Trump Supporters Have Much To Account For
Consider this a reality check for some of you.
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Richard Cohen: Trump’s erstwhile supporters have much to account for
- Opinion
The useful idiots are falling by the wayside. First came a few corporate big shots, and then some more, and then many, many more. Princes of Wall Street, richer and more important than any CEO, also left and then Julius Krein, a conservative intellectual and digital pamphleteer, retracted his support of Donald Trump in a New York Times op-ed and inevitably was hailed as a political Rip Van Winkle who had just woken up. He and the others slept too long.
They have done their damage. Trump is in the White House, fulminating on Twitter, messing up foreign policy, mistaking critics for enemies, refusing to immediately and unequivocally condemn neo-Nazis, white racists and other assorted goons — and, in general, failing to provide the nation with a scintilla of moral leadership. This will last until it can’t any longer. There is only so much chaos a nation can stand.
Meanwhile, the parts of the American corporate and political leadership who slummed with Trump and think that the quick shower of a repudiation statement will wipe them clean ought to think again. They are obliged to consider how they ever supported a person whose racism was apparent in his rabid conviction that Barack Obama had not been born in America and whose posse always contained so-called white nationalists. The surprise of Charlottesville is not that it happened, but that it took so long. Our president is neo-racist.
It was also apparent to anyone that Trump lies with almost every breath. And yet some of the same people who knew the dark truth about Trump — who would not do business with him, who would not lend him money and who, most importantly, would not raise a child to be like him — supported him for president. Some, like Carl Icahn or Wilbur Ross, got in early, while others hung back until Trump won the GOP nomination. Having panicked at the prospect of Hillary Clinton winning the presidency, they embraced Trump.
Anti-Hillaryism diseased their minds. It enabled them to hold her responsible for the deaths of Americans at Benghazi, Libya, and to obsess over her missing emails. She was a lousy candidate, sure, but her most serious criminal act was to frequently flash an insincere smile.
Trump critics such as myself have been accused of living in a bubble. On the contrary, it is Trump’s supporters in the 1 percent who breathed their own fumes. They believed in the Gordian Knot fantasy: the myth that a bold person could solve an intractable problem, as Alexander the Great did by not even attempting to untie the Gordian Knot but rather severing it with his sword. Trump’s supporters felt that all that was needed was common sense or, better yet, something called “business sense.” If Trump could run a business, he could, therefore, run the country.
This myth was so strongly held that it overcame both logic and experience. It was an extension and a mockery of Ronald Reagan’s simplistic belief that “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem” and that all that was needed in a president was the zeal and cool nerves of a short-seller.
Trump’s total lack of character was brushed aside. So, too, was his utter lack of compassion. His high-powered supporters said nothing as he attacked the Khans, the Gold Star parents of an Army captain who was killed in Iraq. They were similarly mute when he denigrated John McCain’s suffering as a POW in Vietnam and mocked a disabled reporter. They never asked him to prove he had donated a cent to charity.
Trump railed against Mexicans and Muslims, bullied his fellow candidates, winked at his supporters in the odious alt-right, was caught boasting of an adolescent sexism, exhibited an astounding ignorance of just about everything he needed to know — history and government — and persisted in a pernicious campaign to delegitimize the mainstream media. The latter may be his only success.
Trump’s presidency will fail. Just don’t ask me how and when. It will collapse because at its center is a hollow man, lacking ballast, whose chaos cannot be contained. In the meantime, those who supported him then but have now recanted need to consider what steered them so wrong. What compelled them to support a man whose ignorance, selfishness, egomania and abysmal character was so clear? Was it their lust for deregulation, lower taxes and a Wagnerian end to the Obama era? They slept — but it was our nightmare.
http://www.troyrecord.com/article/TR/20170823/NEWS/170829919
Richard Cohen - n@washpost.com.
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Reading some of the fantasy, from the right, that passes for political commentary on this site , makes you wonder if they have ever seen their hero on tv acting the fool. It's actually very hard to miss.
Trump’s presidency will fail. Just don’t ask me how and when. It will collapse because at its center is a hollow man, lacking ballast, whose chaos cannot be contained. In the meantime, those who supported him then but have now recanted need to consider what steered them so wrong. What compelled them to support a man whose ignorance, selfishness, egomania and abysmal character was so clear? Was it their lust for deregulation, lower taxes and a Wagnerian end to the Obama era? They slept — but it was our nightmare.
Just wondering if any of the Trump supporters here want to take a shot at trying to answer that question. Go for it!
What compelled them to support a man whose ignorance, selfishness, egomania and abysmal character was so clear? Was it their lust for deregulation, lower taxes and a Wagnerian end to the Obama era?
You left out the biggest reason of all. HILLARY!
But remember, we were supposed to forget about her investigation and all the other problems she was wrapped up in.
Investigations in which she was found to have done no wrong, like Whitewater and Benghazi?
Instead, we have a man who ran a fraudulent "university", who brags about committing sexual assault and voyeurism, encouraged espionage against a political opponent, encouraged violence against protesters, who deliberately antagonizes unstable leaders with nukes, and who actually gave classified information from another country to Russia.
not to mention trumps tools are insults, grandiose promises, intimidation and threats, the fact that he is a megalomaniac with nothing but grandiose "solution" that always need to be scaled way down to be realistic makes him a unrealistic president. No Thank you !
A leader of a multi mega corporation maybe but a leader of men and of country... What a joke ! And a truly bad one at that.
with nothing but grandiose "solution" that always need to be scaled way down to be realistic
Or with no solution at all.
"Investigations in which she was found to have done no wrong, like Whitewater and Benghazi?"
And have you ever stopped and looked at the timing? I doubt it. Either way, it still doesn't negate 40 years of being part of the problem. Or are you that gullible to think that those were the only problems that kept people from voting for her?
And have you ever stopped and looked at the timing? I doubt it.
Of which of the multiple investigations?
Investigations in which she was found to have done no wrong, like Whitewater and Benghazi?
Comey determined that she didn't violate the espionage act which meant she didn't comit a crime. However, he also said that she was so careless with classified information that, if she were a regular employee instead of a political appointee, she could have been fired. She got herself into this mess by setting up not just a private email account but also a separate private server apparently for the sole purpose of evading the freedom of information act and congressional inquiries.
She barely escaped the whitewater incident and, although she kept her fingerprints off of obama's deception regarding the nature of the Benghazi attack, an internal investigation identified management failure as a primary reason that the compound was so poorly protected. As secretary, she was the top manager and she accepted responsibility while simultaneously adding her poor management skills to her resume for president.
And that's not even including toppling the government of Libya, which created a failed state that exports terrorism or exacerbating the conflict in Syria -- destroying the country, killing thousands, sparking a regional sectarian war. She's a walking disaster.
But here is the real point:
Hillary did not win the election, Trump did and Trump will be impeached, found guilty and kicked out of office, unless he resigns first.
That is the real point, and it is inevitable.
Trump's not going anywhere. The real point is that, if democrats don't field a better candidate standing on a better party platform, Trump can be re-elected.
"Trump's not going anywhere. The real point is that, if democrats don't field a better candidate standing on a better party platform, Trump can be re-elected."
Unfortunately for all of us they would much rather just cry about Trump.
TRUMP IS GOING DOWN.
He is The TRUMPTANIC!
Deal with it.
If the Trumptanic goes down, you'll need him to hit an iceberg. So far, you're just throwing ice cubes and he sails on.
TRUMP IS THE ICEBERG as well as THE STINKING SHIT. (Sinking Ship)
The shit still floats.
Shit usually floats in the bowl before it is FLUSHED.
A good metaphor for Trump: TRUMP IS a floating TURD about to be flushed into the sewer where he belongs.
Thank you for that!
I have always referred to Trump and Hillary as two turds and said that turds should be flushed not nominated for president.
I don't know how anyone can read the Congressional reports of Benghazi and think Hillary was qualified to do anything other than collect tolls. It's amazing that the fact that she wasn't indicted is somehow held up as proof that she did nothing wrong. The Congressional reports are a damning compilation of gross management failures on her part.
Trump's never been indicted either. I guess he's done nothing wrong, either.
I don't know how anyone can read the Congressional reports of Benghazi and thing Hillary was qualified to do anything other than collect tolls.
Hillary had the gall to use her incompetence as a qualification to be president and then people wonder why Trump won.
Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy obviously felt Hillary was qualified to run, as he did NOT charge her with anything after his own Congressional Kangaroo Court investigated the crap out of her involvement in Benghazi and FOUND NOTHING.
Blame Hillary's candidacy on REPUBLICAN TREY GOWDY if you must blame it on anyone.
(p.s. None of that is 'hostile'. It is just FACTUAL.)
Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy obviously felt Hillary was qualified to run, as he did NOT charge her with anything after his own Congressional Kangaroo Court investigated the crap out of her involvement in Benghazi and FOUND NOTHING.
Incompetence is not a crime so that fact that she wasn't charged with a crime doesn't make her competent.
Blame Hillary's candidacy on REPUBLICAN TREY GOWDY if you must blame it on anyone.
I blame the democrats who nominated her.
I blame the democrats who nominated her.
So glad to hear you accept responsibility for the incompetence, lying, divisiveness, blundering, stupidity and failure that is Trump.
So glad to hear you accept responsibility for the incompetence, lying, divisiveness, blundering, stupidity and failure that is Trump.
I'm glad to see that you recognize your own culpability.
How about the ones she was found guilty but got away with anyhow like putting National Security at risk with her email server?
SHOW US THE PROOF that she was 'found guilty" of anything. Not your biased bullshit, but actual proof.
YOU CAN'T because she was NOT found GUILTY of anything. (What a dumbass comment you made. Sorry, but that was kind of hostile. My bad.)
How about the ones she was found guilty but got away with anyhow like putting National Security at risk with her email server?
Just need to let you know: Those voices in your head are not real.
What compelled them to support a man whose ignorance, selfishness, egomania and abysmal character was so clear?
Oh, Probably because he channels everybody, including those here on this blog. It hurts to see ones self sometimes.
Mirrors can be scary things.
Think About it:
Ignorance = many, many, many comments are based on what one reads in the media of their choice. YOU choose LEFT, you believe that. YOU chooses RIGHT, you believe that. What is actually going on behind the scenes of the White house, YOU have NO CLUE ! YOU are just getting leaked info, or Opinion Crap that has been proven wrong time and again.
Selfishness = many, many, many, many people have this want of their own needs and pleasures. Just reference what is going on in this country now. PROTEST for selfish reasons. YOU WANT. Pffffft !
Egomania = Reference the obsessive egotism and self-centeredness going on in protests since the start of 2016, under the guise of "For Everyone". BULLSHIT ! YOU just WANT too ! If YOU get it, you won't think twice about it the day after tomorrow.
Abysmal Character = That says it all for "Some of the People" these days. YOU BIGOT ! YOU HATER ! YOU RACIST ! YOU.....YOU.....YOU ! What about YOU ?
Face it. YOU ALL are looking at yourselves when it comes to TRUMP. If you say otherwise, your lying to yourself.
A bunch of Ignorant, self centered, egomaniacs, that want what they want, no matter what. They call it Self Righteous for a reason.
By the way, what has gotten through as law in Washington anyway. Can you answer that without looking it up. I know the media has been lax in reporting anything of real use.
Well stated!
People have this tendency to immediately judge based on innuendo and conjectures, and not look within themselves.
You're joking, right?
READ IT AGAIN YOU GUYS! (Hal-A-Lujah and Atheist)
Sam has FACTUALLY and OBJECTIVELY stated a middle of the road argument that points out the flaws of BOTH sides, because NOBODY IS PERFECT on this, and there are biases on both the Left and the Right.
Then he concludes with: after all that TRUMP IS AN ASSHOLE1 Because Trump has NOT kept a single one of his campaign promises so far. That's on TRUMP and his Majority Republicans in the House and the Senate. They own two branches of the government (and possibly the 3rd with Gorsuch) and they still can't get shit done in Washington. That's all TRUMP!
Well stated!
Very well stated!
Good job Yosemite Sam (It-Is-Me)!
No, not well stated. What you have failed to acknowledge is that video footage of Trump saying horrible things and putting his ignorance on display is not subject to interpretation. It doesn't matter who is reporting it, if the footage is there for all to see.
What you have failed to acknowledge is that video footage of Trump saying horrible things and putting his ignorance on display
Can't really fault Sam for what he didn't say. We all have seen the Trump videos and heard the Trump speeches and read the Trump tweets and we all know what a complete and total IDIOT Trump is. Restating the obvious is not really necessary is it? Besides, Sam was writing a comment, not a book. Give the guy a break. He hit the high points and did so very well.
You are correct too, but so was Sam (It-Is-Me) with what he posted above. It's a good comment. It's fair to all sides, and ultimately comes down on Trump as it should.
That is true Yosemite Sam style, all right: pistols blazin' and not hittin' one damn thing.
That is true Yosemite Sam style, all right: pistols blazin' and not hittin' one damn thing.
I don't know about Sam's 'style" because I haven't read a whole lot of his previous statements, but I do know he did hit the targets on this comment above. The Left does have it's biases just like the Right. That's why they are the EXTREMISTS they are. Left = Far Left. Right = Far Right. The rest of us float somewhere in between those two radical extremes. That is where I think Sam (It-Is-Me) was coming from, and he got it right.
I'm NOT saying your're wrong, but I am saying that at least this time Samgot it right.
(p.s. For anyone else reading my comments here, I am NOT being HOSTILE and I am not COMPLAINING or being a PESSIMIST. Just trying to be honest and factual. If you can get past your own biases I do hope you can try to see that. - - - Atheist, that post script comment was for OTHER'S benefit. I'm pretty sure you know where I stand on this kind of stuff.)
The rest of us float somewhere in between those two radical extremes.
One thing I do like about Trump, is that he is not afraid to go after both sides in congress, or any other area of government. Even the likes of Old timers McConnell and McCain don't scare him. He is actually able to do what we are only able to scream at the TV about.
Both sides are scrambling in Washington these days. Even other world leaders questioning how they have been running things. loved how he went after NATO right under their new monument to themselves. If I have read things right, some are starting to pony up what they owe now.
It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it.
Sam Levenson