That whole BeBest Melania hanging the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Rush Limbaugh in the House made my brain shut down and refuse to participate in reality since it witnessed that. I'll be back to vote in November, but until then, please leave a message and I'll get right back to you.
170
Which Dowd quote in this article do you like the most?
1. “As the Republicans stuck together, ruled by fear and self-interest, the Democrats shattered apart.”
Or,
2. “‘Meanwhile, we’re fiddling around with a Socialist and Encyclopedia Brown,’ moaned one top Democrat on the Hill.”
Maureen, you always pull through.
20
Dowd herself has gone over the edge, rhetorically. The Speaker was calm and deliberate in stacking the address into four piles and then tearing each one in half. And as for "bully"? Surely Dowd knows that in TR's day the word meant great or wonderful.
35
Like so many, I feel like a wet dishcloth, emotionally drained by the danger of McConnell and Trump. But, we have to muster the energy of the pink pussycat rallies and the 2018 election fervor, and passion surrounding the detention immigrants, the stonewalling of Merrick Garland and confirmation of BK, gutting of EPA, etc and get the electorate excited about the Democratic candidates. Any one of them is not just better than DT but would do a great job. Be excited about the field.... the only reason it is not exciting is that there are so many candidates.
And most importantly make sure Democrats take back the Senate. With MMc in charge, all comes to disaster.
74
What a sick joke that Trump claims to care about what's illegal. Here's what actually is illegal: his retaliation against Vindman & Sondland. Lock him up!
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1513
"Whoever knowingly, with the intent to retaliate, takes any action harmful to any person, including interference with the lawful employment or livelihood of any person, for providing to a law enforcement officer any truthful information relating to the commission or possible commission of any Federal offense, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both."
110
You want to know what the body count is, it's 330,000,000 Americans.
54
It's personal and you kill him with kindness and humor. Like the wicked witch of the west, just dump water on him, he'll melt. Laugh at him, and don't rise to his vindictive mean spirited rantings. When he cries foul, poor me, the democrats are so mean, say we're sorry this is so hard for you and that you such a weak man you have to lash out and blame others, we're sorry you're not a real leader who knows that they'll always be opposition and that a strong person can rise to meet that head on with dignity and respect. Call him out on his personal weaknesses, they are right there in plain sight, and you don't have to be an attack dog, do it correctly, like a teacher would do with a disruptive child in class. It's not so hard to shine the light on how pathetic he is. He really can not take it.
84
Maureen, you love to stir the pot. Doesn't matter what the consequences are; you just like to get in there and talk clever, biting smack about fear and hysteria and Trump the master con.
Oy. I would think you could sit down for a moment and reflect upon the votes of Romney and Doug Jones.
37
This column seems to offer little or no insight. It's largely a recap of the week's events. It could have been compiled by a press-bot. Moreover, sharing one's daring investigative trip to the outer-edge of Des Moines and then camping out in the bar of the downtown Marriott is hardly must-read journalism. This too could have been written in a 'pajama-like' outfit. There's an amazing story out there. Please go find it.
46
Sherrod Brown, we need you!
28
The Republican collapse mirrors that of cowering French officials into Vichy collaborators following Hitler's invasion, or the Quislings in Norway.
Trump is a hood, and he's dangerous.
We're kind of on our own.
58
Vindman should have been reprimanded. Lt Col's do not set national policy. Seems that Vindman became political shame on him. Ret USMCR Lt Col.
16
The anti-bullying advocate, Melania, with a smile in her face gets the Medal of freedom from her handbag and decorated around the neck of the cruel bully Rush Limbaugh ?
My mind raced back to Clinton Presidency when their only daughter Chelsea was just a little girl, Rush was nonstop on his radio calling her ugly, dog and with other expletives.
Whatever one thinks of the Clintons the parents shielded Chelsea her from such ruthless cruelty to be a fine young woman now.
86
Such a relief not to see Trump name on front page. Do you think jf we all ignore him he will go away? The lack of free publicity would kill him!
25
". . . poker faced Mitch McConell? I can think of a few perhaps more apt descriptors
"treason-faced Mitch McConell"
"moray eel faced Mitch McConell"
"kompromat faced Mitch McConell"
"paedo-faced Mitch McConell"
"wattle-faced Mitch McConell"
"you should see what i do behind closed doors-faced Mitch McConell" et al
39
We all know the media elites hate Trump. Many Americans hate Trump. He is a morally, ethically corrupt man, thrice married; twice divorced. He is a boorish, crude, bully.
.
But let me tell you something: the Democrats can’t get elected on hate for Trump alone. If that worked the guy wouldn’t have made it through the Republican Primaries in 2016. Democrats have got to craft a solid platform that attracts Americans. Medicare for All is a good start: but they have got to stop waxing poetic about Socialism. It isn’t socialism they actually want and the word scares people away.
.
And, after the Iowa debacle, they have got to completely overhaul their political wing. Republican political advisors got a disgustingly dishonest man with no experience and a long record of failed businesses, elected to the highest office in the land. Democrat political advisors can’t even get an IPhone app to work!!!!! I can’t be the only one who is terrified of the implications of this.
39
When you participate in a failed coup, you should expect to pay a price. Other places, the coup plotters would face a firing squad. Being perp walked out of the White House is a far cry from that. I would think both Vindermans can expect their military careers to be over, but will have a fine time at a Leftist think tank.
20
I can’t stand this anymore. Al gore/Michelle Obama 2020.
20
The Medal of Freedom ( to know little ) bestowed by he who knows the least upon one who went deaf by his own blabbering.
20
Frog says to fish, "how's the water"?
Fish says, "what water?"
we can't see what were are swimming in and too familiar and close to...
question for you dear reader, and for Ms.Dowd:
"how's the echo chamber"?
6
That was remarkable. Mrs. donald trump, keeper of the anti-bullying message, married to the Bully-in-Chief, hanging a now meaningless medal around one of the biggest bullies.
67
I love when leftists preach respect while spewing hate. "Unhinged monarch"... More like duy elected President of the United States.
If you don't like mud slinging, why not do as 1st Lady Michelle Obama suggests, " When they go low, we'll go high..." More preaching without practicing would be my assumption...
What the Democratic party is failing to realise is, that it's not Donald Trump's fault that they couldnt win 2016... for the same reason that can't win 2020. Your President will be your President not only for remainder of this year, but the four following.
That reason in my opinion is that they can't hear anyone but themselves. On their high horses talking about healthcare for everyone... That only means you are forced to buy it. Or be like me and have to pay for everyone else... Or pay for your kids college, when I payed for my own already. I guess buying them an electric car will be next because they need a ride to GameStop. Immigration is a wonderful thing that built this nation. But they came through Ellis Island, not over or under silly walls. They had to have proof of financial independence that they wouldn't be a burden to THIS society.. And finally agree to live by OUR Constitution..
Get into reality, find a moderate nominee, listen to the right, that's who you need to win. There are moderates on that side and maybe you'll have a shot in 2024..
But try practicing the acceptance and respect that you so adamantly preach... Yeah start with that, and quit whining.
21
I suggest Sondland asks for his million back and gives it to the Vindman brothers.
29
Payback - What did you expect, everyone getting a Presidential pen ?
13
Mo,
The Dems couldn’t clap for low unemployment numbers or less people on food stamps ?
14
Third time trying to post a comment to this piece.
A better description would would be that Democrat Party machinations failed all around and the public is wising up at last. The transparently partisan mockery of an impeachment trail was an abject failure. The DNC/Clinton ally attempt to manipulate the Iowa caucus failed so remarkably and the fingerprints were so blatantly obvious that even the stupefied media had to pay attention to the real election interference underway. Pelosi rips up Trumps speech yet her heart skips a beat and her eyelids flutter at the chance to clap and wave to CIA puppet Guaido. A bad week indeed and we haven't even got to the Durham and Barr show.
Since the Times is not taking comments on the Pelosi speech ripping youtube video story I will post my thoughts on that here as well. It is obvious that the video is symbolic as was her act and it is perfectly accurate and true to the point it makes. By ripping up the speech Pelosi rejects and condemns everything it contains. Everything. Obviously there are two moments of praise and one moment of ripping. No one is saying that clips were concurrent. The point is that these are events that happened during the speech and this is what Pelosi thinks of it. There is no distortion of the events and her act and the Democrats attempt to say there is just further demonstrates they made a tactical mistake and will rue the day.
12
A word of support for Sondland: By simply spilling the beans and saying exactly what happened, warts and all, Sondland made the Turtle's job easy as pie. Heck, Trump should have pinned the medal of freedom on Sondland, instead of Limbaugh.
5
We've hit new lows this week with the president publicly using profanity in the WH and the odious, cowardly Limbaugh receiving our country's highest civilian honor.
37
What a farce that all congressional inquiries of the executive have to be run through the world's biggest make-work project for shysters before the president will deign to answer any of its inquiries about what he's doing. People can easily wait for years between a civil trial and the judge's ruling.
7
My Maureen, what a great collection of thoughts! Maybe you could try to weave them together into a single whole. Maybe even try to get it published.
1
I have a serious question? Can someone please tell me what Democrats stand for? Besides wanting everything to be free, they never accomplish anything for the good of the entire country. Trump now needs to work on school choice and term limits. All democrats want is power, no creative ideas or solutions. PS Maureen your partisan hatred is over the top.
13
Five more years of tyrant Trump will do irreparable damage to our country. Democrats have to stop playing nice and hit him where it hurts the most -- his big fat ego.
18
All of this is only possible because the Democrats are weak.
And pathetic.
If they stood for something, if they had the courage to fight for what they believe in, if they had a modicum of integrity, it might not be this way. But none of this is true.
Goodness gracious, if Trump truly were as stupid, incompetent, and horrible as the NY Times and its choir desperately want to believe, as they fret minute-by-minute the end of life as we know it, he'd be beatable. Imminently beatable. Instead, he wipes the floor with you. Time-and-time again.
If you weren't so pathetic, you'd laugh at yourselves.
Buckle-up snowflakes. Trump is going to be re-elected.
Oh, by the way, deep down, this is what the NY Times wants. Not only is the NY Times making money on Trump, but more importantly, the people who really count in America are making money. Not money as you think of it, but real wealth. Just look at how wealth is consolidating.
That's the name of the game in show BUSINESS, and Trump is the greatest show in history.
Are you powerless to shut it down?
14
How about that photo of Melania and Rush? Look at how happy Melania is to put the Medal of Freedom around Rush's neck. She is all in. Victory lap. Giving a medal to a non-stop birther.
17
Trump accusing Pelosi of breaking the law for ripping up his speech is the highest order of hypocrisy. It shows he’s psychologically unhinged.
27
Everybody should be scared to death of this president, not only Congressional Republicans. The head on a pike thing was true. Trump is a criminal and I cannot wait until he is out of office. Then I never want to hear about him or his family again, ever.
37
The hypocrisy of such as this unethical, misogynistic, person thinking he is owed loyalty is the biggest joke this country has witnessed lately. Yes he has shown the world worse.
15
I agree. The dissaray of the Democrats is pathetic. The house is burning and they fight with each other's instead of acting. They will be responsible for their defeat in November.
12
Maureen, it isn't just the Democrats who should be scared to death. The entire country, no the world, should be afraid of the thug in the White House. A petty, vindictive, impeached but not removed failure of a man. We have much to fear from him and his spineless GOP enablers, especially the Senate.
34
Everything is Trump's fault,
Even Nancy topping the speech.
Ok.
6
It is such a conundrum: who do I hate more?
Dowd or Trump.
Both terrible for America.
Both Back Stabbers and Traitors to this Country.
11
Bloomberg is your guy. Seriously folks!
15
Trump will go down in history as a great caring man with a superb posse – like any gangster!
4
Defense Secretary Mark Esper assured the press Lt Col. Vindman would not be retaliated against, one because it was against the law, and two, because he (Esper) would assure it wouldn't happen. Chuck Schumer wrote the Secretary asking it to be in writing, and received the affirmative from a deputy Secretary. What Happened? Isn't retaliation against Federal Law????
What do laws mean when they are not followed or observed? Nothing. Welcome to 1930's Germany 2.0
30
Defense Secretary Mark Esper assured the press Lt Col. Vindman would not be retaliated against, one because it was against the law, and two, because he (Esper) would assure it wouldn't happen. Chuck Schumer wrote the Secretary asking it to be in writing, and received the affirmative from a deputy Secretary. What Happened? Isn't retaliation against Federal Law????
What do laws mean when they are not followed or observed? Nothing. Welcome to 1930's Germany 2.0
4
Gee, Mo, I thought Trump came off looking like a fourth rate Las Vegas lounge act. More of a "flair for the inappropraite, the vulgar and the crass" than for the dramatic.
33
The only two Dems I could vote for, two that I think could stand up to Trump and have a real chance of winning, are Amy Klobuchar and Mike Bloomberg. Trump would destroy the rest of them. Mayor Pete is too young & inexperienced, and millions of Americans are not ready for an openly gay president. Bernie? Trump will paint him as a Communist, etc. Warren? Trump will eat her for lunch, and have room for two desserts. Please people, get real about who can beat the vile criminal currently occupying the White House.
17
Trump had a "good week" and Democrats had a "bad week"? Wrong. Totally wrong.
Democrats proved that they would defend the Constitution. That they believe in personal responsibility enough to seek to hold malefactors accountable. Democrats proved that they are the only party that believes anymore in honor and integrity. That they regard the truth as still being of critical importance.
And Trump and the Republicans? They placed their dishonor, cowardice, greed, and self-interest front and center. They cravenly extol deceit and propaganda over truth and service. They acted against democratic principles and against our country.
Trump doesn't have the character of the most pestilential vermin. He doesn't care about abusing anyone and everyone if it will help him even a tiny bit. He could care less about his" "reputation." Who had a bad week? The Republican Party. They proved that their corruption and venality has gained the upper hand. A very bad week, indeed.
43
The debacle in Iowa is no reflection on the Democratic Party.
Rather, it is a small state, going through an unnecessarily complicated hodge and podge, to hold undeserved sway over the rest of the country and it's goofy, if not insane. Get rid of the Iowa caucuses and hold one national primary.
Okay, trump's handling of the economy has a 49% approval rating. That means 51% don't approve and some 70% despise his very ample guts. The GOP is still stuck with trump and must slaver and do all they can to re-elect him. Or else. I'll never understand why.
But surely the rest of us, maybe some former trumpites will have something to say next election and he and the rethuglican senate will be no more.
I'm not scared of him or the drooling trumpites. Every dog has its day, and trump's days are numbered one way or another.
16
"Nancy Pelosi, over the edge, as she became so agitated that she was driven to Trumpian tactics to rebut his lies."
You don't say?
The Don responds, "First of all, it’s an official document. You’re not allowed. It’s illegal what she did. She broke the law.” We see that the sacred speech was torn; the veil ripped aside and the wizard exposed.
So if the Dem candidate wants to win against Trump he/she needs to just go more flambouyant, over the top, and outrageously dramatic in an incisive display of clever one-up-manship.
That's all it will take and toddling donald with fly apart like Humptey hitting the ground off the wall.
12
Your column reeks of angst ridden, pearl clutching self doubt. Let me try to bolster your confidence.
Trump is a down ballot disaster. It started immediately after his inauguration. Remember the Race for GA 6th in early 2017? A red state? A shoe in for any generic Republican? A virtual nobody called Jon Ossoff forces a runoff and loses by 4%. IN GEORGIA. At the time pundits like yourself moaned that those silly Dems can’t do anything right. I assure you that the adults at the RNC were anything but happy and it’s been downhill ever since.
2018 the House flips
2019 Virginia flips
Ted Cruz had to actually fight to retain his Senate seat. He won by 5%. IN TEXAS.
Roughly 600 legislative seats have flipped since Trump’s election.
All but one GOP Senator has the impeachment farce hanging around his neck like a boat anchor.
Feel better now?
25
'ooh, Donnie is so tough! how manly! he's so like clint eastwood! ladies want to be with him, and men want to be like him!' people, take a deep breath. Donald J. Trump is a serial liar; a serial bankruptcy declaring business person; a racist; blithely ignorant of domestic and foreign policy issues; paranoid; insecure; impulsive; incurious; mentally, emotionally, and physically unhealthy; a misogynist; a narcissist; a conspiracy theorist; a bully; a weakling; coarse; and a sociopath. If there is any 'borderline' redeeming things that he's accomplished, is that he has revealed the inherent racism, immorality, and complete absence of ethics of all of the gop legislators. follow and believe in him at your, and sadly, our, collective peril.
16
Maureen, does your brother still support this horror? I'd love to hear his take on the carnival of the last few weeks!
9
Amazing to me how one poll becomes gospel. Take a look over here. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/ Trump is no genius. He has a base which is one part Rush Limbaugh worshiper and one part corporate criminals who worship making a quick buck at the world's expense. The American people will dump him in November. In the meantime, hyper active journalists need to take a deep breath.
15
Great title for this column!
Pity Trump is the president of only half the country. Mostly the red half. To the rest of us, he is symbolic of a mob boss treating government and its servants as his personal errand runners. Mitch McConnell excels as a political errand runner as do his Republican lawmaker cultist herd. Perhaps their spouses and children too have been wined and dined by Trump who likes to call out each name as though it’s a roll call of his faithful loyal pets.and they each gleefully stand up and give a salute (shriek it’s so reminiscent of the European fascists I saw in that black and white documentary).
15
The Lieutenant Colonel was escorted with his brother off the premises.
What else would you expect?
Whether Republican or Democrat, it you testify against the occupant of the Oval Office, they aren't going to want you on the team anymore. Duh!!!
7
Oh Maureen, better to ask when will the Dems stop whining and learn not only to counter punch, but to punch first, and punch hard? Mike seems to be the only one who knows the answer to this very simple question.
10
Petty petty little man.... doing petty petty little things in retribution for professed grievances.
Sadly... is anyone really surprised?
But I say.. Keep it up Donald... it helps to mobilize the anti-Trump vote in the coming general election. And I double dare you to try to refuse to leave office when you are defeated. It would be outstanding poetic justice to see armed guards escorting you off the white house grounds when you refuse to leave.
17
Just saw James Carville on MSNBC doing all the talking about Bennett strategy with subdued Bennett right there. Carville, like Clinton, needs to take a chill pill-so bereft about the "far left". Side Observation--Carville/Smeagol--Separated at Birth?
2
I just wonder if he’ll actually Restrain himself a little until the election or if he’ll go after Comey, McCabe and Hillary right away. Because he will go after them - dictatorship- Nothing to stop him.
8
Speaking of gangster-roles, apparently the 'Irishman' is top Oscar contender - apparently people, even the discerning ones, dont tire of DeNiro playing a vengeful, stubborn thug killer - it worked in 1972, and apparently still impresses folks.
What did Julius Caesar say, it was all about 'bread and circuses' - well, not just 50 years after the Godfather, but 2000 years after crossing the Rubicon, it still is.
Caesar was only 56, when Senators conspired against him. Today's Senators - even Lying Ted, Fired Sessions, Lindsey cower before this fillth.
Has humanity, especially its aristocrats, learned nothing in two millenia?
8
There's good news and bad news.
The bad news, for Democrats, is Trump will win this bigly.
The good news for Democrats, Bernie will be gone. All of the nutty left wing ideas will go out with Bernie. Democrats will come around to the notion, America is a great country. Americans are great people. White men are not the anti-Christ.
4 years from now, there could be a conservative Democrat.
8
The horses are just out of the gate and Maureen is already calling the race.
4
Will we have yet another war so the dead shall not have died in vain?
4
Just why in the world should establishment Dems and past-shelf-date hacks like James Carville be the voices we heed? Dowd effectively portrays the mafioso president but then slips back into ‘middle of the road’ fantasies from the ‘50s and early ‘60s as if the way to defeat Trump were to find either a super rich white man with nothing more to promise than clean government or a darker skinned, preferably female, version of Joe Biden.
With >90% of Republicans addicted to Trump, there are none of those fictional “suburban moderates” to go chasing after.
Like most (though not all) of the NYT, Dowd just refuses to see the obvious: Dem voters want Bernie Sanders. And only Sanders can defeat Trump because only he mobilizes the progressive vote AND retakes a part of the “Obama to Trump” working class vote.
5
I don't think we need worry too much about Trump practicing the "black art of turning Democrats into mincemeat." It is only his deluded base and the obsequious toady cowards in the government who will be dining on the purloined mincemeat. The Trumpian name calling is not going to sway anyone from reason onto insanity. This is more about nut cases than it is about mincemeat.
8
And I hope you are happy Maureen. After all you did not want Hillary.
Assume Kevin is ecstatic as he gets his judges while Putin rules America.
12
Another Sunday and more denial from ms Dowd; she simply refuses to admit that people vote their pocketbook making trump a shoe in come November. Instead she and her delusional amigos think they can discredit him over ukraine, (and for laughs go ask someone to find it on a map) .. when he is putting cash in their pocket. Liberals are just clueless and live in a fantasy world that according to them, is going to end 11 years anyway.
4
To paraphrase General Isoroku Yamamoto: ...all we have done is to awaken sleeping giants and fill them with righteous resolve... and I don't mean Republicans!
8
Re: He said ominously about the Pelosi rip heard around the world: “First of all, it’s an official document. You’re not allowed. It’s illegal what she did. She broke the law.”
So, Ms. Dowd, call him out on his hypocrisy and HIS much more serious law breaking. Do some homework, such as listening to Trump Inc., and connect the dots.
In the Trump Inc. Podcast, episode Sept. 18, 2019: The Family Business, there is an interesting interview with Solomon Larte (spelling ?) a records management analyst under four US presidents. He worked in the Office of Presidential Records (OPR). Federal law states that every piece of paper that crosses the president’s desk becomes part of the presidential record. Everything is forwarded to the OPR to be catalogued and filed. Everything proceeded normally until Trump became president. First, OPR found out that official docs were being thrown in the trash. Initially, OPR figured that perhaps T-rump did not know, so he was informed. That’s when Larte began receiving Manila folders of documents that had been ripped into ‘thumb-sized pieces’ by the president before being sent to the OPR. Larte said that the OPR staff were then tasked with painstakingly taping the docs back together, ‘like doing a jigsaw puzzle’. He must have been too good at that, because after 25 years, a top secret clearance, and three other presidents, he was informed that his top secret clearance would not be renewed (you’re gone). No reason given.
Drip, drip, drip
11
You guys are so pessimistic. All is well in the world. Stop making the President's ouster your goal in life. Lean back and enjoy the boom. He will be gone in five years so no worries. Get your Kieenex ready for an historic landslide not seen since 1984.
4
The Keystone Cops do Iowa.
4
"as he perfects the black art of turning Democrats into mincemeat."
You wish, Maureen.
He did not. Far from it.
Speaker Pelosi terrifies him, literally.
What he did actually is turning the so-called GOP into a cult of lackeys happily willing to eat his dirt and drink his sake oil kool-aid.
We are as resolve and determined as ever.
And we will win comes November.
11
Trump is surfing Obama's waves on the economy.
8
Sorry, Maureen, but we Democrats are not to cower, shaking in our boots because of a bone-spurred bully tie-dyed face and hair orange and white who can’t speak but in monosyllabic fragments. No, we will follow Nancy Pelosi and rip up his rotten rhetoric and his bellowing bullying.
I notice you excluded Mitt Romney whose model we will also follow in abiding by our consciences and oaths to our country.
You also excluded Doug Jones, who is firm in his commitment to liberty.
Maybe your brother Kevin has bullied you into submission at your Thanksgiving dinners, but in no way, will we surrender to a coward and bully who thinks Vindman and Yovanovich are insubordinate when he and his reckless band of GOP turncoats have sold out our country to Putin. We will never surrender: “Sir, I have full confidence, if we all do our duty...we shall outlive this menace of tyranny.”
13
It’s hard to believe that Americans — Republicans — have given up democratic ideals to gain and keep power. What total hypocrisy it was to see anti-bullying Melania award the Medal of Honor to Rush Limbaugh. And to see the people who spoke truth to power— Sondland and Lt. Col. Vindman — punished for their patriotism. And it’s outrageous to hear a president criticize ripping up a speech when he has ripped up the Constitution.
If black is white, and up is down, then Bloomberg for President! Hey, Trump! Better make a new “perfect call” to Ukraine to start a new investigation of Michael B.
5
Democrats have absolutely nothing to be afraid of, with #45 and his thuggish followers, of whom I include the entire GOP congress. They are all moral and physical cowards. Nor need Dems be ashamed of their presidential campaigners and their platforms, which clearly want the very best for all Americans. All that is necessary is to call out the traitor oppressors in every instance, publicly as well as at the voting booth. The constitution must be defended at all costs. Who would want to live with anyone who destroys it? This is one republic we can readily keep, Mr. Franklin.
8
You people have been divided and conquered by two political parties
3
Unquestionably, of course, trump and his spawn lie all the time. Multiple times daily. Whether about stiffing the tax payers on Secret Service fees or Vindman. And that's just today!
Now his "lawyers", Sekalow, Cippolone, Dershowitz are forced to lie to meet his "approval", and, of course, because the truth is the opposite of their "defense".
House Republicans (none too bright to begin with (think Gohmert, Jordan, Collins, Nunes) are forced to lie.
Republican Senators are forced to lie and roll over. This is not America. I cannot tell if many commenters here are too stupid to see it, watch so much Fox they do not have a clue, or just feel they need to lie too. Very depressing.
7
Donald John Trump should be referred to forever more as Dirty Donald. Adding Trump would be superfluous.
8
Good article title, but some other suggestions: "the Empire Strikes Back," "Donne Strikes Back" or "Donnie Darko Strikes Back." The third, for the way El Trumpo pulls rabbits out of his hat.
2
"night of the long knives"!
It's not over yet.
Our #45 is a vinditive person.
His motto: get angry and even at all costs.
Are we still a Republic?
3
Okay, Ms. Dowd, let's make the Dems in disarray the narrative line of the election, thereby insuring a Trump victory.
Amazing how the MSM jumps on this bandwagon, and will carry it along till November.
And if, IF Trump is re-elected, we'll have 4 years of columns from you and others about the Trump travesty presidency.
With no recognition that a narrative you will cling to is partly responsible for the Nov. outcome.
Do you remember Donald Segretti?
The Canuck letter?
Where in this column is a mention of what was done to the phone lines in Iowa by the GOP and its right wing pals?
While everyone panics about cybersecurity and hacking, MAGAS hit the phone lines and tied them up so precinct captains couldn't call in results.
Very Donald Segretti and Nixon's merry band of rat---, unprintable, but what they called themselves.
Very retro.
What scares me to death is the Dems-in-disarray story line that's now going to dominate, no matter what happens.
You should be scared to death watching Trump exact revenge.
You're an American, and you live here, too.
10
Hey Dems, chill.
Do you believe in sloppy democracy or not?
Let the primary process play out. We’ll choose then, coalesce.
4
Not to worry, Maureen, Susan Collins is on the case!
Just after the Senate acquittal, Ms. Collins told CBS News that President Trump "has learned from this case" and that he "will be much more cautious in the future."; and, "I obviously am not in favor of any kind of retribution against anyone who came forward with evidence."
Of course, since then, Mr. Trump canned Lt. Col. Vindman and his NSC attorney twin brother as well as Gordon Sondland in order to "flush out the pipes" - but Senator Collins will bring him back in line, don't you think?
And regarding Rush and the National Medal of Freedom, aren't you over-reacting a bit?
Yeah, I guess he is a little bit racist:
“I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.”
Well, OK... He is a lot racist.
Sorry.
5
Don Trump just desecrated the Congressional Medal of Honor. He is like King Midas' evil twin -- everything he touches turns to plastic. I am exhausted by the horror and the constant flesh crawling that he induces in me. Please, please let us unite in November and expel this republican curse.
5
Oh, for Pete's sake (NOT Mayor Pete), Maureen! Iowa is completely inconsequential, and we have long road ahead of us. Every right thinking person I know (and amazingly it includes some formerly GOP voters) is committed to voting for whomever the Democratic party puts forward as its eventual nominee. Please don't do a re-run of your silly and spiteful campaign against Hillary Clinton. Just shut up and wait until this plays out in primaries. Please.
10
Trump rumbles on. I hate to say it, but the Democrats have one and only one option: vote this maniac out of office. Nothing else is working.
6
Purges for telling the truth, architectural purity, Cowardly subservience, Obsequious minions, ... We have seen this movie before.
4
Perp-walked off the White House grounds —- this combat veteran, outstanding officer and recipient of the Purple Heart?! And the reaction of the Army brass and the Pentagon?? Silence! Trump is Trump, but his enablers are despicable!
9
Trump unhinged? it's Pelosi who's flapping in the wind; about to blow away.
4
Donald Trump is a pathetic figure.
His lack of self-awareness is so extreme it's macabre. What's weird, though, is that so many people seem not to see it.
He's so thoroughly insecure and dissatisfied with himself that he paints himself orange; he insults other people's looks as a way of saying, "See, he's worse than me"; and he compulsively seeks revenge at any perceived slight.
A person who's comfortable in his own skin can shrug off insults and derision because he's confident that he's satisfactory the way he is. The fact that Trump needs to hit back so reflexively and violently shows how easily he's hurt. He's like someone with a bad sunburn who can't bear to be touched. His extreme reactions bespeak extreme vulnerability.
He's obsessed with being a winner because, in his mind, he's not, and no amount of success suffices to convince him that he is.
That's why he ran for president. He's desperately trying to achieve a level of success that will finally be enough to convince him that he's okay. He reasoned, simply enough, that being President of the United States would make him Number One, and surely that would afford him the self-satisfaction that had so far eluded him. He thought he'd finally reach the top of the mountain from which he could look down on everyone else and no one could question his superiority.
Only it didn't work. Inside, he still feels inadequate, and convincing others that he's superior will never be enough because he can't convince himself.
9
United we stand;devided we fall. Trumps GOP is united behind him. Democrats are as devided as ever. Of you dont pass the purity test of the left wing you are a pariah.
Only one candidate has the means and capability to fight Pinocchio Bonespurrs Trump. His name is Bloomberg.
Brother Kevin must be in heaven. As a Canadian, may I offer my condolences on the slow demise of your once great country.
3
Unless they run Bloomberg, the Dems can kiss it all goodbye
1
Not a mention of Biden or his son in these comments. Interesting.
3
Your headline "The Don Strikes Back" will surely please Trump, as he wants to be seen to be like a feared leader of a Mafia family. Good job.
5
Fredo Sondland and Carlo Vindman - they learned you can’t stab the DON in the back and walk away! Non violent of course. Unlike Putin Donald’s good friend. People die when Vladimir is crossed.
4
Look, we're gonna' lose. Just make sure you all have your passports.
1
Grow up, Bernie. And Elizabeth and Amy: stop pandering to the wold and whale hunters. Hunting defenseless animals should not be part of your platforms.
Speaking of personal, I have to assume you're enjoying this.
After your years-long campaign of snark and mockery against Hillary and, by extension, every Democrat it must be satisfying to see such dramatic results.
Of course Democrats are panicking. They're Democrats. They don't really do politics. Its plain across the primary board and painfully clear in the comically mishandled impeachment.
Except right at the moment they are excelling at tearing one another to shreds as your personal president gloats and squashes the out-of-favor like stink bugs.
This is, in important ways, Mo's Presidency. You should be enjoying it.
5
It is both amusing and sad to read these pundits presenting el Trumpo and his Republican/Conservative/Evangelical Axis cohorts' talking points. What I am hoping is that the majority of this country realizes that talking and giving expression to the horrors of this Administration are a waste of time. Entertaining, but from a political and operational perspective a waste of time. It is sad that the NY Times must debase itself by following the R/C.E Axis script because it needs to make a profit and doesn't know how to do it otherwise. I have faith that just like the Moral Majority before it, the Trump Majority is far short of it. In a way, this has been a lesson to be learned. This country had become smug and complacent and overwhelmed by its self-importance. Now it is time to man/woman up and do what has to be done, starting with bouncing these fake "patriots". Lest anyone think otherwise, there are as many guns in the hands of true patriots as in the hands of the fake ones, maybe more. Real patriots don't need to walk around with guns on their hips and ram their way into public places in order to prove their bona fides. Real patriots have always been the quiet ones that become fierce when needed. Trump and his cohort have shown themselves time and again to be paper targets just like bullies always are. That's why Melania hung the medal around Limbaugh's neck. One fake (immigrant) patriot honoring another fake patriot (windbag).
7
Not quite sure what this editorial is trying to say so I will just add my immediate thoughts about the election.
Trump seems to go out of his way to hurt people...big or small...rich or poor...men and mostly women...all in the service of his pettiness. His enablers, unfortunately, seem to be fine with this and cover his back until such time as he grows tied of them (Sondland, Cohen, Sessions, Bolton, etc).
This is a person people want as their president? Oh Please!
I think people have grown tired of this disgusting dog and pony show and will rally around a democratic candidate to, if nothing else, restore a level of sanity, trust, intelligence, and 'Honest' leadership which has been missing for 3 and a half years.
8
I think if Trump keeps up this curve he'll flame out. He's going to eventually alienate the folks on the margins of the GOP and base who have a shred of decency remaining and aren't raking in the cake enough to stomach the craze.
I do think Bloomberg-Klobuchar is the only possibility of beating Trump. And that is still uphill.
"Falling into despair won’t help anyone, though. I mean, you can curse the darkness or you can light a candle. I’m getting a [freaking] welding torch, okay?" - Carville, in vox
4
Thanks for nothing, Captain Obvious. Anyone alive last week could have written this column. Now earn your fantastic salary and your bully pulpit and talk about what’s going to happen next week and the week after that. Or do you believe that the next 8.5 months will look like February - you could write a Groundhog Day column, but you’ve already done that. At least Pete is using some of his billionaire’s money to talk about his vision of the country after Trump.
2
You just don't get it do you Maureen. You belong with the elitists. I know, I know, your dad was working class Irish. So
was mine. Straight from County Leitrim to Daley's Chicago.
I grew being told the Democratic Party, the unions and the
Catholic Church had our backs. Well I watched as Clinton
and DLC decimated unions and large swaths of our nation with
his trade bills,Crime Bill. God there's not enough space to
list the horrors th modern Democratic Party wrought on us.
But as Bill Clinton said,upon being told of our dismay with
policies,"Where are they going to go.?" Well 20 years later
enough of them went to Trump. And now with the only thing
left wehave,OUR Vote,you manage to make fun of our furor.
3
Just think of the fun columns you can write for the next four years of Trump!
4
I wish Maureen Dowd would stop calling Donald Trump "the Don." Apparently she thinks it's cute to make him the brunt of a joke but it actually just plays into the myth that he has carefully nurtured. He is no joke. Leave the glib swipes to SNL and stick to real political commentary.
5
Nice that you spent this column excoriating the Democrats for something meaningless while Trump does what the feckless Republicans have authorized him to do. Trump acting like a mafioso doesn't scare the Democrats. It's exactly what everyone knew he was going to do. And the more he acts like a thug the better it is for Democrats. For you should know by now that the only sure thing to bring Trump down is Trump himself. The Democrats should be happy he's overreaching. I want Trump to do even more. I hope he slashes and burns his way to a miserable defeat in November. He will have earned it.
6
Since Vindman believed delaying some training funding to Ukraine imperilled US national security, I think he's better off elsewhere than the NSC.
Sondland won't be missed either.
6
Indeed, Democrats should be scared to death--as well as everyone who cares about this country (or this planet).
4
Comments are moderated for political affiliation, not civility.
3
Get a grip.
Trump will do several stupid things between now and November. And his popularity isn’t at an all-time high. It’s lower than when he was first installed.
Trump is going to lose in a historic way. Even with unprecedented modern era levels of Republican cheating. His support is about 43% of the population and that isn’t going to change. Stop trying to scare people MSM and stop trying to make it a close race to sell ads.
Our worry should be how to drag him out of the White House next January when he refuses to leave.
7
This is the predictable outcome of, as Shakespeare (?) said, if you are going to kill the king, you had better succeed.
5
It's time to ma me America good again.
2
Personally, I feel these kinds of opinion pieces don't move the needle. We know now, Trump wil not change. But maybe what we know now that we didn't before is that the Republicans DID change, to wholeheartedly get behind the thug, liar and fraud now in the office.
Why? Tha'ts what I really want to read about.
3
If the Democatic Party had to nominate a champion to take on Donald Trump in the ancient Roman Coliseum, Daffy Duck would be in contention.
1
This column was a little over the top. I'm guessing the large majority of Americans saw the Thursday events for what they were - phony performance theater. Ditto, though maybe to a lesser degree, for the SOTU.
Exaggerated apocalyptic thinking is just the flip side of the attitude that Trump must necessarily lose because we know he is a world-class jerk. Somewhere in between lies the truth, and we must roll up our sleeves and work unrelentingly for a Democratic victory in November.
6
Worst reality show ever.
2
It has to be said.
IT's about Trump Stupid!
I cringe when I hear, for example, Bernie or Elizabeth complain about Pete and the wine cave of donors. I'm not saying that as a Pete voter, I'm just tired of the Dems attacking the Dems!
How can Pete meeting with donors in a wine cave even come close to Trump's corruption, lies, scathing attacks on people, allies, immigrants and their children, disabled people, our Press, women, judges, the list is so long.
Dear Dem candidates,
IT's about Trump stupid!
Trying to win this election is like holding water in a hand. Are we going to let it disappear through our fingers or can we make a plan to be smart and freeze it so we can hold on to it and win?
4 more years of this unhinged Trump monster who only cares about money and his own deranged bloated ego is not an option.
The Trump Cult will not vote for a Dem. Stop trying to attract them if this is what anyone thinks is possible.
There's a lot of voters who are unaware of all the rotten things Trump has done to the country and to The People. Trump is counting on keeping them unaware.
Start telling the truth about Trump. He's a bigger adversary than anyone in the Dem party.
What matters is that a Dem defeats Trump in Nov. Nothing is more important not even Free Stuff some candidates are promoting.
If you let us down by getting caught up in your own egos and lose, we may never forgive you.
7
What a lousy democrat-bashing article. Maureen, did trump's bullwhip scare you into softening your tongue for him? This article was just nonsense. This is not what I saw occur last week. An other reputable media also did not say this. Please stop attacking democrats. While they too can bumble, they do so ethically.
Any democratic candidate will do a superlatively better job of extricating us from the daily muck of trump's titular tirades!
Please don't assuage the trump. Let him self-explode.
6
Trump’s purge of Lt. Col. Vindman and others reminds me of a scene from an old movie “People Will Talk.” The movie starred Cary Grant and was made in 1951. A professor played by Hume Cronyn, Professor Elwell, tries to besmirch the reputation of Cary Grant, a doctor, before a faculty committee. The effort fails. Cary Grant’s loyal (but a bit dim-witted) assistant, Shunderson, gives Professor Elwell his comeuppance at the end:
Shunderson : Professor Elwell, you're a little man. It's not that you're short. You're...little, in the mind and in the heart. Tonight, you tried to make a man little whose boots you couldn't touch if you stood on tiptoe on top of the highest mountain in the world. And as it turned out...you're even littler than you were before.
Lt. Col. Vindman is a decorated war hero. Trump is smaller than a mouse and is even littler now than he was before. Trump couldn’t touch Col. Vindman’s boots if he was standing on Mt. Everest.
Trump lost the popular vote by almost 4 million last time out. I hope the margin of his loss this time is at least 6 million even though he may pull an electoral college rabbit out of icy McConnell’s hat.
10
First of all it is time for Iowa to switch over to a primary. If that upsets them so be it. I am from NJ and we in the GS are Jersey tough- it is time for Iowa to be the same way. Second of all Trump is a mean vindictive person who enjoys hurting other people. So why is everyone surprised at his reaction? I would not not even be surprised if he took these people out & had them shot. Yes he is that arrogant and vindictive. I do believe his first wife that he had a copy of Hitler's speeches. If the Democratic party does not start to toughen up and get its act together we are looking at Trump's second term. I would like to see the candidates stop with their pie in the sky programs. Yes it is all good and well meaning but first you have to win the election. It would better for the candidates to focus on Trump and remind the 60 % who are needed to win both the WH & Senate of the evil before us. Bernie table your medicare for all. OK? Elizabeth enough with the plans, OK? If the Democrats do not win & gain control of the Senate nothing will matter. The fact is that since Mitch packed the Appellate Courts with [extreme} conservatives
it will be difficult if not impossible to overcome court challenges to their legislative proposals. We are at a turning point. Do we have a representative democracy or a mini-me Putin plotting & tweeting ? The sole focus of the candidates is reclaiming our democracy and bringing us back from the abyss of a Trumpian monarchy.
5
Trump won. Dems are humiliated.
6
But her emails.
3
And, thanks again, Maureen, for doing everything within your power to make sure Hillary lost.,Happy now?
8
While John Gotti was known as the "Dapper Don", we should regard Trump as the "Teflon Don" because truth and laws just slide off of him.
5
I had not thought of the irony of anti-bully proponent Melania hanging the medal around Limbaugh’s neck.
One more nuance of the disgusting farce.
7
Can we please stop with saying anything Pelosi is doing is "Trumpian"? Trump is a lying, self-aggrandizing, name-calling bully –– and Pelosi ripping up his speech was pure class.
8
Watching the left react to the week of all weeks is so much fun. I mean, so much freaking fun!
3
If Trump is re-elected, no one will be able to say it’s untrue to what America has become. And the major factor in such a horrible outcome will not be what Trump does, but with Democrats who are in disarray and do silly things, even generically mimicking Trump in response to the bait he provides every day.
Remind people about the fake Trump charity and watch the body language. Stole from veterans, widows, orphans and kids with cancer.
Even Republicans cringe.
10
I stopped reading after “classy nemesis”. More like completely batty nemesis!
1
A piece full of jealous notions, mean manipulations, raw edged envy and smarmy innuendoes, not to mention hatred—according to the latest poll—toward half the population of America.
2
Trump did not give a “State of the Union” address as much as he gave a three-ring “State of the Circus” address. In one ring was Rush Limbaugh, the radio host who embodies pretty much all of the “Seven Deadly Sins” being draped in the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Melania Trump, in another Trump played “King for a Day” and reunited a soldier with his tearful family, and in the third ring was Democrat-tamer Trump himself cracking his whip at Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.
Now what was it P.T Barnum said again about “nobody ever losing a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public?”
3
A history lesson for the new Teflon Don.
"On April 2, 1992, .....the jury found [John] Gotti guilty on all charges of the indictment ..... "The Teflon is gone. The don is covered with Velcro, and all the charges stuck."
Sentence: life imprisonment without the possibility of parole."
3
Strange, every time I read a Maureen Dowd column about raving Donald Trump, I get enraged that it was SHE who helped bring about this insane and immoral man. Own it, Mo.
6
Just a few observations:
1. Dem's had some excellent candidates in their governors from western states. Popular, 2 term, successful....I was a big Bullock fan myself.
2. Trump has been defending Bernie since the onstage dustup with Liz. His campaign mgr. and sons are encouraging their "base" to go vote for him in open primary states (NH being first). Bernie would be God's Gift to Trump: An 80YO self-proclaimed Socialist with heart problems, 60 years of ranting, zero accomplishments and some very embarrassing (I'm being kind) history that's all on-the-record.
Unfortunately, the ads just write themselves even without lies and distortion. Bernie is consistent in what he has been for 60 years: A disruptor, agitator, protester, far-left outlier. And an uncompromising idealogue with no ability to "get things done". And NO, the average American, after 3 years of a "chaos" President, isn't looking for a "revolution". Sorry, Bernie but Goodbye.
3. Bloomberg is the smart,savvy, strategic one with executive experience, accomplishments, big philanthropy and a history of putting his $$$ behind candidates and causes for years now. It's his $$$.....He's beholden to no one and pledged to support whoever the nominee may be.
Bloomberg is looking good to me.
5
Well ,you've got your people metaphorically killed by our magnificent leader. And then you've got the nameless but literally killed people, very dead people, due to actions intentional or unintentional, but each just as dead . And now that he has tasted blood will he be satisfied? Will he be epicurean in his tastes or will he go, occasionally, whole hog?
We have a leader who medals, pardons, and rejoices in murders and murderers... who envies and mimics authoritarian leaders. He could no doubt show Kim Jong Un a thing or two. He could feed Nancy Pelosi to the dogs and fill a football stadium with his supporters to watch. And AG Barr could find no impeachable offense in it.
4
How can a man of such obvious low character have a GOOD week unless our population is sick, twisted, and damaged. The man is an ogre and what we should recognize by now so are his followers which comprise an ever growing percentage of our population.
4
Trump isn't a "Don". He's every bad cop and fed in America. That's who appointed him.
1
Sondland is an embarrassment to the country, and it pains us Portladers that he happened to reside here before debasing himself overseas. With any luck he'll quietly sell his Portland interests, and move to Florida where he belongs.
2
Trump had a great week, because he’s a successful President who is doing exactly what he promised- put Americans and America first- and it shows. We have a booming economy, better trade deals, and are far more respected by both our allies and our enemies than under Obama who had a “kick me, I’m stupid” sign on his back as both NATO and Iran treated him like a sucker at the expense of the American people.
As for Trump firing those in his White House who were leakers, liars and insubordinate. They all served at the pleasure of the President so he doesn’t even need a reason to get rid of them. And frankly, Vindman, should be courtmartialed- he is the typical unelected “Swamp” bureaucrat who thinks he knows better than the President in conducting foreign policy. But instead of resigning over his disagreements with Trump, he decided to be part of a partisan sham impeachment “coup” to overthrow the 2016 election and void the will of 63 million Americans who voted for Trump.
7
Democrats have a purity flaw and also they think they are intellectual and that makes them better, that's not good politics
2
You must have been watching “Real Time With Bill Maher”. If we are looking to movies for explanations/descriptions, here is my choice “He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville!” Anyway, good job helping us keep the rage.
If you testify against your boss, why wouldn't you expect him to fire you?
6
Obama did the same thing, he fired staff from previous administrations and the NYT and others said nothing.
These officials work for the administration and they do not tell POTUS what policy is. Vindman decided he was the policy deciding official. He is not. He is there to implement policy.
He also broke federal law by leaking classified information to the whistle blower.
7
The Oval Office, the most powerful office in the world, is occupied by a little man, a petty vindictive man, a phony showman risen to mob boss.
Maureen Dowd warns, "Democrats should be scared to death should be scared to death] watching the president play to thuggish type, re-enacting the chilling final payback scenes of “The Godfather,” when Michael Corleone took out all his enemies."
But the truth is, America, its neighbors and humanity everywhere should be scared to death because Trump is more than a mob boss - evil itself resides in the White House. Evil does not just bully its opponents, evil dispenses with them. Evil does not win over minds, evil infects Republican minds. Evil does not gain the support of Evangelicals by appointing right-wing judges, evil converts Evangelicals to its worship. Evil does not comfort the fearful, evil cages the children of their irrational fear. Evil is changing America.
Edmund Burke summed up the dilemma facing America and the world itself, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Burke should have said, "for [ENOUGH] good men to do nothing."
Thus far, there have not been enough Democrats in Congress to dispel the evil in the White House or the evil of Republicans in Congress.
Is it too late? Or are there enough GOOD Americans who will do something to stop the evil?
5
Donald Trump's presidency, his "defense," and everything else Donald Trump boils down to one message: "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"
Aaron Sorkin was truly prophetic when he wrote "A Few Good Men," recognizing a kind of authoritarian ersatz patriotism that so readily tramples on "rule of law," so readily sacrificing weaker parties (Ukraine's withheld aid his "code red"?).... And telling us we sleep cozy at night because he's "standing on that wall!"
The more I think about it, the starker this sense of deja vu. Everything Trump does is a kind of Colonel "You Can't Handle Truth!" Jessup on steroids (or "turbocharged" as those nice opioid promoters at McKinsey might put it).
2
I’ve been a Democrat for a very long time and this column has been written over and over and over for the past fifty years. It’s in Democrats’ DNA to fret over losing, to talk about circular firing squads, to agonize over the very thing that makes the party great—it’s ideological diversity, interesting and varied policy ideas, and its agonizing over big ideas and the fate of the country. The scrumming they’ll play out all the way to the convention is normal. And it’s normal to freak out because there’s so much at stake. What did people expect? A tea party? Let’s just take a collective deep breathe and realize that any one of these candidates can win. It’s our job to push him or her past the finish line, and we can do it. All we need to do is turn out.
4
And the Lord said, “ Vengeance is mine.” So Trump did smite the uncooperative as the GOP’s lord and savior. Demagoguery has reached a whole new level. Do I hear an “ Amen”?
Was the national prayer breakfast meant to honor or adore Trump?
Does the world need another theocracy?
3
Thanks Maureen. You made my day. Dave Berry could take some lessons from you.
If you shoot at the king, you better kill him. This was the problem Pelosi worried about when she tamped down the Squad and the other rabid lefties during the Russia probe. And now, they didn't kill him. So Trump thinks he is invincible.
Meanwhile, the Democrats can't even count the votes in Iowa and are leaving us with unelectable choices (Buttigieg, Warren, Sanders). Klobuchar would be a good candidate in the general election but doesn't appear to be getting traction in the primaries. Our best hope may be to let Mike Bloomberg spend his billion dollars to beat Trump without having to listen to failed Democratic Party strategists. Bloomberg may be our last hope to get rid of the corrupt mob boss we have elected our president.
2
Trump only exists because the Democrats have fallen in such disrepair they can't run a candidate who the majority of Americans think speaks to them.
Hillary was a disastrous candidate for too many reasons to list but the Democrats could have run Bernie whose chances of winning were stronger than Hillary's.
Trumps/Hitlers rise to power in a vacuum and there isn't one Democratic candidate with a large enough following to win.
Whether or not Michael Bloomberg buys the nomination is unimportant because he's the only candidate who can beat Trump.
2
This monarchy doesn't auger well for the country.
1
Just add a few assisted suicides and President Trump would be a model democrat. Think about it.
1
White House Job Attributes - Trustworthiness.
1. The President must be able to trust that you will never expose his lies, and upon request repeat them convincingly.
2. The President must be able to trust that you will never divulge unethical or immoral actions, and when asked vehemently deny their occurrence.
3. The President must be able to trust that you will not report illegal or unconstitutional actions to anyone, neither your superior, Congress, nor the public. Remember always, you do not serve the public. You serve only the President, at his pleasure.
Failure to adhere to these character traits will result in your firing due to your demonstrated inability to be trusted.
2
"What could be more flamboyantly offensive than the anti-bullying advocate, Melania, hanging a Presidential Medal of Freedom around the neck of one of the biggest bullies and hate preachers of all time, Rush Limbaugh? Talk about the bully pulpit."
It took a while for her to get it on him.
I think it was resisting.
3
I don't disagree with Ms. Dowd that Trump, McConnell, and Barr seemed to have a "good week," if "good" means their now brazen attempts to destroy our democracy. And I won't disagree that the Iowa caucus crash and burn gave Dems a bum start. But what does annoy me is the most well-honed snark Ms. Dowd reserves for Democrats--her favorite target. Having read Ms. Dowd for years, I recognize the pattern instantly: ridicule Dems' behavior even though it is not altogether different from mistakes made on the GOP side. For example, she criticizes Dems' internal sparring to position themselves for the nomination when so far it's been tame in comparison to some Republican campaign histories. I have only to reach back to the GOP 2016-candidate bloodbath where Rubio, et al were making fun of Trump's (hand) size and calling him every expletive under the sun. Still, they "won." And then four years earlier it was the GOP that was embarrassed in Iowa after touting Romney as the winner, only after having to rescind the announcement and declare Rick Santorum the victor eight (8) days later. My point is, Ms. Dowd appears to save her thorniest scorn for the only group right now that's trying to protect this country from becoming a Banana Republic. And this tendency recalls her own not too distant journalistic debacle--remember 2016, Maureen?
3
As long as we’re referencing “Godfather” quotes, this one might explain Nancy Pelosi’s (in my opinion, great!) response to Trump’s State of the Union speech:
“Only don’t tell me that you’re innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and it makes me very angry.”
2
"...re-enacting the chilling final payback scenes of “The Godfather,” when Michael Corleone took out all his enemies"
Except when Trump does it, he demands his minions to go on the Sunday shows, prostrate themselves, and intone that his actions are always perfect.
2
Ok MD. May this be your last For Whom the Bell tolls column. Excellent.
We get it. Please start writing about the only grownup not in the room yet-
Mike Bloomberg. He made many of us crazy when he was Mayor, all the
“ Nanny “ obsessions...
But he has a record of incredible political and philanthropic leadership.
And he has that one thing that Trump is missing - a brain.
3
During the Kavanaugh hearings, Republicans were yelling "Mob rule!" Now they really have it with The Don, Underboss Mitch "The Grim Reaper" McConnell, Consigliere Rudy "The Mouth" Giuliani, Jailhouse Lawyer Bill "Total Exoneration" Barr, and chief foot soldier Mike "the Undertaker" Pompeo. With The Don now officially "above the law," the Constitution is on life support. It's now up to us to decide if we really want "the rule of law" or the lawless rule of The Don and his mob. The forces to rig the November election have been acquitted and every American who values their freedom and safety from cruelty and wanton oppression must rally around whomever the Democratic Party nominates for president. Remember: don't be bribed by the "fool's gold" of the economy for as some wiseman said, "All that glitters is not gold."
4
Bloomberg / Klobuchar ... I would volunteer for that ticket.
2
If that glorious rip was illegal, then Pelosi is following in the tradition of Thoreau, Gandhi, MLK in using civil disobedience to highlight abusive government. Not a bad heritage for a Democrat leader.
4
The world belongs to the outraged and the acid tongued. I put my faith in the son of Charlotte, the accomplished Philanthropist...
Ebullient? More like embalmed. And we’re going to bury him once and for all on Election Day.
Go Bernie!
2
It is clear to any patriotic American that any government employee who doesn't do what President Trump tells them to do and doesn't repeat his statements and ideas is being subordinate. Let's fire all of them. They are not patriots. While President Trump defends our freedom. these Vindman traitors (likely Ukrainian spies) take cover behind purple hearts and shrapnel wounds to subvert the will of our President.
I, personally, really enjoy and love the policies of our President. They remind me of his effectiveness and results achieved on the Apprentice. Anyone who watched that show knows that they way you achieve the results is by firing people. Preferably in public and in front of TV Cameras.
Best President Ever.
1
The true beauty of this, the ongoing never ending beauty, is that Maureen Dowd and pretty much the majority of people on this blog, have no capacity for introspection and no capacity to see themselves as the rest of the nation does; thus, as in 2016, Dems will lose to Trump again (but this time even worse). From NY (and MA) we get Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary ("I'm from Arkansas") Clinton, Michael Dukakis, Michael Bloomberg...you guys LOVE them, but the rest of the country does not love them, and is in fact sickened by them. And yet, you turn them out over and over and over and then are surprised when the nation rejects them. As you know better than I do, you are on that losing path again, and worse if you pick Bernie.
3
Already processing citizenship to Canada.
2
Maureen never gets her analysis right when it comes to the Republicans. Her nasty accusations and bad faith explanations for why the crazy left keeps losing, is not grounded in reality, but rather marinated in the bile of negative excuse making. Dems have lurched to the extreme left.The middle class has noticed.
3
Is anyone here interested in a middle ground for the democratic party?
Thank you, Ms. Dowd, for this column! And I found a prescient and appropriate word from Betrand Russell (1959):
"Love is wise, hatred is foolish."
And this is how it ends, in a miasma of moral and ethical depravity. But, after all is said and done, what's more apt than this nation dying on a cross of racism?
2
When you have a party that is filled with people engaged in acts that make them domestic enemies of the Constitution, then they deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. As for the SOTU speech event, never have a I seen a speech so pro-American since President Ronald Reagan. Never have I seen a party reaction so anti-American since Leonid Brezhnev.
Oh, and sorry Patty, all the dirtiest operatives are already Democrats.
2
I am still waiting for the Dems to start broadcasting the fact that under Trump and his toadies the national debt has risen to more than 17 Trillion dollars!! That is Trillion with a capital T!..Have the president or his toadies given us any idea how this debt will be paid off and when? Our chief in the White House is too busy insulting and firing his perceived enemies to even think about paying off this incredible amount of money.
I must add that I am also looking forward to the Dems to stop fighting among themselves and concentrate on getting this misfit out of the White House and back into his pad in New York City.
5
Tyrants always fall in Gandhi‘s words , and they do it to themselves. The only problem here is how much damage will be done in the interim if America’s version of Caligula in the White House is reelected?
4
"He said ominously about the Pelosi rip heard around the world: 'First of all, it’s an official document. You’re not allowed. It’s illegal what she did. She broke the law.' "
Uh hu. It seems that nearly everything he accuses someone of doing is something he has blatantly done himself. It's just unceasing hypocrisy, hyperbole, and hate with this befuddled blowhard. From Politico:
"Under the Presidential Records Act, the White House must preserve all memos, letters, emails and papers that the president touches, sending them to the National Archives for safekeeping as historical records. But White House aides realized early on that they were unable to stop Trump from ripping up paper after he was done with it and throwing it in the trash or on the floor, according to people familiar with the practice. Instead, they chose to clean it up for him, in order to make sure that the president wasn’t violating the law."
(https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/10/trump-papers-filing-system-635164)
5
Anybody that says Rush Limbaugh is a racist has probably never listened to him. I’ve listened to him on and off for 29 years (that amounts to hundreds of listening hours) and have never heard him utter anything even slightly racist. It gets so old hearing people (especially journalist) carelessly throwing the word “racist” around.
4
I think, in ripping up the president's speech, Nancy Pelosi is more like Ghandi than Trump. That was a powerful, nonviolent protest that effectively sidestepped Trump's nonsense and eloquently got her point across.
4
How soon we forget, the Iowa debacle similar to the one by the R’s in 2012 will be forgotten quickly and the second white only election in NH will be followed by real primaries and then we will see who emerges. Dems need to remember the Dotard won by 80k votes go to those states and get an apartment and rotate their visits weekly. Hanging you’re hat on a Gallup pool a company that primarily calls landlines is fools gold.!
3
I never thought I'd live to see a president of the U.S. who behaves like Trump. Presidents are people who American kids should be able to look up to, not who are cowardly bullies who slander good people with lies and nastiness. I will vote for whoever is on the ballot against Trump.
6
By any measure, Trump had a good week. He's celebrating by seething, lashing out and acting like the unhinged bully he truly is. But the election is a long way off and this past week will just be a foggy memory.
Democratic hopefuls have to stop being their own worst enemies by attacking Trump, not each other. They need to focus on healthcare, income inequality and pocketbook issues important to all Americans. Everyone, including his most ardent supporters, already know Trump is a loathsome human being.
3
Worst president in my lifetime (I'm 73). Hoping someday our long national nightmare will be over.
5
I have sarcastically employed Maureen to write about some thing other than DT. I was also quite serious because the media has and continually plays in his hands by broadcasting everything he does.
DT is on a path to reelection. The op by Maureen is the first comprehensive wake-up call to appear in this paper. The Dem party reminds of a Monty Python movie. Get over it and get behind Bloomberg. He is the only shot you have.
2
The thing democrats who are not as bad off as the 1% press keep portraying us is that Pelosi et al did the right thing because it was right, not because of the result they hoped for.
Doing the right thing is always the best choice. I cannot say when this mess of republican chicanery and criminality will end, but it will end.
Hearing the news about the firings, and the orders about architecture, and pretty much everything else brought to mind this series from 2001. In particular this episode of the 6 part doco. At The Service Of the State; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wh6sU-PaPU&list=PLBOXjuzxIKcoeKShNykv1quw-zxD81JUC&index=5
I had no idea that Rome before El Trumpo I mean Il Duce was not the museum it is today. Most of the old ruins we see now uncovered were occupied and had houses built into over and on them in the years after the western empire fell and the 1930's.
What I mean for you to note is that it will end. Wrong can only triumph temporarily.
3
The Dems impeached Trump because he was caught cheating to win the next election. Now we know they were right to be worried. Trump is unleashed now, unloading revenge against anyone who told the truth. He will do anything to win now because he knows if he loses the Dems are sending him to jail.
This is headed in only one direction, worse, and then worse again.
5
In fact, millions of people have never bought the Trump hate sold daily by the Times. I look forward to voting for him again. The Times reporters and editorial writers think that if they hate Trump that there is no possible reason anyone could like him.
If you think about it, the writers at the Times never reflected upon why voters want Trump in spite of a promise to conduct such reflection after the left lost the 2016 election.
2
You want to see what's coming next? Check out Real Time with Bill Maher from last night. He had Steve Bannon and it was quite an exchange with some interesting analysis on Maher's and Bannon's part.
The fiasco that was Iowa 2020 belongs entirely to the Democratic Party of Iowa.
Not to ANY of the candidates, any one of whom is better than Trump.
Shame on everyone including Ms. Dowd in this column for casting the blame on all democrats, including the candidates.
Why does the liberal media LOVE bashing their fellow liberals? Stop it! Find fault where the fault is, not with everything connected to it.
4
I wonder how Nixon, Reagan, and even Bush II would have 'seemed to the world' through the lens of our current media magnification?
Dirty tricks? Lies? Corruption? Cynical manipulation of the voters 'dark side?, foreign policy decisions that are criminal? Evil advisors and cronies? Elected to two terms?
Nixon, yes. Reagan, yes. Bush II yes.
I want to believe we will continue to survive our worst instincts and decisions. I want to believe that the Corona Virus won't disrupt our lives with misery and death. I want to believe in the better angels of our nature.
Don't you?
1
Oh please. Get over yourselves Democrats. Quit whining. The same week Trump reached 49% in the right-wing Gallup poll (which predicted Romney would win in 2012) BEFORE the end of the sham in the Senate, Trump’s numbers went down or remained the same in three polls taken afterwards. The sky is not falling.
The Iowa caucus has always been a joke. That’s nothing new. The biggest problem for the Democrats is that most of the candidates in the Democratic field are a joke. An ancient Socialist? A gay small-town mayor who looks like a teenager? An ancient, corrupt also-ran (Biden)? A bland, boring plain-Jane with the temperament of a small child (Klobuchar)? I can’t imagine a less inspiring field. This is seriously the best the Democrats can do?
Trump is still as vulnerable as he always has been. The needle has not moved. How do I know? Because I’m the independent whose votes will decide the election. And there is no way I would vote for Trump. But the Democrats need to find a better candidate than the buffoons who were on the ticket in Iowa. I wouldn’t vote for any of them either.
After the bumbling, stumbling, and uninspiring Democratic mess to date, Bloomberg is the only hope. If the Democrats don’t realize that, and in a hurry, they are doomed against the most beatable candidate ever.
2
What you and the Democrats have managed to do is unite the Republicans behind the President at a level never seen before. Many of us did not vote for him in the Primary of 2016 but the blatant anti-democratic activities such as impeachment, the blatant lies and distortions of Schiff and Nadler, and the pompous lecturing by Nancy Pelosi have succeeded in uniting Republicans. Democrats are blind with arrogance and there "elitist" attitude has backfired. They should have just put their noses to the grindstone and worked hard to win over the American people on the issues but instead they stuck their nose up in the air.
3
Machiavellian or Orwellian, take your pick... I can think of at least 10 classics that describe this administration to a tee, you would think history would save us, looks like we are doomed to repeat.
4
Why do the Times's op-ed writers stir the pot of fear? A lack of imagination? It only helps the republicans; and it is far too early to be panicked. Trump is an ignoramus crook who can be beaten at the polls if everyone stays focused on the viable presidential candidate, the senate races, and then, getting out the votes. Biden, Pete, Steyer, and Bloomberg should all stop pretending they can win and start really working in the various ways they can be effective towards the goal of replacing the guy who thinks he's king. There's much they can do, and it's not on in trying to win the nomination.
4
"Democrats should be scared to death watching the president play to thuggish type,..."
I disagree. The country should be scared to death of Trump and his behavior. If Trump is re-elected it will be the responsibility of those who voted for him and that burden will be carry by all.
3
Nike B. knew what he was doing when he entered the race. With Biden faltering someone that is not "way Left' needs to pick up the help. Amy would make a great V.P.
Our problem isn't the president. This cowardly liar and poster child for the evils of social promotion gets away with a single-digit IQ and the social skills of a rabid mongoose because a self-serving and fearful pack of Republican Senators can't find an ounce of courage or a shred of common decency among them.
Republican lawmakers are shamelessly aiding and abetting a fraud and a liar while Democrats are worried about a potential challenger's policy position or socialistic tendency or age or some other trivial factor.
A large fraction of the country I thought I knew is happy with this pretender, hanging onto his every lie, admiring his clownish smirk and booing Pelosi for tearing up his speech while he shreds the Constitution and pins a medal on a sniveling shock jock.
The longer this goes on the more I wonder if will matter if a Democrat wins the presidency. Will this president leave? Is there a pretense so absurd that it might not be used to subvert an election? If that seems impossible, you haven't been paying attention.
8
I think this article was long enough that it can be deemed opinionated, rather than, simply, opinion. Politics is a dirty business (akin to sausage making) and lots of people voted for what they saw as the lesser of two evils. Given the state of the economy it's clear your concerns are real and the POTUS likely will remain in office through 2024. On the other hand, we all could do worse than perhaps our best economy in 243 years.
1
I always thought workplace retaliation was an actionable offense. But I guess Trump would walk even if he shot Vindman in the middle of 5th Avenue. I weep.
5
Dramatic list of bullet points, clinkety clink. But the guy needed checked. I'm glad somebody took it on. Too bad others couldn't handle witnesses. That's what made them pathetic.
1
We’re not afraid of Trump. We’re not afraid of anything. We’re Americans. Bad guys are caught, killed, or locked away forever. It’s in all our movies.
Bad guys go bankrupt. They lose their wives. Their children are swallowed up in a series of convoluted crimes. Their daughter stares at her man’s car driving away without her.
Our country isn’t afraid.
It’s just confused.
The bad guy is still standing and the movie hasn’t reached the final reel yet.
4
Before Donald Trump was famous for being famous, he was famous for his myriad financial bankruptcies. Now. he's added moral bankruptcy to the list, while in the process of bankrupting the entire country.
Just as always, he will be bailed out by others, in this case, the American taxpayers, who will end up having to foot the bill for his fiscal irresponsibility, aided and abetted by the unprincipled and finally exposed Republican party. Clearly, Trump, McConnell and the soulless, complicit, hypocritical, gaslighting Republicans are driving Democrats nuts.
It's hard staying sane when insanity rules. In fact, it's enough to drive an entire nation crazy.
6
Trump is too dense to admit or realize this, but once he's out of office (1) none of the currently salivating foreign dictators will want anything to do with him and (2) the lawsuits against him will take the rest of his life to deal with and quite possibly send him to the poorhouse.
5
Hard to believe I might have 4 more years of Trump and his tweets.At least in Canada I can watch CBC and not CNN.
1
A repulsive scene at the White House prayer rally and cult rally.
I would like to buy a monument or sign in Washington to engrave the names and home states of these repulsive people who cheered a vile man ridiculing a woman's prayer and did not walk out, but applauded, his attack on their colleague and friend- the leader of their party 7 years ago- who acted with integrity and honored his oath. I have never met people I would consider as horrible and bereft of honor as these fawning, cowardly sycophants that spend our 240 years of American honor to keep a job in which they do nothing but further defile the country and the trust of their fellow citizens.
I want them remembered. Their families should have to claim them. Their actions Friday and on the impeachment vote will be the sole act for which any on them are wil be remembered. Perhaps some way to insure their actions are enshrined might inhibit such behaviour in the future.
Any suggestions on how to fund a memorial so they and future villains can be memorialized?
5
Your classy nemesis made the blunder of the century trying to take Trump down with the clueless neo cold war mess that the public twitched off. The only thing mildly interesting is the nasty reaction of the GOP to Romney's heresy. Its funny many of the GOP senators think Trump a boorish clueless ego maniac but that is not an impeachable offense. Now the anti-Bernie shriek from the NYTs and Carville. Clinton is touring the country with her pity party. She claims that Sanders among other imaginary culprits cost her the election. See 12% of his voters went for Trump. Little is mentioned that 25% of her primary voters went to McCain. Bernie can get this thing. Trump is doing his garish brag fest about the economy which is raging on with a Keynesian roar. A trillion dollars in debt to make the rich richer.
More of Dowd’s silly scare tactics. We are at a crisis, no doubt, but the democrats are not imploding. Trump will lose because this is still America. I remain confident.
5
What a mess. Is it really so horrible that I think some people don't age as well as others and 78 is just realistically past the point of competently being referred to as the most powerful wo/man in the world?
You better have some stamina to back up that title.
As for Biden, hmmm, he's lost a step, he gave up his chance stepping aside for Hillary. Although he may be only one of two possible choices who seems willing to kick up some dirt and muddy up The Donald.
78 year old Bernie Sanders better pick a superb VP candidate. Just sayin'. I hear Kamala Harris might be available for the VP slot. She'd be perfect for anyone's VP. Or even Corey Booker if more than two people knew who he was.
Lizzie Warren would be a great president but she Will. Not. Win. in the general election. Sad, but true. You know I'm right. .
Mayor Pete (thanks for the nickname, I can't keep looking up "Buttigeg(sp?)"should not be criticized for his supporters or rich donors. Look, he's playing the game, not breaking any laws. Not calling out to Russherr, you know, if they're listening. You plays the cards been dealt, son. Dem's da rules. If that's the worst that can be said about him, that he has rich donors like Every Other Candidate then we could do worse. Please, spare me the "he's a closet racist" nonsense. You go fix 300 years of endemic, institutional, corn-fed local bigotry in your first couple of years as mayor. Then come back and tell us how you did it and you get my vote.
1
The Democrats do not need to be scared to death. Quit saying things like that. It is ridiculous. The Democrats will be just fine.
4
This very mentally ill man didn't even wait for the afterglow of the acquittal to subside before wallowing in vindictiveness. He can't wait to play to his base, even though there aren't enough of them to re-elect him.
While the Democrats dither, the country moves on and waits anxiously for the next election. The economy won't save this despicable liar from losing in November. It's all smoke and mirrors and isn't in the condition the GOP would like us to believe. The current medical emergency in China is likely to affect the economy in the next few weeks and months.
Only the people of our country can save our democracy from this criminal and traitor and those who've allowed him to run roughshod over the tenets of our Constitution.
Karma is coming for you.
5
It is amazing that even someone as astute as Ms. Dowd doesn't understand what is happening. For her it's all "Orange Man bad." The President has provoked the Dems into, as Allan Funt used to say, "being themselves." They are angry that the President is alive and Qasem Soleimani is dead. They are angry that unemployment continues to fall, angry that he has thrown a lifeline to HBCU's, angry that the pro-life movement now has a champion, and angry that their best efforts to destroy the man have completely failed. Ms. Dowd writes "it's strictly personal" as though it is a revelation. When one has been attacked and undermined as the President has, when his family has been attacked and slandered, it certainly is personal. And I have not seen one liberal columnist take issue with the President's statement that he might not have survived had he not fired Comey. His victory this fall is virtually certain because his opponents cannot help themselves in expressing their infantile rage. As I watched the "classy" Speaker tear her pages of the speech I thought, "Oh, honey, you just stepped into it." And now she will enable more "investigations". They don't learn.
Maureen Dowd must be in heaven. She gets to write her "Dems in disarray" column early this year.
She kicks off her take of Democratic "dysfunction" in Iowa by citing the failure of the Des Moines Register poll. How that's the fault of the Democrats is beyond me?
And then she says they are afraid. Well, Democrats voted to impeach Trump - including some, like Doug Jones, who hold very precarious seats - while the Republicans, cowed and whipped, meekly voted in almost total unanimity to acquit him. I'm not sure she saw the same impeachment process the rest of us did.
6
You can do anything. They'll let you do anything.
Trump in a nutshell.
4
Sounds like you are continuing to enjoy the show and spectacle. He is going to win and the world as we know it has ended for the worse. The Dems are a horrific train wreck and watching or not watching they are going to continue to derail and crash into a fiery flash.
The honorable Vindman was booted by the dishonorable Vindictive man. We've seen this too many times before - war heroes undercut by cowards, just because parts of our populace are woefully incurious and uninformed. Nonetheless, the cowards currently have the White House.
If you have eyes that see, bring out the Vote, then Vote yourself in 2020. The American idea (and probably the planet too) depends on it.
4
Nancy Pelosi was right to tear up the lies and hateful rhetoric that comprised his campaign speech of the Union. Crowning Rush Limbaugh was crushing the very spirit of all that was good in America. If I were her, I'd like to think I would have walked out rather than have to suffer through it. It's beginning to look as if the US constitution and our democracy are not quite strong enough to defend itself against 52 cowards.
3
Replying on behalf of dogs(chasing tails is such a singular occupation) I'd have to say the title swung interest on thoughts of Solzhenitsyn and not another Russian thread please!
My terrier spotted MO/s monicker and I was barked into let's see how she slices/dices the good and bad of last week. In US politics.
Did well, very funny, cutting.. we agreed.
Till Vindman's 'discharge' when, bless her, Pressman's pov as to "silent, pliable, complicit" Republicans sprang from the page.
Dogs know a thing or two about bullies, and domination not to mention dominion over all, is undergirded with comply, obey and show willing. Interesting, that.
Almost conjures a new word: Donimation.
What it takes to win now is an endless media blitz and a constant media thrusting to undermine all others at all times. The Russians know that.
1
Don't agee with Ms Dowd on one point. Nancy Pelosi didn't go "over the edge" when she tore up Trump's speech. She expressed, symbolically that it deserved to be so shedded.
He LIED on every page, she said, so didn't deserve to be kept intact, and she was RIGHT. Trump does NOTHING civil; he lies, deflects, harasses, bullies, demeans; in fact , find something civil about HIM IF you can. Leave Pelosi alone. I LIKED her tearing up that speech. Showed guts....and resolve, and honesty. GO PELOSI..... She did the best she could do to show her disgust, her distaste of Trump, and I applaud her.
4
“I had not picked up on the joke of melania giving limbaugh the medal for bullying. Good one, “ writes a NYT reader. Neither did I. However, more than a joke is an irony, a travesty of, a disgrace for Be Best which truly many wanted to see it as the saving grace of Pennsylvania 1600. What I noticed os the face of deep surprise the radio commentator put, as if that was truly news. It was not. I read it somewhere hours before the SOTU. The President had announced at lunch.
2
A message from disgusted Kentuckians. No amount of hand wringing over the election will do any good unless you cut the head off of the snake--Mitch McConnell. The Democratic party should have been pumping money into this state and grooming candidates long ago.
5
I don't know if it's just me, or if these people and the press don't have logic in their brain, or they don't see what really happened.
They keep saying trump had a great week and he beat them, but that's not the truth, he had a Republican run senate who ignored their Oath that they took, ignored all the clear cut evidence out there.
Either out of fear, or maybe they're on the pay roll of Russia, or who knows, they just ignored it all, ignored their oath, except for one person, and acquitted him
So he did not have a great week he's still impeached, and the only reason he got acquitted is because it was a Republican run senate who didn't do their duty.
These articles that make it sound like he had a great week are dangerous, your average American out there buys into that nonsense.
Instead the people in the press should be telling it like it really is
Now I don't know maybe they're afraid of him too, and they don't wanna tell the truth
But they really should look at the facts and report this better, and you know the right keeps calling at liberal media I don't see liberal media everything seems to be all about trump so as far as I'm concerned it's right wing media
4
Whoever they are the team in back of Trump has a lot going for them. They know just how to pull the strings to make us believe Trump could win. They were masters of deception during the 2016 election when they persuaded the entire world that Hillary had a 85% chance if winning. A ploy that lead to Trumps victory. Now they are doing it again.
Simply put Trump is the most hated president of all time and as long as the elections are fair he does not stand a chance. Please don't fall for the evil monsters that run the Trump campaign.
2
Trump is following the footsteps of the one pulling the strings - Putin. Yes, we all must be scared, not just Democrats.
2
Fear mongering Trump to his targeted MS-13: "DON'T SNITCH... it's ok, don't snitch." And this is different from Dr. Li's tragic saga of censorship and death how? What about our understaffed government science and medical departments. Dictator envy is a scary psychology and thousands of government employees were just silenced.
2
Time to let America go. It's not worth the effort.
2
A unity ticket to defeat the monster in the White House;
Saunders/Bloomberg. There is only one issue. Defeat Trump.
Save our Democracy.
1
"The Don Strikes Back" Shouldn't the title be: "The Mafia Don Strikes Back"? Ah, yes, revenge politics - Mafia Don's strong point - through the use of disinformation, deception and deflection. Why should we expect anything else? But what goes around, comes around - and Trump is due for a big fall - in the fall. And afterwards? Spending his "golden years" tarnished in state and federal courts fighting insurance fraud, bank fraud, sexual assault, and, oh gee, maybe fishing without a license. Good luck, Mafia Don. You're going to need it.
4
When I was still in school I was apprenticed under an ecclesiastical artist for some months - just for the experience. He was was very well educated but also in the Wehrmacht on the Russian front in WWII.
We tiptoed around that part of his life but in conversations as it seemed so far removed from where he was then. In one informal moment it came up. I still remember the look of incredulity and bewilderment in his eyes and voice when he said "Hitler lied, how did we believed him?!" He never spoke of it again.
Mr. Trump is not Hitler. There was an era before the war then he rose and captured the German people's imagination with his rhetoric or grievance and flattery - it's there for all to see. What will we say of this era in five, in ten years?
3
Nancy should have stood her ground, or, once the hunt was on to have finished it, using every weapon at her disposal and persuing her prey unseasingly until it was finished.
Instead, she wounded the beast and now, bruised but not beaten he will lash out at anyone not in his pack.
Another analogy? A virus. How fitting the time.
2
The Democrats have spent years acting like the 'good kids', waiting and hoping for the Principal and the teachers to deal with bully and his gang. Meanwhile the Republicans keep on bullying their way forward to their goals. Where is the Democrats killer instinct? There is no 'teacher' or Justice Department to set things right. Sometimes in life, you have to really hit back, and hard. And acting like a team would help them. Just choose a candidate quickly and get behind them before Russia does.
4
I’m amazed how you continue to trivialize what may in fact be the end of the Republic. Think about it:both the senate and House have been marginalized by failing to produce an authentic trial with a full examination and cross examination of both witnesses and evidence. The judiciary has also been relegated to a position of bystander to the elevation of the executive branch over and above the other two branches of government. Effectively we’re witnessing the transition to a defacto imperial state. It’s high time journalists and opinion writers such as yourself stop making cute remarks and pointless observations about whether or not he had a “good “ week. We’re in trouble now, up to our necks. And the sooner that’s written about forcefully and directly the better,
4
Ms. Dowd, A question for all to ask: Is there a way to remove William Barr from office, or cut off his powers -- immediately?
Consider the possibility that whistle blowers would immediately surface and balanced would be restored to the Galaxy...
3
It's not so much paybacks. It's about winning.
The Dems have much to fear. There are no John F. Kennedy's creating electrifying moments for the voters. With the exception of Mayor Pete, it's only elderly white candidates. So much for the "Party of Inclusiveness" who flushed Harris and Booker early on.
If Bernie is the nominee, Trump will win re-election by a landslide.
Game over.....See you again in 2024.
1
Yes, all Americans should be afraid of a Trump 2and term. Unlike an economy where the President has limited a ability to effect perfort, in foreign policy his effect is much greater. Add Trump's refusal to learn anything of history and his impulsivity driving "policy", this is a formula for disaster. Trump is also a wannabe autocrat which puts all Americans at risk. Bernie is not the sign when h emerges he base, maybe 30 % of Dems, his economic policy frightens Republicans, and most underpants and moderates, and will energize Trump's base. Bernie will be no more effective in the WH as he has been in the Senate. The Dems need a strong center-left nominee steeped in American principles and ethics who has shown the ability to accomplish goals thru consensus. We Klobucjer may not be exciting, but she can bring America together and put out gov't back on track.
2
Trump never intended to become an autocrat but having the authority of the President with a Congress that will not affect it’s checks upon a President who defies the rules, and advised by anarchists like Bannon and agitators against liberal democracy like right wing media figures, and Trump’s inability to learn how the government and international relations have worked satisfactorily have combined to channel Trump’s behaviors towards acting like one.
I'm for Bloomberg.
We need a candidate who can take on Trump. I think Bloomberg is the only one who can do it.
I see him as the guy we need for the times we're in. He can take on Trump. Make it a NYC street fight. Let's be real. That's what it'll be, it's how Trump plays, so let's get someone who knows the terrain.
Mayor Pete is smart and articulate. It's not his time. No way he can win against Trump. No way is he prepared. None of the rest of them can, between their weaknesses and the ugliness that's been spewing forth since Trump got elected.
All the candidates are great in their own ways, but we HAVE to focus on uniting and having the candidate who can beat Trump. See him for the sociopath that he is.
Bloomberg is the only one who's strong and savvy enough to know how to get to Trump.
Sanders is out in La-La Land. Plus he just had a heart attack! Good grief.
5
NO NO NO!
WE put him where he is! WE the nation where 45+ eligible voters STAYED HOME in 2016 instead of voting. So don’t burden us who did vote with the LUDICROUS notion that we have something to fear. GOPs are a MINORITY of the electorate, as they have always been. Many more, younger than 18 four years ago, are perfectly free and able to vote in 2020.
So please let US stop making excuses and fabricating unhelpful scenarios, let US assume OUR civic responsibility , and let US for once be the GROWNUPS and vote as such in November.
4
Acceptance of Trump's boorish behavior is not understandable by me. The people I have known and now know would never tolerate the bragging, the insults, the bullying from their friends and neighbors.
My bet is that most of those within Trump's base would ground their kids or choose different friends if they behaved similarly. I can't make sense of why we tolerate this in a president.
2
Three gold stars for today’s column: possibly the best (and scariest) ever.
if it's always darkest right before the lights go out entirely, then maureen dowd's right, it's time to give up all hope, we who have entered this national politics of lies, threats and cheating. still, at some point the democrats will coalesce around an answer to trump. bloomberg and his billions my seem a poor substitute for a candidate with genuine grassroots, but if he can make 2020 all about healthcare, we may find it's trump's most vulnerable issue.
3
I'm old enough to remember when Republicans were pro-FBI and anti-Putin.
That seems so quaint and a long time ago.
Circa 2016.
5
“Democrats from Congress to Los Angeles began whispering hopefully about Michael Bloomberg. “There seems to be a groundswell of support, mostly based on the fact that he’ll spend whatever it takes and fight just as dirty as Trump — with more resources,” said David Israel, a writer in Hollywood.”
Whispering? They should be shouting from rooftops. I read a rather thin biography of Bloomberg years ago and thought he was sterling. A “mensch”, worthy of admiration viewed in any light. I think the USA could not hope for a better challenger to Trump than Bloomberg. He seems the antithesis of Every. Single. Thing. ‘Trump’, and I believe he truly scares Trump and the Republicans. Just think for one brief moment of a debate between the two. Enough said.
2
First, Ms Dowd, Speaker Pelosi responding to trumps lies is not trumpian, it is simply telling the truth and emphasizing that truth. Stop that kind of trying to be clever. It makes you sound snippy!
Second, the DNC has needed revamping and modernization for years now. The Democratic Party (my party) is lacking in the ability to get their messages across. There is no strong voice. That is why I am supporting Mike Bloomberg and I hope everyone does. He is the only candidate who doesn’t come across as boring, absurd or weak. He can intimidate trump on the debate stage and can bring with him to the WH, all the smartest, well meaning people who know how much danger we are in and can make changes for the better work. Think about it please!
4
Won't be the first time in the history of democratic ideals (and very recent history) that the masses have voted for a de facto autocracy for self-gratification & 'entertainment' value. History shows that many a person just loves a dictator, until they realize they are a target too—that always happens sooner or later.
As a lifelong Republican and Trump supporter I could vote for Mike Bloomberg who is sane a billionaire with the resources to buy the White House and not wreck my carefully planned retirement.
I find the debates very discouraging. All the participants appear to possess intelligence and reasonably good character. I'm quite sure that any one of them would be a vast improvement over Trump. Yet I feel uneasy and apprehensive. If I needed a complex surgical operation, I would choose the most competent surgeon I could find. Not the one with the nicest personality. Perhaps I am being overly pragmatic but with Trump' s very high approval rating there seems to be no room for error as far as candidate selection is concerned. I hope delegates focus laser like on a candidate who they believe has the best chance of beating Trump and support that candidate irrespective of other factors. This argument may sound overly pragmatic but when the operation is this serious you need a surgeon with the most competence, period.
2
The enabler of Donald Trump is the dysfunctional Democratic Party.
Various Democrats advance crackpot proposals (giving incarcerated felons the right to vote) and/or politically unattainable programs (Medicare for all).
On the other hand Republicans pursue a single objective (tax relief for the rich) by whatever means and no matter what the cost to the long term viability of the United States.
Von Clausewitz said that war is politics by another means. In war a smaller but disciplined force will always prevail over a larger disorganized force. Ditto politics.
1
For the first time in my adult life, I'll be a "single issue voter" this year...that issue will be to get trump out of office. Same goes for his Republican lackeys in Congress who protect and enable him at all costs to the country. I don't feel great about it, but the damage that trump and the GOP will do with another 4 years has left me no choice. We can't risk another 4 years of trump's chaos chipping away at our national security. It won't be safe for any of us.
Whether you support him or not, Joe Biden is right -- this year's elections will be for the "soul" of our country.
12
Now the Presidential Metal of Freedom has been discounted to the point that it is virtually meaningless and valueless.
10
@Wes
You can bet that the Limbaugh fiasco is only the start of a long line of pompous presentations to revolting specimens from the depths.
Hopefully someone will convince Trump that a special medal, say the Trump Honor of Whatever, should be made for him alone to hand out. Then when he starts selling them to the highest bidder, it won't matter.
Let's focus on what it would take to beat Trump?
Nominate Klobachar meeting diversity issue and a proven vote-getter from moderates. Plus, on the issues:
You could argue for health care for undocumented citizens here and waiting for resolution of their asylum claims if-and these are BIG IFS=you closed the borders to illegals, updated the asylum laws and processes to deal with unprecedented mass economic migration. You cannot be elected when arging for both open borders and free healthcare for undocumented. Absolutely impossible. Insane. Fulll Stop.
You can support human and proper treatment of people with gender dysphoria or others who elect to change genders for whatever reason if you did not also contend that men pretending to be women can compete with our daughters and granddaughters in athletic competition, depriving them of their Title IX protections and pretend that such people were really misdiagnosed as to gender at birth and allow them to change their birth certificates. Insanity.
You can try to negotiate a nuclear deal with Mullahs and transfer hundreds of $millions to them but not while letting them continue to support Hezbollah and Hamas in their bloody attacks on Israel and Sunnis and build a missle program. Insanity.
You can agree with other countries to fight climate change but not expect US taxpayers to pay $trillion for expensive renewable energy for the entire developing world and also give China and India a 10-year pass. Insanity.
Simple.
1
@Cenzot - Agree with you 100%.
"The president even finally managed to send his classy nemesis, Nancy Pelosi, over the edge, as she became so agitated that she was driven to Trumpian tactics to rebut his lies."
So many smart people think this was a mistake on Speaker Pelosi's part. I think it was a calculated act: destroying a manifesto of mendacity emblematic of Trump's 16,241 lies.
A copy of the speech is not a historical document that it is illegal to destroy, any more than a modern copy of the Constitution is. And Trump routinely tears documents he's done with into tiny pieces. Those ARE subject to the Presidential Records Act, and a team of people is employed to tape them back together for preservation.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/10/trump-papers-filing-system-635164
So Nancy Pelosi has focused attention on this practice of Trump's.
10
You write: “Democrats from Congress to Los Angeles began whispering hopefully about Michael Bloomberg. “There seems to be a groundswell of support, mostly based on the fact that he’ll spend whatever it takes and fight just as dirty as Trump — with more resources,” said David Israel, a writer in Hollywood.”
Whispering? They should be shouting from rooftops. I read a (somewhat short) biography of Bloomberg years ago and thought he was sterling - worthy of admiration viewed in any light. I think the USA could not hope for a better challenger to Trump than Bloomberg. He seems the antithesis of single thing that characterizes ‘Trump’, and I believe he truly frightens Trump and most Republicans. Imagine, for one brief moment, a Bloomberg-Trump debate. Enough said?
6
I am a 74 year old white male the same group that supposedly supports Trump. I am not encouraged by what I've heard from any of the Democratic candidates, especially Comrade Bernie, that any of them will beat Trump. Nevertheless, rather than sit at home and not vote, I'll vote for Donald Duck if he ran rather than Donald Trump.
9
After 3 years, the monarch reference has gotten not just old but ridiculous. Imagine what a real monarch with power would do to the Lord or Lady who yore up the King’s annual State of the Kingdom speech. Something would roll and it wouldn’t be the drums.
The point about Vindman is that he STARTED the impeachment, not that he testified. That was clear if you followed the House Q and A carefully.
Why would Trump or anyone keep him around? To start another failed impeachment?
And Vindman was transferred back. No lost rank or pay.
Anyway, don't despair. He'll be back. The Senate is doing a careful inquiry into how the impeachment was started.
3
What I miss most about elections in this country is a lack of a sense of humor. We had it in spades with JFK. We had glimpses of it with John McCain. The current resident of the WH, President Peachy, has a negative sense of humor.
Yes, the next election is as serious as a heart attack and we don’t need a clown but I sure would like to hear the occasional quip that brings a smile and a nudge to consider that person as someone who is smart enough to lead us through the land mines.
2
I think this is a lot bigger crisis that we want to perceive or admit. There are destructive patterns that we do not see and are not looking for and are programmed to look away from when we get a glimpse of ... patterns of history and behavior that feel like they have gotten out of control in America as never in living history, like demons from the past are rising again and no one has the words or language to discuss it, and it just keeps expanding like all the modern catastrophes unfold these days.
Something has gotta give, and that something is most closely described as being the failure of the American government due to massive corruption ... so as long as we get a President who can recognize and do something about that we will at least be one the right track to some extent.
That means getting rid of Trump and not replacing him with anything in the model of our last Presidents who have all failed the leadership test and passed the corruption or at least selfishness test. Sanders, Warren, Steyer and even Yang ... if I could just mix them all together and erase the silly foilbles we've been brainwashed to think are so important I think we'd be on the right track.
Good luck America, us.
3
One of the reasons Iowa was such a debacle is that Trump supporters were jamming the telephone line used to phone in the results to party headquarters. Democrats need to understand that there is no depth to which Trumpites will sink in order to prevail and plan accordingly.
6
Looking at the recurring theme of those that dislike President Trump it reall comes down to: "He isn't one of us therefor anything he does is wrong"
President Trump is not a Politician. More importantly he really is a Republican In Name Only, just not the type of RINO you want. He is a Fiscal Conservative Independent. Worse is he does not play by your rules. Any "real" Republican would have backed down long ago. He actually fights back. Worse he uses the Democrats own methods against them, and they have no idea how to deal with that.
So my recommendation is to lose your hate, it makes President Trump seem rational. Pick a candidate that can make independents and Republicans WANT to join them. Whatever you do please stop the name calling, it only serves to cause those you cast dispersion on to let you think you are winning then go to the ballot and vote against you. It was the demise of Hillary Clinton, and in England it ensured a Pro-Brexit vote even though all the polls, in both cases, said the opposite was going to happen.
1
Trumps actions after the House of Lords, formerly the Us senate, simply incredibly highhandedly did not allow in any way the presentation of evidence, says everything. He will not change, he lacks the capacity to change. I know there is no precedent but I would’ve liked it if the house had made it’s case then proceeded to continue the investigation, add more articles, issued new articles of impeachment. Yes, Our republic is damaged but it is worth saving. He starts again, hit him again so he becomes the first President to be impeached twice.
2
Pelosi needed to rip up that speech. All over the world, people who didn’t even know her name, are talking about her, and having hope for us because of her action.
11
The whole affair doesn't bother me and after listening to James Carnaval barker on TV the other day I knew he was past his prime. Who wins will do just fine as the alternative is a very daunting and scary alternative. Vote like your lives depends on it because it does.
3
Here in Trump country, politics is only a safe topic if everyone agrees with each other. This morning I nearly fell off my chair when someone in our breakfast group said they thought Mike Bloomberg would be an excellent president.
Maybe there's hope.
11
Dems have the numbers, and will settle on a candidate.
We must keep our eyes on the prize and
GET OUT THE VOTE!!!
5
Has anyone, besides myself, noticed the salute of the white supremacist that trump has been saluting during his speeches from day one? This pictures blatantly captures it. It amazes me that this is never mentioned. Don't make excuses as it being just his mannerism, it takes effort to make this salute. Do not forget his father was arrested during a KKK rally in Washington years ago when he was a young man. This mentality is how he was raised.
11
@smf -- No.
I don't know enough about white supremacy to know their salute(s).
Trump is pretty clueless. If I don't know, I wouldn't assume that he does.
Trump consistently denies all facts that are unfavorable and asserts anything that he thinks will support his assertions or make him seem admirable. He knows when he is misrepresenting reality but believes that just by asserting anything with confidence enough people will believe it that facts will not matter. His behavior after his acquittal by the Senate Republicans in an abbreviated trial is consistent with all of his previous behaviors.
His purge was vindictive and tactical, both. Kicking out those who betrayed him as he asserts was logical. But, he is a person with little tolerance for adversity and really is an habitual whiner. After three years in office he still does not conduct himself Presidentially nor with any grasp of the responsibilities. But he knows how to entertain and campaign, which he does instead of governing well. The state of the Union Speech was a campaign rally that ignored all of the nation’s challenges.
2
In response to Ray Harper responding to @JoeBftsplk: This is the kind of knee-jerk liberal attitude that gave us trump in the first place and will do it again.
I repeat part of what I wrote earlier this week: Rich individuals funding their own campaigns entirely with their own money is categorically different than corporations and individuals donating huge amounts of money in order to influence the campaigns and then the allegiances of candidates. Bloomberg can only influence Bloomberg. There is simply nothing wrong with that. If he's a good candidate with good platforms and can convince enough people to vote for him, more power to him.
Beyond illogic, there is a disturbing moralism to the condemnation of self-funded campaigns, claiming it is somehow 'not right,' 'bad for democracy,' etc. Why?! He's participating in the democratic process in a straightforward way.
Is it better to have candidates spend so much time begging people for money and convincing influential donors to give them large sums of money? Not all do the latter, but then they're begging even more individuals for money. And spending money they've begged for in order to beg for more.
4
I don’t love the fact that a person has to either be beholden to corporations that donate to them or be so rich they can fund themselves. I guess being filthy rich is better than being indebted to corporations, but it still means we will have someone in the White House who lives a life that in no way, shape or form resembles that of an average American? How is a billionaire supposed to relate to people who can’t afford a $400 unexpected expense? Will they even really understand the problems we face? Trump sure doesn’t.
@Smilodon7
I agree it's not ideal, but there was FDR, and there was JFK.
2
@pb -- "Bloomberg can only influence Bloomberg."
True, but then who is he?
We know that where you stand depends on where you sit. He sits pretty.
Democrats should prepare for another four years of Trump. That's about it.
5
Trump has built an administration in his own image, ignorant and incompetent. The deficit is beyond control, there are still active investigations underway, a hurricane season and foreign crises in the wings between now and November. There are too many unknowns to declare a premature victory.
4
@Brendan Varley
President Trump hasn't doubled the national debt, or even close. This is one of the myths liberals are spreading about the guy they hate.
The national debt stood at about $10.6 trillion when President Obama took office, and about $19.6 trillion when he left, for an increase of about 86%.
The debt is now at about $23.2 trillion.
You testify against Trump, you can hardly expect that he still thinks you are his friend. And he didn't have anybody killed, he just said "you don't work for me anymore". For all I know Vindman is right but being right against your boss it's not the best strategy.
5
@Ludwig -- Being right against your boss can be good, even with the boss, if you give good advice, but then keep it to yourself when you disagree with the decision.
This issue here is the public assault on the decision, the public rally for Ukraine and against the President.
Sure, any of us are allowed to do that. It's a free country. But we can't expect to do that and still keep working for the President.
1
@Ludwig It's not a Fortune 500 company, or even Trump U. This is the US government we're talking about here, which has unfortunately has been taken over by a despot, with no one able to pull the plug on his administration.
1
@Ludwig Vindman was subpoenaed and told the truth under oath. It's not his fault if the truth reflected badly on Trump - to put it mildly.
4
Bloomberg is looking better and better.
10
Rush Limbaugh an example of the heroic American. Yes, thats where we are.
Democrats should prepare for another four years of Trump. That's about it.
3
Notwithstanding his notable act of charge in standing up for the Constitution, I don’t suppose Mitt is expecting to receive a Medal of Freedom anytime soon, even though Rush Limbaugh has already got one.
To get one of those Medals today, it helps to be a con-artist media clown of very high magnitude skilled into deluding and inciting angry and desperate Americans into believing that down is up and up is down.
Shaun Hannity will be getting his Medal from Melania soon.
All Mitt can look forward to is a future of looking around, checking to see if anybody is walking behind him.
2
There's plenty of outrage to go before November. And now we have our own oligarch with much more money than Trump. The thug will fight hard by lying, cheating, and stealing--his usual approach to life. So we will see if America is exceptional or just another Empire that had it's day.
2
Chillingly true.
2
Princess Maureen's portrayal of the recent debacle in Iowa, Nancy Pelosi's handling of Trump on paper, etc., is not as obscene as Duchess Melania's presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Depraved Rush Limbaugh, but Maureen holding court with the Democratic Party scrambling under her pen is nauseating. Nancy Pelosi, a good Catholic, did very well to channel her rage at Trump by tearing him up. For the best portrayal of the Depraved Rush, look no further than this paper's 'Rush Limbaugh in His Own Words'. The Depraved puts Princess Maureen to shame. That's it, 'Shame, shame, shame'!
3
Dowd's family members vote Republican. She can't help being born different. They have given her all the love and support a family can provide, but it apparently hasn't helped.
2
I ask, why are people afraid of this con-man?
So what if he's got a base of Rush Limbaugh-ites.
So what if he's conned a GOP clinging to their last vestiges of power as the United States undergoes tectonic shifts.
Confront him head on, fearlessly. The self-pitying coward usually backs down.
4
Remember Maureen it could be worse. It could be Hillary. Thanks once again for all your 2016 columns that helped prevent that potential tragedy
5
@Philip Panasci -- You don't know what wars she'd have caused. You don't know who she'd have sold us out to, economically. You don't know how completely she'd have given up on health care, although we know she said she couldn't do much.
Some of us were quite sure those answers would have been awful, and still think so, and a Supreme Court that favors abortion just isn't a good enough reason to support all of that bloodshed and economic misery for eight or twelve years (if she'd been able to hand off too).
Don't do it again. She was a nasty candidate. Offer better. There are many choices now, just as there were last time.
@Philip Panasci
I completely agree. What if Maureen doesn't like the Democratic candidate? Will she, with this media platform, help re-elect Trump?
1
I cannot understand how Trump acting like a dictator and the Republican Party enabling him makes up "having a good week".
1
The mass media have long lost their collective minds. This is why thoughtful readers take nothing they offer seriously. Ms Dowd is no exception. I read the NYT for laughs only to read just how nutty their dialog with their diminishing flock of faithful believers can get. I'm never disappointed.
What Ms Dowd cannot fathom and that we bumpkins in flyover country have long ago determined, is that the forth estate is a complete fiction. They have become a perfect allies of giga-government with all its unavoidable theft and corruption for the media's share in the loot.
Mr Trump is not a saint; we get it Ms Dowd. Saints don't win wars and the makers of this country long ago have realized that we are at war the takers headquartered in DC. We don't need the press to tell us how imperfectly Trump shone a light on the mice nibbling at our taxpayer provided cookies in far away Ukraine and elsewhere.
How did Ukraine, China .et al become our natural "allies" and the object of our extravagant taxpayer largess Ms Dowd?
Is it simply owing to the fact the cookie jars we leave in these remote corruptocracies lie far beyond the visibility of both citizens and our tattered system of justice?
Follow the well worn tracks our our DC congressional mice to these remote and inconsequential fiefdoms all the way to the cookies we have deposited there for some otherwise unfathomable reason and you might have a real story Ms Dowd.
1
I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that Ukraine and Russia are shooting at each other. At least in the case of Ukraine. That kind of makes aid to Ukraine a no brainer.
2
@Bruce Frykman -- If Trump is crawling the bottom, we came down low enough for him to do so under Dubya.
Obama's Cabinet choices and actual policies didn't really save it either, although as a person he is a far better man. He hired and empowered some awful people.
The Democrats are freaking out because all of their leading candidates have a fatal flaw or idiosyncrasy that Trump would annihilate. Sanders wants open borders while giving away free education and healthcare. Warren is always lecturing and she is a nit picker. Klobuchar is a good candidate but a woman at the top of the ticket isn’t going to beat Trump this time around either. Mayor Pete is a good candidate but America just isn’t ready for a gay President and a first husband yet. Michael Bloomberg knows how to handle Trump, he gives him the New York brush off, he has been dealing with punks like Trump all his life and he drives Trump crazy. Bloomberg’s flaw is his stop and frisk which he is handling and his wealth. If people like Trump because he was an independent businessman, Michael Bloomberg is every thing Trump pretended to be plus his organization is ten time more efficient than the DNC. If the Democrats want to defeat Trump and can tolerate old Republican lite, grab on to Michael Bloomberg now.
8
@Bruce Pippin -- Klobuchar has weaknesses, but being a woman isn't one of them. If anything, it is one of her major strengths, a major appeal factor.
The same is true for Warren. Warren would be my pick.
Why the big fuss about Vindman? His next Navy assignment starts in a few months and he'll be retiring soon anyway.
@Jim In an alternate, just universe, Trump would have been thrown out of office and Vindman would have gotten the medal of freedom. Too bad he was such a patriot, huh?
4
It shows how mean and vindictive the President actually is. As if we needed another example. He has NO ONE to blame for getting impeached but himself.
@Cryptomeria -- In that alternate universe, when we are at war for Ukraine, how bad does that war get?
Americans all seem to be under the delusion that you live in a democracy where very little has changed. You are wrong. The United States of America of the 1789 Constitution no longer exists except in name. What will it take to make you wake up? Re-education camps?
2
Maureen, everyone has "bad weeks." But truth and love run marathons and we are in a marathon.
Anyone who gets us back to the core values of decency, neighborliness, kindness, what is right in dealings with other people...has my vote. We all need to focus on this.
Instead, we are being held hostage to the whipping up of anger, to bullying, to black/white divisions in thought and in racial identities.
We are so much more complex than that as human beings, and we need to figure out how to stand on our potential to do something good, again, in the world because we embrace complexity.
Can calm regard of what is happening be as contagious as angry whipping of up crowds? It can, if we all breath and focus on hitting the ball or birdie or whatever your racket game preference is. Just hit the birdie. Square in the middle, and send it back over the net, until we prevail.
And we will. All this crisis mongering is bad for health--everyone's and the planet's too.
2
A suggestion I read about. What if Bloomberg bought Fox News & the other Republican TV network with his billions instead of running for POTUS ?
Anyway Americans , the rest of the world is looking over their shoulder & moving on from the Trump-Kushner crime family & their abettors. If you don`t dump them all in a Dem landslide this November your only "ally" will be the only country in which Trump has a positive rating ie. Israel.
5
Good idea. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Sean Hannidy found out he who his new boss was.
Trump has alienated Israel by the "peace plan" he published. The only ally (correction: "overlord") we will have is Russia.
First, Ms. Dowd, I resent the statement that Pelosi resorted to trumpian tactics. She DID NOT and WOULD NOT. Simply responding emphatically and I might add, intelligently, is a way of getting out the truth of his lies. She is so much more verbally competent than trump...do not compare them please. You come off as snippy.
Second, the DNC has needed a reboot to modern times for a while now. The only candidate who make order out of chaos in the party AND the WH is Mike Bloomberg. He has the intelligence to make things work and to bring smart people to the job of running this nation.
Think about it folks...trump cannot stand up to Bloomberg!
9
When you are dealing with a thug and gangster like Trump you would expect such a response. Democrats brought a knife to a gunfight. No excuse for not impeaching Trump based on treason, bribery and obstruction of Mueller investigation. No excuse for House investigators not sending multiple and repeat subpoenas to Bolton and entire upper echelon of Trump advisers , Giuliani, Pompeo and Barr. No excuse for not having Trump's attorney disqualified a witness and unethical representation in Senate proceedings. No excuse for not trying to get Roberts to issue subpoenas.
Now we have the Iowa debacle as the primaries start. Trump could care less about any guardrails on his behavior and his enablers in Congress are happy as pigs in mud and slop as the cash for fall elections rolls in.
2
We now get to see Donald do what Donald does best: REVENGE.
2
As a democrat I am scared to death, but Maureen, your op-ed sure didn't help allay these feelings. Not amused by your comment about Lt. Col. Vindman and his twin brother.
2
If it’s Dead Dog vs Trump on the ballot, I’m voting for Dead Dog.
3
We need you now, Amy Klobuchar!
2
Bloomberg is looking better to a lot of us...me included!
7
@TalkToThePaw Bloomberg/Klobuchar -- the only two who can beat Trump. The rest of the Democratic candidates are hopeless cases -- unelectable.
4
You have to ask yourself; would you trust any Democrat candidate with your life? I'm not voting.
I’d trust them way more than I do Trump.
1
It was interesting, that the start of the East Room victory romp was a bit delayed because the sound engineer had a little difficulity starting the Hail to the Emperor sound blast. I felt it strange that the president would require such a lead-in when walking into his own East Room among friends. I could't imagine Bill Clinton walking into a McDonalds to get a hamburger with Hail to the Chief heralding his entrance.
But then again, those were the days of presidents, these are the days of kings,
3
Trump, with the help of his enablers, is showing us the loopholes in our system of government. That's a silver lining of sorts. If we manage to survive this president, we must endeavor to rectify the situation. We must plug the holes as quickly as we can, or we will sink to the bottom forever.
2
And so it continues.....decline and fall of American Empire.
1
For once I agree with Maureen. This is not for dilettantes. This is existential.
Common, crass, and vulgar. Do voter's need to know more than this?
4
The trump "cult" requires an extreme response, massive effort and massive amounts of money - all to try and "undo" the indoctrination and infection we see at the root level of American society bought on by right wing propaganda.
The level of "brainwashing" via extreme right wing media outlets is epidemic and has been a wildly successful coup for the republicans. Brainwashing is notoriously hard to undo. How to fight it? BLOOMBERG. He has the means and the money to do battle. If you have a loved one who's gone over to the dark side, have a look at this excellent film from 2015 'The Brainwashing of My Dad" . Helpful to those who've lost people they care about to lies, deception and manipulation: https://www.thebrainwashingofmydad.com/streaming-services
3
Great last line.
A better description would would be that Democrat Party machinations failed all around and the public is wising up at last. The transparently partisan mockery of an impeachment trail was an abject failure. The DNC/Clinton ally attempt to manipulate the Iowa caucus failed so remarkably and the fingerprints were so blatantly obvious that even the stupefied media had to pay attention to the real election interference underway. Pelosi rips up Trumps speech yet her heart skips a beat and her eyelids flutter at the chance to clap and wave to CIA puppet Guaido. A bad week indeed and we haven't even got to the Durham and Barr show.
Bloomberg seems to be the only candidate that will be able to humiliate and then defeat Trump. That is what is needed at this point. The other Democrat candidates are simply not skilled enough to do the dirty job at hand.
6
The more he "wins" the more he feels invincible. At some point his insane hubris and pure criminality is bound to cause him to hang himself on his own rope but, so far, the GOP keeps cutting the rope. They won't give up their showman until they have to. His is the only circus in town, and the clowns need their jobs.
5
The White House warden has hit bedrock once again.
Trump et al have earned a trip of their choice to the frontlines of Afghanistan or Iraq.
If Trump can drive a golf cart surely he can maneuver a Humvee.
2
If you strike at the King you must succeed.
1
“The most powerful man in the world — buoyed by the silent, the pliable and the complicit —...."
A living, devastating, destructive CANCER eating away at our republic.
A call to arms.
3
Trump is ignorant, willfully uninformed, petty, vindictive, easily manipulated and lacks the capacity for strategic thought or the ability to recognize the consequences of his actions. Mitch McConnell is highly effective, strategic, knowledgeable, pragmatic, and has unwavering pursued GOP power for decades. McConnell knows that Trump will commit increasingly offensive acts, weakening our country’s security, economy, and international influence. Information about his past offenses will continue to be revealed. Inevitably, the weight of all he has done, and will do, must turn all but the most head-in-the-sand fools against not only Trump, but the entire GOP.
McConnell is more king maker than follower, and Trump is not at all the type of leader McConnell would choose. So, why would McConnell risk ensuring Trump could not possibly be removed from office?
Could it be McConnell, and whatever group of rich and powerful he is working with, are using Trump to establish the government they want, with the presidential powers they want. When America is sufficiently autocratic, without free elections, an independent press, or any great public dissent than in Russia, do they then need Trump’s fanatical base? McConnell knows that no consequence of Trump’s past or future actions can interfere with his goals. The forces of democracy and freedom have already lost, even if the game continues for another round or two.
4
Great piece Ms. Dowd. But, its only going to get worse - a lot worse. Buckle your seat belt.
3
Trump got one thing right: "Fake News". Even if he himself spews it out daily.
Nobody but partisans give a rip about the skullduggery the Dems or the GOP spew out: they want a job, they want to feel safe and they want a sense of community.
The politics of divisiveness (which often these days rhymes with 'diversity') only work when people don't feel they have their needs met.
All of the smart people on NYT, including O'Dowd prove over and over they are smart.
But somehow the rest of us blow off the brilliant people on the Left and the Right and vote in our OWN best interest, as we already KNOW (you) vote in YOUR best (smartest, elitist, entitled, bubble-ized) interest.
1
Trump’s followers don’t vote in their own interest. He’s not going to do squat for them, no matter what lies he tells.
The Medal of Freedom has been awarded to Mother Teresa and Rush Limbaugh. I would not have those two names could coexist in the same sentence.
4
Endless Blue State tirades, as always. Everyone has post docs, high verbal aptitude, blah blah. Trump is “unacceptable “....
OK, here’s a simple test: raise your hand if YOU are among the 170 million with good health insurance willing to drop it in return for the vaguely outlined MFA.
(I didn’t think so.)
But: Breaking News! Wolf just reported THE solution: We’re turning the job over to a NYC mega-Billionaire devoid of any sense of humor having nothing in common with Joe and Mary six pack. A walking super computer in a blue suit from a big city.
You. Are. Kidding.
Better hope for a deadlocked convention in Milwaukee resulting in the selection of a down to earth centrist governor.
You know, the sort of guy or gal who actually knows where the Red parts of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan actually are — and maybe even hunts or fishes.
Sober up Citizens.
1
Ms Down's article adds no value. It is just a demonstration of her wordsmith-ary. We have not forgotten her merciless take down of Hilary Clinton prior to 2016. nice try Maureen; an easy buck to make for your pocket.
6
Maureen, it is too early to surrender.
We need a U.S Grant to lead us to victory-someone that knows how to fight. Like Grant, we have the ammunition: 16, 000 lies since he assumed office, draft dodger, petty thief (Trump University), assaults on 19 women, used prostitutes: while married, and after his wife gave birth, racist, misogynist. The list is goes on. The Democrats must be willing to forever brand Trump for what he is-a loathsome low life unfit to be in office.
Similarly, we need to brand the Republican party for their unwavering support. We must praise Romney and Amash as honorable men.
Ultimately, we must convince the American people that a vote for Trump is a vote for immorality and corruption that forever stains their character.
We must use all tools available: Social media, the press, radio and TV.
Like Grant fighting in the Wilderness Campaign and what followed, we must be relentless in the face of criticism. We must push on to victory.
Ulysses S. Grant was a Republican
Grant was a very good general. But he did not make that great of a president.
I don't know, unleashed Trump is also unhinged Trump — an evermore ugly and absurd spectacle. With nothing left to moderate his self-inflating impulses he'll bloat until he pops. Every day he alienates more and more people and he's not winning over any new converts (maybe extorting or blackmailing some, but that sort of loyalty is tenuous at best). Soon he'll be left with only his rabid base, barely enough to half fill a high school auditorium and not nearly enough of an audience to launch a network for, should he try to do this from prison after the Marshalls drag him from the White House crying next January.
1
Trump disgusts me, but what disgusts me even more, and what may spell doom for our democracy, is that so many still support and enable him. That is a sign of massive and widespread moral deformity among the American people. To remedy this level of rot can take generations, when it happens at all. More often, it continues without correction until a system collapses from within.
When you have a massive existential threat like this, the last thing you should be doing is squabbling among yourselves. Wake up, Democrats!
February 11th ; next Tuesday the New Hampshire Republican
Party's primary will take place;
Perhaps the NYT should be there to hear William Weld
challenge Donald Trump: I think Bill Weld might just take
down Trump in a classic way that you may not expect.
A "pajama outfit"? Not pajamas, but a pajama outfit. Iowa must be stranger than I thought.
Anyway, you must admit that the Trump era has been entertaining.
God, I hate that man for dragging the reputation of the USA into the gutter. But... I fear his appeal to the dimwitted, ill informed, and, frankly, treasonous is going to prevail. There are simply too many of that ilk that will vote.
My one feeble hope, believing that there are more of my ilk than his, is a MASSIVE turnout that routs the GOP and him. Sadly, I would not bet my house on it.
Could the Democrats possibly look any more incoherent and incompetent?
I love Lawrence O'Donnell, but your "screwy under the rubric of quaint" description of the Iowa caucuses is much more accurate than his romantic / idealistic remark that the friendly, sensible, agreeable give-and-take of caucus voting is like the U.S. Senate "at its best."
No, alas.
And why are there not caucuses or early primaries in states with large non-white populations? Iowa and NH do not tell either party what they need to know.
At any rate, your theatre-of-the-absurd vision is alas the true one, I fear. ------- And I do fear, for the Democrats as they face the voter suppression ahead of them in November.
1
Bloomberg’s everything in real life that Trump only plays on TV: a self-made New York billionaire businessman who knows how to close deals. I recall many Trump supporters saying they were voting for him because they thought it would be good to have a businessman in the White House. Well, Bloomberg’s the genuine article. Oh, right, but guns... and abortion (although I’d bet Trump’s paid for a few)... and Trump’s a sexist, racist, know-nothing boor and Bloomberg’s none of those things (talk about identity politics!).
6
Very cutting analysis from Ms. Dowd.
Trump’s State of the Union was brilliantly simple. It’s the economy stupid. Meanwhile, the Democrats play identity politics with Warren’s surrogates or Warren personally attacking every white male rival possible for their privilege. And then Bernie Sanders is an unabashed socialist who took his honeymoon in the USSR. The Republicans will destroy him and I am not sure I even mind.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton racked up 3 million more votes than Trump for being the lesser of two evils.
Trump could benefit from this distinction in 2020, given the Dems’ choices.
1
It is easy to be a bully when you are dealing with cowards. The Republicans? No, the Democrats. They play right into Trump's hand because not one will give up the individual limelight to fight for the legislation passed by the House. JRoll
Seems to me all this anger is misdirected. Look at our own party. It’s a joke. Can’t run a simple caucus. Talking about crazy stuff that will never happen like forgiveness of student loans, free college, open borders, etc. Also an impeachment exercise destined to fail. The stars of the party are the crazies like AOC. November will be ugly and it will be the Dems fault
3
More shoes will be dropping. It ain't over till the fat lady sings.
1
As an ex republican, please democrats, please, stop with this nonsense. Bloomberg is the only one who can beat Trump. The sooner you wake up to this, the better for our country, the world, and the planet.
6
I can't stop laughing about "Encyclopedia Brown". thank you whoever for that!
1
Why do we even pay attention to polls after 2016 when Hillary was in the lead and assumed to win? People lied then and, with a Liar in Chief now, it's even more prevalent. The polls are being trolled!
The ghost of Mussolini has inhabited Trump's brain. We all know that Trump admires "strongmen" like Putin and Kim Jong-un and Netanyahu. He enjoys imposing his will on weaker foes. The Party formerly known as the GOP is now clearly the Party of Trump. They have abandoned their principles and live in the Rationalization of the far right. Just when we thought America was heading in the right direction, we've taken a turn to the Far Right.
Does the long arc of the moral universe bend towards justice?
1
I firmly believe, at this time, that Bloomberg is our man... Bernie and Elizabeth are too far left, Biden is too old, Buttigieg is very smart, very bright but I am afraid that we are not ready for a gay Pres. Amy is very good and would make a great VP candidate... she will pick up the women’s vote as well as many mid- west votes.
Bloomberg can and will go toe to toe with Trumpster... plus he hads plenty of money to do battle.
Look for Trumpster to dump Pence in favor of Nikki Haley.
3
Interesting that Ms. Dowd states "Democrats should be scared to death". It seems that all Americans should be scared to death.
2
Donald Trump is a grade B actor. His bluster, his threats, his degradations, his braggadocio are all part of the act. This probably comes as no surprise to anyone, but we know inside is a deeply insecure human being. I think we need to remember that. I think he needs to be confronted by an intelligent thoughtful, unafraid challenger who sees through his act. He is playing on our fears of him, when in reality he is afraid of his own shadow.
1
There is a terrible hunger in the country for a dictator. Trump fits that role perfectly since his supporters are already perfectly attuned to him, his hissy fits, his peculiar habits, his in-your-face lies and indiscretions. They embrace all of these. While they want to be like him they also understand that they are too small and insignificant and that he, in contrast, is the Big Man who substitutes for their inner inadequacies and personal sense of failure and disappointment.
Of course, Trump has these deficiencies himself, in spades, but that is beside the point. In fact it is yet another reason to project onto him. He fully embodies their desires and aspirations, even more so for the sexually repressed evangelicals (led of course, by people who are flagrant in doing the opposite.)
In terms of Trump and his Trumpers: They are him and he is them. They embody each other. Right down to the laughable hair and fake tan.
Defeat Trump. By any means necessary.
1
Democrats' worst enemy is not Trump; rather, it is themselves.
Forget about the 2016 disaster - when they were at the risk of losing the 8 years of hard fought battle, they chose to stay home - they had finally gotten a president they could take pride in, they helped the Republicans to sabotage President Obama's even-keeled approach to governing. Occupied Wall Street hurt Mr Obama more than the Republicans. Squeezing Mr Obama to the left only gave the Republicans excuse to oppose him at every turn.
It is funny Tom Steyer is actually using Keystone in one of his campaign ads. Keystone XL might be non-negotiable to some of the diehard progressives but it could modify to accommodate native Americans and to address with regulatory oversight. Instead, Steyer threatened the Democrats with financial support withholding if they didn't toe the line. Trump and the Republicans green light the pipeline extension anyway. So why would Steyer think he did something amazing?
Trump may be Trump but all his power actually comes from others. While the Republicans are too weak or too greedy, or both, to allow Trump turning them into zombies, the Democrats are too dumb or too shortsighted, to allow Trump turning them into props. Between the corrupted and the idiotic, no wonder people like James Carville are "scared to death."
THE DEMS PART I
A lot of dems believe that the best way to deal with the capital crimes of 'racism, sexism and faith' and their demonic demi god, Trump, is through quotas and censorship.
The reality is that studies have shown that Nazism flourished in Germany precisely because within that society children growing up were strictly 'verboten' to challenge their parents, and therefore were always on the lookout for a scapegoat.
By keeping a lid on even allowing the expression of divergent views they are empowering Trump who becomes a voice for views that the left finds abhorrent.
Yet. people believe what they believe based on their life's personal experiences. You can't as Yang said legislate away those feelings.
As an active Dem here is official invitation I received to attend selection of the state delegates in MA.
it represents much that is wrong with Dem politics, an unapologetic quota system based on identity. it is from this skewed selection process that makes it almost impossible for an ideas driven moderate to gain traction in the party today.
Follow up submission with a democratic party caucus invitation illustrates the point:
Maureen, you wrote, "And he has forged one of the most cynical and darkly productive alliances of all time with the poker-faced Mitch McConnell,".
Yes, he has, at least the most but not quite as cynical one since Adolph told Heinrich, "find the Final Solution and do it", which was November 1941 in the presence of his own subordinate Reinhardt H. to whom Heinrich, in turn, said, as Don can to Robert B., "you heard the man, do it."
Donald, Mitch, Robert, Adolph, Heinrich, and Reinhardt -- made from the same cloth for whom a stitch in time is crime.
1
Ms. Dowd's columns have puzzled me for quite some time now. She gives us a little boilerplate here and there which hints at the unacceptability of the impeached president. And then she cuts the Democrats to shreds in great detail and at great length, all the while extolling the barbarian bad-boy efficacy of Trump and his sycophants. Couldn't she just once in a while remind America that Mueller identified ten instances of obstruction of justice by he who shall not be named, that said individual has a list of impeachable wrongdoings that stretches from here to Mar a Lago, including the illegal and unconstitutional scheme to extort Ukraine into helping him cheat in the 2020 election?
1
Ah, Maureen, kill the big words and the obtuse sentiments. Use your own bully pulpit to tell the simple truth based on facts. The only counter to Trump's lies and disgustig behavior is for those with a place to write to attack straight on.
How is it that Justice Roberts allowed a sham trial? How is it that no witnesses were called because Trump wouldn't let people testify and yet no one went to jail for contempt? How is it that many Republicans knew Trump was guilty but they were too attached to their cushy jobs to offer them up for the greater good? Melania, arm candy for The Donald, placing our highest ward around the neck of a man who lives in hate is disgusting. Of course, there's more, but that's the gist of it.
I'm waiting for the media to publicize the fact that Trump wants to auction off Bears Ears national monument to oil companies. OUR land is up for sale to the highest bidder. And this isn't widely being publicized. You could do that, you know, Ms. Dowd.
Please direct your columns to aspects of our almost gone democracy that will encourage people to fight for it. Tell the truth (without big words) and stand behind what you write.
1
I wonder what Sen. Lisa Murkowski and the others have to say now that the head on a pike comment has proven to be spot on?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/us/politics/adam-schiff-closing-remarks.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
“Donald Trump is narrowcasting to African-Americans and Latinos with his Super Bowl ad and at the State of the Union, and the economy’s doing well, and meanwhile we’re fiddling around with a Socialist and Encyclopedia Brown,” moaned one top Democrat on the Hill.
- That is one of the funniest things I've read in a while.
Maureen seems to thrive on being above emotional connections, an intellectual stand above it style, while occasionally amusing, it falls a bit short of actually edifying as even high schoolers can pin point trump's gauche inhumanity. It's time to confront the ugly truth of presidential harm straight out without all the look at me cleverness so common in much, (certainly not all) media coverage.
1
In order to defeat an enemy, actionable discipline is far more important than mere intent. Democrats still haven't figured that out. And until they do, they will keep losing the battle to the rabblerouser.
2
I sure hope so!
Stop wringing you’re hands and make sure you vote blue all the way down the ballot. A blue house and senate will put a check on Trump, stop the parade of loyalist judges, allow RBG to retire and bring about a public option and giant infrastructure plan.
So many good things can happen with a democratic majority in the house and senate. Focus people focus. Give your money and support to those who really can make a difference.
5
Whoever gets elected, real results will require the cooperation of a lot of people--many of whom who do not agree on this or that component of a particular candidate's current platform. This will require a Senate majority, I suspect. While some argue the benefits of primaries that get contentious, proudly reminding us that the Democratic party is a big tent, a Broad Church that encourages the expression of diverse opinions rather than marching in lockstep, etc.--as soon as candidates actually get into the weeds of policy distinctions and foreground what makes them distinct from the other (worthy) Democrats, panic sets in among those who wish the party well.
When is the current President going to be made to do the same--i.e., be held to real account for the details of his policies, with follow-up questions that become increasingly uncomfortable as they hew to the issues at hand?
Beyond that, when are the current candidates going to actually work together to help get one of them elected?
1
I've said all along that we need someone who will chop Trump off at the knees using their own version of his tactics.
I don't want to see Bloomberg as the candidate but he pulled no punches when he shot right back at Trump and called him out by insulting him on his behavior and paunch. Any of the candidates could play his game by saying something as simple as...I normally don't resort to such tactics or behavior but since you want to make it ugly...let's go...I can make it just as ugly as you and when I'm the next president I will go back to acting like a decent human being. Because if that's what it takes to get you as far away from the oval office as possible, I' m more than willing and able to play your game. You don't scare me or intimidate me.
They could follow up by saying something along the lines of...My parents raised me to avoid violence and insults at all costs, but they also said if you have no other choice...punch em' in the mouth.
8
There is a contention that Buttigieg (cheat Pete) had somehow fixed the outcome of over 1,600 precincts in Iowa with a work force of (untrained) volunteers. That is more than a feat, it would seem impossible considering this would have to be accomplished in mere minutes. Why would the outcome be on the order of +0.1%? This is a lie. Of course there is the outcry of all the billionaires backing Mr. Buttigieg that he has sold out. Really? What he has promised to these billionaires is a mystery. Now it would seem Sanders is getting his information from You Tube and Twitter accusing Buttigieg of being Wall Street’s guy. This is shear desperation and not worthy of someone I have supported for years. When you have to counter all the hype coming out of the MSM it makes for strange (“the Democrats shattered apart”) impressions. One would think Machiavelli (The Prince) is the guiding force in all of this. I did not watch the SOTU, down 21% from the previous year, with Trump (the snob) shameless pandering to black voters.
Senator Tammy Duckworth for President.
1
Right now things look very chaotic with the Democrats. But I believe all those convinced that trump will win a 2nd term will change their tune once the Dem candidate is determined.
I think the Democrats will unite into a "movement" that will blow DJT off the map.
6
Dowd: "The president even finally managed to send his classy nemesis, Nancy Pelosi, over the edge, as she became so agitated that she was driven to Trumpian tactics to rebut his lies."
Nah. Pelosi was in complete control. She carefully pre-tore the page edges, so they would be easy to rip in dramatic fashion for the cameras. She neatly lined up the pages before she rented them asunder, completely upstaging the preening president* in the last moments of his SOTU show.
What else to do with a speech full of lies? As Pelosi herself said later, “He has shredded the truth in his speech. He’s shredding the Constitution in his conduct. I shredded his ‘state of his mind’ address.”
And she got to Trump, which was surely one of her objectives. He was incensed. He spread the right-wing lie that tearing up a photocopy of a widely-distributed document was illegal: "You’re not allowed, it’s illegal what she did. She broke the law," Trump whined. It isn't. As Harvard Law's Laurence Tribe explained, "... her action was purely symbolic expression well within the protection of both the speech and debate clause and the first amendment."
This was one more time Nancy Pelosi put Donald the Impeached in his place. RealityChex.com
10
When Pete Buttigieg is said to embody something wrong with the USA... when that guy is the enemy? Democrats have really lost their way.
2
oh please no one worked harder to put
trump in white house.
a little silence is in order
It is hard for me to believe that the Vindman story is over for Trump, or even that his impeachment problem is over. This is where I have to wonder about all the things that happen in Washington that few people really know much about. The national security people that know Vindman and the diplomatic corps that know Yavonovitch cannot be taking what has happened to them lightly, but also know that they can't express their feelings publicly. (Not unless Trump shows up for more baseball games in Washington -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfpQ9lFWX6A). As book after book coming out of the Trump White House suggest, he is surrounded by people who think he is dangerous and contemptible as a president and person. Meanwhile Giuliani remains under investigation https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/giuliani-is-now-the-subject-of-three-investigations-report.html -- real ones ordered by the United States Department of Justice for his work for Trump, not fake Ukrainian ones to smear political rivals.
Nor do we know what will happen if Trump's tax returns finally come out -- this is going before the Supreme Court. We already know from this newspaper that Trump inflated the value of his properties when seeking loans from Deutsche Bank. (NYT Mag 2/4/20). If Trump is using those phoney valuations on his taxes for depreciation, this may be massive tax fraud -- a good reason to keep the returns secret.
Trump won the impeachment battle, but this is far from over.
2
@ACA
Trump promised to "Drain the Swamp" which is a euphemism for the unelected entrenched bureaucratic state in DC whose federal workers & appointees believe they are smarter than the voters and should be running the government instead of those who have been elected to do so.
Until Trump, most politicians and Presidents just went with the flow, or were just afraid to go against the Swamp (Like Schumer who said of the FBI/CIA if you cross them, "they have six ways to Sunday" to take you down).
As a result, nothing ever changed or got accomplished and the "establishment" of elected politicians - both GOP & Democrat - effectively did the Swamp's bidding, not the other way around. Which is the way it is supposed to be - with elected officials running the show, not unelected lifer technocrats
But Trump IS actually draining the swamp - and taking it head on - and they hate him for it.
Trump is turning around decades of failure by the swamp - in Europe, the Ukraine, Russia, China, the Middle East, and on and on.
Trump has shown what failures swamp creatures like Vindman have been, and they don't like it. T
hey also don't like that he is taking their power away, by slashing regulations, and reducing the size of the bloated DC bureaucracy via cutting jobs and entire departments.
Trump truly is returning power to the elected officials (AKA "the People"). If anyone is a profile in Courage.
It is President Trump.
2
@ Matt Wood. Sir, everything wrote in your response is untrue bordering on intellectual excrement. If you love and worship Autocracy please accept My invitation to move to Russia or Saudi Arabia, they need more subservient workers.
Trump then, should face prosecution for misleading and untruth within “official document.”
i think the 'anointing the faithful' photo of Melania christening Rush Limbaugh with the tag line the anti-bulling first lady decorating one of the biggest bullies of all time with the medal of freedom, says it all. what more it there to be said of this administration? Pontius Pilate would be proud!
3
@Gregory, maybe she really "doesn't care" I guess for her it really is all about the money
I must comment that the NYT destroyed Mrs. Clinton while featuring Trump all over the front page during the last campaign. I would hope you might choose your words more carefully this go 'round as we are faced with an actual coup, the plan of which is dismantle the government. That said, the plan is making wonderful progress while some find it an opportunity to appear clever when writing for the paper. Let's be frank: Trump is clearly mentally ill and a mobster. That's not to hard to figure out. So, let's all hold hands and figure out how to move on before he bankrupts the country while stuffing himself with the 'free food' he eats at Mar A Lago while we pay for his friends and family to have a go old time on our tax dime. How about the NYT shares ideas and some positivity to assist.
It's often devastating in life to come up with the perfect argument, retort, comeback just a bit too late to use it. But a lesser tragedy is overlooking that a door may still be slightly open, so here goes.
While kudos must go to Mr. Schiff & the other house managers, & others in various media & fora for mounting such a strong case as to Trump's unfitness, we all succumbed to a collective blind spot, on a coup-de grace cultural resource created for this historic moment: Aaron Sorokin's "A Few Good Men." As in, Colonel "I stand on that wall!!!" Jessup hollering at the rest of us, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!"
The similarity is so obvious, the argument writes itself, down to the business of the wall, the tough guy masking bullying & self-serving abuses of power in ersatz patriotism grossly trampling on the rule of law, grossly asymmetrical power in a miltary situation being exploited by the stronger party to sacrifice weaker ones, the Melian "strong do what they can, weaker suffer what they must" (Thucidydes) dynamic. And of course, the bully in the end resorting to cover-up & (obstructionism, culminating in "You Can't Handle The Truth!" because all we supposedly really want, so we can sleep comfy at night, is him (the lawless bully) "standing on that wall!"
Maureen Dowd, Charles Blow, Nick Kristoff, David Brooks, Ross Douthat, Adam Schiff, Democratic candidates: Run with it, flesh out the case that Trump is trying to enact a "Jessup" presidency (and defense!)...
1
All that you say would be important had you not been so sarcastic to dems during the last election,
(Trump) said ominously about the Pelosi rip heard around the world: “First of all, it’s an official document. You’re not allowed. It’s illegal what she did. She broke the law.”
Does that go for photos of Trump as well? If so this reader confesses to being multiple offender, and twice on Sundays. PS, Pelosi's gesture wasn't Trumpian - it was Pelosian!
The unwillingness of media to pay much mind to the strengths of Amy Klobucher, all-too-clearly due to her female gender, has assured that her campaign will not have money to prevail. E.g., a talking head heard on MSNBC citing "three promising centrist candicates "-- Biden, Buttigieg, and Bloomberg. Or perhaps he just miss Sesame Street the day they taught the letter "K."?
But no matter. Should Klobucher get closer to the nomination I'm sure media would soon pick away enough at her tiniest pimple to inflame it into mountain of worries..
Dear Americans: No other democracy aspires to what seems to be transpiring in your country. You have to do what is right and sane and do whatever it takes that will keep your Republic from crumbling and becoming another Tin-pot Dictatorship - it takes my breath away just contemplating this possibility. Vote Democrat and give the Donald his walking papers.
2
Both parties have lost their collective minds, and are simply fiddling way out of tune while the planet burns.
The Republicans are the worst with their misrepresentations, disinformation, smear campaigns and lies that those spreading the lies no longer even recognize the truth when it hits them smack in the face. Reagan started it in the 1980s with his fairy tale ideology of trickle down economics and government is the problem. By 2016 we got the Master Prevaricator, Donald J. Trump, and by 2020 the entire Republican party was AWOL from reality, taking 35-45% of the citizenry with them.
Lindsey Graham was on "Face the Nation" this morning sowing so many conspiracy theories about The Bidens, the Ukraine, Trump, Giuliani, and anything else he could come up with that he confused himself.
But reality is no longer of much interest to too many of the top Democratic presidential contenders either, as they go to the mat talking about pie-in-the-sky utopian plans that will take decades to achieve--if this country survives.
To win in 2020, the Democratic candidates must get the Independent vote and the swing states votes. As demonstrated in the 2018 mid-terms, many of the Democrats who won talked about everyday kitchen table and daily survival issues in purple and even red districts.
Frankly, Amy Klobuchar appears the best hope for giving us a break from conspiracies and fantasy and getting the political bus back on the highway to sanity, pragmatism, and problem solving.
8
The success of the administration is based entirely on the current strength of the economy (with roots in the recovery architected by President Obama and Ben Bernanke) and the current strength of the stock market (fueled by the kerosene of low interest rates after Jerome Powell caved to pressure from the administration). A weak economy is the key to keeping this madness to one term. We need a spending strike. If you are truly committed to the American democracy, you should cease all unnecessary spending. If you are in a position to hire people, try to wait until after November. A recession is a survivable event. An additional four years of this slide to dictatorship may not be.
7
@Norah Astorgah
You’re seriously recommending the country should plunge in to a recession.
Unbelievably clueless.
Sadly some folks want a dictator type like Trump and admire the mob boss style as Gotti was popular in his neighborhood albeit accused of several murders. Americans do not know what it is like to live under a dictatorship and we need to realize that Trump admires the North Korean style of govt where everyone applauds in unison as not doing can be a death sentence. Trump admires war criminals and wishes he could hire some to dispatch his enemies our Cadet Bone Spurs Commander and Chief had his chance to go to war but he wanted to bed hookers. Insulting war heroes he is jealous of Trump would like to give himself medals but Mattis frowned but now there is no one to stop him witness awarding a medal to conspiracy hate monger Rush Limbaugh sponsor of Birtherism just like a fraudster lying president.
8
If Charlie Brown could run for office I would vote for him. I would vote for Snoopy, or Peppermint Patty or even Woodstock. But I would not vote for any Democratic would be candidate no matter what.
Donald Trump just savaged the Democratic Party. He skewered them. Now he's having a barbecue for anyone who spoke against him in or out of the White House. If there was a Death Star, Trump would be strutting on board and aiming his planet killing weapon at planet Earth.
How stupid it was of the Democrats to believe, even for an instant, that they could defeat Donald Trump in a Republican majority held Senate! How pathetic!
Democrats we need to defeat Trump and you cannot afford to give him anymore ammunition to defeat you with. Everyday that the Dems continue their useless beatings of each other Trump gains even more power. Trump is the Sith Lord.
But, let's face reality. Trump is vulnerable. His economic and social policies have wreaked havoc and chaos across the nation. The middle class is still diminishing. Jobs have not returned from China, they moved to Vietnam and elsewhere. Health care and drugs remain unaffordable for millions and millions more remain uncovered by any health care insurance. Children are still removed from the SNAP program and school lunch programs are in trouble. Housing remains out of reach for millions too. Dems, look at what Trump has dismantled. Then go after him not each other. If not, we're doomed for another 4 years. Help us!
7
@Jack Frost
Consider Mike Bloomberg. He seems to be
the only candidate who can go toe to toe with
the Red Menace. Mike has the respect of business,
as well as World Leaders. He’s known.
Also, doesn’t hurt to have more $ than Trump.
Turns Trump Orange with envy.
1
We have no one who can beat Trump...no one. There is no Bill Clinton or Barack Obama in this crowd. I can't believe this crew of non charismatic puppets is all we have.
Certainly, there is someone out there.....
4
This must stop!!! When will the media class wake up? Democratic are losing while the Republicans claim a great victory? No...America is losing. Democracy is losing while the Demagogues turn law and order into a mockery. Maureen Dowd needs to find a more serious tone. There’s nothing clever about being cute. Her tone is simply out of touch. The lies and abuse of power coming from the WH and the Republicans are a clear threat to our future. This is not some silly game being played by both sides. America deserves better from those who are in a position to sound the alarm.
5
You are exactly wrong. It is business. Look at his/our results.
And calm down.
1
2 things get Trump re-elected:
1. Economy
2. Media
4
Trump approval rating all time high.
Tour de force State of the Union.
1
I see the vicious Democrats, the ones who savaged decent people like Dr. Ronnie Jackson and Brett Kavanagh ( and his family), don’t like it when someone hits back.
7
@Traveling Professor: Dr Jackson was a health whitewasher and too free with pharmaceutical prescriptions, and Kavanaugh was a drunk and would-be rapist in college. What’s not to savage?
2
The only people afraid of Trump are Republicans.
He is a small person, a minority impeached president who will go down in history as the worst person and worst president to ever occupy the office.
8
“Democrats should be scared to death”. No Ms. Dowd. Americans should be scared to death.
12
In George Orwell's novel 1984 the protagonist character Winston Smith was employed as a Records Editor within the Ministry of Truth. Of course what he actually did was to direct the alteration of the State media newspaper to print whatever falsehoods the supreme leader desired.
And so stands Donald Trump at a White House lectern whilst the Fox Record Editors at our State television network furiously take notes for the days announcements.
James Comey, Col. Vindman, Nancy Pelosi and all the evil liberal democrats are conspiring against Oceania! Our great republican forces are on the front lines protecting you from certain destruction so fear not citizens. Your ignorance is our strength, truth will enslave you.
With a self satisfying grin the President leans back in his chair admiring the gold plated plaque on his desk which reads "I am the State".
3
That is what demagogues/demagogue types do throughout history whether it be one of the first Alcibiades in classical Greece or one of the last Chavez in Venz. or even mafia family killers.
Sooner or later anybody who speaks out against them are silenced from brutal verbal or physical attacks up to murder.
3
Guess it’s time for Trump to “convince” Turkey to investigate Bloomberg.
3
And to think how some people (including, ironically, both Trump and this columnist) used to portray Hillary Clinton as ruthlessly vindictive...
8
@NM —
It would be quaint if it weren’t so sad. Ms. Dowd will never admit her error and people posting comments still criticize Hillary for being a flawed candidate. Flawed??
trump was the flawed and crooked candidate but he was and is good for the media’s bottom line.
He is a totally flawed president but is still afforded too much benefit of the doubt. Always big bold headlines about the stock market and low unemployment but the small print tells the truer story that people are still hurting economically.
5
@Mary Ann Donahue
Thanks so much for replying. The double standard is, and has long been, infuriating. I appreciate how much you have done all along to decry those empty criticisms and the hypocrisy. Take care.
1
Bloomberg and Klobuchar.
11
We've seen this sort of movie before. The star has the mind of a malignant narcissist, the instincts of a mafioso, and the politics of a fascist. All we need is a "night of the long knives" and we've got a re-run. But let's remember: 40 million victims agree that that movie didn't have a happy ending.....
1
@Marilyn YES! We should keep
Our eyes & aspirations ON THE SENATE. As we have come to
Learn (all too late) THIS is where the power lies...enough to even prop up the pompous fool that currently inhabits the White House!
Talking loud. Ain’t saying nothing...
A better description would would be that Democrat Party machinations failed all around and the public is wising up at last. The transparently partisan mockery of an impeachment trail was an abject failure. The DNC/Clinton ally attempt to manipulate the Iowa caucus failed so remarkably and the fingerprints were so blatantly obvious that even the stupefied media had to pay attention to the real election interference underway. Pelosi rips up Trumps speech yet her heart skips a beat and her eyelids flutter at the chance to clap and wave to CIA puppet Guaido. A bad week indeed and we haven't even got to the Durham and Barr show.
Since the Times is not taking comments on the Pelosi speech ripping youtube video story I will post my thoughts on that here as well. It is obvious that the video is symbolic as was her act and it is perfectly accurate and true to the point it makes. By ripping up the speech Pelosi rejects and condemns everything it contains. Everything. Obviously there are two moments of praise and one moment of ripping. No one is saying that clips were concurrent. The point is that these are events that happened during the speech and this is what Pelosi thinks of it. There is no distortion of the events and her act and the Democrats attempt to say there is just further demonstrates they made a tactical mistake and will rue the day.
2
Correction: "Americans should be scared to death". ( Not just Democrats).
5
Don't cross the Don, 'cause if you do you're gonna be gone.
@Keith yeah, reminds me of the Clinton years.
So, Trump is a little loose with the truth sometimes, but why is everyone so suspicious of everything he does. Maybe, like reality TV; nothing is planned, it all happens spontaneously. Maybe Melania just happened to have a Medal of Freedom in her pocketbook.
That's right, Maureen, let's eat our own. Just like you took apart Hillary, start panicking and talking down Democrats and talking up Donald Trump. Get a grip. The election is 9 months out - that's more like 9 years in politics..So much will happen between now and then but it's never too soon to lose faith as you have shown over and over and over...
7
A sore winner gets his revenge.
5
Can there be any doubt that Donald Trump is an absolutely reprehensible excuse for a human being?
6
The way to neutralize the con man in the WH is by exposing the beneficiaries of his decisions. Every decision Donald makes is almost certain to line a deep pocket. Given that Justice and FBI have been neutered by the looter-in-chief, the only other "body" who can command public attention is the Dem party. Each week, Pelosi and Schiff take the podium and deliver the OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK.
For example, the $11 billion border wall. Trump seeks to curtail entry of illegals into the US but the method he selected is inefficient, proven defective, and hideously expensive. In contrast to Trump's $11 billion wall, Israeli soldiers on the Gaza border use drones for surveillance that transmit live footage allowing patrols to focus their efforts where needed. Drones are electric and can remain aloft for long periods of time.
The OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK is probably discovered thru the contractor lining his pockets building the ineffective wall. Using congressional subpoena power, get to the root of the kickback and use the podium to disclose the malfeasance.
As the stench from uncontrolled looting permeates every American's outrage, perhaps we'll be able to remove the rot currently infecting the WH. As evidenced by Iowa, the Nov election has already been decided and democracy was not the victor.
2
If we do not get rid of this man, we will all be saluting him and our Constitution will be his toilet paper.
You either vote your wallet or you vote your values. Look at his deficit numbers and you better figure out, that in the GOP land of boom and bust, we are due for another bust......Watching Trump take America to bankruptcy court, his main area of expertise, will not be a moment of leadership.
Sorry, but if we ignore this truly intellectually and emotionally challenged man and give him four more years, we become accomplices in the death of spirit and the legacy of a Democracy. Time to remember that values do matter in leadership.
7
What did the Democrats expect?
Did they think Trump was going to pin another medal on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman chest?
Wake-up. Put the shoe on the other foot - this looks like a coup attempt to many people.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is the Democrats boy. Take some responsibility and take care of your witness. The Democrats need to stop ditching their responsibilities, when things don't turn out the way they hoped. The Democrats shouldn't be pushing Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman under the bus.
4
As an Independent voter I'm enjoying seeing the Dems get a dose of Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals". For too long the Repubiks have taken the high road vs the Dems and now they have Trump who's willing to play by the Dems rules. It's going to be sweet seeing Trump, who I despise as a person, get reelected and have another 4 years of poking Dems in their eyes.
2
High road? Remember when Karl Rove instigated rumors about John McCain’s adopted daughter in the South Carolina primary? (Not to deify McCain, who said some pretty awful things about Chelsea Clinton when she was still a child.). Remember how the Bush administration labeled those who would oppose his war as unpatriotic? Remember the idiocy of Freedom Fries? How McConnell refused hearings on Garland but said he would hold hearings if a Supreme Court vacancy arose this year? I could go on for a half hour. You are deluded if you think Republicans do not play dirty.
Ms. Dowd - why don't you write critiques of Republicans as much as you write about the Democrats. Please give both parties equal criticism. I love your sense of humor, but I also feel you criticise, not constructively, the Democrats a lot.
1
We have to defeat trump. He's unleashed and reckless. He will lie, cheat, smear and defile his way through the election. Maybe he'll shoot some of us on Fifth Avenue, for kicks, because no one will stop him. He's propped up by corrupt foreign governments, a rabid American cult, faux news, every sleazy, cowardly republican in congress (save one -- thank you, Senator Romney) and assorted criminals, including his own brat infested family. He's tearing down our institutions and dividing us as a nation as he threatens the safety and security of the entire planet.
I'm impressed with the field of democratic presidential candidates past and current, but I'm unconvinced that any of them can beat trump, soundly and overwhelmingly, and get our stupid, beautiful, beloved country out of hospice. I'm beginning to think that Bloomberg, whom I never voted for in all my years in NYC, is the best bet for kicking this criminal, this con man, and his flesh eating swamp creatures out of our White House.
Time to fight fire with fire. Time to stop wringing our hands and start wringing some necks. Little donald is terrified of Bloomberg. Time to unite this country, take back our democracy and win this election. Blue wave. I believe Bloomberg can do it. Somebody has to.
1
@phoenician OMG, what you and the Democrats don't understand about Trump's visceral appeal to Middle America will ensure a landslide reëlection. What the coastal élites can't fathom will bury them for generations. All Trump needs to do is peel away a small percentage of the minority vote and it's over!
"and meanwhile we’re fiddling around with a Socialist..."
If Bernie is nominated, the Democrats will have given Trump a second term in office. Same with Amy, who wets her finger and holds it up to the wind before making any decision - she'll lose in a landslide.
GO Mike! He’s the only candidate that can scare the pants off Trump. Wait, that’s a very bad analogy. Ok, Bloomberg is the only candidate who, as another New Yorker and bona fide billionaire, can take on Trump and return him to his ordinary bankrupt ways.
4
@Hortencia In your dreams. "Mini Mike" will never "fly" in fly-over country. Outside of the urban centres of California, Illinois and New York, he is poison, especially with his insane gun-ban obsession.
I’m a trump supporter, as are all of my well-educated, male and female friends. We are in favor of most of his policies, which have been good for the country. What we foresee is, like 2016, a rigged democrat party where Bernie will get the shaft. Like trump, he has a fiercely loyal and devoted following. Will they vote for the democrats’ anointed one or will they sit out the election in disgust of the dirty politics of the democrats?
4
How long was Stalin in power before his purges began? When will Trump advance to "disappearing" his opponents?
2
Donald Trump’s behavior this week did not come as a surprise to me. It was to be expected. What annoyed me was the “Be Best” First Lady smilingly hanging that medal around Limbaugh’s neck.
She’s just as smarmy as her husband.
5
Rush Limbaugh got the medal of freedom...for what? Lying on the air? Being a pretty much open and avowed racist? Whipping up hatred and division for more than the last 30 years? What? The best propagandist?
Who else deserves this medal? Please, get your nominations in now while Donald "The Don" Trump still holds the reins of power. Wartime mass murders get forgiven (they were trying hard) and a loud mouth "entertainer" who wouldn't know facts if they crawled up his leg and bit him gets the Medal of Freedom.
Nominees, please.
4
The quotes in the article "Rush Limbaugh in his own words" should be mandatory in all Democrat campaign ads.
2
I hope they put Pelosi’s ripped copy in the Smithsonian, or better — the Library of Congress!
In a State of the Union Address that was as repugnant as a MAGA rally in a ruby red state, Trump played every optic trick he ever used.
But, behind his back, as he puffed out his fat face in contempt, without him knowing it, while the whole world was watching, Pelosi stole the show.
Brilliant.
Is anyone talking about anything else?
Can anyone remember what Trump said?
2
@Toms Quill Brilliant? She looked like a mental patient presenting signs of tardive dyskinesia from her psychotropic meds.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that "when you strike at a king, you must kill him". Unfortunately, Donald Trump is still in office and like the present day tyrants he admires or even professes to love ({Kim}, Putin, Erdoyan, Durarte) our paranoid and very thin skinned president has already begun his hunt for and purge of the 'guilty'. In Trump's mind, public servants and elected officials who swear an oath to the constitution are guilty because they let facts and conscience guide their actions which in Trump-world is a capital crime punishable by banishment from his kingdom.
1
@tippicanoe
No one struck at a king. There is no king.
The House had to impeach him because he deliberately confessed to the allegations in the complaint and provided evidence of the crime in case no one realized he had confessed.
Why did he force this issue? Surely his advisors told him that summary, which he told us was an unredacted transcript, was the confession and proof it is.
1
Maureen has once more demonstrated her extraordinary command of our language by using words beyond the grasp of the ordinary reader. Why? Is it because to write with clarity is to expose the absolute failure of The Party? I think yes.
Thanks Maureen, even when you're completely off base you manage to produce interesting text.
1
Trump is making it clear that he will only allow the 2020 election to take place if he's sure he's going to win. Republicans have shown that they support democracy only if white guys are in charge. Our only hope is that our armed forces will not back up their commander-in-chief when he goes all illegally and unconstitutionally rogue on us. Trouble is, AG Barr will be the ultimate arbiter of Trump's ruthlessness. In every Democratic debate going forward, the candidates should all insist that our servicemen and women must honor their oaths to protect and defend our constitution.
We have entered Banana Republic territory. If you're not scared to death, you're brain dead...or a Republican.
2
It's happened several times during this presidency, but the retribution is meant to scare his followers and exact tighter loyalty. Take your pick of metaphor: Smiley, in "Smiley's People," about the spy "shot... at extremely close range... with a soft-nosed bullet... from a Russian assassination device... to obliterate, to punish, and to discourage." Or Hitler's Night of Long Knives, when he ordered the assassination of a group of generals and army types who may have been in a conspiracy, a conspiracy that hardly mattered--the whole thing was meant to keep potential waverers in line. Or John Gotti and any number of gangsters. A primary problem--and a problem of our time--is that most of the Trump voters out there LIKE this kind of retribution.
What farce.
Self-described "exceptional" and "indispensable" United States of America is at the mercy of a grifting, bigoted, ignorant, double-crossing (the Kurds, remember them?) 4, (or, is it 6?) times bankrupted, fraud perpetrating (Trump University), looter of the US Treasury, who, even while describing himself as a master negotiator, apparently can be, at gunpoint, robbed over the phone, payer of a sex-worker for her silence right after his 5th child was born to his 3rd wife and the sex worker STILL blabbed.....
Well, one could, to infinity, describe Donald Trump in true, correct and backed-by-the-record negative terms. The point is, who knew big, bad, powerful, America could be brought to its knees by the likes of Trump? Putin, perhaps.
The Democratic Party owns the blame here, too.
I remember reading 3 or so decades ago that, after Reagan, with the starry-eyed permission of "Reagan Democrats", decimated unions, and, silver-tongued gentleman that he was, seduced the citizenry with "trickle down" snake oil, warnings were emanating from Dems in the trenches of the long game the Repubs are going to play.
We ignored those warnings. We didn't stay vigilant. We're paying for that now.
There is something absurdly, cosmically, and tragically afoot in this country. I'm so glad I didn't have children. I'm so glad that, barring fatal accident or illness, I'll be dead in 2 or 3 decades.
2
Ms. Dowd is having too much fun with the Dems. In her heart, she is Trumpy, enamored with the rogue who will wine her and dine her, promise her what she wants to hear and then, possibly, try to take advantage of her. At that point, she will become enraged but it will be too late. Donnie will say he did not do it, or that she deserved it, or say that she had nothing to lose. And, by that time she will become "disgusting" and old, or "not my type".
Come to think of it, that pretty much sums up the typical trump groupie. Go to one of his rallies, observe, and tell me I am wrong.
2
Michael Bloomberg is starting to look more attractive to me as the candidate who can defeat Trump.
While not perfect, he is a real self- made man, a real billionaire and former mayor of one of the largest cities in the world with a diverse population larger than 39 states.
At this point, I am not convinced that any of the current candidates for the Democratic party nomination are capable of beating the incumbent.
4
Let's be crystal clear:
BIDEN will have the Hunter issue and the perception of mishandling that situation sledgehammered back at him, and he will not overcome it in the general.
BUTTIGIEG will suffer the GOP destroying him for his youth and inexperience, while successfully whipping up homophobic fears which will stick in the general.
SANDERS cannot win the general campaigning as a Democratic Socialist.
I find many positives in all there of these candidates, but I'm just being real here about how I believe their weaknesses will play out.
WARREN is solid, but should have recognized a few months ago that digging her heels in on Medicare For All as the only option was hurtful to her candidacy, and will hurt her more in the general.
KLOBUCHAR is solid, but suffers from some perception issues. It's very difficult being a woman presidential candidate who is both tough and likeable.
BLOOMBERG looms, and should be taken very seriously. There are three audiences for Mike. New Yorkers who know and like him while acknowledging his mistakes and flaws. New Yorkers who don't like him, because they will not forgive him for his mistakes and flaws. And the rest of the country who he is introducing himself to thanks to his bottomless campaign budget.
I would be delighted to see a miraculous one-two punch in NH from Warren and Klobuchar, and I'm not holding my breath. Meanwhile, Mike's got my attention, too.
5
Recent polls indicate that up to 50% of Sanders supporters will sit on their hands if Bernie is not nominated. Sanders is our Jeremy Corbyn. If nominated Sanders will follow Corbyn into the dust bin of history. If Democrats want to defeat Trump they need to be more prudent in their electoral dreams. Sanders wants to be a home run hitter despite never hitting anything but a few meager singles after decades in Congress. Swinging for a "home runs" most often leads to a strikeout. It will be very painful for Democrats to "sit on the bench" for four more years while the swamp grows deeper and becomes harder to drain.
5
Narrow casting to blacks and latinos Maureen? Nothing beats the Democrat party plantation where minorities are crooned and cajoled every four years with promises of government pie in the sky that never-ever materializes..
Meanwhile, back at blue collar ground zero, it is Trump that has reduced black & Latino unemployment to all time lows. It is Trump that has enacted prison sentencing reform which enables many minorities a second chance.
Like Trump so eloquently put to minority voters, “What do you have to lose?”
The answer is nothing and they’ve actually have had so much they’ve gained.
Democrats should be afraid, as Trump is realigning - forever those Democrats considered their fool proof base.
3
The current ineptitude of the Dems is staggering.
4
You want a messy democracy or a sanitized dictatorship? Trump is crowing today, exacting his revenge on the 65,844,610 who did not vote for him, with everyone else as collateral damage, but the moment his lily-livered supporters in the Senate sense the Trump wall caving in on them they will turn on him like snakes.
3
So no matter what the facts are pundits like Dowd and the Democratic candidates alike will embellish on facts then tell you straight to your face that a person ticketed with jaywalking should be found guilty of vehicular homicide even though the person was not in a car driving but just crossing the street outside the crosswalk.
2
"You should be quaking."
In our well-fed, sleek, self-centered, butter-soft society, I should be quaking? Maybe I should. Maybe because of all the Democrats so easily and consistently trolled by Trump.
2
Everyone in the executive serves at the pleasure of the president.
Just sayin'.
2
We now know Be Best means be racist like Limbaugh and punish people who tell the truth under oath before Congress.
Be Best means hurting those who have independent thoughts because independent thinking hurts the feelings of Bone Spurs.
Be Best means we have become a crass, cowardly, and dishonest people.
4
Two thoughts:
What I'm hearing/reading is that so many Republicans voted to acquit because they were afraid of trump's well known vindictiveness. Sorry guys, that is not going to save you. Sooner or later you are going to say the wrong thing, roll your eyes at his stupidity or simply not be enthusiastic enough for him. And then you are toast.
For a number of trump supporters, this was the finally push in driving them out of trumpland. It was so clear that he put self over country that it crossed the line for them. How many are there? I don't know. But they are there and they won't be voting for him again.
3
Trump’s brilliance is his lack of intellect. While most people would not even think to say the things he says, he is too ignorant to firm an expectation that people will not believe him.
Sometimes ignorance is an advantage.
3
Perhaps the Dems ought to consider the relationship between McConnell and Trump.
I'm sure neither of them would like to be perceived as a lame duck dancing to the tune of the other.
Time for a wedge? They'll both have skeletons that place them at odds with each-other, after all, McConnell lives and breathes in the swamp.
2
Shame that for all the Trump angst, the Democrats cannot fund a single viable alternative. You are not a monarch or a dictator simply because your political opponents are incompetent and out of touch with most of the country.
1
Firing a patriot like Colonel Vindman for speaking the truth wasn't enough for Trump. He also purged the Colonel's brother, a military officer who who had nothing to do with the situation. Trump continues to commit one atrocity after another with no consequence.
4
Clark Landrum, the Vindman brothers did not lose their jobs. Both work for the military and were on temporary assignments to the National Security Council in the White House. They will now be given other assignments.
There's nothing wrong with that. The president has every right to have a National Security Council that he thinks will do the job like he wants it done. The Vindman brothers had lost his confidence, and so it's good that they go.
3
Trump becomes more unhinged, more dictatorial every day. That the Republicans shake in fear at his feet is to their eternal shame.
It may well cost us our country.
3
Political discussion has changed profoundly since Trump was elected. In prior years such discourses were largely based on an analysis of facts. This not mean that both sides did not lie or exaggerate to improve their political position. The difference is that in Trump World it is no longer necessary to analyze facts. The facts which others present can be called fake or "alternate" facts can be created. Denial and exaggeration are seductive methods of dealing with information which may damage your image. I think that I have been seeing this type of behavior more often now in the real world. The truth may not be dead in Trump world, but it is no longer necessary. Truth is what the President says it is at the moment, and it is subject to change when the President changed his mind.
t
Ms. Dowd says that Trump has sent "his personal approval rating to an all-time high.
However, that omits the fact that, in the history of polling, Trump is the only President never to have reached or exceeded a 50% approval rating.
It also omits the fact that Trump's recent improvement came not from Democrats or from Independents but from a 6% surge in approval from Republicans.
1
I say re-elect Trump and let the GOP implement their full agenda. Maybe then the electorate will realize who Republican policies really benefit. This pattern of 'Republican's ruining things, followed by Democrats coming to the rescue to clean up the mess' must stop. It's time voters live with the consequences of their actions. Once the environment has collapsed, the rich own 99% of wealth, medicare, medicaid and social security are dismantled, all roads are toll roads, public education is abolished, etc., voters will learn.
3
I am guessing Trump has additional motive for needing to win 2020.
There are a number of possible financial crimes whose statue of limitations will run out during a second term.
If Trump is not elected, there will be a year or two to investigate.
And one wonders what power Putin seems to hold over Trump.
2
@Independent - I heard a financial and legal analyst talk 6 months ago about this exact subject. If bone spurs is voted out of the oval office in November, INDIVIDUAL 1 could face indictment and criminal process if say, the SDNY feels they can prosecute with reasonable expectations of success.
Wouldn't we love to witness this? I know I would and a big circle of friends nearby would also.
How do we pry enough folks off the couch on election night? Maybe by selling the idea of this man finally facing some serious consequences for his abhorrent behaviors .
1
"Democrats: The only thing you have to fear is Trump himself". NO. The only thing Democrats have to fear: Democrats!
I will vote for whomever the Democrats select to be their candidate, but like so many politically smarter than me, I am scared to death that the Dems are going to re-elect Trump with their own nativism, political in-fighting and cult-like love of Sanders. We do not need a Revolution. We need an incremental return to quiet and decency and honesty and morality. Once accomplished, we can then advocate for more Democrat ideals. But we need to get rid of Trump and the Republican majority Senate FIRST.
7
Despite Maureen Dowd's Jeremiad, I think all this doom and gloom is a bit premature, and I would expect a NYT columnist to take a longer view. The Democrats undertook their task knowing that an emboldened Trump might be the result, but it remains to be seen if it's a long-term result. The fact is that they have also constructed a narrative which continues to unroll each passing day of the news cycle. Will anyone be brooding on the Iowa caucuses a month from now? And, to play the alternate universe game for a moment, would the Democrats be in a stronger position if they had done nothing to try to check Trump's obscene abuse of power? Would he have been any less emboldened by their silence?
3
Still, Trump's "record high" approval rating is 43.8% on FiveThirtyEight and his disapproval is over 53%. Democrats, stop being such babies. I don't care if the nominee is Sanders, or Mayor Pete, or Warren, or Bloomberg, or Biden. I'm going to be a good soldier, put their bumper sticker on my car, lawn sign in front of my house, and declare proudly that any one of our candidates will run this country 1000 times better than Trump ... because it's TRUE.
The majority of the country hates Trump and legitimately fears he'll permanently erode civil liberties given a second term. We have more to fear and fear is a great motivator. Our side is bigger than theirs. Remember that. I believe we're going to crush the orange monster in November. You should too.
17
In the early 16th century, Machiavelli recorded and analyzed the behavior of emperors and princes. The practice of eliminating dissent and betrayal is common in many settings where the leader puts absolute loyalty above honesty and ethics. What Trump is doing follows that same playbook. Republican senators understood those principles and put their ethics and morality aside to support him. For those who have followed his behaviors as president, this should come as no surprise.
1
Trump has been terrified by what he’s experienced as President and he truly has no clue what is the role of a President in our government. He does not want to understand, either. He wants control by demand and has been expelling people to find people who will provide him with control without having to understand more than he does. He never learned how to negotiate in a manner that achieves mutually satisfactory results. He tries to intimidate and manipulate people into agreements and then bails when they fail to pay off as he wants.
He has conned a vast number of people into thinking that he’s their guy who will give them what decade of democratic governance has not, and in return he can break all the rules that secure our democratic institutions. But Trump is a solo act and he does not care beyond getting what he wants for himself. Trump is conducting a purge of the disloyal and disciplining his regime like an autocrat.
Republicans are letting him violate all the limits which protect us from illiberal governance, exchanging a government intended to be limited by law with one that can only be made functional by political power.
2
It seems that Ms Dowd, in a subtle implicit way is endorsing Trump and the Republicans in this piece. Democracy is messy, and only one party is practicing that. The Republicans are not even holding primaries in many states.
We have one down and many races ahead, allow this to sort itself out. I think that the Democrats can easily and will uniformly coalesce around a single policy that unites them: Beat Trump.
Bloomberg will add hundreds of millions to the warchest of the nominee. They will hone their message around Trump's lies and malfeasance. I suspect Mr. Trump will be toast, come November, provided his cognitive deterioration doesn't get to him first.
Fear not Dems. You can easily prevail because you have the majority. Remember the Blue Wave of 2018? That was a mere precursor.
7
@oso - HEAR HEAR OSO!!
Take out the trash America!
Vote blue in 2020
Trump and the Republican Party are a formidable hot mess. Democrats should not be scared. They should be brave and stand up to this heinous display of nihilistic authoritarianism.
8
Yes, the people have a dificult choice in front of them: four more years under the wrath of the golden Godfather or, else...
2
(1) Democrats should not "be scared to death." (That would be self-evidently self-defeating.)
(2) Nancy Pelosi knew exactly what she was doing in tearing up the copy of Trump's speech.
Trump has always operated on the premise that having inherited a boat load of money, he would do as he liked, rules notwithstanding, until some authority stopped him. Since he hasn't been stopped, and he seems to have no ethics or morals, we have seen the havoc he has wrought. He has, in fact, proven that in the USA money is all that counts.
3
President trump enjoyed a victorious week with his triumph in the Senate impeachment trial and then with his colourful and substantial State of the Union Address. This was capped off by giving both Vindman Brothers the boot out of the White House and also giving Sondland the boot as the United States Ambassador to the EU.
President Trump continues to drain the Swamp of those who would speak ill of him. The President is leading America back on a sound and prosperous Economic triumph filled with jobs and capitalism. We are casting aside the weak and insignificant Obama years. President Trump has the Democrats on the run like never before. My future lies with the success of President Trump. All we need now is a resounding 2020 re-election victory for President Trump on Election Day in November!
2
I am beginning to fear that it is not any Democrat's election to win, only Trump's election to lose. So the only logical reaction is...prayer. And hope.
James Carville saying “let’s get relevant here” is the height of irony. Isn’t he the neoliberal Clinton-era talking head who hasn’t been relevant in about two decades at least?
1
This is now a life and death struggle; not for the soul of your America; but rather IF America even has a soul anymore. So far the evidence is NOT encouraging. Four more years of Trump and the whole world will wash it`s hands of you forever.
2
Talk to a few Republicans and it will become clear that what makes them support Trump is not racism, nor greed, nor xenophobia, nor misogyny, nor contempt for charity as Trump displays daily. It’s fear of Democrats and of liberals depriving them of the same rights and self determination that we all want for ourselves. They are convinced that the conventional media and establishment politicians are out to oppress them. It’s exactly the same view as Black Lives Matter or #Metoo but with an entirely different group of oppressors.
Trump is frightened and he’s using every means he can to manipulate people into reacting in a manner favorable to him. The thing is that he is incapable of keeping any attention on the needs of the country because keeping the focus on him is his priority. Unfortunately, focusing upon Trump has become the priority of our political system, for now.
The media that is not part of the propaganda machine for the right needs to focus upon The Republicans fear of Democrats and of liberal programs to undo this situation.
1
At a certain point, people in a democratic nation get the government they deserve.
The U.S is a very conservative democracy by international standards. A significant part of the country has a white supremacist culture and an ingrained distrust of government. The part of the population that opposes those views doesn't bother to vote in numbers high enough to tilt the balance.
Your not going to fool me twice. Trump will be a two term president.
When will Democrats figure out that none of this matters except winning Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, or Michigan.
3 out of 4 must be won. I do not care what Iowans think, I do not care what NH voters think.
Do not show me another national poll. They mean nothing
3
Sometimes people just look for results and ignore the rhetoric. Somehow the left just can’t see through the hate well enough to see that or to admit it to themselves. Somehow bad performance plus a straw man to blame equals great results. A lot of people are beginning to see through that silly inequality.
2
Trump and the GOP need to be used in campaign ads as the thieves who stole from the workers and gave their money to the rich. Use the economy against them. It's Obamas economy and Trump inherited it and is trying to bankrupt like every other business Trump has owned. Trump's base isn't expanding. It's a finite number and they get the press because they scream the loudest. Learn to ignore them. Don't react to them. Play your own game and be aware that the GOP will cheat at every opportunity. All the time. That's who they are. The very worst of America who like the taste of power... a lot.
3
I hadn't laughed reading a political article in about 3 years. Thank you Maureen for the true insight into the shitshow that was the Iowa caucuses. Bloomberg is our only hope at this point. Democrats have been outmaneuvered over and over and over and over. It is time to face the reality we live in, There is not Democratic candidate that can beat Trump.
3
“Despotic rulers stay in power by rewarding a small group of loyal supporters...But they only carry out this messy, unpleasant task if they are well rewarded. Autocrats therefore need to ensure a continuing flow of benefits to their cronies.” NYT 2016
1
After literal months of talking about how great Nancy Pelosi is, you can't bring yourself to admit that you were wrong about her political skills. That's ok. If you were ever right about anything I'd have to start worrying that the apocalypse was coming.
2
Hanging a presidential medal of freedom around Rush Limbaugh's neck?
What does the medal represent? What freedom does Limbaugh represent? Perhaps his importance to Trump was that he told him how to run our government.
Trump is a consummate liar. Is that what Rush Limbaugh and Fox News consider admirable for a leader?
Is a pathological liar fit to be anything, much less the President of the United States? Is the psychological defect of projection suitable to use against his opponents? Even his opponents in the Republican primaries? Look at party stalwarts like Lindsey Graham who once bashed him but now adore him.
Look at the impeachment trial where all Republicans, except Mitt Romney, obstructed justice by allowing a trial without witnesses and documents.
Now the Democrats are in disarray partly because of the Biden episode in Ukraine.
The Democrats need a strong candidate who isn't afraid to go toe to toe with Trump and his childish bullying tactics.
I've been a Democrat for more than 60 years and would never have considered a billionaire as my choice for president. But now I support Mike Bloomberg with full confidence that he will stand against Trump and his bullying and not cower. In the end, Trump will be cowered by Bloomberg because Bloomberg was a true success without cheating and lying.
I'm glad there's a man in the ring who can actually knock out Trump.
4
Once again, Ben Franklin must be heeded: "He must all hang together or we shal surely hang separately." Democrats, get it together. Please let's cut the divisiveness and get a consensus candidate who tracks midway between progressive and "moderate." Please be honest: Bernie is not going to play well in the small states with large influence throughout the midwest and south; if we run with him we guarantee a Trump dynasty. Biden is a shadow of his worthy past.
Democrats are fulfilling the Republican slime word "Defeatocrats" by once again hollowing ourselves out from within. Both on the debate stage and off, there must be a candidate in our pantheon whose positions, personality and charisma can carry us across the finish line, but only if we can keep the converts Trump has driven to us from defecting back because we haven't figured out how to keep our act together.
Maureen's column is cleverly written, but has left out the humor because our situation is no longer funny. Emperor Trump's revenge is just revving up. We must counter it, or our country - and perhaps we who deign to disparage his whims (see WWII Germany) - will die.
3
"I could stand In the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters."
A corollary to this bombastic (but possibly true) Trumpian claim is that he could fire everyone who doesn't lick Dear Leader's boots and probably gain voters as a result.
“Then, I have an Article II, where I have to the right to do whatever I want as president."
Vote in November -- and prepare to respond if election results favor the Democrat, then Trump invokes his fantasy Article II powers to remain in office.
3
"except for the sole Republican lawmaker whose base would not kill him if he voted to throw the president out of office". This is literally the first time I have seen anyone have the guts to state the obvious in print. This is no metaphor.
After years of yelling at the TV, I watched with sadness and fury as the nation my ancestors, settlers to this great land, was slowly being ripped away and given to politicians that get rich (that greatest of fools Maxine Waters lives in a six million dollar mansion outside her district). I watched as we, the employed were having more and more stolen from us to give to non-workers and illegals. Trump came along and said everything I had been impotently yelling. Trump is doing exactly what I want him to do and I, along with my family, will be voting for him again and are looking forward to the day.... and then the glorious viewing of the fake media: CNN, MSNBC, the failing New York Times, the alphabet networks. We are MAGA!
2
@Raul
You’ve been had right from the beginning. Republicans are distracting you with Trump and liberals and picking your pocket while you aren’t looking.
The Ryan / McConnell / Trump 2017 tax cuts for the rich are increasing the deficit from $600 Billion to $1 Trillion.
The projected ten year increase in the debt is $12 Trillion which is $80,000 per taxpayer.
All to be paid for by us, our children, and grandchildren.
Every Republican senator voted for it. Not one Democratic senator voted for it.
This is after eight years of Republicans relentlessly railing about the debt when it was Obama.
What they didn’t tell you was that W Bush took a balanced budget, zero deficit, from Clinton and handed Obama a whopping $1.4 Trillion deficit.
W Bush also doubled the debt.
And with two “tax cuts for the job creators” we got 3 Million jobs.
W Bush also handed Obama the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Obama got us through the Great Recession, cut the deficit by almost 2/3 to $550 Billion.
We got 11.5 Million jobs, almost 400% more than W Bush. And that was with the “jobs-killing” Obama-care.
And 20 Million people got health-care.
I wouldn't mind if Trump voters got fleeced but the rest of the country is getting fleeced, too.
JOBS:
2011 - 2.09 Million
2012 - 2.14 Million
2013 - 2.30 Million
2014 - 3.00 Million
2015 - 2.71 Million
2016 - 2.24 Million
2017 - 2.06 Million
2018 - 2.40 Million
Make America Smart Again
1
Trump isn’t happy unless he’s unhappy. If he doesn’t have a prospective victim in his crosshairs he becomes irate. Now that he feels ‘vindicated’ (thanks to the 51 senatorial co-conspirators who aided and abetted his criminal marauding), he is on the prowl for easy prey. Sondland and Lt. Col. Vindman and his brother were easy targets. He’ll continue to target Democrats and bureaucrats who he feels impeded his accent to Monarch-in-Chief. He’s dumb, but he’s ruthless. What he lacks in intelligence and compassion he more than makes up for in evil histrionics. How long before we can have a president with a heart, mind, soul and conscience again? This autocracy is taking forever!
3
The Don Strikes Back:
“Actually, I don’t know him, never spoke to him, or met him (I don’t believe!),” he continued, “but, he was very insubordinate, reported contents of my ‘perfect’ calls incorrectly, & was given a horrendous report by his superior, the man he reported to, who publicly stated that Vindman had problems with judgement, adhering to the chain of command and leaking information".
Mens rea (/ˈmɛnz ˈreɪə/; Law Latin for "guilty mind") is the mental element of a person's intention to commit a crime; or knowledge that one's action or lack of action would cause a crime to be committed. It is a necessary element of "all your crimes"...Mr Trump.
1
Mr. President,
I'm not worried about the size of your hands, or even your brain, but of the size of your heart, which only has room for one.
It is a truly horrendous indictment of our system that it not only chose you for the presidency, but allowed you to remain in it after all you have done to it.
8
Blaming Trump or McConnell for the happenings of last week may be moot. It is the Trump voters that shield him from paying for his misdeeds. Hillary called them the basket of deplorables. Some of the problems on racism were predicted by Bill Clinton who said that the country was not ready for a black president and Republicans would never allow him to govern.
Both have been proven right. It is the people who elect these Republicans. The corruption seen now reminds one of despot countries where the ones in the power swallow all the resources of the country and leave the poor very poor.
4
The Democrats cannot get out of their own way. They've put up a patch-work of snoozers who spend time arguing purity, appeal, and nit-picking policy differences. Trump is a monolith. Democrats need a monolith (and a concerted, consolidated voter turnout) to beat him.
1
I don't know why all these liberal commentators are claiming that Trump had a great week. We all knew that Trump was going to be acquitted by his cronies in the GOP senate. They told us so before hand. The American people where given a great lesson about Trumps corruption, lies and malfeasance. The people who were listening with an open mind could not have come away with anything but a desire to vote Trump out of office. If you listened to Trump's rants over the last couple of days, this is a very weak President. His personal tactics are revealing a truly insecure, corrupt, fearmongering and lost individual. He is as the saying goes "a paper tiger". The talking heads and opinion writers need to get a reality check and stop falling prey to Trump's own narrative of what happened. He didn't win. He was exposed further for who he really is.
5
I've gone from Amy Klobuchar to Joe Biden to Michael Bennet and that's just within the last two months. Now I'm all in for Mr. Bloomberg. Whatever, whoever it takes to defeat Trump and save/restore our Constitutional Democracy.
6
The Don strikes the average American family big time for his unnecessary trade wars.
Trump’s Trade War Will Cost Average Family $1,277 This Year, Budget Office Reveals.
The extra costs will effectively wipe out savings from the president's tax cuts according to the Huffington Post.
4
There is one major error in this article. Trump has not emerged victorious, the Koch brothers long term plan has. Their intention to seize all three branches of government and then rewrite the Constitution in favor of wealth and business is on track. They are winning, Trump is little more than a local bus stop on that march of power. As a free democracy we have not only failed to recognize this threat, we have failed to marshal adequate forces against it. They know how messy Democracy is and they crafted a plan to subvert and control its very nature. They are winning. We are on the road to Fascism. Trump is the distraction target- focus on THEIR PLAN!
8
@Marty Milner - The open borders Koch brothers are no fans of Trump. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.
Trump demands loyalty to Trump.
He will be getting even with his tweets. But more importantly, he will be getting even through Barr's DOJ and through Congressional investigations even if they have to make stuff up.
It is what Trump and allies do now.
4
When I was in middle school in Providence R.I. many years ago, John Chaffee, who was running for Governor at the time, told us something like this in an assembly: My opponent and I want what's best for the state and country, we just have different ideas on how to get things done. Even as a 13 year old, I found that idea reassuring. Politics have never been a completely clean "sport", but there seemed to be some dignity and fair play back in the day when Chafee ran for Governor. Now we have a WWE side show. Before its all over someone's going to get smacked with a steel chair.
3
@Richard - I think the Democrat party got smacked with a steel chair last week! Great economy, Trump acquitted, and the Iowa fiasco.
If the economy does not take a nose dive in just under
9 months . I believe Trump is guaranteed another 4 years.
There is no current major democratic candidate who can beat him. If nominated Trump’s team will eat Mayor Pete and his bid for presidency for lunch . Biden , Sanders and Warren are the 3 presidential candidates on Trump wish list to run against. As for Amy Klobuchar . She has a huge mountain to climb.
Tom Steyer keeps plugging away but languishes behind the democratic front runners.
Mike Bloomberg is the unknown and probably ‘the one player,’ who could frighten Trump. But the end of as it’s been repeated multiple times. Americans vote on the money in their purses and wallets
Therefore, in November 2020. We should brace ourselves for the inevitable consequence of self interest.
I hope I’m wrong.
1
@Steve To have any chance, the left must move toward center. America will not, repeat NOT, elect a far left candidate. They don't believe they were the cause of slavery, they want to keep more of their money, they don't like victim politics. They are hard working people who take care of their families and are interested in the things that affect their lives. and they think there is too much taxation already. They are not the ones who look for government handouts. They only want to keep more of what they earn
The only thing we (the people) have to fear is Trump himself.
Trump 2 may mean the end of democracy, as we know it, now.
I fear that Democratic candidates don't get Trump's threat.
If reelected, he will have a "blank check" to destroy democracy.
Why are Democrats not yet focused on the democracy threat?
Who cares about Iowa and New Hampshire, without democracy?
Maureen, do you get it with the threat of Trump 2?
Trump may be worse that the Coronavirus threat.
Can you sound the alarm about Trump 2 and democracy?
Note the "Democracy" song of Leonard Cohen (1992).
"Democracy is coming to the USA"
2
We worry that trump will get worse in the remaining days of his so called presidency. I don’t think he will. In fact he can’t stoop any lower. So it will be up to the Democrats to select a candidate who can beat him in November. Will that person be Bernie or Biden or will Mike Bloomberg ride to the rescue? It will be up to all of us to decide and see a real leader take over.
6
@KdKulper - funny what you wrote that bone spurs "can't stoop any lower." What's funny is that I've been telling myself that for over three years now and the guy continues to go lower virtually every day.
How is this possible? But he can and does. So we are absolutely right to worry that he will get worse in the remaining days. The war option hasn't been activated yet, nor has the nuclear option.
I'd been expecting the ouster of Vindman and I believe Vindman himself must have been preparing for the moment as I believe his normal work attire was suit and tie, yet, he was in uniform on his last day.
It would be interesting to learn that he had been counseled that this was the likely outcome of his testimony and was willing to pay the price.
Even more heroic.
15
My goodness. Articles like this making last week's events momentous just overdramatize the (mostly) mundane.
Mitt Romney casting a vote to convict? Meh.
Nancy Pelosi ripping up pieces of paper? Meh.
Tabulating delays and errors in the Iowa caucus? Meh.
Donald Trump acting out on television? Meh.
Donald Trump sending two brothers back to the Pentagon and booting a patronage appointment? Meh.
None of this well be remembered for more than a week or two, or at the outside, three. Think back to last year's State of the Union address given just after the end of a government shutdown that was supposed to be political poison for Donald Trump. Was it? No, it was only "meh".
None of this drama is really drama. It's melodrama: exaggerated, overplayed, sensationalized. None of it really matters. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Look at what does matter, and things are going pretty well. We all want peace and prosperity, and that's what we are getting. More peace. More prosperity. Shouldn't that be the story?
3
@John Smithson I think your appreciation of the situation's gravity is somewhat "meh". If you think things are going swell for the United States under Trump I suspect you haven't been paying attention.
10
@JohnSmithson
Peace and prosperity at the expense of democracy? When a war hero gets perp walked out of the White House, we should all be frightened. What's next is full blown enemies list with Justice Dept aiding and abetting the authoritarian regime.
3
Ghost Dansing, when I look at the usual metrics of peace and prosperity things do seem pretty swell. No grave problems there. And I don't see the president's opponents finding fault with any of that either.
Instead, they focus on his tweets, his phone calls, his speeches, his personnel moves. None of those things seem very grave to me. Seems like his opponents like political posturing instead of dealing with things that matter.
1
What is surprising in America is that nothing happens after the firing of two star witness in the congressional hearings on Trump' scandal. Even Xi Jinping dares not to fire star witness openly in China. Social unrest in China will rockets to the roof.
Maybe it is expected that saying bad things about your boss in public will result in unhappy ending. Anyone who works in a private company knows that. Or these two guys are unique characters with courage knowing that the odds are against them. They took a chance, and now faced the reality.
2
I’m not ready to do the Henny-Penny-sky’s-falling dance.
Trump praised/promoted a Tuskegee airman. Coming from Trump, that’s a very nice gesture... oh wait... Trump, also, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to racist Limbaugh. Then, Trump goes after his political enemies, even attacking their religious beliefs/practices. So, yes; I have more items to add to my growing list of similarities to a fascist theocracy.
Political ploy to POC meets slap-in-the-face to POC (and a whole lot of other groups). It was the typical bait-and-switch that every conman wannabe dictator attempts.
As far as caucuses go, they’re always a bit confusing and somewhat disorganized. IA will figure it out. Thankfully in time for 2020, MN switched to a primary vote for the presidential nomination. IA: it’s your turn.
In the meantime, let’s start analyzing the GOP turnout and results in the IA caucus and remaining states’ caucuses/primaries. How did the 2020 GOP caucus in IA compare to previous caucuses, especially with a GOP incumbent? Is this the expected turnout and result from a fired-up base?
6
You said it all with this question, Maureen: "What could be more flamboyantly offensive than the anti-bullying advocate, Melania, hanging a Presidential Medal of Freedom around the neck of one of the biggest bullies and hate preachers of all time, Rush Limbaugh?"
23
Ms Dowd is spot on in her report. Here are some events that are more recent then other historic sins of the POTUS:
We find that six mths ago, the assassination of the Iranian General was planned by Trump. When it did occur, and after claiming a victory over the new ISIS revolutionary bad man (which he knew nothing about before it occurred), then the killing of the General erupted into Iran killing 176 passengers on an airliner, mostly Canadian, and 35 US military in Iraq wounded, and each evaluated in slight to severe brain concussions from the rocket fire by Iranians, then the pathetic Impeachment Trial with no testifying witnesses, then the very pathetic made up State of the Union Address (Walt Disney couldn't have done it better),
Then the rubbing it in the face of US Christian followers on his acquital. This morning (2/9/20) on National TV news, we heard a report that the rest of the Free World as a result of the aforementioned and the Trade agreement with China and South America and suicides of many US farmers as a result of this verbal trade battle, the Free World looks at us as the "New Iran"! Our USA. That is terrifickly shocking. We need to respond at the polls, as we will be responsible as we are! Change Trumpism to Amercanism!
9
How about Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg ticket? I like Warren but she will not attract moderates and Independents. Bernie is okay, but he will need a young brilliant VP.
Regardless, ANY of the Democrats would be amazing, compared to the criminal president!
5
Democrats and the candidates must stop the infighting. Media pundits who propose to be progressive must stop the all the catastrophic predictions. This primary has just begun. Nobody knows what will happen between now and November! Nobody! Just stay focused on one goal we all have in common: Making the present occupant a one term president.
8
FYI: it’s not infighting it’s a debate. A civil debate. Healthy too!
Sure, a matinee idol would help a great deal, but that's who the Republicans chose and not what the Democrats need at this crucial juncture in American history if we are to have any kind of a future. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are both exceptional people with brains, knowledge, courage and care deeply, passionately, for what America can yet become. Don't fall for the Republicans' smear of "socialism." Think.
9
Come on now, we all knew he would be acquitted and will likely be re-elected. Our country is not a democracy that bends to the will of the majority, rather it is a warped form of constitutional monarchy that ensures the minority will rule every now and again thanks to the electoral college and a Senate that guarantees every state equal representation regardless of population; in other words geography is as important as population. Our form of government is a pendulum that swings back and forth from one extreme to the other: from liberalism to ultra-conservatism, from socialism to individualism and self-determination. Get used to it as the dynamism is only going to accelerate and exacerbate our differences; such is life in America.
5
@Ski bum
I don't think life in America has ever experienced such a narcissistic, inadequate, evil, self serving con man in history as a leader of this country and a party giving full support, ignoring their oath to this country. If government does swing back and forth as you state it better do it now rather than later or there will be no more swinging ever again.
The Trump Brand of Socialism:
$2 Trillion in an extra US Military weapons and equipment upgrade as though this was addressing a deficiency in US Military readiness. This money went mostly into the pockets of military contractors with very little extra military for that money.
That equals 3 Wall Street and Bank 2008 Bailouts by hugely expanding the national Deficit
That's how Trump proves his "love" for the military of which he obtained his bone spurs exemption to dodge military service.
28 Billion to Farmers to finance loss of exports due to tariffs.
Pressuring the Federal Reserve to further cut interest rates to turbo boost an already high stock market which claimed was manipulated while Pres Obama was in office.
Cheaper money does not go into the economy at large; it goes into the hands of the super wealthy who put that money instead into the stock market and other assets that drive up the cost of living to everyone else all the while claiming that there is no inflation.
And of course Socialism to Trump's super rich buddies and corporations in outright tax cuts while 500,000 people had to file for bankruptcy protection last year on account of unaffordable medical bills.
24
@JPS
The little farmer or family farms did not get any of the billions, it all went to large corporate farming institutions. The small farmer is systematically being run out of business or taken over by huge agricultural firms. Monopoly's, which were never suppose to happen are happening all the time. There are fewer and fewer places where our food is coming from. That should be of great concern to all of us.....both the cost and quality of our food that will be available to us.
Trumps speeches are full of misinformation and lies. As he talks of the GOP supporting/ protecting pre existing conditions in health care they are in court
fighting to get rid of it.
1
@smf ...Thank you for correcting me on that point. I agree with you and am sure that it is only the large farm/food corporations that receive those subsidies.
My prediction for the Democrats. President Trump will win re-election. He will be difficult to beat in the general election. However, the democrats will win both the House and Senate. President Trump will be impeached in the House in February 2021 and removed from office by the Senate with 67 votes in March 2021. Then we will see the country begin to heal and the Trump dynasty will be over.
11
That’s pretty optimistic. It would be a delightful event, and great good entertainment, but I’m not as hopeful as you that it will come to pass.
8
"Flamboyantly offensive"--love it. Thanks for finding the right words.
5
I strenuously object to the claim that Trump had "a very good week." He was caught red-handed trying to subvert our coming presidential election and compromising our national security in the process. He was impeached by the House of Representatives. Though he was not removed from office, a majority of the Senate, including members of his own party, conceded that the evidence against him was irrefutable. He delivered one of the most crass, self-serving State of the Union addresses in history, and followed it with a vengeful, incoherent diatribe in full view of the world. It was a week that revealed, to any one with open eyes, that his presidency is fueled solely by self-aggrandizement and vindictiveness. Ms. Dowd, he did not have a very good week. It was an appalling week, and that you and many other Americans can't tell the difference is a very bad portent of what's to come.
17
@fbraconi - if you don’t think Trump had a great week, then you really don’t understand US politics.
@fbraconi
You nailed it. If the current president had been Obama with the very same week — Republicans would be jubilant! Not so Democrats. Get a grip!
Democrats who put their hopes on Bloomberg, whose policies are no different than Hillary Clintons, will soon discover it's not the person but the policies people are voting against.
Clinton, Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Bloomberg are all made out of the same cloth, totally interchangeable as far as policies. The only ones offering change are Sanders, Warren, Wang, Steyer. If you don't go with one of those, you will have Trump for another 4 years.
3
@CacaMera truth be told.
Amazon: “The company's newest corporate filing reveals that, far from paying the statutory 21 percent income tax rate on its U.S. income in 2018, Amazon reported a federal income tax rebate of $129 million.Feb 13, 2019!”
1
The Democratic Party has sewn confusion and angst during the long tedious debate battle that has lead us to the Primaries. The candidates are trying to take one another down, which weakens the whole party. The SMART one, however, is Bloomberg, who stepped up late, seeing what a mess the Dems were making of it. He has already demonstrated his superior intellect by stepping up to save the day by avoiding the shambles of Iowa. He is funding his own candidacy, and he is the ONLY candidate of the entire bunch that has the Executive-level resume to right this sinking ship and run a country. It’s going to take master to do this. Bloomberg is the right candidate to not only WIN against Trump, unite our country to work together, Right all the miserable wrongs the Trump Administration has mishandled, but to deal with the frightening Economic nose-dive that is on the horizon. We NEED HIM!
7
Remember, Ms. Dowd, Americans elected Trump. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
12
@Michael Skadden .. Unfortlunately, for you, the enemy is socialism, and you are on the side of the enemy.
Don't walk away from the polling booth with a big grin before making certain you've voted for all the down ballot Democrats. Keeping the House, turning the Senate and winning all the state offices that determine the way district boundaries are set is vital.
Don't feel you have to adore the Democrats, just make certain you're sending messages to the cult members. Actually, you're saving them from their own worst instincts; you're being kind.
9
Sooner or later, and many of us hope sooner, Donald Trump will alienate enough people in his own party to create the backlash that the rest of the country has been waiting for. History has shown us that when tyrants become drunk enough with their own power they destroy themselves, and the demise usually starts with those who originally supported him.
3
The more ferocious and strident the manner in which Democrats express their disdain over Trump, the less they appear the party of the reasonable alternative, regardless of specific positions.
Sanders succeeds because he points out what is wrong with American health care system - and it extends far beyond Trump.
Buttigieg is right to label Trump a symptom of a problem that has been festering a long time.
The last election featured earnest Democrats battling out of control Republicans. You cannot convince Americans our President is a menace by acting menacing; eyes blazing with disbelief.
Pelosi wasn't Speaker of the House during the last election. Now she's back and I wonder if that hurts or helps the Democrats.
Not that any of it really makes any sense.
"An especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the president of the United States.
Rush Limbaugh? Really?
11
People should stop talking about "moderate" Senate Republicans. Anyone who voted for Trump is now an accomplice to his crimes. How many trials have there been where NO live witnesses were permitted.
This could be used as a precedent.
6
Give it a break Maureen. I am not a Democrat but a conscientious voter, and I saw plan and clear that Trump is guilty and Republicans are his accomplices. Furthermore, the Democrats, led by my hero Adam Schiff, did an outstanding job making the case to the American people. The fact that only one poll has shown an increase in Trump's rating doesn't negate the fact that he is an abusive, vengeful, power hungry tyrant who has no respect for our government.
Stop crying Democrats; stop reacting to Trump and operating in fear. You have a lot to offer this great nation of ours. We are counting on you to save this Republic from Trump and his minions in the Senate. You have lots of wonderful candidates vying for the job. Stay focused on telling the truth and offering solutions about the economy, healthcare, education, and climate. Make your case to the American people. And I believe they will respond favorably.
12
Rush may be be not only one of the greatest patriots of our time, but also the most loved my millions of American adults. His brilliance was showing how foolish the liberal agenda is/was and how out of step they were with Americans outside the NY/DC/Hollywood bubble. Giving him the Medal of Freedom was well deserved and a wonderful moment for Trump's SOTU speech and the millions watching the event!
3
This president is the Ugly American to a tee, I grew up hearing the term and meeting a few of them, I am not a North American but I am a US citizen and I have to clarify that to people I know and have met over a lifetime. To most people I pass as an American but because of my accent and looks I seem more of a European and this is probably because of my ascendancy which is from Spain. I try not to worry about the future of the country by looking back at its history and Jim Crow, and the lot but I am worried about the democrats being so confused that they do not see a path to removing this guy from office. I am a registered democrat and plan to vote for whoever is chosen in the primaries but seeing how homofobic parts of this country can be I doubt mayor Pete will do it, seeing the attacks on Bernie's socialism and Biden's perceived corruption problem in terms of his son, I am very concerned and as many a person from New York think maybe Bloomberg might do the trick. I like Klobuchar too. I think Bloomberg with VP Klobuchar or Bloomberg and Stacey Abrams, who knows, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best but expecting the worst and also hoping the young Bernie people understand that if he does not get it they must get behind whoever and play ball because we need all the coalitions we can get in order to win and also a plan to get him physically out when he refuses to leave. what happened this week was appalling and must be stopped. hope we survive.
3
It’s not like this is a game, a battle between Democrats and Republicans. It’s not a team sport.
This is a battle between authoritarianism and Democracy, Tump and America, Republicans and the Constitution.
If you don’t understand this, you don’t understand the real problem.
It’s not the Democrats that are losing.
It’s America.
18
There is nothing business about it. It is all personal. Trump doesn't care about the government, he only cares about Trump.
10