Charles Pierce is a thoughtful blogger for Esquire. On everything having to do with education, he is on target. He is on target on politics too.
In this post, he exposes Donald Trump as a major teller of tales, a fabulist, in short, a liar. Trump said in the aftermath of the Dallas disaster that 11 cities were in a state of upheaval and that there were people calling for “a moment of silence” for the killer of the five police officers. None of that was true.
Trump says whatever he wants and contradicts himself a day later, and no one seems to mind.
He regularly plays to his base, which is angry white men who feel left out and resent those “others.”
He writes:
Damn the delegates who will vote for this man. Damn the professional politicians who will fall in line behind him or, worse, will sit back and hope this all blows over so the Republican Party once again will be able to relegate the poison this man has unleashed to the backwaters of the modern conservative intellectual mainstream, which is where it has been useful for over four decades. Damn the four hopeless sycophants who want to share a stage with him for four months. Damn all the people who will come here and speak on his behalf. Damn all the thoughtful folk who plumb his natural appeal for anything deeper than pure hatred.
Damn all the people who will vote for him, and damn any progressives who sit this one out because Hillary Rodham Clinton is wrong on this issue or that one. Damn all the people who are suggesting they do that. And damn all members of the media who treat this dangerous fluke of a campaign as being in any way business as usual. Any support for He, Trump is, at this point, an act of moral cowardice. Anyone who supports him, or runs with him, or enables his victory, or even speaks well of him, is a traitor to the American idea…..
Here is the truth. Nobody called for a moment of silence for Micah Johnson. Eleven U.S. cities are not on the brink of racial violence. He, Trump just made that shit up so his followers can stay afraid and angry at the people he wants them to fear and hate. This lie was a marching order and the Party of Lincoln is right in step with him, straight into the burning Reichstag of this man’s mind.
Welcome to the 2016 Republican convention: a four-day celebration of the ritual suicide of American democracy.
With balloons.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Excellent, right on, and I share his anger at progressives who will sit this one out or vote for a 3rd party candidate who doesn’t stand a chance in hell of winning. I will vote for Hillary. Hillary will have to deal with an obstructionist GOP controlled Congress that will try to block her at every opportunity. If Trump wins, he will have a rubber stamp Congress with which to destroy US democracy. “Anyone who supports him, or runs with him, or enables his victory, or even speaks well of him, is a traitor to the American idea…..” True.
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So what do we do with this news? Read it and weep re Hillary and Gulen.
Hillary Clinton Has Received Donations From Gulenists | The Daily …
dailycaller.com/…/followers-of-a-mysterious-turkish-islamic-cleric-ha…
The Daily Caller
Nov 22, 2015 – Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania September 26, 2013. REUTERS/Selahattin …
Calls Grow For Hillary To Return Donations | The Daily Caller
dailycaller.com/…/islamic-cleric-may-be-laundering-taxpayer-money…
The Daily Caller
Dec 10, 2015 – A Turkish Islamic cleric with ties to Hillary Clinton has been sued in federal … The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, has lived in Pennsylvania’s Pocono …
Ties Emerge Between Clinton And Mysterious Islamic Cleric | The …
dailycaller.com/…/new-ties-emerge-between-clinton-and-mysterious-i…
The Daily Caller
3 days ago – Connections between Clinton and acolytes of the imam, Fethullah Gulen, … Cleric Have Donated Heavily To Hillary’s Campaign And Charity). Erdoğan has accused Gulen of attempting to undermine the Turkish government.
Muslim Cleric with Clinton Ties Taken to Court for False Imprisonment …
freebeacon.com/…/muslim-cleric-with-clinton-ties-taken…
The Washington Free Beacon
Dec 10, 2015 – Followers of Muslim leader accused of running cult donated up to $1 million to … Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim cleric whose movement has been described by … “Hillary Clinton is known to have attended [Gülen] events in the US, …
U.S. lawmakers got suspect Turkish campaign cash – USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/11/20/…got…/75982732/
USA Today
Nov 23, 2015 – President Obama greets guests after taking part in a town hall …. USA TODAY has identified dozens of large campaign donations … ties to a Turkish religious movement named for its founder, Fethullah Gülen. … same donors — including President Obama and Hillary Clinton — to return that money as well.
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Pierce “damns” me because I don’t want to vote for Hillary. What does that even mean? I’ve never been damned before. I guess he wants me to go to hell, and suffer for all eternity? So much for unity or a thoughtful debate.
Listing Trump’s faults, of which there are many, doesn’t magically make Hillary a morally acceptable candidate. Hillary damned the people of Iraq, Libya, Honduras, etc. Hillary is damning our Democracy with her deference to the wealthy donors (Wall St. etc) who fund her campaign.
Look at the photo of Hillary and Bill grinning at Trump’s wedding, or Bill and Trump golfing together, or at the Clinton track record of accepting large donations from Trump, and tell me that they find Trump morally repugnant and stand against all his values.
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Every “damning” of 3rd party voters ignores the responsibility of everyone else for the situation we’re in, including Hillary primary voters/supporters and the DNC itself. And, these dramatic overtures always seem to fail to list the real reasons for reservation that people are having about Hillary Clinton (no, it’s not just “this issue or that issue.”) If Trump is the devil, then Hillary must be fine, and shame if you disagree.
I’m going to take a break from this blog, maybe until after the November elections. If anyone wants to contact me, my email is eddetective@gmail.
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Pierce is damning any person who doesn’t agree. Pierce sounds a lot like a Democrat version of Trump. Trump is terrible. Hillary is terrible. Trump is more terrible than Hillary. Neither will improve America.
What most Dems, particularly the neoliberal elites, do not understand is that people are not voting for Trump based on reason or policy. The neo types can damn people all they want and call other Americans traitors as Pierce does, but it doesn’t win elections. Democrats are filled with complacency and hubris. In the rust belt, people don’t like Trump, but Hillary is offering nothing. Many Americans now considering Trump would support Hillary if she was authentic in her support of labor, middle class, and young people. People are angry and tired of seeing their jobs go overseas or turned into minimum wage. Americans see more consideration given to H1bs than citizens. Something has to change and Hillary is Obama 2.0.
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Then I guess many progressives think that Hillary is as bad as Trump, no difference. I disagree, I think that Trump is far worse than she is, the much worse evil with Mike Pence added into this witch’s brew of right wingerism gone wild. Of course Hillary is no saint, she’s a corporate shill but she’s the only one who stands between us and the abyss that would be President Trump. Jill Stein can’t win, she can’t even get into the debates. If we lived in a sane country, Jill Stein would be a contender. Bernie says vote for Hillary, do you think he’s a phony sell-out? No, he’s as scared of President Trump as I am. I am terrified that he will win. Hillary is not a sure thing, she is hated and despised by a massive swath of Americans, right or left. If Trump wins, you can forget about the supreme court for the next 50 years; think supreme court justice Chris Christie.
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Presently, I can not vote for either. Here is another view on Trump someone just sent me: some are saying he is a pragmatist – neither Republican nor Democratic-
” Donald Trump on Education”
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Donald_Trump_Education.htm
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Ellen: It’s not just Hillary who received donations from the Gulen movement but a whole mob of politicians from BOTH parties. I guess we can’t vote for anybody because most politicians are whores (an insult to whores). Bernie has told us that we have to get the money out of politics and he’s right; Bernie did not take any corporate money, his campaign was financed by small donations from ordinary Americans (except Ben and Jerry, I guess). Bernie also said…………..drum roll…………….VOTE FOR HILLARY! Hmmmm, who’s worse, Hillary or Trump? You decide.
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Voting for Hillary is apparently now a religious obligation…
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Indeed. I find the talk of damnation (and the experience of being damned) extremely creepy and off-putting.
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Not in New York, thankfully.
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Here’s Trump’s message to Bernie Sanders supporters. Troubling because much of this is unfortunately true.
“Today, Bernie Sanders will be endorsing one of the most pro-war, pro-wall street, and pro-off shoring candidates in the history of the Democratic Party. The candidate who ran against special interests is endorsing the candidate who embodies special interests. The candidate who ran against TPP is endorsing the candidate who helped draft the TPP. The candidate who ran in opposition to globalization is running against the candidate who has led the push for globalization. The candidate who warned that open borders destroy the working class is endorsing the candidate with the most open borders policy in our history. The candidate who wants to reform H1-B visas is endorsing the candidate who supported lifting the caps on H1-B visas. The candidate who wants less war is endorsing the candidate who launched wars in Iraq and Libya and would lead us to a new war in Syria. The candidate who wants to get money out of politics is voting for the candidate who has made a career out of making money from politics.
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First, I think/hope that almost all the readers of this blog know that Donnie has largely based his career on screwing and swindling people, and there’s little or no reason to assume he’s not doing likewise with the electorate.
Second, it’s really awful when he’s right, isn’t it?
Forget this presidential election. Well, don’t forget it: vote for who least scares/nauseates you, and then direct your efforts away from these characters and become involved in more local, down-ballot struggles.
If you’re on the right side of those fights, you’ll likely be fighting whomever is elected President in November.
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I have a lot of respect for you Diane, but you’re really starting to jump the shark if you think this piece is “thoughtful”. Damning people for who they vote for? Really? What country is this? Ed Detective is probably wise to take a break and I may try to do the same, but heaven help me I probably can’t. I really wish you’d try to listen to what the never Hillary people are saying and stop trying to condemn us as childish, foolish or just plain evil.
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Dienne,
I would hate to lose you, as you add a lot to the conversation on the blog.
I have not done a rah-rah post about Hillary. She is flawed, as we all are.
I can’t recall a perfect person who ran for President.
I have lived through a lot of Presidential elections, starting with 1956, when I was a freshman in college and Adlai Stevenson ran against Dwight D. Eisenhower. I worked in the Stevenson campaign and took a lot of razzing from my college classmates for doing so.
I am too old to fall head over heels in love with any candidate.
I have become a pragmatist. That is why I told you that come November, either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will be elected President of the United States. One of them will have the power to choose the next Supreme Court justice, perhaps 2 or 3 more and shape this country for a generation or more.
The election does matter. I will vote for Hillary not as the “lesser of two evils,” but because she is far preferable to Donald Trump, master con man. She may or may not be another Obama on education; I am sad about that, but I also recognize that there are other issues that matter besides education. Whatever Hillary might do on education, Trump will be infinitely worse. His choice of Mike Pence, a dedicated Evangelical and Tea Party man, is a clear indication of whose votes he wants. He doesn’t want mine, and he won’t get it.
It all comes down to a choice between those two people: Clinton and Trump.
You don’t have to vote. You can vote third party. That is your right.
But please grant me the same right that I grant you.
I will not disparage your choice if you will not disparage mine.
Diane
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Diane, I don’t have a problem with your Clinton support. I disagree with you, but nothing says we have to agree on everything and I respect your right to vote for your candidate.
My issue comes with the kinds of articles you’ve been posting lately, like this one damning people for not voting for her (which you call “thoughtful”). I would call that disparaging.
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Dienne, the point is: you can’t evade having to choose this November, and you can’t evade the effects of your choice.
You may not want to vote Clinton, and you are of course entitled to such choice. But will you hold yourself accountable for your action if the effect is that you have implicitly voted Trump in office? May other Democrats hold you accountable for the effect of your choice too?
Politics is not only about principles. At times, it is about being pragmatic, too. This is such a time.
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“Here is the truth. Nobody called for a moment of silence for Micah Johnson.”
That might be because he was a murderer. I support Black Lives Matter and I abhor police brutality and the police culture that breeds it, but shooting randomly at police officers is simply not okay. Pretty sure MLK would agree with me.
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A revolution is coming soon either way the vote goes.
Try to squash an educated class out of existence in the Information Age? This will make the sixties look like nothing but low mumbling.
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I also respect Diane for her support of teachers, but not for this Clinton support. Give me a break! Clinton is by far the more dangerous choice. Look what has happened with her policy in Libya. Don’t even get me started…I would much rather have an isolationist. There are many, many former Democrats who will now vote for Trump. They won’t tell you this in a poll, but it’s true. The time of liberal tyranny and political correctness will soon come to an end! Hallelujah! It will be such a great day!
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A vote for Trump is a vote for Mike Pence. Enough said. I will vote for Hillary to block one of the worst political disasters in US history: Trump + Pence + a GOP controlled Congress.
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Your entire argument is based on Libya? Really?
Libya? The situation in Libya is better today than if the US had never intervened.
Or is your Libya thing really about Benghazi? Which was a trumped-up (pun intended) “scandal.” And you forgot to mention emails, which came from the Benghazi thing/
Sheesh.
Have you not paid any attention to Trump’s proposals. Reason magazine, hardly a bastion of “liberal tyranny,” termed Trump an “Enemy of the Constitution” because so many of his policy proposals are blatantly unconstitutional.
Dude, get off the sauce.
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The danger of Trump is in his mindless reckless racism, bigotry, and total disrespect for the U. S. Constitution. He is a charlatan and a demagogue. He feels that rules and laws do not apply to him, but yet apply to everyone else. He is the greatest threat to our democracy in this century. He quotes Hitler and Mussolini and has publicly stated his admiration for Putin, Sadaam Hussein, and Gaddafi. How can any thinking person, anyone with a conscience support this mean-spirited bully? I was very happy that former Presidents Bush, former Governor Romney, and Senator McCain are boycotting the Republican convention. However, this is not enough. They must start to speak out against this evil which will destroy our democracy. They must not let the Republican party become the party of hatred, fear, and bigotry.
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Ouch! My brain is in severe pain because some educators are very gullible to foresee the danger in lunatic liar in co-operated with public education destroyer.
Please PATIENTLY read between the line in this link that shows how CIA, GOP, and Tycoons work together with a goal to destroy American acclaimed democracy ideology.
And here is an advice about the reality to distinguish between a wisher-washer lip service politician want-to-be and the experienced politician in many years with different Administrations.
[start quote]
Corner Office
By ADAM BRYANT AUG. 24, 2013
BUSINESS DAY
Be Yourself, Redfin’s Glenn Kelman Says, Even if You’re a Little Goofy
This interview with Glenn Kelman, chief executive of Redfin, the online real estate site, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.
…
If I haven’t found evidence that someone’s ever done anything hard in their lives,
then I just don’t believe they’re suddenly going to be able to jump into a phone booth, come out wearing a cape and learn how to be tough on this job.
I want to know about anything you’ve done that’s hard, really hard. So I tend to focus on that.
[end quote]
In short, people, who want to support third party which did not have chance to win, but to help Republicans an edge to win and who would rather stay home with no vote, will be sorry for their gullibility.
I speak for millions of southern Vietnamese who have supported communists out of their fear are suffering now in Viet Nam or already died in ocean more than 40 years ago.
As I experienced on my own that I would put myself through all situations in which to see how I could deal with. I came to a conclusion that experience, study,and research will make an impact in people’s decision to be conscientious in accept their responsibility for their actions and words. Back2basic
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and don’t miss these revelations
How Donald Trump Answers A Question – YouTube
Go to this link at scroll down to DONALD TRUMP’S PLEDGE TO consult himself.
Here is the reality… a man who will never listen to anyone, and whose confused mind gets pissed easily….
https://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow/?fref=nf
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Look, people get to make their own choices about how they vote. If they want to vote for Jill Stein rather than Hillary, then so be it. But I’d guess there are more than a few people in Florida who voted for Nader in the 2000 presidential election who’d like to rethink – and recast – their votes. George W. Bush’s administration was hard on an awful lot of folks, here in the US and around the globe.
Charlie Pierce’s point is that idealism is fine, but it’s not pragmatic when democracy’s core values are at stake. Amy Gutmann, political scientist and president of the University of Pennsylvania, noted “Leaving the fate of our democracy in the hands of a diverse and constantly changing American citizenry that is guided by constitutional democratic principles is perhaps the most enduring American idea of all.”
A prominent conservative wrote recently in Commentary magazine that “The Republican Party is led by people who are profoundly uncomfortable with the changing (and inevitable) demographic nature of our nation. The G.O.P. is longing to return to the past and is fearful of the future. It is a party that is characterized by resentments and grievances, by distress and dismay, by the belief that America is irredeemably corrupt and past the point of no return. ‘The American dream is dead,’ in the emphatic words of Mr. Trump.” And the NY Times reports this morning that “Mr. Trump has amassed dominant support from restive white voters. His political approach would have Republicans court working-class and rural whites, mainly in the South and Midwest, at the grievous cost of alienating minorities and women” – among others.
But it’s not just alienation. So many of Trumps’s proposals are blatantly unconstitutional that Reason magazine – hardly a bastion of progressive thought – termed Trump an “Enemy of the Constitution.”
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank pointedly called out Trump in a piece titled “Donald Trump is a bigot and a racist:”
“Trump led the ‘birther’ movement challenging President Obama’s standing as a natural-born American; used various vulgar expressions to refer to women; spoke of Mexico sending rapists and other criminals across the border; called for rounding up and deporting 11 million illegal immigrants; had high-profile spats with prominent Latino journalists and news outlets; mocked Asian accents; let stand a charge made in his presence that Obama is a Muslim and that Muslims are a ‘problem’ in America; embraced the notion of forcing Muslims to register in a database; falsely claimed thousands of Muslims celebrated the 9/11 attacks in New Jersey; tweeted bogus statistics asserting that most killings of whites are done by blacks; approved of the roughing up of a black demonstrator at one of his events; and publicly mocked the movements of New York Times (and former Washington Post) journalist Serge Kovaleski, who has a chronic condition limiting mobility.”
Lies, fear, hate. These are the core elements of the Trump campaign.
While people may vote their conscience, the fact is that Jill Stein will not be appointing any federal judges.
Bill Clinton placed 373 judges on the federal courts. Those were very different judicial appointments than might have been made by his Republican opponents. As USA Today noted in November of 2013, “The federal courts — particularly the appeals courts — often set precedents in areas ranging from national security and economic regulation to abortion, immigration, voting rights, affirmative action, gun control and gay marriage.” Clinton placed Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court.
Obama has put 327 judges on the federal bench so far. Here’s how Jeffery Toobin put it in the New Yorker in October of 2014:
“When Obama took office, Republican appointees controlled ten of the thirteen circuit courts of appeals; Democratic appointees now constitute a majority in nine circuits. Because federal judges have life tenure, nearly all of Obama’s judges will continue serving well after he leaves office.”
Who are the judges nominated by Obama? Toobin continues:
“The majority of Obama’s appointments are women and nonwhite males…Forty-two per cent of his judgeships have gone to women…Thirty-six per cent of President Obama’s judges have been minorities…Obama said that the new makeup of the federal bench ‘speaks to the larger shifts in our society, where what’s always been this great American strength—this stew that we are—is part and parcel of every institution’…”
The judges appointed by Clinton and Obama are not pointy-headed dogmatists. They grasp that the Constitution is and always has been a “living,” flexible document. It was designed that way.
Hillary Clinton is not my favorite politician. But this notion that somehow she is “worse than Trump” is simply plain hooey.
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How many times can I say it? Nader did not bring us Bush. The 300,000 registered Democrats who voted for Bush had more to do with that.
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Plain & simple truth…Donald Trump is a very sick man, incapable of leading a nation and dangerous because ii the thinks it ,he does it… he cannot get out of his own way, so how can he grasp what a complicated government needs to do?
Crazy, is crazy, is crazy, aside from the clear truth that he is more than a liar, he has criminally stolen money from innocent people in his landfalls and his ‘university.’
He is so much more than dangerous to our democracy… he puts all our lives in danger!
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This was well-put.
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New game: Trump-tac-dough
Circle game board, any game board, with a gold sharpie.
Everybody in the room gives you $500,000.
“Terrific game. Fantastic. I play it all the time.”
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Wow, talk about unbearable hyperbole. He doesn’t believe it nor does anyone reading this that Trump is going to be some big threat to the country. This is like when many on the right freaked out that Obama was going to turn the country into communist Russia.
Let’s chill out and be real. NONE of these politicians are doing SQUAT to help us and the quicker we admit that and stop thinking that any of them ever will the quicker we can start cleaning up our crumbling profession.
The solutions to education are coming from US – us teachers right in the middle of it all.
Stop being victims!
Stop waiting for politicians to come fix this. They caused the problems we are facing.
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@ Dienne:
I don’t think I said that Ralph Nader CAUSED the Gore loss in Florida. But clearly it was a factor. We don’t know for sure how many Dems voted for Bush in Florida, though exit polls suggest a figure as high as 13 percent. Yet, Nader was telling voters that there was NO difference between Bush and Gore (not true) and the election was essentially Tweedle-Dee or Tweedle-Dum. Surely some Dems believed him. Just as surely they were dead wrong. As I noted, the Bush administration was pretty hard on a lot of people, with hundreds of thousands dead in Iraq, millions who lost homes and jobs in the US, plenty who were tortured, and millions more who were spied upon illegally.
Oh, and Nader’s agenda? It was set back dramatically by Bush’s ascendancy to the White House. Oh yeah. Nader never got to appoint any federal judges either. Bush, however, did.
@ markpteachers:
You think an overt bigot and racist is “no threat” to the country, or the Constitution?
I respectfully – and strongly – disagree.
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He is a racist bigot because….the press tells you? Because Democrat politicans tell you?
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You are the one who appears to be impervious to evidence that the man is a lunatic… not because the media says so, but because his behavior is undeniable…except by those who only listen to the voice in their own heads.
You are wasting your time here, where serious people who know how to think evaluate based on evidence. !
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evidence…that you are unable to cite.
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You got the wrong one here with statements like that. I taught for 5 decades and better than you tried to provoke me. I write at a news site, where I became a trusted voice with a year after I began to post there, because Ilink to everything I say,. I have no need to prove to a crack-pot that I have th evidence. so TALK TO MY HAND!
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ha ha, so tough online!
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I find it hard to get on a high horse about Trump. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt; like many long-time denizens of NYC, I watched him make an ass of himself for decades. I believe little he says. He’s an egotist & a sleazy businessman with the skills & moral compass of a successful used-car salesman. I will vote for whoever has the clout to beat him because: he is an ignorant incompetent in the ways of government who will be utterly dependent on the people with whom he surrounds himself for guidance. THAT is dangerous.
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Damn Charles Pierce and Diane Ravitch for suggesting that the more than 13 million voters of Trump are angry white guys etc…whos’s racist?
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I see a lot of absolute hysteria surrounding people opposing Trump the person.
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Trump is dangerous? Puts us all in danger? Smh. This really is just so over the top.
Just curious, have more Americans died in combat under Obama or Bush? How about domestic incidents under the two presidents? These people you hold sacred as keeping you safe might not actually be doing so if you look at the numbers.
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I just finished reading part of a Mother Jones’ article headlined, “Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All”. Here is a partial quote from that article.
“…Schwartz thought about publishing an article describing his reservations about Trump, but he hesitated, knowing that, since he’d cashed in on the flattering “Art of the Deal,” his credibility and his motives would be seen as suspect. Yet watching the campaign was excruciating. Schwartz decided that if he kept mum and Trump was elected he’d never forgive himself. In June, he agreed to break his silence and give his first candid interview about the Trump he got to know while acting as his Boswell.
“I put lipstick on a pig,” he said. “I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is.” He went on, “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.”
If he were writing “The Art of the Deal” today, Schwartz said, it would be a very different book with a very different title. Asked what he would call it, he answered, “The Sociopath.”…
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Love it Carol Malaysia.
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@ markpteachers:
The “evidence” that Trump is a bigot and a racist is in Trump’s own words.
And the “evidence” is in the fact that many GOP luminaries — Romney, the Bushes, John Kasich – refuse to attend the convention.
And the “evidence” is in the blatant unconstitutionality of many of Trump’s proposals.
The “evidence” is in what Tony Schwartz, main author of ‘The Art of the Deal,’ said:
“Schwartz had ghostwritten Trump’s 1987 breakthrough memoir…Starting in late 1985, Schwartz spent eighteen months with Trump—camping out in his office, joining him on his helicopter, tagging along at meetings, and spending weekends with him…the prospect of President Trump terrified him. It wasn’t because of Trump’s ideology—Schwartz doubted that he had one. The problem was Trump’s personality, which he considered pathologically impulsive and self-centered…’I put lipstick on a pig,’ he said…If he were writing ‘The Art of the Deal’ today, Schwartz said, he would call it ‘The Sociopath.’ ”
By the way, way more troops died under George W Bush than under Obama.
On what planet, sir, do you reside?
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Here is a excerpt from Nicholas Kristof that was in the NYT on July 21, 2016.
“What Republicans Really Think About Trump
So instead of again inflicting on you my views of the danger of Trump, let me share what some influential conservatives said about him during the course of the campaign. (Some have since tempered their public sentiments.)
“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.” — Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina
“I don’t think this guy has any more core principles than a Kardashian marriage.” — Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska
“We saw and looked at true hate in the eyes last year in Charleston. I will not stop until we fight a man that chooses not to disavow the K.K.K. That is not a part of our party.” — Nikki Haley, Republican governor of South Carolina
Donald Trump’s Convention: Day 3
Arguments, provocations and observations from Times Opinion writers.
“A moral degenerate.” — Peter Wehner, evangelical Christian commentator who served in last three Republican administrations
“Donald Trump is a madman who must be stopped,” — Bobby Jindal, former Republican governor of Louisiana
“I won’t vote for Donald Trump because of who he isn’t. He isn’t a Republican. He isn’t a conservative. He isn’t a truth teller. … I also won’t vote for Donald Trump because of who he is. A bigot. A misogynist. A fraud. A bully.” — Norm Coleman, former Republican senator from Minnesota
“To support Trump is to support a bigot. It’s really that simple.” — Stuart Stevens, chief strategist to Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign
“Donald Trump is unfit to be president. He is a dishonest demagogue who plays to our worst fears. Trump would take America on a dangerous journey.” — Meg Whitman, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise C.E.O. and former national finance co-chairwoman for Chris Christie’s presidential campaign
“I thought he was an embarrassment to my party; I think he’s an embarrassment to my country. … I can’t vote for him.” — Tom Ridge, former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and secretary of homeland security under George W. Bush
“I would not vote for Trump, clearly. If there is any, any, any other choice, a living, breathing person with a pulse, I would be there.” — Mel Martinez, former Republican senator from Florida and former chairman of the Republican National Committee
“The G.O.P., in putting Trump at the top of the ticket, is endorsing a brand of populism rooted in ignorance, prejudice, fear and isolationism. This troubles me deeply as a Republican, but it troubles me even more as an American. … Never Trump.” — Henry M. Paulson Jr., Treasury secretary under George W. Bush
Nicholas Kristof’s Newsletter
Sign up to receive my emails about each column and other occasional commentary.
“Hillary is preferable to Trump, just like malaria is preferable to Ebola. … If it’s Trump-Hillary with no serious third-party option in the fall, as hard as it is for me to believe I am actually writing these words, there is just no question: I’d take a Tums and cast my ballot for Hillary.” — Jamie Weinstein, senior writer, the Daily Caller, a conservative website
“Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University.” — Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican nominee for president
“When you’ve got a guy favorably quoting Mussolini, I don’t care what party you’re in, I’m not voting for that guy.” — Ken Cuccinelli, president of the Senate Conservatives Fund
“Donald Trump is a scam. Evangelical voters should back away.” — The Christian Post, a popular U.S. evangelical website
“Listen, Donald Trump is a serial philanderer, and he boasts about it. … The president of the United States talks about how great it is to commit adultery. How proud he is. Describes his battles with venereal disease as his own personal Vietnam.” — Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas
“A man utterly unfit for the position by temperament, values and policy preferences … whose personal record of chicanery and wild rhetoric of bigotry, misogyny and misplaced belligerence are without parallel in the modern history of either major party.” — Eliot A. Cohen, a senior State Department official under George W. Bush
“Leaders don’t need to do research to reject Klan support. #NeverTrump” — Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican National Committee
“God bless this man” — Daily Stormer, white supremacist website
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How horrible it was to see Trump make fun of a disabled journalist on a video that was replayed at the DNC yesterday evening. Who can consider this man worthy of being President?
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