८ एप्रिल, २०१९

The NYT's Charles M. Blow thinks it's "a mistake to believe that Trump’s supporters don’t see his lying or corruption. They do. But, to them, it is all part of the show and the lore."

Blow writes:
[W]hen you survey the constellation of folk heroes, you see that many have been criminals. Bonnie and Clyde. John Dillinger. The Sundance Kid....

Perhaps one of the most popular folk heroes in the world is mythological: Chinese folklore’s Monkey King.
Please note that Blow is black and Trump is white. If the races were reversed, Blow's career would be over. Ask Roseanne Barr.
The British Council wrote of [the Monkey King] legend: “Despite his superpowers, at the heart of the Monkey King’s appeal is his human fallibility — he is greedy, selfish, and prone to sudden changes of mood and outbursts of exceptional violence. He defies divine authority, laughs at attempts to be controlled, and leaves chaos in his wake. But we know that there is fundamental good within him. He is the misbehaving child who only needs a firm hand and a sense of purpose to come good.”
This is an insight that's been easily available to Trump haters since at least 2015.* But I guess it feels like a revelation to those who refuse to look at Trump from any angle that could be at all flattering.

And Blow's column ends with no solution for Trump antagonists (and of course there's no reconsideration of whether Trump is the enemy):
Anti-Trump forces must stop operating as if they are doing battle with a liar; they are doing battle with what his supporters have fashioned into a legend. How does one fight a fiction, a fantasy? That’s the question. Its answer is the path to America’s salvation.
_______________________

* To try to find early instances of the recognition that the Trump story is a hero narrative, I did a search of my blog archive for "Trump" and "hero." One thing that came up, from last October, was this fascinating rant from Kanye West:
"You know, they tried to scare me to not wear this hat—my own friends. But it’s hot! It gives me, it gives me power in a way. You know, my dad and my mom separated, so I didn’t have a lot of male energy in my home. And also, I’m married to a family that, you know, not a lot of male energy going on. It’s beautiful though! But there’s times where, you know, it’s something about—I love Hillary. I love everyone, right? But the campaign, 'I’m With Her,' just didn’t make me feel, as a guy that didn’t get to see my dad all the time, like a guy that could play catch with his son. There was something about, when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman. You made a Superman—that’s my favorite super hero. You made a Superman cape for me, also, as a guy who looks up to you … looks up to American industry guys, nonpolitical, no bullshit.…"
Maybe Blow could analyze that. By the way, Blow's column begins with a discussion of his mother (who, he says, was "austere" and full of "moral rectitude" but nevertheless loved the Democratic Party scoundrel Edwin Edwards), but he says nothing about a father.  Blow did write a column about that Kanye incident at the time, but he dismissed Kanye as a "troubled... rambling, incoherent" and concluded:
The spectacle wasn’t really Kanye. The spectacle was watching Trump pretend to care about remedying a problem that he is consciously continuing to not only cheer but worsen. Kanye was just being used.
I'd like to see Blow extend his folk-hero analysis of Trump to Kanye's rant about making him feel like a super-hero. Blow wrote about how women might embrace a rogue, but what about how a man might see himself in the hero?

१६६ टिप्पण्या:

Mike Sylwester म्हणाले...

It's a mistake to believe that Hillary Clinton’s supporters don’t see her lying or corruption. They do. But, to them, it is all part of the show and the lore.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Blow is a fool who has never had a real insight in his life. He is the perfect NYT columnist.

Xmas म्हणाले...

I guess you missed Instapundit posting a link to Bret Easton Ellis's book excerpt about Kanye.

Mike Sylwester म्हणाले...

Please note that Blow is black and Trump is white. If the races were reversed, Blow's career would be over.

If Blow were White, The New York Times would not have hired him in the first place.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

That was my first thought too, Mike. But I think Hillary supporters really don't see the lying and corruption. They actually are tired of hearing about the damn emails.

My second thought was, who the hell are these people to be accusing others of not seeing what is right on front of their faces?

AllenS म्हणाले...

Checking Wiki there is no mention of a mother or father, just where he was born, and --

Personal life
Blow lives in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, New York, with his three children.[13][3] His eldest son attended Yale University[14] and his twins attend Middlebury College and Columbia University. In 2014, Blow came out publicly as bisexual.[15][16]

How did he get these children, since there was no mention of a wife/girlfriend/woman?

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

I could write that Blow Blows, but that would be unkind.

Here's the deal. VDH has nailed why Trump voters stand by him. He's the tough guy in the Western movie who is brought in to clean up the town from the criminal element. We don't want Trump dating our daughters, but he's the guy we need.

Blow probably had no idea who VDH is. Two movies, one screen.

AllenS म्हणाले...

I'm beginning to think that his original name was Charles M Blowhard.

chuck म्हणाले...

> He is the perfect NYT columnist.

Absolutely. My Dad was a big admirer, while I thought Blow was at the worst of the shittiest stable of columnists in the business. But I didn't tell my Dad that, bit my tongue, I did :)

GRW3 म्हणाले...

Corruption? Regular voters don't even bother asking how lifetime politicians become multi-millionaires (like the Clintons, Obamas) on government salaries. Emollienments? Please. Renting every room in the DC Trump Hotel would have minimal impact on his bottom line, he expects that hotel to be pretty full most of the time, that's why he bought the property and renovated it.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

Looking for insight and perspective in all the wrong places.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

chuck, If it can be encapsulated in a blog-comment-friendly format, I'd love to know what your dad liked about Blow. I can't see it--even if he agrees with you, there are others who will agree with you while being a better read.

H म्हणाले...

I guess there must be a substantial audience that loves to read the same OMB opinion piece over and over and over and over. If NYT just republished Blow columns from two years ago, would anyone notice? Or if they republished Jamelle Bouie or Frank Rich columns under Blow's by-line, would anyone notice?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Right. And all the leftwing communists, fascists and socialists queuing up to take control of our lives with the punishment we deserve... no fantasy - a total nightmare.

Leland म्हणाले...

Ugh, another back hand slap to Trump supporters. Look, on lying out simple, how many Congresses and Presidents passed and signed laws saying we need to enforce immigration and build a wall, but then quietly failed to appropriate spending? Yet Trump is a liar? Maybe he is, but before you claim that as significant; you need to point out the other losers. We just spent 2 years investigating a lie, so there is a place to start.

CWJ म्हणाले...

"[W]hen you survey the constellation of folk heroes, you see that many have been criminals. Bonnie and Clyde. John Dillinger. The Sundance Kid...."

Wow! Talk about a backhanded complement...and the inference is clear. Trump received many unflattering descriptions over his career, but "criminal" was not in the top ten, if at all. However, put an R after his name, watch him win the presidency, and suddenly BOOM! He's Lex Luthor as well as Hitler.

Howard म्हणाले...

Blow needs to read althouse to find out how his theory blows. of course you people buy the con job hook line and sinker. my jejune homage to wordboy

Henry म्हणाले...

This is a step forward for Times' readers. Trump as monkey is better than Trump as mogwai.

But here's a question for Blow: What exactly is the "chaos" in Trump's wake? Describe the chaos that is actually chaos, not the chaos that is "policies I don't like."

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Take a virtual trip to New York to see the gorillas and get kidnaptivated by their captivating prose.

Howard म्हणाले...

monkeys over-anthropomorphized. trump=monkey is ipso ergo facto over-anthropomorphization of trump. QED

buwaya म्हणाले...

Journey to the West, the tale of the Monkey King, is long, but of the Chinese classics it is the most accessible, and it’s great fun.
What Blow misses is that it is broadly satirical; it’s less about enlightenment than about silly fun, indeed, poking fun at the great and the good. The ceremonious, the stuck up, the bureaucrats obsessed about mindless procedure and their ranks and privileges. And then the buddy-flick part of comedians taking a turn on the stage. The whole thing is a literary classic written for Jackie Chan.

tcrosse म्हणाले...

Trump is Bart Simpson.

CJinPA म्हणाले...

First, Trump supporters tolerate his fibs for the same reason everyone tolerates their favorite pol's fibs: There is a greater agenda they care about.

[W]hen you survey the constellation of folk heroes, you see that many have been criminals. Bonnie and Clyde. John Dillinger. The Sundance Kid....

I JUST read the great Jim Lileks take on the new Bonnie & Clyde film on Netflix, Highwaymen, which did NOT treat the couple as folk heroes, and therefore was skewered by Charles Blow-like critics. Lileks was not amused:

The next day, Jones was initiated when he and Barrow killed Doyle Johnson, a young family man, while stealing his car in Temple, Texas. Less than two weeks later, on January 6, 1933, Barrow killed Tarrant County Deputy Sheriff Malcolm Davis when he, Parker and Jones wandered into a police trap set for another criminal. The total murdered by the gang since April was five."……But Bonnie wrote poetry!

I suspect Trump voters are the least likely to see criminals as heroes.

Mary Beth म्हणाले...

Trump is the Monkey King, his voters are the monk, and the presidency is the gold crown that can make him do what the monk wants. The Monkey King called himself "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" and T_D calls him GEOTUS. Coincidence? No, Blow figured it out. We are living the story of the "Journey to the West".

stevew म्हणाले...

FFS, what in the world does Charles M. Blow know about Trump supporters and their reason(s) for liking and supporting him? Has Charles M. Blow ever spoken with one? Been in the same room? Same state?

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"I guess you missed Instapundit posting a link to Bret Easton Ellis's book excerpt about Kanye."

I saw the BEE thing through Drudge, but it didn't seem good enough to blog. I'm pretty selective.

buwaya म्हणाले...

If one wants a western equivalent that is as “shocking” as “Journey to the West”, consider “Candide”, Voltaire, which really is also great fun, in the same manner. It is no struggle to get up to speed on these things. Its a bit absurd urging people to read them. It’s like urging a child to have a taste of ice cream.

Darrell म्हणाले...

I see the lying at the NYT. And CNN. And NBC. And CBS. And ABC. And the New Yorker. And the WaPo.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"it didn't seem good enough to blog" ≠ the writing wasn't good. It just means it didn't inspire me to blog. I don't think Blow's column is terribly good. I often blog about things I don't like. The question is whether I want to say something. So I guess what needs to be "good enough" is my response.

If Drudge and Instapundit have already pointed at something, it's not for me just to point you there too! This isn't that kind of place.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

So what I'm trying to say is never assume I haven't seen something. If it's already getting attention, I'm especially unlikely to just blog it. So

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

Trump's supporters, for the most part, see his faults. They also see the faults of his opponents. They prefer his faults, such as they are, to his opponents' faults.

More than any other president in my lifetime, Trump has tried to carry through on his campaign promises, the bad ones as well as the good. That he is opposed by some is no surprise. What is a surprise is the complete failure of his opponents to engage on the merits and faults of his ideas and, instead, relentlessly focus on his personality.

Everyone who voted for Trump was aware of his personality. He is not a fascist; he is not a racist; he is a promoter. He wants you to buy what he is selling, he has a great deal for you, and if you hurry, he can squeeze you in. Don't be left out!

Also, he counter-punches. Leave him alone to make his pitch, and he'll leave you alone. Throw an elbow at him, and he'll give you a knuckle sandwich.

Needless to say, this is not a normal presidency--it is rather like Andrew Jackson. Trump has tapped into the boisterous, rude, dynamic politics of populism, which has been the historic home-field of the Democratic Party. The Dems gave it up to be the party of identity politics. Trump smells opportunity among aspirational white, hispanic, and black voters, particularly men. Can he make the sale again in 2020? Popcorn popping. This is the greatest show on earth.

Michael K म्हणाले...

I JUST read the great Jim Lileks take on the new Bonnie & Clyde film on Netflix, Highwaymen, which did NOT treat the couple as folk heroes, and therefore was skewered by Charles Blow-like critics. Lileks was not amused:

I recently read the biography of Frank Hamer, called "I'm Frank Hamer"

He was the real deal. When Coke Stevenson was trying to keep Lyndon Johnson from stealing the 1948 Senate election, he got Frank Hamer to go to San Antonio with him. Abe Fortas got to Harry Blackmun first and the theft was done.

I operated on Denver Pyle, who played him in the movie,.

SteveR म्हणाले...

Trump pisses off the right people. They don’t see it that way, they think they are being smart. Smart enough to vote for Hillary.

chickelit म्हणाले...

Chuck's analysis blows

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

Trump deals with the media like a seasoned comic deals with a heckler. Everybody loves it when the comedian makes the heckler look stupid, except the heckler.

Two-eyed Jack म्हणाले...

The level of dishonesty of those who decry Trump's lying never ceases to disturb me. It is the constant injection of poison into our culture by those who insist on their righteousness. They cannot resist the doctored "quote" or the disingenuously edited video clip.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"It's a mistake to believe that Hillary Clinton’s supporters don’t see her lying or corruption. They do. But, to them, it is all part of the show and the lore."

I don't think they do. They're so certain of their own moral rectitude that they have convinced themselves of Hillary's.

That Trump's supporters recognize his shitty qualities and like him all the better for it, as I think it's obvious they do, doesn't speak well of them. Yes, we can all get a kick out of con men and scoundrels in fiction, but in real life, with life and death consequences, an ignoramus liar who cares not a whit for any other human being than himself is not a person who should be heading up a government, anywhere, ever. Unfortunately, we haven't had any major party candidates in decades--or elected presidents--who were not loathsome tools of the ruling class.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Why is Charles Blow writing about some Monkey King?

Racism!

AlbertAnonymous म्हणाले...

Charles Blow blows...

अनामित म्हणाले...

The NYT's Charles M. Blow thinks it's "a mistake to believe that Trump’s supporters don’t see his lying or corruption. They do. But, to them, it is all part of the show and the lore."

Idiots like Blow continue to wield Occam's Butterknife* in their fanciful analyses. But it's not that Trump supporters continue to support Trump because they don't see his "lying and corruption", or see it and interpret it as some sort of meta-performance. It's that they see can see all the other players' lying and corruption, too.

It's just bizarre to watch chatterati and journalists continue to blab on as if we all lived in their fantasy world, where anything they'd rather not be seen or known is magically unseen and unknown. (Jeez, reading them is like watching a toddler hide those cookies you saw him snitch behind his back. You saw him take them and "hide" them, he knows you saw him take them, but since they're now "invisible", he's confident he can explain the general cookie issue to you based on a shared premise that he and his confederates on the back porch are the honest defenders of cookie-jar-use norms and traditions.)


*(phrase coined, I believe, by Steve Sailer)

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

So, I carefully read Charles Blow's column.

Here is my understanding of his well-tuned argument:

Premise 1. His conservative Louisiana Momma always votes Democrat - even for criminals such as Governor Edwin Edwards.

Premise 2. His conservative Louisiana Momma apparently does not remember that the racist South was Democrat.

Therefore: Trump supporters are equally delusional, because we love the Chinese Monkey King.

Something like that.

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

Lesser of two evils. BY FAR. That doesn't equate to liking his negative attributes. By the way, fighting back against the Democrats is not a negative attribute.

My name goes here. म्हणाले...

Everytime someone says that Trump is corrupt, I ask for examples. If anyone has some please let me know. And let's limit to his time as president. If you say he paid off some union rep while building Trump tower I will laugh at you.

Every time someone says that Trump is a liar, I ask for examples. I expect politicians to lie. I am not saying that he has not lied. But I think instead of lying he is just wrong about things.

Charlie Currie म्हणाले...

"[W]hen you survey the constellation of folk heroes, you see that many have been criminals. Bonnie and Clyde. John Dillinger. The Sundance Kid...."

But, were they folk heroes before leftist Hollywood made them into folk heroes?

etbass म्हणाले...

Robert Cook said

"I don't think they do. They're so certain of their own moral rectitude that they have convinced themselves of Hillary's."

Might be true but the rest of the comment is not. We deplorables like Trump in spite of not because of his shitty qualities. OTH, his shitty qualities are being used in a mighty way to smack down the left in ways that they richly deserve. And as for being a con man? Maybe he is seen that way but he is getting things done and he is doing what he said he would do. I call the rest of the political world a con game but not Trump. To say he "cares not a whit for any other human being than himself" is a complete falsehood from what I can tell.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

I'm not a fan of all things Trump. But the way the hypocrites on the corrupt left vilify him - they force me like him more.

etbass म्हणाले...

Those on the left and many on the right are blinded by the superficial things about Trump and fail utterly to credit him for the great good he is doing and will do. They would rather have a hypocrite who talks nice but does terribly than someone who doesn't talk nice but does great good.

narciso म्हणाले...

Blows mot even good for fisking
https://thefederalist.com/2019/04/08/obama-holdover-sally-yates-helped-sink-michael-flynn/

Bruce Hayden म्हणाले...

“Personal life
Blow lives in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, New York, with his three children.[13][3] His eldest son attended Yale University[14] and his twins attend Middlebury College and Columbia University. In 2014, Blow came out publicly as bisexual.[15][16]”

Hmm. Several of these are top ten schools academically and in selectivity. Precisely the types of schools recently in the news for parents cheating to get their kids admitted. Does anyone seriously believe that his kids got into those schools on merit? Had near 800s on all their SATs, > 4.0 GPAs, and exceptional extracurricular activities? I don’t. Rather, I will suggest that it was because he is black and well connected.

I know kids with 1550 SATs and > 4.0 GPAs who failed to get into all three of these schools. One good friend’s son, whose father was a well known black artist had his heart set on Columbia. Nope. Ended up at Fordham, which I think worked out better for him anyway.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

Blow wrote that Trump was "pretending to care" with the Kim and Kanye office visit. But that meeting resulted in the eventual First Step legislation, prison reform. Funny, but when Obama pretended to care about prison reform he didn't actually get anything done. But Trump did. Kanye isn't the only prominent Black person in America that noticed.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

I voted for Trump because I thought he'd bring to the presidency the hard headed sanity of a contractor who managed to get skyscrapers built. Also because he promised to try to enforce the borders and limit illegal immigration.

He's performed in office better than I expected.

I also voted for him because his ruthless and funny attack on PC censorship was precisely what was needed. You can't deal with financial and structural realities unless you talk about them without censorship.

I'm happy with his performance there, too.

DOW +26,000, unemployment at historic lows, pulling out of foreign entanglements, trying to enforce the border...

So far, Trump's presidency has been a great success. With the Russia collusion hoax off his back, he might do even better.

Is Trump a "con man?" Yes, he is, in the best sense of the phrase. He instills confidence in people. He's constantly trying to build the confidence of Americans in their ability to profit and succeed, and in the great culture of the U.S.

RK म्हणाले...

Obama was a frequent liar and Hillary a pathological liar. Things rarely mentioned in the NYT.

अनामित म्हणाले...

Charles Blow's columns can always be condensed thus: Orange Man bad. We hates.

Francisco D म्हणाले...

The words "lying" and "corruption" are only found in NYT editorials when the subject (e.g., White House occupant) is a Republican.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

Angel-Dyne observes: It's just bizarre to watch chatterati and journalists continue to blab on as if we all lived in their fantasy world, where anything they'd rather not be seen or known is magically unseen and unknown.

And they continue to infect millions with TDS. While I remember well the dichotomy of the 60's, the media were not the drivers of division that they are today. Their goal is to wield total power by manipulation and, unfortunately, it's working.

Not Sure म्हणाले...

I have no doubt that Trump paid off a lot of corrupt pols as a real estate developer and casino operator. But calling him "corrupt" right now is just replacing "Russians!!" with "emoluments!!"

I hope that, after he leaves office, Trump releases statements of his net worth before and after being president. It would be instructive to compare his rate of return on "public service" to that of the Clintons. Or Obama, for that matter.

CJinPA म्हणाले...

He was the real deal. When Coke Stevenson was trying to keep Lyndon Johnson from stealing the 1948 Senate election, he got Frank Hamer to go to San Antonio with him. Abe Fortas got to Harry Blackmun first and the theft was done. I operated on Denver Pyle, who played him in the movie,.

This is one of the more interesting comments I've read in awhile. Thanks!

mccullough म्हणाले...

Trump is great entertainment. Politicians are liars and corrupt. Those are two qualifications in a politician.

But Trump has fun with the bullshitting. “They say windmills cause cancer.” That was a great tossed off line. It sums up the insanity of our Expert-Obsessed-News Culture. Teeeting that meme about Biden was great, too. Gentle humor mocking Biden a bit but more importantly mocking the insanity of MeToo. Biden should thank Trump. That tweet did more to help Biden than his pathetic groveling. Welcome Back, Joe. Trump is going to mock the mocksble that Biden knows he can’t do because he’s afraid of the Outraged Left.

Trump is a Comedian. He also loves the United States. He cuts through the bullshit policies we’ve had for the last 30 years.

He just trashed the Bushes and Clintons. Great entertainment. He is a folk hero.

Blow doesn’t get it.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

The moral blowhard stuff that Blow does is completely irrelevant to me.

I don't want the president to be involved in a moral crusade. In particular, I want all the 1968 forever civil rights crusades to crash to a halt.

I want pragmatism. Do things the way they need to be done in the way that works best for people.

Blow is a racism huckster and profiteer. Blackety-black-black.

That is precisely what I want to see die.

CJinPA म्हणाले...

But, were they folk heroes before leftist Hollywood made them into folk heroes?

I think contemporary media covered them as a folk heroes too. Or, at least many newspapers did. The local papers, where the victims actually lived, probably did not.

Michael म्हणाले...

Trump is Samson. His strength is in his hair.

And he slew 10,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.

narciso म्हणाले...


I know her methods haven't always been oerfect:

https://youtu.be/mVCmLmlR-Y0

gerry म्हणाले...

...they (Trump haters)are doing battle with what his supporters have fashioned into a legend.

Hmmm. So Trump supporters are the ones who are delusional, and not the ones who claim things about Trump they cannot support. It's not his fault, it's our fault!

Sounds like it's good old re-education-camp time!

Jim Gust म्हणाले...

""[W]hen you survey the constellation of folk heroes, you see that many have been criminals. Bonnie and Clyde. John Dillinger. The Sundance Kid...."

But, were they folk heroes before leftist Hollywood made them into folk heroes?"

Yes they were. An astounding 20,000 attended Bonnie's funeral, and 15,000 were at Clyde's. I learned that from the Netflix movie, and confirmed it on Wikipedia.

Trump is so much better than I expected him to be.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

I'll bet that 1) He has never discussed the issue with an actual Trump supporter, 2) If he did, he just discounted everything he was told and decided he knew what they really were thinking.

When Talking about Trumpers these columnists sound like they are describing some mysterious tribe in Guyana, who speak an unknown language. Trumpers think and speak just like people did in America before complete bullshit became the American English of today and politics became more important than the nation or the people.

To someone invested in the existing corruption, draining the swamp looks like corruption.

Bruce Hayden म्हणाले...

“That Trump's supporters recognize his shitty qualities and like him all the better for it, as I think it's obvious they do, doesn't speak well of them. Yes, we can all get a kick out of con men and scoundrels in fiction, but in real life, with life and death consequences, an ignoramus liar who cares not a whit for any other human being than himself is not a person who should be heading up a government, anywhere, ever. Unfortunately, we haven't had any major party candidates in decades--or elected presidents--who were not loathsome tools of the ruling class.”

Originally, the important thing was that he wasn’t Crooked Hillary. She had a scant four years earlier sold American foreign policy to foreigners for well over a billion dollars in their Clinton Foundation pay-to play scheme. If she could do that running the State Department, what could she do with the keys to the Treasury Department? Moreover, she was well known to be petty, highly vindictive, and really isn’t that smart (who fails the DC bar exam?)

But Trump does two things. First, he speaks truth to power. He tells us that the emperor wears no clothes, and leads the laughter against them for trying to brazenly force us to ignore their nakedity. So many of the self appointed elites really are venal, corrupt, petty, and often not that smart, despite their credentials, and that their kids were admitted to Yale, Middlebury, and Columbia. Crooked Hillary was one of theirs, she could lead them, because she was even more venal, corrupt, petty, and not that smart. We love laughing with Trump at all of these corruptocratic posers.

The other thing though is that while he may lie about the little things, he doesn’t lie to us about the big things. Politicians of both parties lie through their teeth on a pretty contestant basis. They promise the public whatever they want in order to be elected, and then deliver to those who have purchased their loyalty. And the two groups are most often quite separate. Trump may fudge his IQ, height, weight, sexual prowess, etc. But he keeps his campaign promises the best he is able to, and better than most anyone else could in his position.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/opinion/charles-blow-at-yale-the-police-detained-my-son.html

Since he didn't mention the cop's race, the cop was black.

M Jordan म्हणाले...

Trump will never be understood by the left. They are children who don’t understand where money, goods, anything comes from but they are hungry and they want fed now! They create nothing except fake art. The chaos that we is inherent in any creative act (including the Genesis account of the universe) is terrifying to them.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

When trying to draw a connection between thieves and a politician it would be helpful to examine how much booty they got from the job and where it came from. Politics is the only profession I know of where you make many times your salary for unknown reasons, and invariably go from middle class to a One-percenter on a middle class salary. It's magic.

narciso म्हणाले...

David Kirkpatrick now on the middle east beat, practiced this sort of anthropology hes on tean qatar.

Nonapod म्हणाले...

Netflix's Highwaymen was a pleasent surprise. Over the past few years it seems like Netflix has leaned a bit too hard in the intersectional/woke direction. Maybe they're starting to see that there's a huge audience that isn't interested in being scolded or preached for entertainment.

One of the problems I think some people in the anti-Trump crowd have when they attempt to understand Trump supporters is that they can't see past Trump himself. Trump looms so large in their psyches that he blocks out all other signals. They can't see his supporters past Trump. And since they've imputed various extremely negative characteristics to Trump, they'll often simply transfer all those characteristics to his supporters when thinking about them. Because they see Trump as racist, all his supporters must too be racists. Or something like that. It doesn't matter if that really doesn't square with reality.

This Charles Blow fellow is claiming Trump's supporters have "have fashioned into a legend" with Trump, that he's seen as some sort of flawed, chaos inducing but well intentioned misbehaving child. This is a bit closer to reality perhaps, but it's still missing a few important aspects. He correctly notes that Trump supporters are fully aware of Trump's "lies" and other failings. But he still does't see that larger picture, the larger stage that Trump is on. Trump doesn't exist in a void. He didn't spring from nothing.

The whole reason why Trump was able to ascend to the presidency at all is due to this larger stage. Over the past several decades the entire world of modern American politics has been revealed to be an ugly, corrupt mess where the blantant open crimes of the powerful are excused, overlooked, and even rewarded. Up until Trump, many of the concerns of the average voter (like out-of-control illegal immigration) were barely given lip service and then ignored. To say that the average Trump supporter has been jaded by this would be an understatement.

Sure, there's some Trump supporters who see him as a folk hero I guess. But in the eyes of a lot of Trump supporters he's just a guy who actually heard what many voters were saying. He's a guy that has actually been attempting to do something about those concerns. That's what's important to his supporters.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

"And he slew 10,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass."

This is more true of Trump the more you think about it.

Clark म्हणाले...

If you are interested in exploration of the Trump story as a hero narrative, let me second Dave Begley and point you in the direction of Victor Davis Hanson: Donald Trump, Tragic Hero.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

Gk1 asserts: There is nothing more adorable than a liberal pretending to understand what motivates conservative, white males.

Unless it's an atheist lecturing Christians on what constitutes true Christianity.

TJM म्हणाले...

Did Blow ever ask Obama and Hillary supporters what they thought of their lying and corruption? Trump is pretty clean compared to those two thugs

Skeptical Voter म्हणाले...

Back in junior high (which is where Blow's mental development seems to have stopped if he can write tripe like this),one would say that Blow "blows chunks".

Part of Trump's appeal is that he doesn't waste time with the stuff that makes prissy lace curtain Irish (he's not our sort dear) types feel good.

Does he lie? Heck yes. But in the real, non prissy, world, people will accept a certain amount of bull dust. But Trump doesn't lay on a whopper like 'you're going to save $2,500 a year" or "Benghazi was caused by a video" or "the oceans will stop their rise".

He's a billionaire (or whatever) but doesn't show contempt for or denigrate the folks in flyover country. Those folks know he has their back. Obama engaged in a sort of supercilious condescension where bitter clingers were concerned. There was an expression in the WW II RAF for situations when a young pilot was called on the carpet by a very senior officer. It was referred to as "Being shat on from a very great height". Lots of Obama's public statements reminded me of that phrase.

Tommy Duncan म्हणाले...

"... the Republican Party not only abides racists, it courts them..."

Is it a standard at the NYT that all articles must state that Republicans are racist? Do they realize yet that needle no longer stings?

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"leaves chaos in his wake."

But in Trump's case, the chaos is mostly a function of the reactions to the Monkey King. Progs like "chaos," until they get to impose order.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Bonnie and Clyde are "folk heroes"? Not to anyone who knows the truth about them. They're not even heroic in movie. As for Blow. Why does the NYT hire such mediocre Black columnists? Remember Bob Herbert? Do they hate black people?

Chuck म्हणाले...

What is the basis for this fantastically provocative statement:

Please note that Blow is black and Trump is white. If the races were reversed, Blow's career would be over. Ask Roseanne Barr.


Is it the reference to a Chinese "Monkey King"? If so, that's a silly and stupid transposition of a one-way racial stereotype. There's no long history of demeaning white people with references to monkeys. That one doesn't work both ways, Althouse. Blow didn't call Trump a "honky" or a "cracker." Now THAT might have ended Blow's career. He didn't do that, and we don't need to engage in any guesswork about that hypothetical.

rcocean म्हणाले...

20,000 people showed up at the funeral? Where's the support for that? And where did they hold the service, in a football stadium?

rcocean म्हणाले...

Charles Blow can talk about Chinese monkeys. Black man privilege.

Kevin म्हणाले...

How does one fight a fiction, a fantasy? That’s the question. Its answer is the path to America’s salvation.

- Trump is a Russian Agent
- We should use the intelligence services against our political enemies
- Free college and healthcare for everyone
- The economy can stand 70% marginal tax rates
- Everyone should be able to immigrate

Are these the fictions and fantasies he's describing? Because, yes, fighting them is the path to America's salvation.

Kevin म्हणाले...

The NYT's Charles M. Blow thinks it's "a mistake to believe that Trump’s supporters don’t see his lying or corruption. They do. But, to them, it is all part of the show and the lore."

How about another perspective which seems to be beyond Mr. Blow's ability to conjure?

- Obama lied. Obama was corrupt.
- Hillary lied. Hillary was corrupt.

Lying and corruption are not differentiators in our political class, just the aims toward which the lying and corruption are pointed.

Just because the media works overtime to make one side's lying and corruption appear virtuous, doesn't make it so.

And if Blow can't see that, he's the sucker at the table.

Sam L. म्हणाले...

Blow...blows.

Chuck म्हणाले...

Does he lie? Heck yes. But in the real, non prissy, world, people will accept a certain amount of bull dust. But Trump doesn't lay on a whopper like 'you're going to save $2,500 a year" or "Benghazi was caused by a video" or "the oceans will stop their rise".


Bullshit on this.

Of course Trump lies in massive, consequential ways. Trump is promising a great health care reform plan, where costs will be lowered, deductibles and copays and co-insurances will be lowered, with better care all around and Trump says that "everybody will be covered." That's a lie. Trump doesn't have any such plan. Trump doesn't know how to draft such a plan, or negotiate such a plan. Worst of all, Trump doesn't really care, apart from campaign talking points.

Trump lies to middle American workers in stressed industries like steel and coal and auto manufacturing, saying that he will "bring back" their jobs via tariffs and trade deals. That's a monstrous lie too. We do have historic low unemployment right now, but that is a trend that started seven years ago. The auto, steel and coal industries haven't much changed anything since Trump took office. GM closed some U.S. plants, opened one or two new ones. Ford is doing the same. Coal production and especially coal mining employment hasn't changed much. U.S. steel production and employment hasn't changed much.

And there's The Wall. They put a plaque on a section of wall last week, that was replacement construction of previously-built wall, and which was paid for and approved in the Obama Administration. Yet Trump lies and claims it is part of a new wall that he is building.

The fact that Trump lies about big, consequential things sometimes is obviated byk the number of Trump lies about things big and small. The small things are what are so funny. Trump lying about windmill noise causing cancer. Trump's monumentally fake golf handicap. Trump telling reporters that his father was born in Germany.

No matter what flavor of lie you might like, Trump has a lie for you.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"But Trump does two things. First, he speaks truth to power."

Ha!

"The other thing though is that while he may lie about the little things, he doesn’t lie to us about the big things."

Hahaha!

I'm sure his farmer supporters agree.

And the people of Puerto Rico will surely confirm your statement.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

"He's not a bigot, he's a realist."

That's what bigots believe.

Nonapod म्हणाले...

- Obama lied. Obama was corrupt.
- Hillary lied. Hillary was corrupt.

Lying and corruption are not differentiators in our political class, just the aims toward which the lying and corruption are pointed.


These realities of politics is what is usually missed by the anti-Trump and/or never-Trump crowd when they attempt to understand the pro-Trump crowd. These factors may seem obvious to you or I, but for some reason a lot of people who are mystified by Trump's support don't seem to grasp them. It's easier for them to imagine that Trump supporters are simply ignorant than to imagine themselves to be. It's easier to notice and point out the failings of a single, very public individual than to understand the failings of an entire group or an entire political system.

And it's easier to choose to only listen to or read information put forth by people who confirm your own biases and don't reveal any potential cognitive dissonances you could be susceptible to.

But I think it's good that many people who oppose Trump are finally honestly attempting to understand his supporters. It may lead to more self awareness on their part. More self awareness is a good thing.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

"He's not a bigot, he's a realist."

That's what bigots believe.


Stop doing this Robert Cook. This mindless, reflexive bullshitting about racism is our major intellectual and moral problem.

You're our problem. This kind of blabbing is what needs to stop.

Stop slandering your neighbors and countrymen. You are the evil that needs to be fixed.

Drop the cliched bullshitting about bigotry. Do something right for a change. Improve public life. STFU.

wildswan म्हणाले...

As the Grand Army of the Hoax Coup retreats across the frozen wasteland of Russian collusion, starving from a diet of nothing burgers, they form delusional pictures. The picture they form tells us something about their inner dreams, nothing at all about Trump or his supporters. For Blow, once, Trump was a racist leader of racist Christian, white, straight, misog, etcs; now, Trump is an anarchist from outside European culture, a monkey and a king. It isn't explained why racist Christian, white, straight, misog, etcs follow the anarchist king. But this is just the dream of an NYT guy freezing in the dark on the great retreat, a lonely soldier fearing a fall by the wayside and the snow softly falling, falling and covering him over, like a blanket, warm, soft, and home at, ... Comrade Blow, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, MARCH. He staggers on. Don't ask him to make sense.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

I also voted for Trump in the hope that he'd eventually ridicule and lampoon assholes like Cook until such assholes drop the bullshit and shut up.

That may be hoping for too much.

elkh1 म्हणाले...

But to them, it's the media liars who pretend their favorite politicians never lied. The media liars pretend they themselves are unbiased. The media liars pretend to be telling the truth reporting from unnamed and non-existing sources. The media liars who never hold their favorite politicians to keep their campaign promises, and labeled inadvertent truth telling a gaffe. The media liars who call every Republican president Hitler, and called Obama brilliant.

The media liars who peddle the Russian Collusion Delusion for three years are not in any position to call Trump or anyone a liar.

Trumpers ignore Fake Media's innuendos. They support Trump for the campaign promises that he keeps and is trying to keep.

hombre म्हणाले...

Stupid lefties! Trump is a parody, or perhaps a caricature, of how he sees politicians.

We and he have been inundated with politicians pretending that truth matters while distorting facts at every turn. For lefties particularly it’s all about words: “racist”, “right wing”, “LGBT”, “#metoo”, “sexist”, etc. Trump has had a front row seat to observe the lying, graft and corruption. He simply engages in the distortions without the pretext and he knows we know it. The lefties and their fawning mediaswine pretend it means something. Trump supporters don’t pretend and don’t care about the words.

Meanwhile, the economy is doing well. Trump is taking steps to protect free speech and due process on campus. He is working on improving the military and health insurance. He is appointing qualified judges, and so on. He could do better with the borders, but his detractors want them open.

Lefties focus on what he says to distract from what he does and from their seditious and corrupt opposition. We focus on what he does.

Martin म्हणाले...

I think Blow is wrong, as I usually do.

I am quite aware of Trump's bad qualities. Alhough a lot of what people like Blow call "lies" as if they were Clinton-level mendacity is really a bullshit artist plying his trade, he has told a few whoppers, but only a few. But I support Trump not because of that, but despite it, and the fact that nobody else is a better alternative. Faint praise, for sure, but there you are--the best of a bad lot?

A centrist Democrat who eschewed socialism and race- and gender-baiting, or a Republican who would actually fight for conservative principles rather than lie to his base and cave at the first hint of disapproval from the NYT. I would give either of those a close look. In fact, I am on the lookout for either.

So far, I don't see any.

narciso म्हणाले...

he will not suffer the full force of the law:


https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-democratic-staffer-pleads-guilty-to-doxxing-gop-senators

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

Don't tell me about accepting liars until you quit the MSM. Everyday, all day long, and it is proven, and you bought up so much, you still can't accept the debunking.

If Trump is so bad, stop making money off of talking about him, and send back your tax cut.

narciso म्हणाले...

there is a fair exchange, and there is badgering the host, with personal innuendo, and repeating the post eight times,


https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/08/immigration-why-trump-kirstjen-nielsen-fallout/

James K म्हणाले...

That Trump's supporters recognize his shitty qualities and like him all the better for it, as I think it's obvious they do, doesn't speak well of them.

Well, no, they recognize and appreciate the correlated qualities of a fighting spirit, sorely lacking in every Republican President, and most in Congress, since Reagan. The fact the Reagan was able to be both likeable and a fighter only shows that times were different: You had Democratic leadership like Tip O'Neil who worked with Reagan rather than engage in character assassination.

James K म्हणाले...

Trump lies in massive, consequential ways. Trump is promising a great health care reform plan

Wait, a President who "promises" legislation that doesn't come to pass? Shocking.
Only an idiot like Chuck would fail to understand that when presidential candidates, or presidents, make such promises they are talking aspirationally. Presidents can't enact legislation themselves.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

". The spectacle was watching Trump pretend to care about remedying a problem that he is consciously continuing to not only cheer but worsen."

I do not understand this at all. Is he talking about 'racism' or prison reform?

AllenS म्हणाले...

Some day, I'd like to see Trump slay 10,000 Philistines with the jawbone of that ass Charles M Blow.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

"That Trump's supporters recognize his shitty qualities and like him all the better for it, "

No. All of the credentialed elites in the Uniparty have the same shitty qualities and either lie about them, or have them papered over by a compliant media.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was as big an asshole as Trump has ever been.

Inga...Allie Oop म्हणाले...

If you people know about and then accept his lying and corruption, what does it say about YOU?

Temujin म्हणाले...

I'm really trying to refrain from personal attacks that don't actually address the topic brought up in a post, but I've read enough of Charles Blow over the years to know that he's a bottom feeder. He's a person who has made a living calling the 'other side' names while playing Paid Mainstream Troll.

His conclusions are predictable, never surprising. I find his articles hard to get through unless you feed off of hating the other. If you feed off of that, then you'll love Charles Blow. Who, by the way, presents himself as one of the victimized, tortured souls in America, writing from his office on the 5th floor of a glass building in midtown Manhattan. The view of the world from there is tortured, victimhood. Alas.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

"You people? you people? What do you mean you people?"

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

"Please note that Blow is black and Trump is white. If the races were reversed, Blow's career would be over."

If Blow were white he would be working at Walmart as a greeter no matter what color of skin Trump had.

GatorNavy म्हणाले...

Anyone who is anyone knows that Trump is a great American and being a great American, Trump is firmly tied to American mythology, not clumsy Chinese mythology. Trump is the Coyote!


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_(Navajo_mythology)

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

You don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. That Blow doesn't get this, and I am being generous in giving him the benefit of being stupid rather than dishonest, isn't surprising given his past writing.

Inga...Allie Oop म्हणाले...

“He that lieth down with dogs shall rise up with fleas.”

Benjamin Franklin

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

If you people know about and then accept his lying and corruption, what does it say about YOU?

Says the rapist and his wife supporter and Soft coup scandal-free supporter.

Have YOU accepted any of it?

YoungHegelian म्हणाले...

I think there's a subtext to Blow's analysis of what animates the Trump voter. Running in parallel to the dying hope among liberals that Trump will be removed from office by legal means (e.g Mueller's investigation), is the now dying hope that in 2020 there will be "buyers' remorse" among Trump's base. The increasingly futile search for "Buyers' Remorse" is the subtext of Blow's article.

I hear this from my liberal friends all the time. In their telling, in 2020, a large enough contingent of Trump's base will have come to their senses after four years of Trump that they'll vote Democratic. I tell them with employment & economic figures as good as they are, that's unlikely. I tell them that I keep up with the Right-wing blogosphere & I see no evidence of defection. Quite the opposite. I see the luke-warms & the "anyone but HRCs" moving into the grudging admiration column. I see the remaining "Never-Trumper" conservatives isolated & treated with derision.

They stare at me like a deer in headlights. I tell them to put down the NYT & start reading other sources. They never do, as it would be beneath them.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

They stare at me like a deer in headlights. I tell them to put down the NYT & start reading other sources. They never do, as it would be beneath them.

And my Progressive aunt will never quit watching Rachel Madcow.

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

I still can’t figure out what I’m supposed to care about. It can’t be the women because I lived thru the Clinton era. Open up the impeachment files.

I never paid attention to Trump in the 80s or 90s other than to laugh and shake my head with his squiring women around. They knew what he was when they married him. I really never watched The Apprentice. I don’t eat McDonald’s.

The Donald’s admin might be the most scrutinized in history. What scandals? He never colluded with Vladimir. Anyone who remembered the 80s knows what the progs were saying was bull. And now it’s been proven bull. Tip O’Neill colluded with the commies when Ronnie was elected because that’s who they really are and have been for decades. That’s history Ethel.

Inga...Allie Oop म्हणाले...

“I hear this from my liberal friends all the time. In their telling, in 2020, a large enough contingent of Trump's base will have come to their senses after four years of Trump that they'll vote Democratic.”

Wow, then they should come here and read the comments. I’ve actually never heard this from fellow liberals. Maybe some independents have come to their senses, but rightists are firmly entrenched and no one who appreciates reality should think Trumpists will leave the cult. We’ll just have to wait and see if the cultists outnumber the liberals, Democrats, progressives and independents. Hillary won’t be running this time.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Chuck wrote:

"Is it the reference to a Chinese "Monkey King"? If so, that's a silly and stupid transposition of a one-way racial stereotype. There's no long history of demeaning white people with references to monkeys. That one doesn't work both ways, Althouse. Blow didn't call Trump a "honky" or a "cracker." Now THAT might have ended Blow's career. He didn't do that, and we don't need to engage in any guesswork about that hypothetical."

So, we can't even point out double-standards, right? And what is really the evidence that the NYTimes would fire Blow for "honky" or "cracker"? Seriously, they claim to have hired Sarah Jeong knowing she had written worse things about white people.

Inga...Allie Oop म्हणाले...

“I tell them to put down the NYT & start reading other sources. They never do, as it would be beneath them.”

I tell them to stop reading Breitbart and watching Sean Hannity and start reading/ watching other sources. They never do as they can’t conceive that any other sources would give them the “truth” as they prefer to hear it.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

To explore the idea of Trump as an embodiment of the trickster animal/god archetype, see Donald Trump, Trickster God (“I propose that Donald Trump is the personification of a Norse god named Loki.”); The American Trickster & Our National Conversation (in Psychology Today!); and Victor Davis Hanson’ The Animal Cunning and Instinct of Donald Trump. I seem to remember Jordan Peterson mentioning it as well.

tom म्हणाले...

There's only so much space in a column. Why would he necessarily write about his father if he's writing about his mother? My mom makes quilts. My father doesn't. If I'm writing about her quilting hobby, there isn't much reason to bring up dad.

YoungHegelian म्हणाले...

@Inga,

I tell them to stop reading Breitbart and watching Sean Hannity and start reading/ watching other sources.

I wouldn't recommend liberal looking at the other side start with either one, either.

But then again, I really can't remember Hannity nor Breitbart coming out with howlers like "Hillary has a 92% chance of winning" or "If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never".

NYT readers are really far too understanding of the paper's long history of fuck-ups.

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

Finally only 40 years later!

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has been decreed a terrorist organization!

If Barry has only supported the opposition when they were on the move, this might not have been necessary.

John henry म्हणाले...

Bullshit, Cook.

We got between 40 and 80 billion dollars in maria related aid. It came from taxpayers like yourself.

We got way more aid than we did after Hugo in 89 or George's in 98.

We got it faster. I overlook the former naval station. We had af c5a's and other planes landing in close succession the day after the storm.

5 days after the storm Whitefish energy was flying antonov in with bucket trucks, helicopters and hundreds (eventually 5-6,000) of utity workers. (not all from Whitefish)

We had 300 or so tank trucks + crews from Macron energy and a Virginia Company a week or two after the wind stopped to distribute fuel.

We had, at one point 10,000 troop on the ground plus all their logistics flown.

Courtesy of your taxes Whitefish, flour and other companies replaced more than 60,000 power poles and 10,000 miles of wire.

We had military and civilian medical teams starting to come in on day 2.

Shiploads of food and supplies

This all came out of Robert Cook's taxes. Not ot of mine since pr residents pay none.

Contemplate that Tuesday th 15.

Yoi are full of shit, Cookie. I can say that most days.

But when you start posting shit like this you are an evil cunt (English definition)

I can post more later if anyone wants.

John Henry

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

If you had read other sources, Inga, you would have known there was no Russian collusion.

Walk your talk.

John henry म्हणाले...

You want to talk about the bullshit 6,000 or 2000 or whatever scam number they are using today?

Let me know I'll be happy to.

In the meantime jus shut the fuck up until you educate yourself

John Henry

John henry म्हणाले...

Strongly worded comments later when I get to a keyboard.

John Henry

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

I do t need to eat h Gannity I don’t read Breitbart only if linked.

But I do read you and that gives me a pretty darn good idea of which way the wind is blowing in an issue.

Your track record screams believe the opposite. The best part is you do the reading for me.

John henry म्हणाले...

6000 huricane deaths.

John Henry

narciso म्हणाले...

And the administration replaced whitefish within two months, meaning it took them eight months to reach the same level, let's not forget that risello jr spent relief funds trying to elect gillum. It's a floating new Orleans or Greece in the caribbean.

John henry म्हणाले...

O my. It just hit me.

Whitefish was chartering Antonovs! From Ukraine which is next to Russia.

There's the collusion right there. Lock him up!

The Antonov is a big brother to the C5A

John Henry

John henry म्हणाले...

Narciso,

The only reason they replaced Whitefish was because the mayor of San juan was making it into a "distraction" it cost $4-5mm to cancel the contract and left us an extra 2months without power. According to Ricky when he canceled it.

I blogged a lot about the power situation at darkislandpr.blogspot.com

John Henry

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

Oh maybe a reason Barry didn’t support Iranian opposition was collusion.

FrancoGerman collusion.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi म्हणाले...

When the right lies, it's evil. When the left lies, it's for your own good.

Bruce Hayden म्हणाले...

Blogger Robert Cook said...
"But Trump does two things. First, he speaks truth to power."

“Ha!”

"The other thing though is that while he may lie about the little things, he doesn’t lie to us about the big things."

“Hahaha!”

Ha back to you. Though it really is a bit humorous to have a Trump hater telling his supporters why they like him, despite all of his blemishes and warts. And, of course you wouldn’t be able to see why many of us see it as speaking truth to power. After all, according to many leftists, only the left can do that, because they represent the oppressed, while the Republicans represent the establishment. Except for the reality that that hasn’t been the case in a very long time. Maybe before the election of outsider Andy Jackson. But not much afterwards.

Seeing how Cook reacted badly to my suggestion, I was reminded about something Dennis Nunes said yesterday about the Russian collusion hoax. He said that the people behind the hoax in the DoJ and esp the FBI, seemed to think of themselves as saving the country from Trump, and likened their leaking to Deep Throat (who turned out to have been apparently FBI DDir Felt, who was butt hurt for having been passed over for promotion, and whose job Andy McCabe had 45 years later). And all of the newspaper people printing their leaks thought that this was the new Watergate, and they were the next Woodward and Bernstein. The reality, of course was just the opposite - the Deep State people who thought themselves so virtuous, were the ones sending massive SWAT teams before dawn to arrest Trump people for nonviolent process crimes that they had manufactured. They think that they are the ones speaking truth to power and protecting us from the man, but the reality is that they were the man, and were the ones using their power to benefit the elites in this country. Cook obviously doesn’t see that, so doesn’t see why we see Trump speaking truth to power.

John henry म्हणाले...

Narciso,

The only reason they replaced Whitefish was because the mayor of San juan was making it into a "distraction" it cost $4-5mm to cancel the contract and left us an extra 2months without power. According to Ricky when he canceled it.

I blogged a lot about the power situation at darkislandpr.blogspot.com

John Henry

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

+1

Static Ping म्हणाले...

Part of the problem here is Blow is assuming Trump is unique. He is unique in his tone, but not in his behavior. Obama, for instance, was all things to all people and many of his statements and beliefs were phony. Apparently, this was considered a desirable thing at the time.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Our folk hero,The Monkey King - via Charles Blow via the NYT via some British Council that Mr. Blow googled the other day:

“Despite his superpowers, at the heart of the Monkey King’s appeal is his human fallibility — he is greedy, selfish, and prone to sudden changes of mood and outbursts of exceptional violence. He defies divine authority, laughs at attempts to be controlled, and leaves chaos in his wake."

Mick Jagger said it more eloquently:

I'm a fleabit peanut monkey
All my friends are junkies
That's not really true

I'm a cold italian pizza
I could use a lemon squeezer
What you do?

But I've been bit and I've been tossed around
By every she-rat in this town
Have you, babe?

Well, I am just a monkey man
I'm glad you are a monkey woman too

I was bitten by a boar
I was gouged and I was gored
But I pulled on through

Yes, I'm a sack of broken eggs
I always have an unmade bed
Don't you?

Well, I hope were not too messianic
Or a trifle too satanic
We love to play the blues

Well I am just a monkey man
I'm glad you are a monkey, monkey woman too, babe

I'm a monkey
I'm a monkey
I'm a monkey man
I'm a monkey man
I'm a monkey...


-- Monkey Man, The Rolling Stones (1969)

Nonapod म्हणाले...

The Antonov is a big brother to the C5A

Was it the An-225 (the big boy) or just an An-124? Could the PR airport can even handle the big boy?

narciso म्हणाले...

Felt ironically nearly toppled the temple when scrutiny was focused on the black bag jobs he supervised, found in the media Pennsylvania robbery.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Trump is explained by one sentence: “The system is rigged against the little guy.”

To the extent that people believe that statement, it not only explains Trump, but it explains their antipathy towards Charles Blow, Hillary Clinton, limousine liberals, and country club Republicans. The anti-Trump people build support for Trump when they invent new ways to attack him, including complaints about cheating at golf, vague allegations of lying and corruption (never any specifics), and so forth. Won’t work.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Will Socialist government whore Oligarch-lover Google pimp Bernie give up his government paycheck?

Do tell, Bernie.

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

Inga,
"If you people know about and then accept his lying and corruption, what does it say about YOU?"

You accepted Obama and Hillary's lying and corruption, didn't you?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

You must only listen to DNC-Media sources. In fact, there should be a law to FORCE us.

Drago म्हणाले...

Inga still passionately believes the hoax dossier is real and true and completely verified.

Discuss.

Jim at म्हणाले...

Trump pisses off the right people. They don’t see it that way, they think they are being smart. Smart enough to vote for Jill Stein.

Bilwick म्हणाले...

This from a guy who probably supported the Clintons.

buwaya म्हणाले...

As I noted above, much of the point of “Journey to the West” is satire. The government of the Emperor of Heaven in the thing is a broad analogy of the Chinese empire, it’s court, it’s courtiers and officials and even their champions. And so also of the various monks and monasteries and holy men, and even of the legendary and supernatural creatures. All of them are comedy fodder.

The Monkey and his friends make monkeys of the lot of them, and more often than not of themselves too, as well as of the entire genre of folklore. You have to remember that this is a literary work and not folklore.

buwaya म्हणाले...

The writer of “Journey to the West” would certainly have written in some comeuppance for such as Blow, at the hands of his orange-haired monkey-king.

John henry म्हणाले...

It was the big one.

I think San juan can handle it.

I was talking about former naval air station Roosevelt Roads In Ceiba.

Not the first time we've seen it but it is always impressive.

John Henry

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

I still think the Monkey King is racist and I resent Charles Blow for claiming that I worship the Monkey King.

That Mr. Blow is black while I am not is beside the point.

narciso म्हणाले...

Oh that's interesting
https://mobile.twitter.com/Scotttaylorva/status/1115319936950439937

Fen म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Fen म्हणाले...

Cook obviously doesn’t see that, so doesn’t see why we see Trump speaking truth to power.

Cook is a Marxist. The only reason he hasn't kicked your door down and rounded up your family for the labor camps is because his Dear Leader's Red Guard hasn't formed yet.

I keep trying to tell you guys - these people aren't simply the flip side of your coin. And while I appreciate your tolerance for people like Cook, you might as well be sitting down to shoot the breeze with a future Hermann Göring. And you're surprised he's not a mirror image of ourselves?

narciso म्हणाले...

Maybe a zinoviev or a kirov:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Nervana_1

Achilles म्हणाले...

Inga...Allie Oop said...
“I tell them to put down the NYT & start reading other sources. They never do, as it would be beneath them.”

I tell them to stop reading Breitbart and watching Sean Hannity and start reading/ watching other sources. They never do as they can’t conceive that any other sources would give them the “truth” as they prefer to hear it.

I don't watch or read either of those.

But both of them were right about Russian collusion.

And you are obviously wrong.

The people that got their information from Hannity were infinitely more informed than you were.

But stupid people like you cling to your hoax's.

The indictments are coming. There was collusion. There are going to be a lot of democrats and hopefully a few republican traitors going to jail.

Fen म्हणाले...

Chuck: Trump is promising a great health care reform plan, where costs will be lowered, deductibles and copays and co-insurances will be lowered, with better care all around and Trump says that "everybody will be covered." That's a lie. Trump doesn't have any such plan. Trump doesn't know how to draft such a plan, or negotiate such a plan. Worst of all, Trump doesn't really care, apart from campaign talking points.

I don't believe you. You are a known liar and traitor. on this very blog you have confessed to an animus against Trump and vowed to slime him in any way possible.

So show me where Trump said this? Not the bolded part, that's just pure speculation on your part, you have no way of knowing of it. But show me were Trump promised a great health care reform plan, where costs will be lowered, deductibles and copays and co-insurances will be lowered, with better care all around and Trump says that "everybody will be covered."

I want the link, feckless treacherous liar.

Chuck म्हणाले...


Blogger Yancey Ward said...
Chuck wrote:

"Is it the reference to a Chinese "Monkey King"? If so, that's a silly and stupid transposition of a one-way racial stereotype. There's no long history of demeaning white people with references to monkeys. That one doesn't work both ways, Althouse. Blow didn't call Trump a "honky" or a "cracker." Now THAT might have ended Blow's career. He didn't do that, and we don't need to engage in any guesswork about that hypothetical."

So, we can't even point out double-standards, right? And what is really the evidence that the NYTimes would fire Blow for "honky" or "cracker"? Seriously, they claim to have hired Sarah Jeong knowing she had written worse things about white people.


Touché.

Exquisitely played, and I have no reply apart from, “Well played.”

I did not mean to defend the New York Times, but your post deserves the last word.

DavidD म्हणाले...

“If Drudge and Instapundit have already pointed at something, it's not for me just to point you there too! This isn't that kind of place.”

Yeah, but I don’t read Drudge and Instapundit. I read Althouse.

DavidD म्हणाले...

“That Trump's supporters recognize his shitty qualities and like him all the better for it, as I think it's obvious they do, doesn't speak well of them.”

Trump’s supporters recognize his shitty qualities and tolerate them because, say it with me, Hillary Clinton will never be President.

Fen म्हणाले...

I want the link, feckless treacherous liar.

Oh Chuckie? Where's the link? It's been two hours.

SDN म्हणाले...

"The whole thing is a literary classic written for Jackie Chan."

Buwaya, that might explain why Jackie Chan and Jet Li teamed up to make a version of it for Western audiences called "The Forbidden Kingdom". It's a really good film.

Mutnodjmet म्हणाले...

When Trump-hate is all you love, Trum-hate is all you shall have.

RebeccaH म्हणाले...

They're still equating support for Trump's policies with Trump-worship, because that's what they did with Obama.

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

The Donald might have shitty qualities, but he’s our shit and making the rest of the world shit.

Fine by me. None of this leading from behind shit.

Rusty म्हणाले...

I want proof of Trumps corruption.
As a side note. Trump lies less than Chuck.
There. I said it.

अनामित म्हणाले...

It's called priorities. Border security, fixing trade, and restoring jobs to America are priorities # 1, 2 and 3. Things like "stormy daniels" and "locker room talk" rank about 950 and 951.