, to let off stream. If they like something they cheer, if they don't they boo. They chant whatever they are feeling and in this case it was "lock him up." It's a ball game that's what people do at ball games--cheer or boo. Same at political rallies people express their feelings. That's what they are there for.
Worry about the asylum seeking kids in cages, a mass shooting every other day why don't you?
1
Well said Jennifer. Brava!
2
As far as Trump goes, I'm going "low" until the narcissist in chief is out of office. Then I will rise. To everyone else, I will be respectable. The con man doesn't deserve my respect, PERIOD!
3
There are no "Yes men" in baseball fans.
2
It’s not on a par with the stupendous Ceausescu crowd takedown of 1989 (one I like to rewatch now and again) but it’s exactly the same theme. Powerful out of touch sociopathic egomaniac gets a taste of his own medicine from being unaccountably put in the same space as an unvetted, non-brainwashed bunch of real people.
5
When I first heard about this incident, I too got a little giddy. Then I quickly came back to earth and realized that if this had happened at the Reds ball park, he would have gotten a standing ovation with plenty of cheers. When Trump comes to town (which he has seven times(!) since he started running for president) this town turns into a festival. Trump signs galore, confederate flags, lock her up signs—it truly becomes a celebration. But what about impeachment? Syria? Ukraine? That’s all just noise here.
Just wait till 2020. Some parts of the country will be in shock...AGAIN.
Anyway you try to spin this, the behavior of the crowd at Nationals Park was petty, mean-spirited and a poor reflection on the city of Washington.
2
I don't think there is even an awareness of how low , low can be. The abilities exist to make simulated videos and spread them online through social networks. I think we have to be prepared to see such things as the Democratic candidate, whoever that might be, sexually abusing a child in the day before the election. Democrats have to ask themselves if they would do the same to Trump. This is not in any way an easy moral question. Does one do such evil? Does one allow such evil to prevail?
Lock him up!!!Throw him out!!! As Jerry Lee Lewis sang, Ummmm feels good!!!
And as for the umpire. Throw him out, too. I don’t appreciate being threatened. MLB should take swift action and that right soon.
I'm just sad I wasn't there to boo along with everyone else.
3
The thing that scares me is that he will attack back with some policy or directive. It’s his M.O.
When was it last you to went to the ballpark and did not hear booing? The opposing team is booed. The umpires are booed. The broadcasters are booed. Even concessionaires are booed when they run out of your favorite nachos. Booing is just part of the game. After all, baseball is a competitive game. There is only one winner. The loser, however, has the opportunity to play again. Those of the rules of the game. That's fair.
No so the current presidency.
Many at the baseball game saw Trump as a competitor who does not play fair, does not play by the rules. Accordingly, he is viewed as a low life by many. He was collectively spoken to in a language he best understands. The irony is disrespect rolls off of him like saliva rolling off of a 'spit ball". He does live in a bubble where there is no booing. It is safe, secure, and out of touch with reality. The ballpark was a brief taste of reality in which he lost the game. He will get another turn at bat. Will he loose the political word series?
"Donald Trump is a cruel, petty man who lashes out at his enemies in cruel, petty ways. He mocks their appearances, he gives them nasty nicknames..."
Opera lovers trying to get to the bottom of our president's mind, might consider the credo of Iago, the villain in Verdi's "Otello", his operatic version of Shakespeare's "Othello":
I believe in a cruel God, who created me like himself.
I am evil because I am a man.
I believe with a firm heart,
(as does the young widow in the temple)
that the evil I think and proceeds from me, fulfills my destiny.
I think the honest man is an actor, a mockery, in face and heart,
that everything in him is a lie: tears, kisses, looks, sacrifice and honor.
Take the high road? Firstly, that was a mild indignity that man should suffer after all the indignity he has propagated on the country. Secondly, that smug ultra liberal attitude does the Democratic party no good either. Ideology as opposed to focus on individual issues that benefit the nation as a whole has done just as much to breed the Trumpies.
Reasonable people are fed up with both extremes, separating children from immigrant families ( Trump and the Republicans) vs. making it a crime to refer to someone as an illegal who in fact is here illegally and expect the tax payers to foot the bill to pay for sanctuary City or state status(the Democrats).
I for one am tired and refuse to wave either of your flags until I and the rest of the " citizens", regular working class schmoes get a break. Both of you types get a "Bronx" cheer from me.
I found it disgusting to see people boo the President of the United States. I don't care if you like him or not. The office itself is not worthy of that. Whether you like it or not, he is the leader of our country and represents all of us, domestically and abroad. Conservatives didn't like Obama, but they never booed him. Liberals are so full of hatred they can see no good in his presidency. Trump approved a special forces mission to eliminate the most vile terrorist in modern history, more so than Bin Laden. And the liberal media couldn't tolerate a success and lamented "the loss of a human life". Disgusting. History shows the countries as bifurcated as ours usually end in anarchy and civil war. I'm afraid that's where we are headed.
1
Is President Trump going to visit Houston Astro's stadium?
Is he going to be booed over there?
The civil war in ex-Yugoslavia actually started during the soccer game between two teams from Belgrade and Zagreb...
Be careful what you are wishing for...
It's easy to jump off the cliff edge.
It's much harder to return back there.
1
Maybe Americans need to boo more. We don't protest nearly enough!
4
Thank you so much for sharing.
Maybe we can find ten of thousands of Americans to the surround the White House and continuously boo the President while periodically breaking into chants of lock him up. Just keep it going day and night. I doubt the White House is sound proof.
2
We have a conscience. trump doesn't.
2
Too bad that photo isn’t showing the boo moment. Wrong photo to accompany a great read.
Finally, some reality TV for 45. He shields himself in his ghastly rallies and avoids any contact with the real world. I hope that he went home chastened by the experience, but with an ego the size of his, he will decide that they were an extremist rabble and do not reflect how the county feels.
Just wait until November 2020 for the reality to slap his grinning mug.
1
I liked it. Not just because he is the worst president ever this country ever had but for the fact that people could boo him right in his face without fear. I m an immigrant and America has given me a lot, but this is very precious. I hope it stays that way but I m afraid.
4
My guess is that our current president won't be attending any more big crowd events where he might get booed. That's good. It shows him to be the coward that he actually is.
5
All over the world, this lip is headline news. It’s in the European press, on a Nigerian news site, it’s in the Indian Times. It’s a reminder to nations that Americans are as dismayed about our current president as much as they are.
Frankly, if a whole stadium full of people booed me I’d go hide under the covers until further notice. If I leaned that the whole planet has seen it, I’d start looking in deserted tropical islands. But our crisis is based in part on Trump’s inability to examine himself and to stop being a person who deserved to be booed by a stadium full of people.
I’d bet you $5 that he thought the all those red Nats baseball caps were MAGA hats.
4
This is a petty-minded column. I can’t say for sure whether it’s the work of a petty-minded columnist, but it gives one reason to wonder.
In any event, the author’s attitude saddens me. And I’m sorry to see so many gloat along with her.
Incivility begets more incivility, it’s as simple as that. If you don’t like the coarseness of today’s political culture, don’t lower yourself to coarseness yourself. Charity begins at home, after all.
2
Listen, democrats and libs have been turning the other cheek too much for this guy. The only reason is that we probably were scared to lose jobs because he has done that before when someone voiced their opinion about him. I am a neutralist. I choose whomever will do justice for this country. I am with whomever will treat everyone as an equal. I will elect anyone who will think of America's thoughts before their own. This how it should be. However, for some reason, it is not.
Trump basically is nothing what I said before. He is just exist to cause chaos. He treats people so badly that he expects no one to return the favor. The people want to say we should not act like him. Enough is enough we tried. Let us unite and take revenge for our country and for our pride.
3
"Because if Donald Trump remakes all of us in his image, no matter who takes the White House in 2020, he will have won".
Wow!!
I cannot imagine how that is your take-home from a public display of disapproval of Trump.
2
The Republican Party has been coarsening and debasing our politics and national discourse since newt Gingrich arrived in Washington. Trump has taken that coarsening and debasing from the level of the gutter to the level of the sewer.
The response by the Democrats and the media to that Republican-Trump effort have been, to say the least, ineffectual. This was a rare moment when the majority of Americans could have their justifiable anger and frustration at the damage those Republicans and their deity Trump have and are inflicting on us all plainly made clear to the perpetrators of that damage.
Good for those Washington fans for taking advantage of it.
4
A slight typo in this well structure piece.
Umpire Rob Drake's tweet spelled 'Civil' as "Cival".
Just another nail in the coffin to reiterate some of the tremendous ineptitude that has fallen onto and over our nation. I'm not saying a fanatical democrat would not make a similar mistake - because they just as often do - but it does twist the knife just that little extra bit to remind you that all of these people are voters. For better or worse.
3
I'm a Republican. Feel free to join me as I boo Mr. Trump, and I'll feel free to enjoy it for you if it makes you uncomfortable.
3
Are you kidding? Trump probably turned this into the best, hugest boo fest ever. Just his fans expressing themselves on impeachment.
Oh, I’m not at all worried what it says about me that I took pleasure in Trump’s pain. I want more pain and embarrassment for him. Sure, my top priority is to see him ushered off the national stage by the most expeditious means available, but I sure wouldn’t mind if he was humiliated in the process. I want him to lose and to keep losing. I’d love, love, love to see him lose his fortune, get convicted for fraud, go through a third divorce, watch Ivanka and Jared suffer similar fates. The cherry on top would be for the entire Republican establishment to say they always knew he was a feckless fool.
I don’t feel bad about any of it. I’m only human.
6
It feels good bc Dems are not
mature or wise enough to control their emotions. They have to vent their built up hatred regardless of the damage to the country.
1
All respect for the Nats fans who
boo'd the current occupant of the
White House.
- a Brewers fan
4
It feels good to see people get what they deserve. It is why the crowd cheers when the villain is destroyed at the end of the movie. We love it when good wins out over evil; the wicked witch is dead! It is how we want the world to work
4
Turnaround is fair play. To see Trump hoisted by his own petard in such a public humiliation was not only richly deserved but joyously appreciated by those of us who've winced and even wept at his words and deeds over the last three years.
5
But for today I'm going to enjoy the rush!!
3
the Dems have become low.
the end justifies the means
the "get him at all costs", rejecting his presidency from day one, rejecting democracy with it, apparently.
Insults, glass half empty on every single policy.
no balance
no intellectual honesty
Dems have gone low, and it saddens me.
The Kavanaugh below the belt attacks, should sicken us all.
the women that recanted testimony, those facts don't make it in to the media?
the Dems are low, and thus have sown the seeds for further falls. Attacking the character and the other people rather than policy. Seriously low, and below the standards of the United States. Shame on Dem.
1
If the President cannot conduct himself in a manner befitting his rank and title, Average Joe should not be expected to hold the station in any higher regard.
For all the sanctimonious cries of "We're better than this!", this is simply reality. Don't be mad at the booing fans, depressing as it may be to see our own leadership treated with such open contempt. Trump and his sycophantic fanatics in Washington and the "news" are responsible for this sad state of affairs.
2
Trump’s playbook is to defy norms of decorum to a numbing extent. This tactic includes denigrating, maliciously and falsely, his political adversaries and critics. His strategy depends in part on the presumption that the targets of his invectives will not respond in kind; that they will adhere to expected decorum. The “lock her up” chant about Hillary is way beyond what is acceptable in our democratic society. His castigation of the press and immigrants and other perceived enemies is dangerous.
The only way to deal with the arrogance of this obnoxious blowhard who defies convention is to feed him his own medicine. After all, he loves to boast to his “evangelical” faithful that he too is a person of faith; the fans gathered at Nationals Park for a game 5 were fittingly practicing the Golden Rule: do unto Trump as he does unto others.
3
Surely one of the most satisfying moments of the past three years. One I watched over and over again. "Lock him up" made an even bigger impact on me than the booing. You boo who you dislike. However, it is a criminal you want to see locked up in prison. Very telling.
5
A person of integrity sets their own standard for acceptable behavior. It isnt a standard if it is dependent upon how you are treated. How you treat others reflects on YOU not them. Do better because (and I revile DJT) that booing was mean. Justifying in political terms is hypocritical. So what if he lives in a bubble? Doesnt every POTUS? Send him a message with your vote.
The Democrats need to learn how to fight. These are different times. Stop bringing a knife to a gunfight. Unfortunately with this administration, you need "an eye for an eye" approach.
4
Tit for Tat is child’s play. I don’t agree with this tactic. It may give one temporary pleasure, but this sets a poor example for our youth. Our society deserves better. You can hate the President and believe your disrespecting him in public is appropriate. Reducing yourself to his level says as much about yourself as it does about him.
1
Huh! I watched every pitch last night and Fox Sports never reported the protest. I guess they are no better than Fox news. I used to think Joe Buck was a decent announcer.
1
Let us not forget who started this. Trump wanted an end to political correctness and instituted the anything goes political approach. No civility, no lines not to cross, say whatever you want. The other side doesn't get many opportunities because Trump is a coward. He only goes where he is welcome. C'mon,man, as they say, they went so far as to make black college students stay and eat in their dorms to make sure the audience was receptive to him. This is like having a world series where only one team takes the field and when you travel to away games and only people wearing your jersey and hat and waving your banner are allowed into the stadium. And then thinking you are the most popular team in baseball. And refusing to accept how petty and small you are.
2
Trump is making every effort eliminate the need for the opposition to take the low road. His main method is to generate a continuous Niagara of lies and misrepresentations of the truth. (About 13,000 since taking office, per the WP's count.)
If the main media outlets regularly reported these falsehoods, along with corresponding explanations, Trump would be exposed as the master of mendacity without the need for low road nastiness.
I justify my delight in watching Trump get booed by rationalizing that I didn’t go low. I wasn’t at the stadium. I didn't boo.
But did I enjoy watching others go low? You bet! Therefore, I am not Trump-like at all.
I am like the republican sycophants who watch and do nothing because I like what I see.
2
His supporters will now see how the rest of America feels about him and his sick chaotic agenda. I really believe in karma and it was funny the thousands of people were chanting lock him up. What goes around comes around. Lets see more of this weekly. We all need a good laugh after his unpleasant 2 years in the White House.
3
Geez, get over it. If you want to stop the barbarians at the gates from climbing over those gates and killing you then you better be okay about picking up a sword in self defence and using it in someone.
Same thing goes here. Booing and chanting is mild stuff. Trumps people do it because they think we - their opponents - are squeamish about standing up to them. They do it because they think our reactions to it are funny. And handwringing pieces like this just reinforce that.
You can be a civilised human being and still take up the sword in defence of civilisation. Do that - and quit the handwringing.
3
As the old adage goes, you fight fire with fire.
Trump is a dishonest con man and when you play by the rules he will always win. Just ask the people who he cheated in his many business scams. Or ask someone like me who watched his friends die in Vietnam while Trump dodged the draft and lived the degraded life of a playboy.
It feels good because many of us have suffered daily from having this vile man represent what is basically a decent country. The world looks at the US and shakes its head and wonders how we ended up where we are today. When you see a spontaneous and negative reaction to this evil man it makes you glad to see that you are not alone in your bewilderment and despair.
5
The emperor has no clothes - he is morally bankrupt, nasty, corrupt and naked. He goes to low of the lowest level to insult others. He stands for nothing and his narcissism is on steroid all the time. He got his medicine at the game- I salute those brave souls who took a stand against the corrupt destroyer of our great nation. Alas, he used lock her up trick to please his followers. Hilary is no longer in the political field but he continues to encourage the same chanting during his so called rallies. We should embarrass him everywhere he goes so that his insults and nasty speeches in his rallies won’t work any more. We have been very patient and civil so far. But, enough is enough. The emperor must swallow his medicine now.
5
Sometimes when you’re dealing with a tyrant, and a malignant narcissist like Trump , the best way to manage him is to deal with the cold facts of how he has soiled the rule of law and the Constitution , has committed high crimes and misdemeanors and put our national security at risk . Has withheld Congressionally approved aid to a country that borders a hostile foreign power , Russia , that Trump has helped in every possible way, and he has done all this for the purpose of using it to get dirt on his political opponent.
Donald Trump’s being obnoxious and odious in every moment of his waking life is not enough to get him impeached or indicted. But there are a number of other things that will destroy him .
The House’s impeachment inquiry should focus on the facts, on his actions and not on how obnoxious this man is. That in itself is a smokescreen and while we would all love to shut him up once and for all, it is not the real wrongdoing at issue. It is actually a distraction.
Not booing Trump would be sanctioning his revolting behavior.
The boos were warranted.
3
It was refreshing to hear the packed stadium express their disgust for a President of our beloved democracy who encourages his base to roar, "lock her up". He riles up the people at his rallys with the basest of talk. Finally, he got a taste of the majority who will vote him out of office.
2
The booing was not only appropriate, it could be an important message to those baseball fans who have been living in the Fox “News” / Trump Nuremberg rally / Evangelical bubble in which there is highly inappropriate worship of uncivil and uncouth Trump.
3
Those who think Trump shouldn't have been booed should read the article by Kelly Bachman in today's NYT about why she spoke up against Harvey Weinstein.
(https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/opinion/kelly-bachman-comedian-weinstein.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage)
The rich and powerful count on the rest of us remaining silent while they go about their grubby business, raping and pillaging, destroying democracy, while pretending to be God's chosen.
The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu points out that the rich and powerful control the narrative in society by excluding those whose views contradict theirs. What is not said can be more important than what is said. Thankfully, in our democracy, we can stand up and boo the president. To suggest that we should not have done so is shameful.
3
It turns out “When they go low, we go high”, isn’t the best way to deal with the sociopathic, narcissistic, exceedingly low intelligence, depot we have been saddled with by the outdated electoral college.
He is incapable of seeing that sentiment for what it is. Whatever his damage is, it’s deep and he needs some prison time to learn how to get in touch with himself.
4
I just cannot understand why he did it. Since he only does things that he believes advance him, how did his twisted, illogical, narcissistic mind delude him into thinking anything other than booing and jeers would result? Yes, he got attention, which he always loves, but at a high price. The video will be available on the internet forever.
1
Booing a public figure sets a sadistic impulse in motion--not good! So why was the booing of Trump okay with me?
I live in this world. I do not simply observe events from a distance; news events affect me even when I do not participate in them. So Trump's bigotries and shallow, cruel, gratuitous derogatory words address me; they address me along with millions of other Americans, just as much as if he prefaced every insult with my name.
If I just sit back and take it, I will be a masochist and a moral coward. There is nothing I can do to stop him, but I can do something to alleviate the psychological impact on me of knowing we have a trash-mouthed bully of a bigot for president who routinely lashes out at some of us. I can boo his ignorant boasts and bullying. I can yell "Stop it" just as though I were present when he beats up verbally on Alexandria Occasio-Cortez, Speaker Pelosi or Senator Shumer, or immigrant families, Kurds, journalists, judges, intelligence officers, or Democrats.
Why does it feel good? It's evidence that I have not become apathetic, that some human decency in me reacts to empowered evil. If that's the most I can do, it will do until November 2020.
3
Give me a break. I live in the land of plain speak, out here in the rural west. It is beyond ridiculous to think that this cruel, cruel man should be immune from the reaction to his potshots. It is BECAUSE he is morbidly narcissistic that he feels free to reduce every single human being to nothing more than an object in his reality show. It is the same morbid narcissism that makes him look so hurt when is over inflated view of himself his challenged. GWB had a shoe thrown at him and laughed it off . . .why? Because he had enough substance to reject that characterization of him. Narcissists are literally empty shells whose only sense of self comes at the expense of others. It is appropriate that they suffer the consequences of their cruelty. At his age he will not change, but he may resign. Which would be the best thing for this country.
4
The man separates nursing babies from mothers. I think booing him is the least we can do.
4
It's not a question of going high or low.
It's not a question of getting in the mud or pig wrestling.
It's not a question of whether it's right or wrong to shout "Lock him up" on the rare occasions that Donald Trump steps out of his secure bubble and tastes the real world.
No. It's a question of a petty tyrant and would-be dictator getting what he deserves: disdain.
And there's nothing more American than the electorate seeing someone get what is coming to him. That's why it feels so good to see Trump get a comeuppance. Never has a man deserved it more than he.
5
It may feel good to you but is another action that just energized his base, and came across a juvenile to many Americans.
2
We’d all better be in the streets booing if, when the time comes, it appears that at least 20 GOP Senators are unwilling to vote to convict this MOST impeachment worthy President.
3
Schadenfreude at its BEST!
4
"When he goes low, Democrats are supposed to go high. Except, it turns out, going low feels wonderful." Huh? High, low, what? Supposed to go? What? Where did all this presumption come from? I'm with Eric Holder's "When they go low, we kick 'em." Write a piece about how Democrats are in fact supposed to kick 'em.
Why does it feel so good? Let me count the ways, but I'd run out of space. Trump avoided the home town Washington Nationals games, figuring he'd get a better reception in Texas. He was wrong...again.
Didn’t Trump say he knows the booing was for Lindsey Graham?
I just want this national nightmare to be over with. Tell you what—let’s make a deal: I won’t boo if you give me back a functioning Executive branch that works to keep our air and water clean, protect public lands, and promotes the welfare of all Americans.
1
I thought it was a poor display of bad manners. President Trump is doing a fine job in the face of an extremely hostile media.
1
To answer your headline, it was good to see a reaction from a crowd that was not at a Trump rally.
3
Baseball may be an American pastime, but booing and mocking the president is the original American pastime.
Presidency should never protect corrupt and immoral person against mockery. He is already getting away with breaking the law. Enough is enough!
1
The emperor has no clothes. He needs to hear it.
What if Trump went to a baseball game, and the truth spontaneously broke out?
I don't think the boo'ing was "going low"; I think it was the only language Trump understands. In addition to the chanting of "lock him up".
First reality check this narcissistic dictator wanna-be has had. May there be many more.
2
Ah yes! Like Jimmy Butler when he plays NBA basketball in Minnesota. (Music: You're So Vain by Carly Simon)
"Going low feels wonderful." Yup, that's why Trump won.
I appreciate the desire for civility but the President of the United States has been waging war against Democrats since he was elected. This is my country too and I work hard, pay my taxes and abide by the laws. I am sick and tired of his rants against a majority of citizens. Booing him would have been very cathartic and I’m sorry I wasn’t there to do it in person. So I’m doing it now, booooooooooo!
2
Wait! You didn't describe the unfurled banner "Impeach Trump", the best part! That image is my new screen saver. I think I'll buy some Nationals gear. This incident is the talk of the Internet: Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! A short moment of catharsis. Don't forget - this is happening in Trump's hometown as his old hometown is ripping his name off of his ice rink in Central Park. Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!
1
Doing the same that we call out in others ... is human nature, the less adult in us. Tit for tat.
Sometimes you have to give a man his own medicine. Trump needs to know there are people who can chant ‘ Lock him up ‘
Also, doesn't everyone boo politicians at sporting events? It's common place in Australia.
1
We are entitled to feel good when a bully finally gets his just desserts. It feels good because we do not have the power to respond in kind to the tons of injustices he creates.
Power to the people.
2
What made you feel good was seeing real Americans express disproval for this disaster of a President. We only ever see his staged propaganda pieces play out on air. For once, without the ability to control the venue and the cast list, real Americans were allowed to express disapproval for this sham of a President. And that felt good. It felt good to know that America is still comprised of people of conscience.
2
Maybe it was a wake up call for him. Maybe.
I guess the author does not realize that at the opera, a place of extreme civility, it is not uncommon for the audience to boo a poor performance. Stop clutchIng your pearls, the ladies attending opera don’t clutch theirs.
1
What I've found is that those who call shots are all-too-happy to call protesters to a higher standard of behavior while they're capable of getting away with murder--like shooting someone on 5th Ave. You've had a lawyer for Trump making that argument in court, for crying out loud. And we're worried about the shouts of "lock him up" at a baseball game? I, for one, was glad that Trump heard it. I'm glad he was pained by it. He's a horrible president. The only talent he brings to the office is an entertainer's savvy. At last one part of his captive audience has relayed that it's thoroughly sick of his act.
1
The writer says: "We’re {Democrats} supposed to be the party of the downtrodden and the less fortunate. While Republicans support the fat-cat billionaires, we stand up for the workers."
I don't know what fantasy land the writer inhabits, but over the last 30 years the Democrats have morphed into a group that has lots of Uber Rich. In fact, I am almost certain that the data shows that the majority of Wall Street "Fat Cats" are now Democrats. So please keep your facts straight!
For any President of the United States, told to be locked up in public by thousands of Americans, has to be the most humiliating experience anyone in the highest office can experience, especially in front of your spouse.
Imagine the disgust that has permeated through these Americans to have the courage to say that to the President's face! Imagine a foreign dignitary remarking "Haven't they locked you up yet?" when meeting this President?
1
Why Donald Trump doesn’t care about, and is bored by, baseball:
Other people are involved. He doesn’t care - at all - about other people,
1
The Germans have a name for this experience of delighting in the misery that others are experiencing. It’s called schadenfreude and with Trump it’s especially delicious.
2
By all means go low! As low as you can! The lower the better! The US Civil War is still going on. It didn't end in 1865. Only the most violent phase ended then.
We'd all like to hear him stop "screaming, crying and whimpering".
2
Hello? Satire. The fans seized on the very chant invented by the tormentor in chief to turn his cudgel against him. They used his own words to mock him. Brilliant!
3
Because it was so spontaneously clear that we're not alone. Months and months of false narrative have dulled the senses as Potus 45 strives to normalize crazy making. On Sunday, with the world watching this all American, live, event, the self proclaimed emperor was disrobed. Its not pretty, but it is essential.
1
Count me in with the pro-boo community. Trump -- the thin-skinned coward -- hides in his bubble. He only ventures out to his North Korea-inspired leader adoration rallies. Visit a blue state? Surely, you jest.
This is the first time that Trump has shown up in public (and not in a federal disaster area where people have more problems than Trump psycho-drama). For once, people could display their displeasure -- or support, for that matter -- on a fair, level playing field.
BTW, the recent slam on John Kelly sounds exactly like North Korean radio when I monitored their state radio during the Cold War. Can't get much lower than this...
3
I agree that we should show respect for the Office of the President but we all know Donald Trump is NOT and never has been a legitimately-elected POTUS! He was booed in a totally appropriate manner for stealing the election and ALL the other crimes he has committed in the last 3 years.
President Trump has won. Now everyone feels free to behave in the same boorish way he does.
It's fine. We don't have to degrade ourselves. But millions should be cheering "Lock him up!" on a daily basis. There is no shame in this. There is shame - Ms. Weiner - in silence. Silence = Death, to coin a phrase. Playing Dead. If we don't take to the streets and raise our voices, we are failing to give the congressional investigations and Nancy Pelosi back-up. This is part of a real and natural protest movement. No need to throw rocks... yet. But Boo? "Lock him up?" Very mild for all he's done to drag this nation into the sewer.
2
Very thoughtful, Ms Weiner. But I am thinking that this is partly how we take back the White House. If it hurt Mr. Trump, if his ego was bruised, if the injury festers and swells, then he is ever more likely to amp up the vile and escalate the tantrums. In short, he will make more and more clear each day to more and more of the electorate how profoundly unfit for office he is. Indeed, what a cruel and hollow specter he is, so hollow and so spectral that the winds of decency can blow him away in 2020.
1
It get great to watch because it could not be denied. How delicious to witness, and have confirmed the evidence he so wants to believe is “fake news”.
3
It’s ok to “punch up” - in fact it is necessary.
11
Donald: "Did you hear those boos? The were the most loudest boos of any president. The crowed was packed by people who like to boo me. Obama never had so many boos. Biden never had so many boos."
20
Booing poor performance at the ballpark is as old as baseball itself.
406
Trump needs to know he is not welcome here.
12
Booing a wannabe dictator and the worst American who has ever lived is absolutely warranted and in no way morally dubious.
16
Getting boo'd in a district that voted 96% Hillary. Big deal.
3
Bullies are bullies as long as they can maintain a perceived invincibility. (Dictators too, for that matter.) Once that illusion is gone, they slink away.
16
I have not seen the videos, almost whish I did.
I am not going to look for them even though I whish I was there booing with the crowed.
It must be pretty cathartic to join in this kind of spontaneous protest. It is pretty harmless compared to calling a whole class of people rapist or asking if the army could shoot people near the border.
May be next time, all turn our backs with a fist in the air ?
Nah, lock him up!
9
Worth it to see Trump go from ecstatic to wimpy in the space of seconds. Just like all bullies. They can dish it out, but are big babies when it comes back to them.
16
Never forget Trump encouraged the "Lock her up" and the boos at his own Bund rallies. No one can fault Americans for booing Donald Trump, especially Donald Trump. Donny and fanboys never forget Donny and you fanboys started it. Our President respects no one, yet demands respect. Sorry Donny it doesn't work that way. Mommy should have taught you that.
12
Being culpable like Trump would mean you have to utter sexist and racist tinged hyperbole against people of colour and women. It means you willingly going and separating babies and toddlers from their parents and locking them up in cages. It means insulting your allies. It means leaving your allies in war torn regions to die at the hands of their enemies after they have helped you. It means praising strongmen/dictators over your own people. Booing is not the same and if you think in ANY way it’s the same thing then you are as delusional as Trump and as thin skinned as Trump if you equate booing with the psychological and physical trauma Trump has inflicted on so many people through his actions as President.
11
Let's hope everyone that booed the WH occupier actually votes in 2020, leaving behind their own personal fantasy of an ideal Dem opponent.
9
He can dish it out but he can't take it--and that, in a nutshell, is the essence of the man, bully and coward that he is.
12
It was refreshing to know that there are still a sizable number of Americans who have enough honor to be distressed and upset about a lying, cheating, racist, proudly ignorant man who claims to be (but completely fails to be) our leader.
14
Why Did It Feel So Good to See Trump Booed?
I dunno, maybe because he deserves it?
12
Nothing he shouldn’t understand. He’s a big boy right?
5
The only way to deal with a bully -- and Trump is the classic bully -- is to punch him back. Good for the Nationals fans.
Lock him up!
10
Trump was in a city. He spews nothing but venom at cities and the people who live in them. They should be booing.
7
Yes, it feels good. So does cocaine. I'm told crack is even better. I suppose had I been there, I would have enjoyed the moment. However, that 'lock him up' chant has been defanged and trivialized by previous years of impotent overuse (much like the term 'fake news', or 'facebook friend'). With this, Trump shows he is winning the culture wars as we race to the bottom. He will sign no new legislation in 2020 (unless there are new emergency powers he needs brought on by a crisis he has engineered). Meanwhile, the Federal courts go further and further right. So enjoy your little rush of ecstasy... it may be all there is.
You don’t kick a person when they’re down, you wait till they get up and then hit ‘em again. Bullies like Trump only know when they’ve been hit. When he falls and won’t get up, then we can walk away.
5
Trump is despicable and lacks any traits that one can call human: honesty, fairness, compassion etc. He is evil personified: vengeful, bullying, petty, lying etc. When 40 million or so Americans voted and still support him says a lot about Americans; they are just like him.
7
The main fascination in watching Trump react to boos was discerning whether he felt the disapproval from the crowd or his own disapproval at them.
Trump was treated with contempt and ridicule for years in NYC. He was a vulgar buffoon, desperate without class. Perhaps in the make believe Boss on The Apprentice, he appealed to us in his silly posturing- a cartoon impersonator.
Now as POTUS, he seems to believe his own nonsense. Perhaps the cover stories, hype, propaganda, big lies, white lies, trash talk are all that matter to him. Does he think governing is just a matter of winning a battle of street dozens?
So it was comforting to imagine his bubble burst for a moment. Defiant always, smirking that his flashy terrorist kill would show everyone he was better than Obama (although it did seem like he made a deal with Erdogan to get Baghdadi just to fluff his PR).
When he babbled to Hillary in the debate: “You’re the puppet, you’re the puppet!” (re:Putin)- he was pathetic. Yet....he won those 70,000 votes and never faced the music.
Surely, someday, he must.
7
Trump's been a known disgusting human being since the 1980s. Everyone in America and around the world ought make up for lost time.
11
It's a grand SLAM!
6
Why do I boo you? Let me count (some of) the ways!
Family charity shut down by NY because it was being used for personal gain
Trump University shut down by NY because it was not an accredited university
NYTimes did a series - for which they won a Pulitizer - after reviewing 100,000 pages of financial documents - showing that the family - some through outright fraud - and other means walked away with over $400 million dollars
Putin problem and patriotism
MBS and Saudi Arabia
Tariffs
Tax Cuts for the rich
Supreme Court Justices
Birther
Belittled Mr. and Mrs. Khan parents of Muslim American soldier who was killed
Attacks on media
Environmental policies
Caliber of appointments and high turnover
Claimed 3 million illegals voted for HRC
Accused Pres. Obama of wiretapping Trump Power
Rancid morals
No ethics
How immigration situation is being handled
Treatment of our Allies
Constant, never-ending ongoing lies and misstatements
12
Touche
4
Booing the President makes you feel "wonderful"? You may disagree with what the President does or how he does it but you need some self reflection if you enjoy the boos. I suspect you have a higher opinion of your importance than many of those around you.
3
Expression says: I WANT MY MOMMY!!
David-Philly
5
Oh Yess, that was good.
5
Schadenfreude is nothing to brag about. Reveling in Karmic justice is not a sign of good character.
So why does it feel good? Because I have watched clips from rally after rally of hand chosen supporters cheering as he demonizes immigrants, race baits, name calls, and just lies and lies and lies to his crowd, as they cheer. Cheer when he pretends to joke about inciting violence on protesters. Cheer when he calls on Russia to hack e-mails. Cheer when he lets everyone know the children at the border deserve to be jailed.... in summer camps.
Having him face a crowd of people who are not hand selected might some day make his giant ego recognize that a lot of us simply cannot stand him. He needs to know that.
10
Best thing to happen to me in the last week! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy, right?
9
Trump turns a proud moment for the military into a grade school food fight by using it to attack Democrats. And instead of praising the US intel work he so othen disparages, he tries to pump his own tires.
No wonder they booed him at the ball game. That's what crowds do when someone makes an error.
9
Look, he and his cartel want the people to remain silent. Better to be heard.
5
It's kinda like guilty pleasure some of us took at hearing that that murderous monster of a human being Al-Bagdadi was killed. ("Some of us" being those who don't normally cheer the death of any human being.)
2
I cringe when I hear the talking heads claim that tRump and his supporters behave in way that does not reflect who we are. Really? When close to 40% of America is behind this guy, it's actually exactly who we are. It's time we face the fact that the American electorate is filled with people who think it's just fine to have a POTUS who is a know nothing, lying, criminal. If we get one chance to boo him at a baseball game, maybe what we are saying is ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Get this guy out of the white house so we can resume some sense of normalcy. How can any of us have a shred of respect for the office of the presidency given the current occupant? BOO and I would add HISS!!!!
6
Incorrectly, the "fact and reality" obsessed liberal media has said that Donald Trump is the most divisive president in the past 150 years. Last nights baseball game shows us that American patriots of all walks of life can come together to reject his totalitarian philosophy. Donald Trump may in fact unify this nation like nothing since WW2.
3
Hand wringing Liberals, worried about having good manners in a knife fight, wonder why they keep losing to the uncultured.
You don't win a gutter fight from the high road.
4
So gratifying.
3
When does necessary evil just become evil, you ask. Do you think such a thought ever even crosses the minds of trump or his sycophantic congressional supporters?
4
How embarrassing and small minded for the liberals, progressives, socialists, the resistance - whoever you are.
The old law about an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
1
Constant identity politics at the expense of bringing Americans together, reparations, free healthcare for illegal aliens, collective punishment for law-abiding gun owners, etc. The aforementioned tenants of the Democrat party will see Trump 2020 and Republican administrations for the foreseeable future.
2
Voicing your opinion in a democracy is not "going low," it's freedom of speech. Get real. Trump has gone out of his way to suppress free speech and to ridicule the resistance. He is the illegitimate occupant of the WH placed in power by Russian controllers. Resist!
7
Schadenfreude!
3
Just boo and feel good about it if you can. Democrats, Liberals, whatever you want to call them, think that thinking takes you forward. It doesn't. It just hangs you up in the kind of ambivalence illustrated here...
1
Going low would be to lie like 45, to castigate all but rich white men and corporate sponsors, to separate families and put children in cages. Mocking his own words of "Lock her up", is fitting and appropriate. 45 has disgraced the Office of the Presidency and hurt our Nation and our standing with allies, and broken the law. Boo to him.
4
The big difference between a Trump rally and this game is that there were no Democratic Party Presidential candidates at a microphone leading the chants of a racist misogynistic and hateful crowd but a spontaneous reaction of a large crowd of patriotic Americans who are sick and tired of what he is doing to our country!
650
".....for whatsoever a man soweth, he shall also reap....." - Galatians 6
7
Now, we await dear leader’s vindictiveness against the district, when budget time comes. We know he will try to get ‘even’ against those who booed. Such an affront to his greatness!
The greatest president ever, just ask fox, oan or newsmax!
3
he deserves worse ...
7
Why did I watch the videos about thirty times today? Because this is the first time that DJT has been outside the protective arms of Marine Guards, Secret Service, and his inner circle of fawning sycophants who praise him 24/7.
This poster kid for the Dunning–Kruger effect didn’t have a clue that people hated his guts! This wasn’t a call and response clan that crowds his Weimar Republic rallies.
This was the real world.
These were people he couldn’t bribe, demand loyalty, blow up at...he had ZERO control for perhaps the FIRST time in his LIFE.
He NEEDS constant reassurance. He’s had maybe the WORST Baghdad Bobs in Presidential history as his press secretaries get worse with each new member of his communications department. No one to pronounce flummoxing hagiographical lies to the press as Stephanie Grisham spouts vomit-inducing praise:
“...former White House chief of staff John Kelly was 'totally unequipped to handle the genius' of Trump.”
This is the “boy” who announced that he was the greatest baseball player in the state of New York. Now no place to duck and cover.
The Washington Nationals had NOT invited him! So he bullied MLB to get him a box with his #1 boy toy Matt Gaetz smiling and taking selfies.
He was LITERALLY at the mercy of the Nats’ crowd. And he did NOT like it! The decibel level was up to 100!
#ROTFL
11
Best poll on live television ever! Free speech. Today he took his hurt feelings out on Chicago by cruelly insulting it yet again to a room full of police officers. Because he's a sociopath.
9
The time for going high has passed. It is now the time for going strong, whether that is high, low or in between.
74
Seeing is visual. Booing is auditory. One must have very good vision to see a sound.
10
I find this essay depressingly pathetic. What kind of example are we setting for children when we just go lower and lower? A baseball stadium should be a sanctum against such folderol. What would have been wrong with welcoming Trump, no matter how much so many despise him in the political and moral arena, with decorum? It would have been a gesture of maturity and decency at a time when all the world (adult world) has crossed nearly every line of decency, lobbing insult after demeaning and dehumanizing insult. Trump is by no means the only poster child of this, and now everyone who booed and yelled 'Lock him up' is just as culpable as he is.
101
@Christopher P Complete silence might have been a stronger message.
112
@Christopher P he is the President if the United States. He wields tremendous power, can inflict great damage and cause grave harm. Those booing are regular people whose very lives and freedom depend on the Commander in Chief resisting his authoritarian urges. And who have by no measure the power that rests with his office. Decent people among us seek to limit the effects of his cruelty. To say they are equally culpable is to say a fork is as dangerous as a machine gun.
628
@Christopher P
When I go to a baseball game I boo the other team for practically any reason, if only because they oppose my beloved team. My favorite of course is when the pitcher checks a runner on base. Everyone boos at that one.
Booing is part and parcel with MLB. The Prez can handle it.
131
I can hardly stand that we have a man for president who is the most dishonest, rude, crude, ignorant man I have ever personally had knowledge of in my 69 years. I was deeply saddened by his being booed precisely because he deserved it. How awful for our country that we have a president who would deserve to be booed.
If I am rude, it diminishes me. When the crowd was rude, I felt it diminished them. I have been sad all day at the reality of our country that both sides would stoop so low.
299
@Rose
1 side is out to destroy democracy in your country.
The other side is trying to save it.
People need to decide which side you’re on because there’s no sitting on the fence with this situation.
Trump ran for President to get publicity for his business.
McConnell and the GOP tried to use Trump to furyher their goals.
What they failed to realise is that they couldn’t control Trump.
Trump now controls them.
Just as with any would -be tyrant you have to decide which side your on.
161
@Rose
You forgotten your emotions. Emotions are powerful.
We need all the power we can muster combined with all the rationale we can muster.
Oil and vinegar tend to separate unless we consciously mix them.
27
I don’t agree, your emphasis on his character traits are precise and I’d add you have been kind. It’s imperative this malignant narcissist knows exactly where he stands in the eyes and consciousness of the American public, he is vile, he is corrupt, he is a stain on the Presidency, he has destroyed your reputation in three short years. While a bit younger at 50, I likewise had never experienced such a sick personality. The people simply have enough.
41
People didn't boo the president of the United States. They boo'd a man whose mental deficiencies make him unfit and incapable of carrying out the duties of the presidency. This wasn't partisanship. This was the US immune system rejecting a foreign invader besmirching our national honor.
When we aren't allowed to boo this type of man simply because he is in the role of president, we will no longer be a free people.
5963
@DB
What is this- when Trump goes low we can go lower? A race to the bottom? Then everyone looses. Perhaps it would have been simpler and more dignified if the crowd turned its back to Trump. But it's a baseball crowd, so don't count on good manners. But really, what are we teaching our children today? And the commentators here who noted that those that booed are playing right into Trump's hands are, sadly, right. Ironically, perhaps the liberals, the progressives, the Trump haters are becoming the"Despicables". Maybe we all are.
23
@DB So very well said! Thanks.
172
@Mark Shyres
I really did not mind the booing because there is nothing normal about the Trump presidency.
Total silence would have been the better option, but this a baseball game and people are pretty rambunctious in the best case.
Total silence would definitely have been better. My feeling is that he would have been at a loss as to how to respond. His reaction would have been even sweeter.
170
I had a similar feeling on Sunday morning when I was watching the news about the death of the ISIS leader. I could NOT bring myself to watch this vile president take a victory lap. There is a terrible self-loathing that sets in when you realize that an accomplishment that is good for our country can't even make you happy because the president who accomplished it is causing so much destruction in every other area he touches. When did it come to this?
1211
@emily I wouldn't exactly say he's the president who accomplished it. I'd say our intelligence community and armed forces managed to complete this mission DESPITE his actions which nearly derailed it.
322
@emily
Have you ever wondered whether it's possible for a single person to inflict so much damage upon 330 million people?
Or we are talking here about self-inflicted wounds for which all of us are equally responsible?
Those who put their party ABOVE their country shouldn't complain about bitter partisanship.
20
@emily Like you , I experienced a distinct sense of outrage at Trump's behavior when he announced the death of Al-Baghdadi. I was glad and thankful that a serious terrorist threat to the world had been removed, but at the same time I was infuriated by Donald Trump's lack of modesty, and seeming inability to genuinely credit anyone other than himself. He is the perfect proof of the old adage, 'The only thing worse than a poor loser is a poor winner.' He was insulting, smug, and vainglorious. In short, just about as far from presidential as it is possible to get. It's no surprise we were outraged: he managed to make a pig's ear out of what should have been an uplifting announcement for all Americans, by making it all about himself.
People say of him, "Not MY president," but I think it's safer to say he's not anybody's president. He lives in a universe peopled only by himself.
What a sad, scant man.
76
I am already so sick of masochistic Democrats and "Never Trumpers" wringing their hands at the "incivility" of baseball fans mocking Trump by spontaneously giving him a taste of his own medicine. It's called freedom! We're not a dictatorship yet, but we're dangerously close.
If Trump and his criminal crew aren't corralled now, a year from now these fans will be arrested, as well as other protestors and members of the press who dare criticize or mock the dictatorial traitor in chief.
I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and understand that the only thing a bully understands is to punch him back in the nose. Democrats, stop bringing a pea shooter to a gun fight, before it's too late!
1894
@mivogo We must travel in different circles, because I haven't heard anyone complaining about what happened at the game as incivility.
49
@mivogo Here, here. We must win and then we can bring back civility. If we're in the back seat we have not power to have normalcy restored.
28
@HKGuy ,
hah? Did you read some of the comments here?
6
After all the self-congratulation concerning the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, I can't help but jubilate imagining Trump saying to his lackeys : « Let’s all go to baseball and enjoy the crowd cheering my beautiful triumph over ISIS." And then he get booed ! Again Trump sees his vanity getting in the way of a real win on his part. (Did he not destroyed ISIS by himself, last year?)
2
If you see something, say something.
4
We don't laud cancer. Trump is a cancer and is deserving of the treatment he received.
4
Truth: Trump, (or dumb Dennison as I call him), brings out the absolute WORST in all of us.
2
Trump has used his nastiness, crude name calling etc. to become President. I don't see anything wrong in booing him and being happy to see the booing. Going high doesn't seem to have helped. Punch him where it hurts. Talk to him in the language he understands. Give him names like he has given to other respected politicians, and made them look weak and stupid, like he did to Jeb Bush. When the networks keep showing him calling people those names, they are making him win. It's time to turn the tables on him but the game should be played by people who have the stomach for it. Of course crowds can easily do it. I say bring it on!
7
Remember President Obama’s words of wisdom: don’t boo, vote!
5
Trump struts and crows about how much everyone loves him, how big his crowds are, what a shining example he is, how smart he is, and on and on, and when he finally dares to go to a ballgame and they finally get around to flashing his picture on the big screen, the whole ballpark erupts in boos. A little taste of reality.
Thanks why it felt so good.
4
Let’s all try to emulate the fans’ example—finding creative ways to show our disgust for these disgusting human beings called Republicans, Trump just one of them.
3
Trump deserved to be booed, and worse.
He is by far the most despised public figure in modern American history. None of the normal rules apply here.
4
I think it's wonderful that Trump was booed. He is owed absolutely no respect. He has dirtied the office of the presidency. This tired trope about how we must respect the office no matter what is just that.
The fact is, Trump is our nation's first dictator. And one of the few peaceful avenues left to any of us who detest this sickening man is to raise our voices in protest.
This man shoved Hispanic infants and children into cages. He has bragged about sexually assaulting women. His ethnic and racist slurs are beyond count, as he continues to say that the KKK and neo-Nazis are some very fine people.
Respect a man like this? Are you kidding me? Publicly continue to kowtow to him? Continue as if he were a sane, decent, honorable man who cares about all Americans? No. I will not do this.
To do so does nothing but enable him, and enable his vicious base. After all, if the rest of us cheer in support of him at sporting events, then we must like him and what he stands for. And nothing could be farther from the truth.
Those who booed Trump and chanted "Lock him up" are the true patriots. We want to see this country return to a nation of laws. We want to see this country return to a society in which lawbreaking is no longer rewarded. We want to see this country return to a people who aspire to treat everyone equally, regardless of creed, color or orientation.
I will not enable this "president" by remaining silent. And I beyond glad that thousands chanted against him last night.
12
Where's the Slovenian Einstein import in the last photo? Hustled out already?
1
After the shadenfreude wears off, the feeling of cameraderie settles in - having the bad guys put in their place by a few thousand of "our closest friends".
2
He should have brought one of his pornlets with him. After all, his supporters would not care if he murdered someone on 5th Avenue.
Vox populi, vox dei
The voice of the people is the voice of god.
1
It's a hypothetical, but let's suppose that Trump actually has feelings: if freedom of expression allows this vileness of an individual and his assorted psycho-phants to spew their bilis 24/7 for the past 2.5 years, we should be allowed to boo him and chant at a ballgame without feeling a wee bit guilty.
3
Brava! Since when do we coddle bullies? Let's remember the flip side of any bully is a coward. It doesn't hurt to let this coward know that the fawning adulation he receives at his glorified would-be show trials does not represent mainstream sentiment, and that those suckers and losers for whom he shows such contempt intend to face him down next year.
4
This thread is the epitome of an echo chamber.
1
Going low makes me sick every time. But doing it straight beats bien pensant liberal condescension!
Evidently Fox News edited out the booing. I thought Fox was fair and balanced - gee, perhaps they're not. Who knew?
https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/fox-friends-edits-boos-out-video-trump-attending-world-series
3
Once in a while, it’s delicious to ho low. If only to remember we should go high again.
I don't have a clue why. It doesn't advance public discussion on important issues and makes liberals look like a petty, vindictive and small mob.
2
Oh, for Pete’s sake. Let us have this.
4
No one deserves a taste of his own medicine more than Trump! He’s such a national disgrace, no one even wants him to attend their funerals let alone a World Series game.
5
If this umpire Drake is not fired immediately then that is it for baseball. It is a world of sexual assault, men intimidating women, and Trump-supporting half-crazed umpires.
This tweet is a direct threat and should result in his being arrested. The first amendment should only go so far and the threat of violence with an assault weapon is too far.
#Lockhimuptoo
6
C'mon! Shadenfreude, after all this huckster-toddler has damaged, is not only the right thing to do; it's the enjoyment We, the People, are entitled to! Stop putting yourself down, nor the rest of us down, for enjoying that video at his expense! He earned that collective insult. And that insult to Trump cannot be a complete insult, unless we enjoy it being done to him.
Taking the Low Road does not concede victory to Trump & the fascists. Taking the Low Road is the way to defeat them.
sincerely,
a former Republican.
4
Your headline is a bit like stepping to his level.
1
What goes around comes around.
1
I enjoyed the spontaneous booing!! Why? I hoped that it sent a very strong message to the Republican Senators who must soon vote on Trump’s impeachment.
The American people are not living in a bubble and we do not approve of this lawless fraud who is endangering all of our futures- and destabilizing the world. Let’s hope that the booing was a message for impeachment.
It was not a message to Trump. He is such a ridiculous narcissist that he immediately came up with some silly internal self justification about why he really isn’t reviled like that. He is.
He is indeed reviled, loathed and utterly disrespected- rightfully so. He is going to be found guilty of crimes and misdemeanors and, I hope, soon end up in jail where he belongs. He is terrifyingly inept, incompetent and vile.
Boo.
7
If you are in a ballpark and you make an error, you get booed. A pitcher walks a batter with the bases loaded, he gets booed. The ball goes through the shortstop's legs, he gets booed. A fan drops a foul ball that should have been an easy catch, he or she gets booed. A president separates children from their parents and puts them all in cages, he gets booed. It's the American way.
5
No surprise..
Trump like Bad King John is hated everywhere..
1
When Trump goes low, democrats go lower . . . .
1
It's called JUSTICE! Trump has spent 4 years mocking all kinds of people and never having to get a sense of what kind of pain he's inflicted. Gold star parents. War widows. The disabled. Women who don't meet HIS warped standard of beauty. And through it all he's lived in his own protected bubble, where the crowds are hand-picked and LOVE his obnoxious, tasteless, graceless (and dishonest) boasting.
Last night he ventured for the first time into a venue with 40 or 50,000 people not culled and hand-picked to ensure HIS adoring thralls were close. This was REAL AMERICA and it said "We know what you are--You are a CROOK and it's YOU that belongs in prison!"
If anything was amusing about this is that Trump was SHOCKED and STUNNED to be booed. He's lived in his bubble so long that he clearly believes the organic fertilizer his sycophants feed him constantly and had no CLUE that in and open venue, he ain't popular!
But the pearl-clutching by Democrats, pundits, and the author indicate another problem that continues to plague Democrats: A refusal to recognize that you cannot play by the rules when the other side recognizes no rules. They cheat at EVERYTHING but insist Dems play "fair".
"You want to get Capone? Here's how you get him. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue! That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone!" --Jim Malone, aka Sean Connery in 'The Untouchables'.
6
Psst. New York Times.
Looks like there are a lot of Americans out there who aren't Trump supporters. Maybe you should run a few front-page stories about them.
7
I’m sorry, I know it’s petty...but it feels so goooood!
1
Don't overthink this. There's nothing low or evil about standing up to a fascist. This person, this sad excuse for an American President has been terrorizing the nation since Day #1. His attacks on our civil society, his betrayal of our allies, his disrespect, his cruelty, the damage he's done to children and their families is just unforgivable.
We the People are standing up for America. It's that simple. Because the man in the White House is not.
6
What goes around, comes around.
1
While he is devoid of feelings, good or bad, trump deserves to get some of his own medicine. That his own chant came back to bite him is truly priceless but more importantly, deserving. He is a bully and a coward of the worst kind, to the highest order. He has power. That is a scary thing. He throws boulders and gets hit every now and then with a small rock. He is mean and intends harm to those who he thinks are "his" subjects, the American People. He is a traitor holding this country, and by extension, the rest of the world, hostage. He earned those boos! He's a big bully baby who WILL get over this. If you think his being booed at a baseball game was gleeful, wait until the day he no longer tortures us with his crazed talk and his annoying presence. Now that will be a gleeful moment! Internationally, We The People will cheer! Boo on Good People, Boo on! November 2020!!! Send him packing!
4
Oh Lighten Up! Sometimes a person needs a mirror--Trump got one. Dems are sooooo restrained--they needed this......
2
Cheer the White House! And boo the President.
I'm just glad I live in a country where I'm allowed to boo.
(At this writing, anyway).
12
Being able to express your opinion is about American as it gets.
8
Why did it feel so good?
Because he is a thoroughly despicable person, who deserved it.
Because he deserves it every time he opens his mouth.
Because it is a relief to know there ARE people in this country who recognize him for the loathsome creature he is, and who see the destruction he is inflicting on our country every day.
THAT'S why it feels so good.
3
In America, we can boo our President. That’s cool.
2
Trump only goes to the meeting where his maga base and pr firms fan over him.
...
Nothing as good as this reality check could happen to this big coward with inflated ego!
1
I’m just so HAPPY, and it makes me hugely optimistic, to see people finally genuinely acknowledge in the most public of occasions and venues - what a tyrant he is, a ruthless, corrupt liar.
5
A normal president would have dressed casually and brought his teenage son and maybe some of his grandchildren. They would have worn nationals hats and had fun. Melania, if present would have doted on the family. The crowd would have been respectful. This bunch? The usual yuck. I say bring it on.
3
I doubt there is much booing in North Korea.
4
Nothing could ever be as disrespectful as Congressman Joe Wilson shouting "You Lie" during President Obama's SOTU.
That's lower than a barrel scraping.
John
5
“When they go low, we kick ‘em.” - Eric Holder
11
Don't worry. We cannot be expected to be civil when buried in deliberate, shameful, evil, sadistic and vulgar uncivility on a daily basis. You, we, are not going low, by enjoying the scene of a school-yard bully getting his head and smirk smashed in by a new kid in town, a stadium full of real folks, not claques, telling like it is.
The photo says so much. But just wait until millions take to the streets with whistles and "lock him up" chants; watch him pout even more, sniffling, crying, and screaming for his mommy to come and help him escape from reality. Donald, you are a bad, bad boy.
13
Trick question right?
3
Look, I love this country. There are so many people like Jennifer Weiner who ask what the right thing is, and how can we be better today than we were yesterday.
But let's face it, there are some awful people here, too.
They are racist and cruel, and they support a cruel racist with glee. So let's put away the "go high" and "go low" thing. Let's call it like it is. If you support Trump, you support a terrible human being, and that says something about you.
12
How about adding a few rotten tomatoes/eggs to the boos? Or a cream pie? We have an official "entarteur" (pie thrower) we could lend out. He's very good: he a.o. "got" Bill Gates...
2
Booing is not bad behavior in this instance. Because the president rarely ventures out beyond his base-driven MAGA rallies, the average person never gets the chance to voice his or her disapproval. Trump needs to know what most of us think about him. I’d love the opportunity to register a big thumbs down. Booooooo!
7
"When they go low, we go high" Michelle Obama
Funny, for about 12 years now she has claimed up one side and down the other that she is not political. So, why does she keep getting political and telling the party what they should do? Has she ever even run for office before?
When will the Dems learn to tell the Clintons/Obamas/Bidens thanks but time to go? What have they gotten you so far? An impeachment, 3-strikes and you're out, bank-bailouts, an FBI investigation, the worst midterm election in modern times leading to a shift in the Supreme Court, Hunter Biden, and finally Trump. And lets not forget the administration that was at war longer than any other in U.S. history making record weapon sales all across the middle east while campaigning on stopping the war and closing Gitmo.
And you honestly want to return to 2008 with Uncle Joe?????????????? I know that I don't.
Its way past time for someone to remind Michelle Obama that she is not a politician and her opinion is not worth any more than Melania's on the subject.
1
The notion that the Democrats go high is nonsense. A delusion.
It should be corrected by the New York Times. Long overdue.
Never were boos more appropriate and never was the target of said boos more deserving. Trump is a vile, petty huckster who lucked into the highest political office in the land. Moreover, he is a crude, cruel, racist, sexist authoritarian with pronounced fascist tendencies. The behavior he exhibits and the language he uses clearly demonstrate how totally unfit he is to warrant being the leader of this republic. Trump has done incalculable damage to this country. Such a man does not merit being in the White House. He is, however, worthy of disrespect.
13
Maybe Donald Trump thought we was visiting the Washington Nationalists last night?
6
Trump earned every boo & every "lock him up"
6
Trump is as nasty as Richard Millhouse Nixon. Any of you old enough to remember the hatred and disgust he brought on himself.
Thankfully, we have a civil government, and a constitution. Napoleon came to power by attending the French Parliament, taking out his sword, and killing another member.
If the only thing going on is a bit of booing, well.... LOL ... that happens at all sporting events. It is what they were designed for. Boos and Cheers. LOL
3
Dems need to learn to fight back dirty, at least until we win. trump is the dirtiest fighter of them all, a real low life.
3
Why did it feel so good?
Because Trump is basically Scott Farkus in A Christmas Story. Name one person alive who doesn’t cheer when Ralphie beats the snot out of him.
6
Trump is a loathsome menace. If you are a decent human being (as most Americans are, unlike the so-called president), it is only natural to cheer when the despicable bully is booed. I'm thrilled to pieces that he got booed, and it doesn't diminish me in the least or lower my moral standards. I hope we can boo him out of office.
4
I HATE enjoying this.....but this crude, vicious president truly deserves it and I hope it continues, only louder.
4
Trump is a multi-faceted. He not only is a horrible president, father, businessman and husband, he's also a lousy person.
4
Don't worry...there will be a lot of clapping and jumping for joy....when and if...Trump is Impeached,Removed,Indicted, and Jailed !! No Booing then....just a big sigh of relief and...a good nights sleep for the Nation !! Hooray !!!
5
While I did not see the video, I did read about it in the NYT. I was taught by my parents and the nuns that gloating is unnecessary.
But, Donnie deserves everything he received at the stadium last night. I’m glad he’s thin skinned!! Sorry... is that gloating Sister Marie????
6
A very nuanced piece...would not have expected anything less from Jennifer Weiner!
1
Trump started this hate.
5
A few times I have said things in my NYT comments that the moderators did not let pass. I wasn’t surprised. My comments, I would agree, were not « civilized ».
But could you blame me for writing them ?
I was merely responding to something that the president did or said that was « uncivilized ».
3
trump whines and kvetches about every camera —metaphorical and real—that are not trained on him. He has a weak soul and an intolerance for everyone, even his boot-licking sycophants. He is not loved. He is rightly mocked for the embarrassment he is. Boo more. Lock-him-up more. Mock more. It’s all he understands.
5
Enough of this “when they go low, we go high” magical thinking. When Trump and his Republican henchmen/enablers go low, even lower than anyone can believe, Democrats should do as the Nationals fans did. Slide in spikes up. Plenty of time to sing Kumbaya after cleaning house!
6
You are behind the times. As George Will had once wrote-barbarians are not at the gate, they are running things.
6
How can you respect the office when its holder doesn't.
355
I wrote a comment recently on the "1001st Day Trump is Bored with his Presidency" article that was really polarizing.
It got a lot of attention because it was a Times Pick; but a lot of people were upset that I suggested that liberals were 'just a little bit addicted' to the moral outrage we—very justifiably—feel toward Trump and Trumpism.
Many readers seemed shocked and offended that I would suggest such a thing; but I was trying to make two points: 1) we have to acknowledge that it feels good to point fingers, and 2) that if we can recognize and acknowledge this within ourselves, it will go a long way to helping us understand Trumpism.
Because clearly whatever we're telling ourselves to explain how anyone can keep supporting this man isn't entirely working.
I'm glad to see this article, and the acknowledgement that we're human too, and Trump brings out the worst in all of us. Seeing that this is true of us all might help us find a way out of this mess together.
21
Fans cheer - and boo - at baseball games. They boo superb players of the opposing team in an ironic display of respect. They boo referees for bad calls. They boo players they love for errors and bad behavior. They boo mayors who dont pave the streets or raise taxes It’s kitschy kvetching. It’s not threatening. It’s a civic communication ritual.
This boo was nothing more than an index - a widespread collective reaction to a man who rules in spite of the people.
"Lock her up!" Is the chant of a fascist, it was created to solidify the lies he spread about the candidate he wanted to destroy. “Lock him up” was the spontaneous retort of we-the-people to an insulated authoritarian leader who has himself confessed to impeachable offenses in contempt of the people he’s supposed to serve.
Silence would have been louder than a boo. But either way, expressing conflict lead to resolution — an intolerable peace leads to revolution.
Let Rosey Grier remind you:
“It's all right to cry
Crying gets the sad out of you
It's all right to cry
It might make you feel better.”
16
Right now, in this country, many are pushing the rhetoric to a boiling point from which there may be no peaceful return. By my informal estimation, most of them vote Democrat. If any president from the past several decades was willing to wheel and deal it was this one. Instead of deals, we got the "resistance". What a waste.
1
Enough with the false equivalencies. The crowd at the World Series was not chanting "Lock Him Up!" because they tired of taking the high road and hate civility. They did it because civility failed to stop a demagogue from taking — and abusing — power. When the rule of law returns, so will civility.
No justice, no please.
21
I think, Jennifer, if you had watched the video just two or three times, that would be perfect. You know- like eating two thirds of a pint of ice cream....
5
The booing and chants of lock him up were appropriate and justified. trump only surrounds himself with cronies and lackeys, his crowds are all hand picked to give him a false sense of self-justification. When given the opportunity, the vast majority of this country need to made themselves heard and underscore to him directly that his actions and behaviors are not appreciated, and what better way than the time honored booing directly to his face. The lock him up chants are for the SDNY and the prosecutors in NYC to remind them that some day he will be out of office and his crimes need justice.
11
The author states that instead of erecting a wall at the Mexican border, she and her progressive allies would declare "All are welcome here". Excuse my naiviety but what does this actually mean? Is this a rhetorical statement behind which the reality would be no more wall construction and somewhat more open borders than at present? Or are progressives like Ms. Weiner quite literally in favour of welcoming everyone who shows up at the US border? Honest question.
3
Respect is earned, and that includes the presidency. The only thing this utterly amoral narcissist has earned is our contempt. Everyday that he squats in the Oval Office, serving only himself, he soils the presidency a little more. The stain he'll leave on the nation's highest office and our reputation abroad will take years to remove. Booing is simply the average citizen's version of the impeachment and conviction he has so richly earned from Congress.
15
I beg to differ. Gloating is wonderful. If we are going to defeat Trump, we'd better learn to think like he does and be prepared to sling mud. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. This is not a time to be high-minded, there is simply too much at stake.
10
Because all we ever see are the vetted 20,000 at each of his campaign rally's since the day he was elected. I try and tell myself that the same 20k are bussed from one arena to another, on our dime of course, and that that is all there is. But alas....
So last nite at the game I thought, well, maybe this could be most of us.
7
Do you think that those who booed Trump mattered to Trump? Trump is like Scrooge after seen Marley's ghost. Scrooge "You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato." You are trying to give Trump feelings that he doesn't have. I'm sure he just shrugged it off as a fragment of underdone potato. And, I'm sure that the group of people who he was with felt the same way. That's why they sit together, so they can downplay the truth. Let's hope he gets more of that when he's out of office.
2
The sad thing is that my feelings are that it is good for him to see how he makes others feel and to realize that actually the majority of people do not support him. If he made an attempt to be president of all the people not just his base this would not have happened.
Remember Obama being called a liar?
3
Sorry, Michelle: when the Democrats went high when the Republicans went low, it didn't work.
Why?
Because the Republicans refuse to play by the rules.
One of the fatal flaws of the Obama administration was that they refused to fight back hard enough against the Republicans.
So, the result is that the GOP looked more unified. The Democrats looked weak.
You have to fight them dirty trick for dirty trick.
10
It didn't feel good, but we can't throw cream pies at him. We can't tell him how every day, he makes our day bad. Every day, we do not feel good, boo or no boo.
Lincoln wrote to an ambitious but winning general: “I have heard, in such way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the Army and the Government needed a Dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes, can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship.”
I have heard it said that viciously attacking Trump, if it is successful and gets him out, might make us Democrats into bullies. Only those parties who gain successes run the risk of becoming bullies. What I ask of Democrats now is political success, and I will risk becoming a bully.
4
Truth is, neither Democrats nor Republicans go high.
1
Big crowd. Bigger than the inauguration!
9
Booing tiny little man is using the language he understands. Spoken any other way is beyond his comprehension. He got it and left.
11
On Civility.
“Throughout human history, certainly throughout American history, politicians have exaggerated. But what we have not seen before in our public life is politicians just blatantly, repeatedly, baldly, shamelessly lying. Just making stuff up.”
"I'm hoping you think it's wrong to hear people spend years, months, vilifying people, questioning their patriotism, calling them enemies of the people — and then suddenly you're concerned about civility. Please."
-- Barack Obama, Milwaukee, October, 2018
8
Because we are suffering from abuse and feel validated to know others feel the same we do
5
In the movie "Saving Private Ryan" Tom Hanks plays a captain and through the course of the movie his men try to figure out what he was before the war. In war, we become something else, it is a necessary evil. I am sick and tired of the Democrats being the kicking boy for the Republicans. I am sick of the lying from right wing media, from the President, from his cronies and sycophants and his followers. Decades of this propaganda have led to this and we are paying a price for being too nice. So, a little booing feels good, it lets off a little steam. I guarantee that Trump will not forget that moment and there will be a price to be paid, I just don't care.
6
"When they go low, we go high"--Michelle Obama
We've already shown that no matter where the president goes, we go even lower. And the fact that the author is indulging her revelry in this shows how much class she has. And the fact that she shares this with us like it's ok for us to feel good about having even less class than trump is embarrassing.
2
He dared to step out of his protective bubble and found out not everyone likes him.
7
Well, booing and chanting isn't really very "low." Especially at a baseball game.
8
I have to admit a feel a tad bad about Americans booing a President. No in the least for American's booing Trump.
Does anyone in the World think Trump feels bad about insulting anyone with nasty tweet and juvenile faces? Telling his rally attendees to bully and force our of the rally anyone that disagrees with him. Mocking people with disabilities?
He must be proud that the Republican Leadership is so proud of his behavior.
2
It is possible to be virulently opposed to a person such as Trump without giving in to the toxic hatred he exudes. Visceral anger, hatred, and the desire to lash out, are easily expressed emotions. MLK taught us all a great lesson by not just saying, but by living and modeling these words “ Let no man pull you so low as to hate him”.
Let us oppose Trump with all of our might, but let us not, inadvertently, become him.
2
I am a moderate Independent. No, I did not vote for Trump.
I don't like to see the President of our Country jeered and booed. It is embarrassing.
Trump has vilified the Presidency, the Constitution and our Country. He is an embarrassment and a disgrace.
He treats the Presidency like a reality show.
People are paid to stand behind him. Remember the union members that were told if they didn't go to the Trump rally and stand behind him, their pay would be docked?
When people aren't paid or threatened to be there, he is booed.
When will our long, national nightmare end?
5
Lord, this is pathetic. "We’re supposed to be the party of the downtrodden and the less fortunate"—more like the party of Wall Street, of the Ivy League, of the elite, of the media, of the cognoscenti and bien pensant, and, of course, of the jet-set and ultra-rich—which makes all the patronization toward and canonization of those actually less fortunate so nauseatingly insincere. And now some dainty handwringing about pretending to "punch up" at Trump—when in fact nothing in Weiner's circle could be less brave, less independent-minded, less iconoclastic, and less predictable than safely bashing Trump. For Miss Weiner's smart set, it's de rigeur to whinge and whine about Trump, to pat oneself on the back about one's moral and intellectual superiority, to scream into the echo chamber about one's "outrage" and "resistance"—all the while enjoying the tax breaks and the booming stock market. What has Weiner ever sacrificed, save the 15 minutes spent gloating and obsessing over the object of her ridicule? This is the ultimate "white privilege"—to be able to babble on about the "less fortunate" and play-acting at being part of a "resistance", all the while being cheered on by corporate America, one's employer and social set, and virtually every media outlet in the world. And then, to top it off, to get to pretend to have a little reservation about one's mean-spiritedness—but, of course, never quite enough to stop piling on the President in print, to echoes of self-congratulation.
2
I'm not happy because I want to see Trump hurt. I'm happy that the rest of us get to see that we are not alone. That the entire US is not filled with red-hatted MAGA people enamored of this horrible person. I just want to know that there is some hope that we can band together and see justice delivered. If all anyone ever sees is Trump in front of adoring crowds, it is the worst kind of propaganda, delivered by each and every news organization. Those images make it seem like getting rid of him is a hopeless dream, and make me question if I no longer belong in, or even want to belong in, the country that I (used to?) love. The booing restores my faith in my fellow citizens. Hooray!
11
Booing Trump is great. However, I draw the line at the 'lock him up' chant. The 'lock her up' chant is a stain on American history. Let's not stoop to that level. It's what they do in dictatorships.
2
Humiliation is the gift that keeps on giving. Millions of people have fused themselves to Donald Trump. His humiliation is theirs . The task is to restore their identification with us all.
3
Ha! Thanks for the giggle about Wonder Warren - and the warning of moral hazard. I agree completely - we can't let Trump reduce us to his level of vicious pettiness. Paging Michelle Obama, Michelle Obama to the Twitter Room, stat!
Not a fan of Trump, but I feel nothing but sadness when the President of the United States is booed at the World Series.
1
He wouldn't dare show up a Yankees game.
7
Trump deserves to know what people think of him outside his bubble.
7
Here's the thing about the whole "Lock him up"thing. Trump should have been locked up decades ago. Don't think so? Ask the thousands of blue collar people whose lives he ruined by ripping them off.
10
Maybe for the first time since his presidency Trump saw how deeply unpopular he is with the majority of this country. Called out for the destructive force he is on decent peoples lives. Laid bare the fact that he indeed only fools SOME of the people ALL of the time. All of the people? No chance. Publicly shaming someone who lives and acts beyond the pale(s) of our civilization is one of the oldest and most powerful acts our citizenry possesses. It is imperative those that live on the fringe of society understand that, while they have the freedom to do so, they abdicate any acceptance to that same society. In other words, if you break the norms of civility you lose your right to it.
4
It felt so good that I'm expecting Trump to cancel baseball.
5
When Trump spoke at the UN a few months ago and made a ridiculous, patently false claim, the crowd spontaneously laughed at him. Same with the crowd at the ballpark. These reactions were honest, well deserved, and a breath of fresh air. Liars and cheats should be treated as such. That is not called “going low.” It’s called justice.
10
Trump is toast.
The booing at Nationals Park is the best and most accurate poll we have to date.
Not surprising how little political acumen the man displayed in showing up at such a public venue after what happened to Giuliani at Yankee Stadium.
Trump's unseemly braggodocio over al-Bhargati's demise did not sit well with fans.
4
"For every reaction there is an opposite and equal reaction" which is a principle of negation.
If Democrats act like Trump why not keep the devil you know?
I may have considered the “incivility” problematic had it been orchestrated, but it was not. It was spontaneous, filled with raw emotion, and a perfectly apropos way of letting this vile human being, who condones — and enjoys — such behavior at his rallies, get a taste of his own medicine.
6
Lincoln used to go out and greet people as they walked to the White House to see him; people from all walks of life. Lincoln called them his "public opinion baths."
Well, finally, after spewing his version of presidential speech upon the citizenry, Trump finally got some unvarnished public opinion lathered upon him. Of course, he likely wrote it off as moaning from a bunch of public employees and Democrats. No doubt he'll have a soothing self-opinion bath at a staged rally soon to get over it all.
4
Going LOW on Trump and the Trumpublican Party is actually HIGH-minded and reflective of HIGH moral standards. In this case, you cannot go too low.
3
Even Jesus got angry-- sometimes anger is the only decent thing to express.
7
"Maybe we can take a stand and do what’s necessary without discounting the cost; go low when it’s required without reveling in the other side’s pain, taking care we don’t get stuck down in the dirt. "
Exactly. I re-read Obama's statement about the killing of ben Laden and compared it to Trump's statement about the death of Baghdadi. Obama calmly reported ben Laden's death and recited the crimes he had committed that justified American actions against him. He DID NOT in any way denigrate ben Laden's humanity. Trump, on the other hand, turned Baghdadi into a whimpering dog. In so doing he invites sympathy for Baghdadi rather than showing the that justice was done in his killin.
3
Reality feels good. This is the first time this man has been in front of a real audience, and not a bussed-in fake audience of adoring fans.
4
No, I don’t agree. This isn’t a question of etiquette. It’s about loudly not endorsing the terrible things he represents. It’s one of the few times he got outside his bubble and those of us outside that bubble got a chance to directly express ourselves to him. The crowd booing is the equivalent of saying to him one on one, “No, you do not get to do and say these horrible things to people without objection. I do not endorse your racism and spewing of hatred and you need to hear it, but more importantly, I need to say it.” If he can’t take it than he should stick to his arenas filled with red hats, and avoid baseball games.
5
Trump has shut down WH Press meetings apart from the annoying chopper talk with reporters screaming out their questions, surrounds himself with sycophant staff & pretty much lives in a bubble with no other public engagements apart from his supporting rallies.
His appearance at Sunday’s baseball game in Washington DC seems like a delusional expectation that his al-Baghdadi kill would have presented an enormous praise & cheer response from the crowd when he turned up. I also had a gleeful moment hearing the boo chant from the stadium crowd & it’s just the case that commending Trump for anything worthy he does in public office becomes a fixation on himself.
3
Teflon Trump----the only thing that gets under his skin is bad publicity----it showed to everyone that it isn't just Dems on tv who are aware of the dangers he poses to our national security.
2
Respect is earned. It's that simple.
3
Well: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,
has always been my motto. Funny you can make money writing a whole column about the guilt you felt not doing that.
2
A few more seconds and they would have heard the BOOOOS all they way to Philly!
2
Eh, don't overthink this. The Republic will survive this booing. It may not survive this president.
5
You live in a democracy. The crowd used their hard-won freedom of speech. That's how democracy works.
5
Booing this so called President, unwillingness to express congeniality with a man who has single handedly ignited twisting rules, breaking laws and oaths to the Constitution (McConnell) is not going low.
It is saying we see you and have had enough. It is using their own words back at them. Unlike the chants of Lock her up against Clinton, unlike the false but divisive birther theory, unlike refusing to allow a President (Obama} a hearing for his SCJ candidate, the chanting fits and the disses fit. There is a there there and it has no basis in lies or conspiracy.
We can never work again with McConnell or Trumps sycophants . We can never trust this President.
They have put us to this outcome.
4
3 years of going high has not yielded a single positive result. Time to pivot. Be a sheep, when you're amongst the sheep; be a wolf when you're amongst the wolves.
5
I’m disheartened to see so many people boo the president. Treat others as you’d like to be treated. The way out of this mess is “up.”
Right on! I'll say it agin, right on!
I just wish we had million men and million lady's marches in all towns and cities across America.
We need the people of the 70's to show us how to do it.
3
It's called free speech, and it's about time that buffoon got a dose of it. The man refuses to acknowledge that the majority of Americans don't support him or his policies. If Americans can't feel free to boo and jeer their President, then why on earth are we lecturing other countries about the wonders of democracy?
5
Team wrestling at its best, and I am surprised Trump was not man enough to soak in the adulation of his adoring fans. Love him or hate him makes no difference to the WrestleMania-like nation of America.
America has become totally unrecognizable. I'm just waiting for the day that Trump dresses up as the Joker . . . that's going to get him elected regardless, even if Warren dons a Wonder Women outfit.
2
I get what you are saying - in a perfect world it would nice to stay above it all. BUT we are not in a perfect world - we are in Trumps world. That type of philosophical navel gazing and bringing a knife to a gunfight is the typical way Democrat’s lose elections!
2
There's an incorrect premise at the very top. Who the heck says the people booing were all Democrats? About 31 percent of Americans identify as Democrat, 42 percent as Independent, and only 24 percent as Republican.
Even among Republicans, only 87 percent profess support, which gives him about 21 percent of total voters. Support drops to 34 percent among Independents for another 14 percent. Strangely, he picks up 5 percent of Democratic voters for another 1.7 percent of the total. 21+14+1.7= 36.7. Thus, it's a likely that Trump's support among all voters percent total voter support for Trump.
Thus, it's a safe bet that 63 percent of Americans––including Republicans, Democrats and Independent voters wouldn't pass a chance to boo this infamous blowhard and con artist. He deserves it. He needs to hear it.
3
I was in the stadium that "booed" Trump and I heartily participated. In fact, I'm still hoarse from my contribution. The spontaneous public outburst, boos for Trump, was essential to send a message to the misanthropic lunatic who currently infects the WH.
Our boos are the sound of freedom. I disapprove of Trump and it's my right to speak out. He needs to be impeached and indicted along with the cohorts who facilitate his crimes.
Unlike the hand picked sycophants who attend his campaign events, Trump NOW knows what Americans think about him.
Cut a deal and resign Donny because there is no way you'll win a legitimate election.
5
Note to Trump’s. Your not welcome in public again. Ever.
5
I suddenly want the Nationals to win!
2
Hmmm. I am a big believer in "what goes around, comes around". If Trump dishes it out, he had best be prepared to take it. And I was very pleased to see the fans at the game serve him up a little taste of what he loooves to dish out to others. I bet he didn't like it very much. Good.
2
I want to think, now he knows what it feels like to listen to the chant "lock her up" that he inspired thousands to do regarding Hilary Clinton. I doubt he really feels like other human beings. It would only inspire more anger and hatred in him. How it felt to me was very satisfying because at last a little justice for all the people he has hurt. Toddlers and babies ripped from their parents arms at the border for example. It was very satisfying to see the smile drop from his florid face.
3
To the Texas Republicans and the rest of Trump's base watching at home, it looked like DC elite jeering the President on the same day he announced the death of the founder of ISIS (something that would have united the country in the Obama years). This is more effective campaign material than any TV commercial or Facebook ad.
1
Trump decided with his inauguration to be the president of only his voters
and a GOP yelled YOU LIE at Obama
Michelle Obama has a nice theory
we are long well into process- well past theory
if we stay high we will lose
it is time to go to the mattresses
5
Now THAT deserves Statehood.
Seriously.
4
It's called playground justice. Its a deeply human trait.
5
It is #sad but if Democrats take the high road and try to stay above Trump’s shenanigans, they are certain to lose. In order to win, they need to keep the insults coming, invent new nick names and call him out on all his crimes against decency. I’m afraid the the Democrats are going to bring spitballs to a gun fight and trump will have a field day. Fight back!
3
Nice! Thank you!
But describing Trump as evil raises difficult questions. He is certainly a cunning and ruthlessly amoral narcissistic man so horribly ill-suited to be the leader of any free and democratic country in this century, but is he evil? I am not so sure.
I have come to understand that he appears to be so wounded (and impaired) from something in his childhood that he only ever operates as a sociopath. Perhaps he suffers from an undisclosed form of Asperger's syndrome, or Autism on the spectrum. But, as we can all see, as plain as day, (and Republicans too) he seems to exist without any hint of shame or moral clarity. In fact, he behaves more like a cancer cell which is only programed to survive to the detriment of any healthy living cells in its vicinity.
And, that he has no degree in Law, or any understanding of how this government works, he cannot know that he has done anything wrong. This is the most shocking thing for many of us on both sides of the aisle. In his shameless and ignorant mind, it was a perfect call. He is never wrong.
Evil is charged word, and should be used with great care. The Republicans, who should know better, might think about this because they have chosen to make a pact with the devil, as it were, to further their Right Wing agenda. And they have succeeded, thus far.
But, honestly, who can argue with booing Trump in the stadium?
We boo umpires, don't we? But I will wait for his complete downfall before indulging in schadenfreude.
2
After that false blood and guts account he gave about Baghdadi, I was appalled. I would have run out and booed if you went past my house. And them I would have thought “Is that too far?”
I want Trump to face reality. I want his keepers to stop isolating him.
5
The people who booed President Trump on a day that should have been celebrated by all Americans as we rid ourselves of one of our worst enemies, thanks to a brave strategic decision by President Trump (what if it had gone bad after his pullback from Syria), is indicative of this commentator and others who hate Trump MORE THAN THEY LOVE AMERICA. Disgusting and it represents everything that is wrong about the liberal left.
1
Schadenfreude. And to make a silly analogy, I have always wondered why all the inhabitants of Sesame Street are so tolerant of Oscar the Grouch. Aren’t they enabling his bad behavior?
I felt such joy seeing Trump, this schoolyard bully, being so publicly shamed.
Never before has the bible quote, “…you reap what you sow…” rung so true. But of course Trump knows all about Galatians 6:7. No one knows more about the bible that Trump.
3
Since when is booing going low?
3
I understand your feelings but you provided the one sentence summary for this president and his followers.
"When you’re confronted with evil, you don’t shake its hand or applaud it."
4
I honestly don’t understand what the problem is here. Trump should be booed whenever he appears in public. He’s not normal. His presidency isn’t normal. Nothin about the man merits respect. He and his followers need to know this.
13
My only regret is that the game did not go into extra innings so he could have been booed a lot longer.
4
If booing is considered “going low”, no wonder Democrats and anyone on the left are perceived as being weak and toothless.
This is more “if they go low, we express ourselves”. It’s barely a start.
7
Behavior yields consequences. Senator Al Franken left office at our urging to go high while Trump makes fun of the women who accuse him, Joe Walsh yelled “you lie” to Obama on the floor of Congress but we all went high while they swore to make home a one term president, McConnell stole a Supreme Court seat and we went high for justice Neil Gorsich, the media played the “lock her up” footage many times a day through the 2016 campaign and now scold us to go high. Please. Enough. Start holding the abusers accountable for once. The norms are crashing because of actual abuse not from citizens who finally have a chance to petition an authoritarian leader with their displeasure. If Putin were booed publicly by his people we’d be saying he deserved it and lapping it up.
12
Think of some of the worst heads of state this world has seen in its history...Now think of the population of people that are affected daily by this person. Certainly, most of the effects would be negative. Do people really think the office should be respected by not jeering or exclaiming their frustrations when given the opportunity?
We can boo at an opposing team to our home team, boo at a cheater in any match, but we shall not boo at this kind of head out of respect for the office....In these United States of America?
Bravo to the ones that let their voice be heard!
5
Whilst I used to abhor such things, the base’s willingness to accept all Trumps vulgarities, it seems this is the only thing they understand. So hats off to the patriots who booed him. It was clear an automatic and natural switch form honoring veterans to jeering the chickenhawk.
2
I only wish I could have been their to hear the booing first hand. I understand what Ms. Wiener is saying and yes it does feel good to be able to give it to the person that has been giving it to others the last 3 years, but don't worry we will never get as low as Trump. We couldn't, he's got too many years experience being a low life.
3
My god, we’re in deeper trouble than I thought if booing the President merits a NYT op explanation about why it’s civil, and the comments section need to affirm how it’s acceptable.
The fear that public displays of criticism will be mistaken for hostility, and the need to offer a near-apologetic contextualization of that criticism (nice people don’t object! Gee jolly aren’t we supposed to be the nice people?) Is the sort of weakness Trump preys upon.
4
This was exactly the outcome I was hoping for when Trump announced he was going to the game. And my peeps did not disappoint. Ad my boos to the chorus.
4
Civility is required when civility reigns. Trump, like most malignant narcissists, interprets civil behavior as weakness. God forbid that he should have any notion that those fans at the World Series respect him. He would see that as having conquered the "great unwashed." In a democracy the customary way - the civil way - to express our dissatisfaction with elected officials is to vote them out of office. For many the next election is too far away, and so we leap at the earliest chance to show him in a way even he will understand that his official conduct is offensive and immoral. In this case, the hope is that booing will serve as the much needed visceral check on his excesses.
5
From the first time I heard a President booed, I cringed, even though that President was one I had little regard for. However, in Trump's case, what other alternative is there. This is a guy who has defamed, blasphemed, recklessly accused, personally attacked, attempted to humiliate every conceivable racial, ethnic, liberal, moderate,and other group in the world, except the Tea Party and the so-called 'religious right' evangelicals. What are you supposed to do, give him a hug when he ruins the game you want to watch?
3
The public servant meets his public.
8
Jennifer Weiner's column resonated strongly with me, psychologically, and I'm a psychiatrist! Perhaps that's why I'm confident that once a reasonable man or woman becomes president, I'll be able to shed any residual nastiness, and resume "normal"political disagreements with friends and family.
Meanwhile, passive acquiescence, or even civilly objecting, is the least effective way of dealing with an aggressive bully.
4
When I was a kid there was a bully in the 6th grade. He terrorized us for half the year. Adults would say to ignore him and he will stop. Guess what, he did not stop. Until several of us ganged up on him and beat him up. The people saying we are going low on Trump now reminded me of that because our teacher and the other staff said it was not fair of us to gang up on him. We had to let him know we were not going to take it anymore. And like Trump the kid really thought that we liked him, why? Because we were not mean to him or showed that we did not like him. Trump has been insulated by his stooges, and the carefully picked audiences. He think 's that Adam Shiff and the democrats and the press are the only ones who are against him. I think it was just what he needed to see 10's of thousands of Americans from all walks of life tell him he deserves a boo. Let's see who he will blame for this. Or if he has any pride at all he might reevaluate himself. I pray he will.
5
All of the sudden I am a fan of Washington Nationals fans.
4
It's called schadenfreude and it's nothing to laugh at - but still a lot of fun.
Maybe the president would have felt better if Matt Gaetz had been introduced as well."Matt Gaetzsucks" would have been an appropriate cheer.
2
I disagree with the idea that we must go high. Donald Trump in his self made bubble needs to be forced to realize that he is President of the entire nation not only his loyal base. The only way to prove that to him is a massive and public display of disapproval. It’s only effective if he experiences it in person. He needs to understand that over 50 percent of the country hates, yes hates, him and his policies. I’ll bet that if he dropped dead most of those people would be relieved if not happy.
5
The fact that we can have a civil conversation about the booing tells me “we have a conscience, we weigh and consider.”
A conscience is what trump lacks. It’s what his supporters lack. Instead of questioning themselves, they project their worst impulses onto the “other.” And they make the other into a caricature.
I too am torn. Most of us, opposed to Trump, are torn - between schadenfreude at seeing him booed and wanting to rise above all the nastiness fomented daily even hourly, by this misbegotten administration.
It’s OK to feel torn. It’s ok to feel enraged. It’s a wonderful thing that we have not lost our true feelings - including regret and remorse when we fall short of our highest ideals, our best selves.
Let us never lose our consciences, our ability to question ourselves, our ability to call out wrongdoing, and to have a civil discussion about our values and norms.
To me the booing expressed the deep sense of frustration over abuse of power by a coward fearful of facing any criticism, by people who till now have not gotten any chance to express their disgust to the power-abuser himself. The chanting is another story, but this is what happens in large groups, when mob behavior takes over. The mockery of the chant, however, is not lost on any of us.
As we go through this “valley of the shadow of death” let us not lose our true feelings or our self-restraint.
3
This was the only time this group of people were going to be heard by a Trump, and his sychophantic hangers on.
It was not ‘going low’, it was exercising their democratic rights.
3
I admire this column, and i don't see how booing and shouting lock him up is going low. That's just a context, a perspective, and forgive me, one that feels based in a sort of systematic guilt embedded within our culture.
Booing him and locking him up is us, at the very World Series, speaking our truth to a criminal who is destroying our culture right in front of us. We were being Americans. No need for guilt.
Lock him up!
4
It is hardly a mystery. You have been booing him since January 2017. I think Trump is a bad president and I wish he had resigned a year ago. But hehasn't and it is not in his temperament to step down nicely.
But the Democrats have also done a lot of damage. Pretty much everything that the Democrats say is about Trump and how bad he is, as if there were not other problems.
1
Booing and heckling is part of the game since day 1. It is a fine expression that is accepted wherever foul play is at public display. Nothing to shame here.
1
Baseball fans are not known for their radical politics, so good sign America.
3
Validation is a wonderful thing.
1
I cannot wipe the grin off my face. It felt SO good because there seems to be some HOPE for America after all!
Besides my liberal friends and comments in NYT there had seemed little evidence average real citizens noticed or cared about Trump's shockingly dangerous, immoral behavior and the selling out of our democracy.
That the Trump booing backlash was a completely spontaneous reaction by a presumably diverse crowd at an all American ball game . . . wow, that gives me more hope for our future than the any impeachment proceedings. Truly!
Bravo to those brave enough to give it right back at him. Respect is earned.
"Lock him up!"
3
Any president who treats the office and their constituents with respect deserves respect.
This is not the case with 45.
What goes around comes around.
2
1. Quit pretending this was Democrats. This was primarily white residents of Maryland and Virginia expressing their distaste.
2. We all make choices and this president chose to go to a game where the owners of the team expressed their reluctance to have him attend. He, finally, chose to meet the American people without qualification.
3. I wish I had been there.
4
To all those commenters who say it was inappropriate to boo, what should we have done? Stand at attention and clap for Dear Leader? Exalt him, praise him? Continue to stroke Trump's ego like everyone around him does all the time? This is not dictatorship! We as citizens can openly - and loudly! - express our disapproval and he has done everything in his power to earn our disapproval. This may be the first time since his election that Trump has put himself in front of a crowd not made up entirely of his MAGA-crazed supporters. Watching his face turn when he realized they were boos and not cheers was glorious.
1
You ask “Who are we if we take joy in seeing him booed?”
A better question would be “Who are we that would let a man like that come to power, and allow him to remain?”
That’s the one to worry about.
5
I'm not worried about how low we've gone in booing the President. He deserves to be booed. It's freedom and self-expression at it's most basic. Why should we applaud a man who incites racism and violence? Why not boo a man who separates children from their parents? If people of conscience DIDN'T boo, then I would worry that our most precious freedom was gone forever. For me, this was just healthy and cathartic, and I love the fact that Trump supporters got to see this.
1
You can only swallow so much when it is being crammed down your throat before you have to spit it out -- or choke to death. The crowd chose to spit it out, and rightly so.
He wasn't there for the spirit, sportsmanship, or to experience a fair, well-fought competition. Or even the thrill of being lucky enough to see a game in the World Series.
I believe the majority of us realized back when he tried to make the Fourth of July about him, he was stepping on similar sacred ground. He doesn't recognize boundaries, but normal folks do.
No reason whatsoever to give it another thought as to how *he* felt about how *we* feel. He'll never get it. But, we do, and that is our power.
4
I’ve kept my mouth shut and my Facebook account non- political ever since Trump was “elected.” So...
You darned betcha that it felt good seeing and hearing the “impeach” sign and the boos when Trump entered the stadium.
It. Felt. Good.
And I don’t apologize one bit for saying that.
6
I really don't see booing him as going low. It was the only way in that moment American citizens could stand up for themselves and their country, since he stays in his little bubble all the time. It was actually quite reserved considering everything he is doing to undermine our democracy, enrich himself at our expense, verbally abuse countless Americans and Immigrants, or in the case of women, as he admitted on camera sexually abuse them.
First, we all know that this was not meant in disrespect to the office of the Presidency, it was just the opposite. This was meant to stand up for a level of decency and morality in the office that Trump is completely void of. Trump thinks he is above the law, and yesterday a stadium full of Americans made it clear to him that he is not.
At this point anyone who is not speaking up every chance they get is part of the problem. A democracy cannot survive if people stay silent while they watch a leader court dictators and take step after step to try and become one himself.
So please don't feel guilty over the pleasure of watching your fellow citizens raise their voices of disapproval or that just for a moment he was subjected to the reality of how most of us feel about him and what he is doing to our country.
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It felt good because he got a taste of his own treachery.
Sadly, he’s probably forgotten it completely by now.
There is a tradition among oppressed groups of finding ways to laugh off bullies and dictators. It is the first sign that you have not been cowed by them (Republican Senators take note and try it on for size).
It is not done to demean or bully in tur,n but as an act of throwing off the shackles of oppression. It says, regardless of the power you have over us the bully doesn't command ours hearts and minds. But as Ms Weiner reminds us, we need not assume the role of the bully ourselves. We want something to be proud of not something to shame and blame.
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Enjoying the scene where the evil villain is brought down is not un-American, it is American.
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Did you hear Joe Scarborough lecturing the baseball goers for being “unamerican” this morning (as Mica & the panel are forced to listen and have no opinion or no opinion more important than Joe’s)?
You can just see this guy at every table he’s sitting at holding forth as if everyone in the room is panting for whatever words of wisdom fall from his lips.
Sorry Joe, besides the obvious fact that Trump started this and continues it with gusto and no apology and is the most unamerican person to have ever sat in the WH, their response was 100% American born and bred and a strong sign of the life left in this country.
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Since when are crowds at ballgames the measure of civility? I expect that Trump was discouraged from attending the funerals of late presidents because HE doesn’t know the difference, but I hope most thinking adults recognize it. I would just prefer “throw him out” as a chant. Don’t go away angry, DJT. Just go away.
You're overthinking this. Trump is a president who was elected without winning the popular vote, and with help from a foreign power which he welcomed, and continues to welcome - and you're worried about what everyone else is becoming? For three years Americans have despaired at a president whose behaviour would normally have seen him out of office long ago - emoluments clause, anyone? - and you worry about your gloating? This isn't about you, it's about defending democracy, and that isn't always pretty. Trump will only have remade America in his image if he succeeds in seizing all power from the people.
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ms weiner, you mention your kids' reaction to you doing the loud WOO WOO about POTUS getting booed.
well, they should see that part of you too. they should know that they are dealing with a human being with all that entails.
so celebrating an adversary's comeuppance is just another paragraph in the book of life you are teaching them.
staying with the upbringing theme, i actually thought that it was a good thing for POTUS to feel how it does when hundreds, thousands of people in a public place shout epithets against other humans he targets. did it sting him knowing that a majority of americans, well, i cannot find an easy word here, despise him? even those on the receiving end of his and their vitriol must hurt some, no? so, a child might remember something which is unpleasant. maybe our child POTUS will get a glimmer of humanness in his ongoing upbringing since his parents neglected doing that, it seems.
we can argue how we came to this point but we are here now.
i'm a pacifist but we would be totally stupid if we do not have the same level of commitment to win that POTUS and his minions have. with all that means in terms of winning. we must win!
our democracy is in the balance. if we are not ardent, then we deserve what we get.
Simply put, President Trump is an unsympathetic figure. The crowd reaction at the World Series game can be summed up by the saying, "You reap what you sow.". By recounting the thousands of mean spirited taunts directed at: grieving mothers of our fallen soldiers buried at Arlington, people with disabilities, American prisoners of war that were beaten and tortured, to 16 year old girls fighting for climate change, one doesn't wonder what was the root cause of the Sunday night boo fest. The real villain though isn't Trump himself but the rank and file Republican supporters who encourage and allow such behavior to go unchecked through their unbridled support. For this, Mr. and Mrs. Red State are fully accountable for the destruction of our once existing fabric of civility towards one another.
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Trump needs to be impeached, removed from office, legally charged with any crimes he’s committed, taken to trial and be judged by a jury of his peers, then sentenced accordingly. That’s his appropriate punishment. A few boos on one evening is nothing.
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"When does a necessary evil become just evil?"
The problem is that an evil, even a necessary one, is always by name and definition, just evil.
National and Astro fans were demonstrating democracy at work. Some politicians lament showing disrespect to the Office of the President. Too bad. It's time we stopped treating the presidency and the office as some kind of divine right. The president is just another elected position that serves the people, not the other way around. Giving the president special treatment is what gives crackpot experts an excuse to advocate the position special powers or to make the person above the law.
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Booing Donald Trump at this game didn't change the fact that he is the one and only Article II executive office President of the United States that we have.
And thus Trump is the only person with the ultimate federal power to criminally prosecute and lock anyone up. Trump also has the power to commute and pardon federal crimes.
Donald Trump fights by tweeting and speaking nicknames and slurs while watching Fox News and playing golf. As a distraction from Trump's prime objective of enhancing the profits of the Trump Organization arising from his occupation of the White House.
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Delicious! Thank you, Jennifer, once again, for making my day with your insight!
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