I read this and I think, there is no saving the Left. There is no coming out from where you are. You are not "the resistance." You have never been. You are the empire. You have always been. Your version of Trump does not exist. You have destroyed yourselves trying to destroy a fake version of Trump. I keep hoping sanity will find its way back to my former side but I read this and I think, nope. Your only solution, you realize, is gulags. Right? You get that? You have no other way forward except to lock away and erase the other half of America. How can you live like that.
Leftism has been rejected by the majority of Americans. Except for the coastal slivers, all those brilliant intellectual solutions are regarded as the product of nitwits. One by one the holdouts are converting, and the Democrat party is on the lip of extinction.
That opposing Trump automatically means you’re on the right side on everything. It’s evident in every sentence you type.
Why was Biden “normalizing” handing over the WH to “actual Hitler” just days after the election? Because he knows DT is NOT actual Hitler - of course he knows it. Biden was playing his role, saying whatever he was told to say on the campaign trail to win.
Biden knows politics is performative, ditto Pelosi, etc.. yet somehow you cannot grasp that reality.
You and Sam Harris are unable to admit that in the modern news era our emotions CAN be easily triggered by lying or exaggerated headlines - “Russia collusion! Fine people on both sides! 15 days will stop the spread! Mostly peaceful protests! The vaccine IS safe and effective! Questioning is doubting the science! Joe Biden has never been sharper!”
And secondly understanding that you yourself are susceptible to emotional manipulation.
We all are susceptible. That’s why skepticism right now is on the rise - not dehumanization - skepticism.
Journalism need not be activism.
You’re a leftist Archie Bunker - yet even Archie humanized his black neighbor George Jefferson, something you apparently cannot do.
The fact that you don’t know what Sasha means is only further evidence that the left lacks any self awareness whatsoever. I see that characteristic over and over.
I was so flabbergasted by Sasha’s response. I had to reread it three times to try to figure out if she was talking about Republicans or Democrats (I assume her perspective). When I read your response, Mike, I finally realized who she is talking about. Apparently she (and many on this thread) does not understand that you are talking about neither. You are talking about two plus two is four and there are twenty-four hours in a day—right and wrong based on morality, not right and left. This is absolutely horrifying, and I am in fear for our country…and the world.
As a conservative, I started reading your work with a sincere desire to understand the progressive perspective. The gap between our worldviews feels vast, and rather than retreat into echo chambers, I’ve made it a point to seek out voices that can explain these positions.
On some matters, you present your views with clarity. But when it comes to conservative perspectives—especially anything involving the “T” word (I’ll avoid spelling the name, out of concern for triggering what often seems like a irrational emotional response)— you have elevated the notion of strawman to invisible-man. Reasoning gives way to labels, loaded adjectives, and sweeping conclusions. Let's just say you loose all eloquence as temper possesses you.
It feels less like engagement and more like caricature. As if the goal isn’t to explain or persuade, but to vent and reinforce assumptions already held by your audience. If that’s the case, I understand—but I’ll need to keep looking for someone on the left who can approach these issues from first principles, with a temperament that’s more curious than reactionary.
In a time when mutual understanding seems in short supply, I still believe it’s worth pursuing.
I am not a progressive, actually. If you read my work, you will see it's filled with critique of the progressive left and political excess there. So I don't actually know what you're talking about here.
I didn’t label you, per se. And It doesn’t matter how you label yourself. But do you see how labeling distracts to the point of ignoring everything else that is said.
To summarize Mike, Sasha is correct, there’s no saving the left.
Despite opportunity after opportunity you couldn’t offer ONE justification for banning or suppressing speech, instead getting lost in a weed patch of invented semantics and mis-comprehensions.
Here’s one victim (just one of many)—Kilmer Abrego Garcia. And here’s a lie (just one of many)—Trump stated he would follow Supreme Court order but now is not. So now that you have this information, what do you think? And I know I should wait for your response before I say this, but I just can’t—do not use the argument that he can’t because he no longer has jurisdiction since countries negotiate release for “prisoners” all the time. And remember, he is buddies with this tyrant and dictator so I am certain he could convince him to return Garcia…or his body.
On the contrary, if the Democrats had listened to the observations of Bill Maher and Sasha Stone, they might have won the White House and both houses of Congress. Instead, the Dems insisted the border was secure, inflation was transitory, the Afghanistan withdrawal wasn’t a catastrophe but a success, Kamala Harris was brilliant, and Joe Biden was a hyperactive razor sharp machine. Americans could see clearly these were all lies, but Democrats thought (and still think) if they just keep calling Trump Hitler, and his voters Nazis, racists and fascists, they’ll convince them they weren’t lied to for the past four years. As Maher has often said, the Democrats were so delusional, “they lost a crazy contest to a crazy person.”
I’m with you Mike, these people just don’t get it. The fact that Trump can be nice and charismatic, hides his true nature. And like the MSM, people like Maher are normalizing his behavior, and it’s masking all of his destructive policies, and the fact that we will not have a rule of law within a few months; at latest. Not to mention, Trump’s dismantling of our administration state; top notch scientific community and our National Security Apparatus.
He’s destroying our future; from allies and trading partners, to the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. We already saw the treasury yields shoot you last week, while the market was tanking. That means investors no longer see Treasuries as risk free assets, and a safe haven asset anymore. And more and more foreign investments are fleeing at alarming rates. Which means the cost to service the debt could double. And it’s all leading to stagflation; something most people under forty in the country, would know little about.
Bottom line: these people don’t understand just how much we’re screwed, and people like Maher are not doing themselves, or this country any favors by normalizing Trump.
Exactly correct. I am 9th of 10 kids born into a poor family where half of us served in the US military. We were raised in an Irish Catholic working class neighborhood and Democratic Party stronghold. We have now moved away from the Democratic Party as they became the party of elites, censorship, war, anti-white racism, anti-Christian attacks on churches and pro-life groups, and for the mutilation of children via sex surgeries and chemicals.
Yes, I don’t like Trump’s call for censorship of protest against Israel, I am disappointed in him for not eliminating ALL foreign aid, I am immensely against RINO Neocons like McConnel, I don’t trust Vance too much, and I oppose continued funding to Ukraine.
🥱 Praise be His Holy Name, but whatever heretical sect of Christianity has led you to sincerely believe Trump and Libertarianism are permissible doctrines to espouse will not save you from squealing, like a pig, as you burn in hell forever.
Two things can be true at the same time. Trump can be one who is as Bill described in private and as others have stated, gracious and generous in private. He can also be restoring our country to common sense in his own method publicly and I can only say it has been a glorious few months. Let him cook!
I voted for Trump in 2016 and never voted for a Democrat until 2022. I have a long, scraggly beard, two pick-up trucks (one is 25 years old), and I have long owned several firearms. I have no love for the excesses of the identitarian left or activist politics. That said, Trump *is* mostly what he's been described to be. It's on such graphic display every day and has been for a decade. (The theory of Trump by Never-Trump Republican types has to be one of the most vindicated in modern political history.) Though it may take time to see all of their prognostications to come to fruition, in time, they do with alarming consistency.
While I don't think we should cleans America's population of its "other half", whether via gulags or other means, no amount of progressive overreach will mean this emperor is now, or has ever been, wearing any clothes. You and "the other half of America" are free to insist he's clothed to various degrees, but I never have to accept your delusions. Yes, living like this sucks, but not because I'm blind. It sucks because it's "the other half of America", whether through ignorance, self-delusion, a hatred of the left or, or outright preference for all the authoritarian ugliness, that's blind to what is clear to the rest of the world. And it's very difficult to co-exist with such a population. It just plain sucks.
Oh, he's doing things for Americans, alright. It's just the things he's doing are making us poorer and less safe, at home and abroad. These are observable phenomena; one must intentionally turn a blind-eye not to notice.
Keep believing your nonsense. Lying about Trump? Why don’t you explain what the lies are? How is anyone who speaks ill about Trump a liar? What exactly are the lies that we’re supposedly telling?
Maher said something very profound on Friday; “I find tariffs boring.” And Therein lies the rub. You and Maher don’t understand how the economy, or tariffs work; just like Trump, which is why it’s being destroyed so quickly.
So let me spell it out. What you saw last week will not be an anomaly. The bond market doesn’t lie. It’s showing that investors, who used to flee to a safe haven asset (treasuries) when the equity market start to tank, have decided to take their money overseas. This could spell the end of the dollar as the reserve currency. Our treasury bonds are considered risk free assets, but this may no longer be the case. And if so, our interest rates that investors demand to buy treasuries will rise exponentially, which would in effect, cost us almost double, or more to just SERVICE the DEBT! Let that sink in! Bottom line, it spells economic DISASTER!
That said, I bet you honestly believe Trump’s simplistic approach to problems and economic issues actually makes sense. However, like HL Mencken once said, “complex problems, have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers!” And Trump is the epitome of this quote.
And what do you mean “left”? And I’m no lefty; I have equal disdain for both political parties, so please elaborate? I see Trump for what he is; a know-nothing failure!
So why don’t you actually make a point, instead of spewing nonsense, without actually saying anything at all!
Do you believe that tariffs actually aren’t a federal sales tax? That Trump’s convoluted tariff reduction plan actually makes sense, when all evidence points to the contrary? I suppose you believe the economy is on the right track, and threatening our allies is a good thing?
I suppose you also believe that the $6 trillion lost in the markets since the election, is Biden’s fault? Right?
You do realize The rule of law” is disappearing? Was Pardoning the J6th insurrectionists a good thing, or maybe you just believe that they were hostages and hero’s as well?
Oh, and I bet you actually believe the COVID vaccine really has a GPS chip tracking every American, right? Or the MMR vaccines caused autism? And RFK Jr. and the religious right’s war on science is good for America? Or the destruction of the NIH will improve health outcomes?
How’s the high inflation this year that was supposed to be gone on “Day One” ? Or the Ukraine War has been solved on Day One? Or How’s the price of eggs?
Trump is destroying this nation, piece by piece, and what you call our “LIES,” is really your delusions of grandeur, and nothing but pure projection!
Mark Twain was right: “it’s easier to fool a man, than convince a man that he’s ever been fooled!”
Spot on, Robert. Every statement you made was accurate and provided the facts. I would love for someone to provide an argument in response to what you said but, sadly, most will not respond with any substance to back up their claims or “facts.”
You have brilliantly expressed my very thoughts and trenchantly encapsulated my every sentiment in words and language that I (a writer and increasingly diminished fan of Maher) could never equal. Your turn-around time (what, one day?) for writing such master works of incisive commentary is also amazing. Keep it up!
It's beyond ridiculous to continue the 'Hitler' narrative. It is tiresome, it is trite, it requires no real investigation into the policies. It is 'chicken little' screaming over a President who is completely open to the press, who is cutting the scope and size of Big Government, who defends gun rights - despite having been shot! Hitler took away guns, Hitler took over the press, Hitler did not allow your specific kind of speech. If Trump were Hitler you would be arrested yesterday. Get off your insane high horse and attempt to objectively look at his policies, which you may disagree with but that does not make him or you Hitler. Please just stop already, it's enough.
Michele, I will invoke whatever historical comparison that I think suits my sense of a coherent understanding of the world. I assure you, I am unbothered by your protestation on this point.
Maher is an ass. Dinner with Hitler, because you know we are supposed to engage with the other side. He’s an arrogant, ignorant ass.
He used to have interesting people on his show. But he showed his true colors last night by berating his guest who criticized him for trying to make Trump look normal.
And this was just 5 minutes after Maher was making jokes about Trump ignoring SCOTUS on the El Salvador situation.
Jack, you’re too stupid to capitalize your own name, so your opinions aren’t really relevant. You should try to be seen and not heard when the grownups are speaking.
I am reminded of when clueless Bush Jr. looked into Putin’s eyes and “saw his soul.” That’s how narcissism works - it’s all a soulless image. Keep moving… nothing to see here.
These were my thoughts exactly. This is the hallmark of narcissism. The ability to charm and abuse. The charm is the secret to the successful gaslighting.
There is truly no redemption for you and your completely deranged view of Trump. Wow! At this rate you and others like you on the left are going to be a very small minority in this country. There is zero self awareness, zero desire to try to understand different people and viewpoints and zero ability to see reality. Normalize Trump? He is normal. You are not. Good luck.
Despite 62 years in medicine and having had great mentors like Elizabeth Ross, I am stumped by those like you, who cannot see the forest from the trees or even see the trees. Make a list, if you will. Educate me (yes, I am being sarcastic) about the good things Trump has done in his role as POTUS. I would ask can think of anything "bad" that you believe Trump has done. But no worries about the latter since I can fill in any gaps you might manifest.
In medicine, good medicine or real medicine has a core concept called the Therapeutic Index (TI). It is a simple ratio. Benefits to the patient divided by Adverse effects to the patient. This TI concept can be applied to every aspect of life. Benefit to Risk ratio. Explain to me the wonderfulness of Donald Trump. Tell me how he has left this country and/or the world a better place for my son to grow up in.
In medicine, I have openly said to patients asking me about novel therapies: If I knew that horseshit worked to successfully treat an illness, I would start shoveling immediately. Tell me the good deeds of Donald J. Trump. Make me a convert. It would make my life easier and happier.
I did my own reading, so I’m thinking you should do yours. It’s not anyone else’s job to “make you a convert.” The idea is silly and lazy on its face. You don’t even have to become a convert; how about just shooting for becoming a critical thinker?
1. Deporting those who have entered the US illegally is certainly an accomplishment and the Biden (Democratic Party) did a terrible job in this regard. But you do not start shipping people to a prison in El Salvador or many such persons without due process--- that is the foundational principle of democracy. What if you, or a family member of yours, was outspoken about Trump and you hear they are in El Salvador for being an "illegal." You do not throw out the baby with the bath water. If you do something, you do it right.
2. Reducing the staff in government agencies, ESPECIALLY if this is simply a bloated agency with minimal function as to getting the job done, is a commendable action. But again, go beyond the superficial. Is stopping USAID and providing surplus wheat to malnourished children a bad thing? Is mucking. up the VA which should be be the most pristine government agency how we show gratitude for those who in the military? Is making Social Security a Tower of Babel by indiscriminately cutting staff something you think is a positive? Is costing those who are retiring a devastating loss in their 401K due to an absurd decision to impose tariffs than find an alternate solution to inequality in trade but don't ruin the lives of citizens who have worked all their life and paid into Social Security.
Yours is the superficial conclusions based on a lack of in-depth thinking that has resulted in the daily chaos we see with Trump et al being president. Go beyond the superficial and read, and read some more. We may never attain the absolute truth but we can certainly get closer to it than the MAGA element.
Thank you for your reasoned response. I had begun a reasoned response in reply, but going back to the acknowledgment that you won’t be converted, why bother.
You summarized an otherwise engaging conversation on merits with the assumption that I need to read more, presumably so that I might be as enlightened as you. I gather that you are a doctor, so obviously, you are more important than me. I am one of those patients who waits first in the waiting room, then again in a patient room because your time is more important than mine. And it goes without saying that you are smarter.
There is no defense for someone as middle-class as I am. Except to say that you smart, elite, important people have had your chance, and you screwed it up royally. So step aside, and give common sense a chance.
Your background is impressive but there are many who have equally impressive careers and have different views. I respect yours.
Here’s what I voted for and Trump promised:
1. Closed borders/deport illegal aliens
2. Reduce government spending/eliminate waste & fraud/restructure govt to improve efficiency/ eliminate deficit
3. On-shore manufacturing
4. Make individual tax cuts permanent
5. Reduce business taxes
6. Increase energy capacity and production/stop the climate scam
7. Deregulation
8. Cancel woke culture (Transgender conversions for kids, males in female sports, DEI etc.)
9. End censorship of social media
10. Stop wars
11. Insist on allies to share defense burden
You may disagree with many of these but every one of them has a strong rationale.
So far in less than 100 days, he has tackled every single one of these with energy and forcefulness. I give him and his team an A+ for keeping promises, A+ for effort. Results to be seen. I am optimistic.
"You may disagree with many of these but every one of them has a strong rationale."
Me: Wrong Nikhil. I can agree with all of the above. But you have been conned by the wheeler-dealer, and, to use his own vocabulary, a pathologic liar like "never before."
You have not been to a communist country as far as I know (maybe your real name is Nikita and not Nikhil). You were not in the USSR (I think). You do not throw Ukraine under the bus and hand its people and Democracy to Vladimir Putin. You do not insult a country's honestly elected president the way Trump insulted Zelensky. You do not negotiate a deal of rare-earth minerals for aid to Ukraine. Yes, you do ask for Germany, Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, etc to pay up a fair share into NATO. But you do not alienate allies and pay tribute to murderers like Putin, Kim-Jong-Un.
Agreed that Social Media has major/serioius downsides but you do not handcuff a foreign student on a visa for pro-Palestinian written or verbal statements. I think Trump is a Fascist, clear and simple. Do you imprison me, send me off to Louisiana or El Salvador without due process. The loss of due process is the first sign of Fascism. Do you take away free speech a la Marko Rubio? That is another side of a fascist regime. You you attack the Press as did Trump with the Associated Press, or attack the editor-in-chief for being effin stupidly invited to a non-secure top secret SIGNAL chat as did Mike Waltz by Trump's pick fo NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR.
I agree about the excessive emphasis on transgender issues, especially male transgendering to female and participating in women's sports. Ridiculous & should not be allowed. I couldn't care less if public restrooms were open to any sex as they have been in Europe for many decades. But I am sick of all the homosexulaity displayed in my face in the media, which I believe is part of the spectrum of how Hollywood has effed up morality and/or decency. Be a homosexual or heterosexual, but do not shove it in my face with TV ads or movies or other broadcasts.
Where you are wrong is on the energy issue. Climate change is not a scam. Disease and premature death from pollution of air, water, and earth is not and this is heavily detailed in many publications. There are ways to obtain energy using safer community-size thorium or other isotope reactors. Adjuncts like solar and wind (or tidal) energy are exactly that- adjuncts. The world context has changed and with it oceans have devolved, as has the ozone layer.
Your items #1 and 2 are legitimate, but not the way Trump is going about them, sending helter-skelter citizens and non-citizens to El Salvador or Louisiana without due process. That's fascist.
Reduce government spending by tearing apart and rendering inefficient every government agency is overkill. It would be like me seeing an obese patient and immediately deciding to put them on a starvation diet without first seeing where the problem(s) have arisen from. That example, Nikhil, deserves reproach: warning- warning: bullshit alert. But great example of putting the fox in the henhouse.
I do not know if we can find common ground between our views. I would welcome an open debate between you and me anytime. But I would speculate, that if I suggested we have a panel of fact-checkers to discern bullshit when spoken, you would not agree to this.
The devil is in the details. "The facts, ma'am, just the facts." Or, as Mike says, 2+2 =4 and there are 24 hrs in a day (unless you are on Mars).
Someday maybe we can debate and find common ground. Since you have already decided the outcome of Trump’s actions and I am willing to wait, it is a seemingly pointless exercise at this time.
OK, Steve. Here’s one thing that Trump has done that should get the attention of someone aged 62.
Fifteen years ago my financial advisor told me, as we were planning my retirement, that I should plan on a big cut in my Social Security benefits in the first half of the 2030s.
Now, I just asked Grok about that problem and here’s what he had to say:
“According to the 2024 Social Security Trustees Report, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund is projected to be depleted in 2033. If no legislative changes are made, benefits would need to be reduced starting in 2034 to match incoming revenue, resulting in about a 21% cut to scheduled benefits.” His source is the bastion of progressive truth — none other than NPR. You probably trust them. (https://www.npr.org/2024/05/06/1249406440/social-security-medicare-congress-fix-boomers-benefits).”
I guess my financial advisor was prescient.
For the last 15 years no one in authority has attempted to do anything about this until Trump came along. He and his good bud and Grok’s boss, Elon, are trying to do
something about it.
If they succeed you won’t have get your benefits cut 21%.
Steve, in 2034 you’ll be 71 and drawing full SS benefits. Trump and Elon are doing you a solid. You should thank them for at least trying.
Have a nice retirement.
PS My bad. Just reread your post. “62 years in medicine” puts you in your 80’s. You’ve got nothing to worry about. 😀
Scott, please read my reply to Skenny since it also applies, in part, to your comment above.
• The devil is in the details. What Musk, acting illegally, and Trump have done is emasculate every agency with the excuse of improving efficiency.
- They have torn apart just about every agency to a degree to render them no longer able to accomplish their primary goals. Yes, for sure, there is too much gov't in gov't, but if you are an obese person harboring too much "fat" you do not chop off limbs to attain your ideal body weight. You do not create Towers of Babel in USAID, Social Security, Veterans Affairs, Medicaid, Medicare, National Security, IRS, Deptartment of Education, Dept. of Labor, The Office of Federal Contracts, FEMA, and others. For a comprehensive list, see Wikipedia at:
Wikipedia, to my understanding, is not controlled by so-called left-wing radicals.
What Trump has done with his obsession with tariffs has destroyed my 401K and those of millions of Americans. I am not counting on getting my Social Security Benefits in 2033, which I do get now, Scott, since my current age is 82.
What you and others have seen and been taken in by are Trump's proclamations about making real issues (e.g., sharing NATO expenses, more equitable trade agreements (major tariffs in S. Korea for American-made cars and vehicles), etc), but you are missing the horrendous damage he has done on his destructive path to "good" intentions. Like the old expression, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions," one needs to grasp the full picture, to see the rest of the story, and to realize the context to understand the destruction of Democracy by a rising Fascist president.
Nikhil, the truth is that you’re just a stupid old man, right? You’re shriveled and old, you’re probably going to die soon, so you think: “to hell with the world.” Such a disgusting sentiment, but what else should we expect from a kulak like you. I look forward to watching you scum lose everything.
You just proved my point buddy. This is now the typical lefty playbook. Cannot debate view points so goes straight for personal attacks! Now you’re going to say that Hitler survived and I am him! Hope the vitriol doesn’t dissolve you my friend! Have a good life.
“Kulak” was the term Stalin used to describe anyone — primarily in 1930s Ukraine — that he was about to round up and either have shot dead while standing in their wheat field, or deported to a gulag where they would starve to death within six months. Which direction are we going here?
No, he doesn't. I am frequently shocked at how many people are not familiar with antisocial personality disorder and sociopathic traits....coupled with, as you said, narcissism.
I caught part of his interview with Bannon last night. It was curious to me that he was invited on the first show after the dinner. Bannon stuck to his usual gruff, noxious, threatening persona. Maher reacted skeptically to his claims (and threats) but didn’t really push back. Yes, Bannon is tough to interview. But would it have been different if Maher had not just returned from kissing the ring? Trump is a con man, so his dinner performance should not be a surprise.
IMHO, and this is just an opinion, he's melted his brain with drugs. He gets no respect from me. I do find it funny though that he considers himself an authority on how the rest of us should think. That part is funny.
I'm not on social media (to protect what's left of my fragile mental health), but I hope someone who is will forward this to Bill Maher. I enjoyed and was beguiled by his account of his dinner with Trump. Until I listened to this Substack I, like Bill, did not understand the dynamic and significance of Trump's personal charm. Then I remembered Trump is a sociopath and it is as if a light clicked on.
Meanwhile in Deerfield, Illinois school administrators are forcing girls to undress in front of a boy (something the Trump administration is seeking to stop) and you don’t give a shit. Who are the monsters?
Ahem, yes, akin to mega-wealthy law firms, big corporations and media conglomerates collapsing as tyrant amasses ever more might. If these powerhouses don’t lock arms and stand tall, how will the people?
Bill was actually raised Catholic in River Vale, New Jersey, and didn't discover he was Jewish until he was 12.
His father was Irish-Catholic while his mother, Julie (nee Berman), was Jewish, of Hungarian descent.
Bill recalled: "When I asked her why she never told me she was Jewish, she said she was not keeping it from me or my sister, it was just something which did not come up in conversation.
"We went to church every week, although my mother never came.
"I didn't think anything of it because, I guess, when something is habitual to children, they don't mention it.
"She probably thought the church would give us structure and discipline - but it gave me pain and heartache."
Bill was surrounded by Jews growing up in New Jersey, though.
He said: "I had lots of Jewish friends and our next door neighbours, who were my parents' best friends, were Jewish, too.
I read this and I think, there is no saving the Left. There is no coming out from where you are. You are not "the resistance." You have never been. You are the empire. You have always been. Your version of Trump does not exist. You have destroyed yourselves trying to destroy a fake version of Trump. I keep hoping sanity will find its way back to my former side but I read this and I think, nope. Your only solution, you realize, is gulags. Right? You get that? You have no other way forward except to lock away and erase the other half of America. How can you live like that.
I have no idea what the hell you are talking about. This is a dramatic example of the straw man fallacy, to say the least.
Sasha is correct.
Leftism has been rejected by the majority of Americans. Except for the coastal slivers, all those brilliant intellectual solutions are regarded as the product of nitwits. One by one the holdouts are converting, and the Democrat party is on the lip of extinction.
The GOP has surpassed Democrats over the last several years in party affiliation. https://news.gallup.com/poll/655157/gop-holds-edge-party-affiliation-third-straight-year.aspx
You said it Mike — “you have no idea what she’s talking about” — because you’ve believed a lie for so long now you cannot admit it.
You don’t WANT to learn.
And no, I didn’t even vote GOP…
What "lie" do I believe?
That opposing Trump automatically means you’re on the right side on everything. It’s evident in every sentence you type.
Why was Biden “normalizing” handing over the WH to “actual Hitler” just days after the election? Because he knows DT is NOT actual Hitler - of course he knows it. Biden was playing his role, saying whatever he was told to say on the campaign trail to win.
Biden knows politics is performative, ditto Pelosi, etc.. yet somehow you cannot grasp that reality.
You and Sam Harris are unable to admit that in the modern news era our emotions CAN be easily triggered by lying or exaggerated headlines - “Russia collusion! Fine people on both sides! 15 days will stop the spread! Mostly peaceful protests! The vaccine IS safe and effective! Questioning is doubting the science! Joe Biden has never been sharper!”
And secondly understanding that you yourself are susceptible to emotional manipulation.
We all are susceptible. That’s why skepticism right now is on the rise - not dehumanization - skepticism.
Journalism need not be activism.
You’re a leftist Archie Bunker - yet even Archie humanized his black neighbor George Jefferson, something you apparently cannot do.
Apologies Mike I should’ve kept it simpler - the lie you believe is that Trump cannot be humanized.
Therefore Republican voters cannot be humanized.
The new media needs you enraged.
Mission accomplished 🙌
The fact that you don’t know what Sasha means is only further evidence that the left lacks any self awareness whatsoever. I see that characteristic over and over.
I was so flabbergasted by Sasha’s response. I had to reread it three times to try to figure out if she was talking about Republicans or Democrats (I assume her perspective). When I read your response, Mike, I finally realized who she is talking about. Apparently she (and many on this thread) does not understand that you are talking about neither. You are talking about two plus two is four and there are twenty-four hours in a day—right and wrong based on morality, not right and left. This is absolutely horrifying, and I am in fear for our country…and the world.
As a conservative, I started reading your work with a sincere desire to understand the progressive perspective. The gap between our worldviews feels vast, and rather than retreat into echo chambers, I’ve made it a point to seek out voices that can explain these positions.
On some matters, you present your views with clarity. But when it comes to conservative perspectives—especially anything involving the “T” word (I’ll avoid spelling the name, out of concern for triggering what often seems like a irrational emotional response)— you have elevated the notion of strawman to invisible-man. Reasoning gives way to labels, loaded adjectives, and sweeping conclusions. Let's just say you loose all eloquence as temper possesses you.
It feels less like engagement and more like caricature. As if the goal isn’t to explain or persuade, but to vent and reinforce assumptions already held by your audience. If that’s the case, I understand—but I’ll need to keep looking for someone on the left who can approach these issues from first principles, with a temperament that’s more curious than reactionary.
In a time when mutual understanding seems in short supply, I still believe it’s worth pursuing.
I am not a progressive, actually. If you read my work, you will see it's filled with critique of the progressive left and political excess there. So I don't actually know what you're talking about here.
I didn’t label you, per se. And It doesn’t matter how you label yourself. But do you see how labeling distracts to the point of ignoring everything else that is said.
To summarize Mike, Sasha is correct, there’s no saving the left.
Despite opportunity after opportunity you couldn’t offer ONE justification for banning or suppressing speech, instead getting lost in a weed patch of invented semantics and mis-comprehensions.
Peace out ✌️
He’s not a narcissist? lol
Here’s one victim (just one of many)—Kilmer Abrego Garcia. And here’s a lie (just one of many)—Trump stated he would follow Supreme Court order but now is not. So now that you have this information, what do you think? And I know I should wait for your response before I say this, but I just can’t—do not use the argument that he can’t because he no longer has jurisdiction since countries negotiate release for “prisoners” all the time. And remember, he is buddies with this tyrant and dictator so I am certain he could convince him to return Garcia…or his body.
We disagree on this point. Based on my limited interactions with her, my prior of her is now that she is a very confused and/or stupid person.
On the contrary, if the Democrats had listened to the observations of Bill Maher and Sasha Stone, they might have won the White House and both houses of Congress. Instead, the Dems insisted the border was secure, inflation was transitory, the Afghanistan withdrawal wasn’t a catastrophe but a success, Kamala Harris was brilliant, and Joe Biden was a hyperactive razor sharp machine. Americans could see clearly these were all lies, but Democrats thought (and still think) if they just keep calling Trump Hitler, and his voters Nazis, racists and fascists, they’ll convince them they weren’t lied to for the past four years. As Maher has often said, the Democrats were so delusional, “they lost a crazy contest to a crazy person.”
I’m with you Mike, these people just don’t get it. The fact that Trump can be nice and charismatic, hides his true nature. And like the MSM, people like Maher are normalizing his behavior, and it’s masking all of his destructive policies, and the fact that we will not have a rule of law within a few months; at latest. Not to mention, Trump’s dismantling of our administration state; top notch scientific community and our National Security Apparatus.
He’s destroying our future; from allies and trading partners, to the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. We already saw the treasury yields shoot you last week, while the market was tanking. That means investors no longer see Treasuries as risk free assets, and a safe haven asset anymore. And more and more foreign investments are fleeing at alarming rates. Which means the cost to service the debt could double. And it’s all leading to stagflation; something most people under forty in the country, would know little about.
Bottom line: these people don’t understand just how much we’re screwed, and people like Maher are not doing themselves, or this country any favors by normalizing Trump.
Go away little jack. You're obviously a little troll with no brain.
Make me Lizzy Dumbwit. How about I give u some big D in your mouth?
Exactly correct. I am 9th of 10 kids born into a poor family where half of us served in the US military. We were raised in an Irish Catholic working class neighborhood and Democratic Party stronghold. We have now moved away from the Democratic Party as they became the party of elites, censorship, war, anti-white racism, anti-Christian attacks on churches and pro-life groups, and for the mutilation of children via sex surgeries and chemicals.
Is there any element of right wing culture war propaganda that you don’t believe?
I was going to acknowledge Libertarian for the concise list of the basics & also “of course you’re likely well aware it’s so much worse than that”
Those aren’t talking points
just the facts ma’am
Narrator: They were, of course, talking points.
Yes, I don’t like Trump’s call for censorship of protest against Israel, I am disappointed in him for not eliminating ALL foreign aid, I am immensely against RINO Neocons like McConnel, I don’t trust Vance too much, and I oppose continued funding to Ukraine.
It’s helpful to see you so open about it.
Trump thrives on this kind of childish, weak-minded mentality. It’s important to show how many Americans are like this.
Meh. Libertarianism is so obviously bullshit that if you’re stupid enough to believe in it, there’s probably no helping you.
Christ is King.
🥱 Praise be His Holy Name, but whatever heretical sect of Christianity has led you to sincerely believe Trump and Libertarianism are permissible doctrines to espouse will not save you from squealing, like a pig, as you burn in hell forever.
Two things can be true at the same time. Trump can be one who is as Bill described in private and as others have stated, gracious and generous in private. He can also be restoring our country to common sense in his own method publicly and I can only say it has been a glorious few months. Let him cook!
I voted for Trump in 2016 and never voted for a Democrat until 2022. I have a long, scraggly beard, two pick-up trucks (one is 25 years old), and I have long owned several firearms. I have no love for the excesses of the identitarian left or activist politics. That said, Trump *is* mostly what he's been described to be. It's on such graphic display every day and has been for a decade. (The theory of Trump by Never-Trump Republican types has to be one of the most vindicated in modern political history.) Though it may take time to see all of their prognostications to come to fruition, in time, they do with alarming consistency.
While I don't think we should cleans America's population of its "other half", whether via gulags or other means, no amount of progressive overreach will mean this emperor is now, or has ever been, wearing any clothes. You and "the other half of America" are free to insist he's clothed to various degrees, but I never have to accept your delusions. Yes, living like this sucks, but not because I'm blind. It sucks because it's "the other half of America", whether through ignorance, self-delusion, a hatred of the left or, or outright preference for all the authoritarian ugliness, that's blind to what is clear to the rest of the world. And it's very difficult to co-exist with such a population. It just plain sucks.
Your username is a long list of other countries’ flags. It stands to reason that you don’t like the guy who is doing things for Americans.
Oh, he's doing things for Americans, alright. It's just the things he's doing are making us poorer and less safe, at home and abroad. These are observable phenomena; one must intentionally turn a blind-eye not to notice.
Cutting government spending and deporting illegals is not making us poorer or less safe, so what is it you’re referring to?
Keep believing your nonsense. Lying about Trump? Why don’t you explain what the lies are? How is anyone who speaks ill about Trump a liar? What exactly are the lies that we’re supposedly telling?
Maher said something very profound on Friday; “I find tariffs boring.” And Therein lies the rub. You and Maher don’t understand how the economy, or tariffs work; just like Trump, which is why it’s being destroyed so quickly.
So let me spell it out. What you saw last week will not be an anomaly. The bond market doesn’t lie. It’s showing that investors, who used to flee to a safe haven asset (treasuries) when the equity market start to tank, have decided to take their money overseas. This could spell the end of the dollar as the reserve currency. Our treasury bonds are considered risk free assets, but this may no longer be the case. And if so, our interest rates that investors demand to buy treasuries will rise exponentially, which would in effect, cost us almost double, or more to just SERVICE the DEBT! Let that sink in! Bottom line, it spells economic DISASTER!
That said, I bet you honestly believe Trump’s simplistic approach to problems and economic issues actually makes sense. However, like HL Mencken once said, “complex problems, have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers!” And Trump is the epitome of this quote.
And what do you mean “left”? And I’m no lefty; I have equal disdain for both political parties, so please elaborate? I see Trump for what he is; a know-nothing failure!
So why don’t you actually make a point, instead of spewing nonsense, without actually saying anything at all!
Do you believe that tariffs actually aren’t a federal sales tax? That Trump’s convoluted tariff reduction plan actually makes sense, when all evidence points to the contrary? I suppose you believe the economy is on the right track, and threatening our allies is a good thing?
I suppose you also believe that the $6 trillion lost in the markets since the election, is Biden’s fault? Right?
You do realize The rule of law” is disappearing? Was Pardoning the J6th insurrectionists a good thing, or maybe you just believe that they were hostages and hero’s as well?
Oh, and I bet you actually believe the COVID vaccine really has a GPS chip tracking every American, right? Or the MMR vaccines caused autism? And RFK Jr. and the religious right’s war on science is good for America? Or the destruction of the NIH will improve health outcomes?
How’s the high inflation this year that was supposed to be gone on “Day One” ? Or the Ukraine War has been solved on Day One? Or How’s the price of eggs?
Trump is destroying this nation, piece by piece, and what you call our “LIES,” is really your delusions of grandeur, and nothing but pure projection!
Mark Twain was right: “it’s easier to fool a man, than convince a man that he’s ever been fooled!”
Spot on, Robert. Every statement you made was accurate and provided the facts. I would love for someone to provide an argument in response to what you said but, sadly, most will not respond with any substance to back up their claims or “facts.”
Thank you. Unfortunately, they won’t see it until it’s too late. SAD!….:)
You have brilliantly expressed my very thoughts and trenchantly encapsulated my every sentiment in words and language that I (a writer and increasingly diminished fan of Maher) could never equal. Your turn-around time (what, one day?) for writing such master works of incisive commentary is also amazing. Keep it up!
It's beyond ridiculous to continue the 'Hitler' narrative. It is tiresome, it is trite, it requires no real investigation into the policies. It is 'chicken little' screaming over a President who is completely open to the press, who is cutting the scope and size of Big Government, who defends gun rights - despite having been shot! Hitler took away guns, Hitler took over the press, Hitler did not allow your specific kind of speech. If Trump were Hitler you would be arrested yesterday. Get off your insane high horse and attempt to objectively look at his policies, which you may disagree with but that does not make him or you Hitler. Please just stop already, it's enough.
Michele, I will invoke whatever historical comparison that I think suits my sense of a coherent understanding of the world. I assure you, I am unbothered by your protestation on this point.
When you see a political leader:
- try to subvert the result of an election to stay in power, including the use of a violent mob to disrupt the democratic process,
- later issue a pardon for the violent mob, even those that tried to kill his vice president and other elected officials,
- openly interfere with the Department of Justice by appointing corrupt officials to drop criminal charges against him,
- lay the groundwork for territorial expansion in neighbouring regions,
- demonise minorities with propaganda,
- deport people, including citizens, to prison camps with no due process,
- suppress free speech with government-back legal action against media organisations and law firms, and
- generally engage in the demagoguery playbook,
… then it’s straightforward to compare that leader to other demagogues.
Oh, horseshit!
Good contribution. You and 'Trapped in IL' would get along well.
-WRONG
-WRONG
-WRONG
-WRONG
-WRONG
-WRONG
-WRONG
-WRONG
You epitomise the MAGA mindset.
Thank you
Strawmaning as usual.
“Cutting the scope and size of Big Government”… not so much.
From the hippies at the Wall St Journal:
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-doge-government-spending-increases-5903992d
Maybe the bill for those El Salvadorian prison camps is too high?
Or maybe it’s the extra troops for the Greenland invasion?
I wonder if the Government should cancel those SpaceX contracts to save some money?
The WSJ are globalist neocons like all the rest.
You’ve got to be pretty far up your own ass to trot out the WSJ as some sort of dissident publication. 2004 called.
You’re still talking about “neocons” and then accusing others of living in 2004?
I’m sorry you didn’t get the joke about the Wall St journal. What did you think of the chart?
Neocons are alive and well they just wear blue ties now. And then there’s McConnell and co. still going strong.
Mike, you know you’re touching a nerve and espousing the truth when you start getting the bots and the trolls jumping in. Kia kaha from New Zealand.
“he personalizes and humanizes Trump through anecdotes and shared laughter, leaving his audience emotionally soothed but morally unmoored. “
The left dehumanized half the country and lost the election. The author continues to advocate for it.
Bingo!
Maher is an ass. Dinner with Hitler, because you know we are supposed to engage with the other side. He’s an arrogant, ignorant ass.
He used to have interesting people on his show. But he showed his true colors last night by berating his guest who criticized him for trying to make Trump look normal.
And this was just 5 minutes after Maher was making jokes about Trump ignoring SCOTUS on the El Salvador situation.
I am done with him and HBO should cancel him.
Jack, you’re too stupid to capitalize your own name, so your opinions aren’t really relevant. You should try to be seen and not heard when the grownups are speaking.
Ahhh shut up fool Davieboy. I'll come over there and shove up your ass myself punk
I am reminded of when clueless Bush Jr. looked into Putin’s eyes and “saw his soul.” That’s how narcissism works - it’s all a soulless image. Keep moving… nothing to see here.
These were my thoughts exactly. This is the hallmark of narcissism. The ability to charm and abuse. The charm is the secret to the successful gaslighting.
Beware to the dinner guest charmed by the reptilian tyrant.
There is truly no redemption for you and your completely deranged view of Trump. Wow! At this rate you and others like you on the left are going to be a very small minority in this country. There is zero self awareness, zero desire to try to understand different people and viewpoints and zero ability to see reality. Normalize Trump? He is normal. You are not. Good luck.
Despite 62 years in medicine and having had great mentors like Elizabeth Ross, I am stumped by those like you, who cannot see the forest from the trees or even see the trees. Make a list, if you will. Educate me (yes, I am being sarcastic) about the good things Trump has done in his role as POTUS. I would ask can think of anything "bad" that you believe Trump has done. But no worries about the latter since I can fill in any gaps you might manifest.
In medicine, good medicine or real medicine has a core concept called the Therapeutic Index (TI). It is a simple ratio. Benefits to the patient divided by Adverse effects to the patient. This TI concept can be applied to every aspect of life. Benefit to Risk ratio. Explain to me the wonderfulness of Donald Trump. Tell me how he has left this country and/or the world a better place for my son to grow up in.
In medicine, I have openly said to patients asking me about novel therapies: If I knew that horseshit worked to successfully treat an illness, I would start shoveling immediately. Tell me the good deeds of Donald J. Trump. Make me a convert. It would make my life easier and happier.
I did my own reading, so I’m thinking you should do yours. It’s not anyone else’s job to “make you a convert.” The idea is silly and lazy on its face. You don’t even have to become a convert; how about just shooting for becoming a critical thinker?
Here are two such deeds, for starters:
1- Deporting illegals.
2- Reducing staff in govt agencies.
Of course, you won't acknowledge those as good things, much less become a convert. But they were good things when Clinton and Obama supported them.
Skenny,
1. Deporting those who have entered the US illegally is certainly an accomplishment and the Biden (Democratic Party) did a terrible job in this regard. But you do not start shipping people to a prison in El Salvador or many such persons without due process--- that is the foundational principle of democracy. What if you, or a family member of yours, was outspoken about Trump and you hear they are in El Salvador for being an "illegal." You do not throw out the baby with the bath water. If you do something, you do it right.
2. Reducing the staff in government agencies, ESPECIALLY if this is simply a bloated agency with minimal function as to getting the job done, is a commendable action. But again, go beyond the superficial. Is stopping USAID and providing surplus wheat to malnourished children a bad thing? Is mucking. up the VA which should be be the most pristine government agency how we show gratitude for those who in the military? Is making Social Security a Tower of Babel by indiscriminately cutting staff something you think is a positive? Is costing those who are retiring a devastating loss in their 401K due to an absurd decision to impose tariffs than find an alternate solution to inequality in trade but don't ruin the lives of citizens who have worked all their life and paid into Social Security.
Yours is the superficial conclusions based on a lack of in-depth thinking that has resulted in the daily chaos we see with Trump et al being president. Go beyond the superficial and read, and read some more. We may never attain the absolute truth but we can certainly get closer to it than the MAGA element.
Thank you for your reasoned response. I had begun a reasoned response in reply, but going back to the acknowledgment that you won’t be converted, why bother.
You summarized an otherwise engaging conversation on merits with the assumption that I need to read more, presumably so that I might be as enlightened as you. I gather that you are a doctor, so obviously, you are more important than me. I am one of those patients who waits first in the waiting room, then again in a patient room because your time is more important than mine. And it goes without saying that you are smarter.
There is no defense for someone as middle-class as I am. Except to say that you smart, elite, important people have had your chance, and you screwed it up royally. So step aside, and give common sense a chance.
Your background is impressive but there are many who have equally impressive careers and have different views. I respect yours.
Here’s what I voted for and Trump promised:
1. Closed borders/deport illegal aliens
2. Reduce government spending/eliminate waste & fraud/restructure govt to improve efficiency/ eliminate deficit
3. On-shore manufacturing
4. Make individual tax cuts permanent
5. Reduce business taxes
6. Increase energy capacity and production/stop the climate scam
7. Deregulation
8. Cancel woke culture (Transgender conversions for kids, males in female sports, DEI etc.)
9. End censorship of social media
10. Stop wars
11. Insist on allies to share defense burden
You may disagree with many of these but every one of them has a strong rationale.
So far in less than 100 days, he has tackled every single one of these with energy and forcefulness. I give him and his team an A+ for keeping promises, A+ for effort. Results to be seen. I am optimistic.
Nikhil, you said:
"You may disagree with many of these but every one of them has a strong rationale."
Me: Wrong Nikhil. I can agree with all of the above. But you have been conned by the wheeler-dealer, and, to use his own vocabulary, a pathologic liar like "never before."
You have not been to a communist country as far as I know (maybe your real name is Nikita and not Nikhil). You were not in the USSR (I think). You do not throw Ukraine under the bus and hand its people and Democracy to Vladimir Putin. You do not insult a country's honestly elected president the way Trump insulted Zelensky. You do not negotiate a deal of rare-earth minerals for aid to Ukraine. Yes, you do ask for Germany, Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, etc to pay up a fair share into NATO. But you do not alienate allies and pay tribute to murderers like Putin, Kim-Jong-Un.
Agreed that Social Media has major/serioius downsides but you do not handcuff a foreign student on a visa for pro-Palestinian written or verbal statements. I think Trump is a Fascist, clear and simple. Do you imprison me, send me off to Louisiana or El Salvador without due process. The loss of due process is the first sign of Fascism. Do you take away free speech a la Marko Rubio? That is another side of a fascist regime. You you attack the Press as did Trump with the Associated Press, or attack the editor-in-chief for being effin stupidly invited to a non-secure top secret SIGNAL chat as did Mike Waltz by Trump's pick fo NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR.
I agree about the excessive emphasis on transgender issues, especially male transgendering to female and participating in women's sports. Ridiculous & should not be allowed. I couldn't care less if public restrooms were open to any sex as they have been in Europe for many decades. But I am sick of all the homosexulaity displayed in my face in the media, which I believe is part of the spectrum of how Hollywood has effed up morality and/or decency. Be a homosexual or heterosexual, but do not shove it in my face with TV ads or movies or other broadcasts.
Where you are wrong is on the energy issue. Climate change is not a scam. Disease and premature death from pollution of air, water, and earth is not and this is heavily detailed in many publications. There are ways to obtain energy using safer community-size thorium or other isotope reactors. Adjuncts like solar and wind (or tidal) energy are exactly that- adjuncts. The world context has changed and with it oceans have devolved, as has the ozone layer.
Your items #1 and 2 are legitimate, but not the way Trump is going about them, sending helter-skelter citizens and non-citizens to El Salvador or Louisiana without due process. That's fascist.
Reduce government spending by tearing apart and rendering inefficient every government agency is overkill. It would be like me seeing an obese patient and immediately deciding to put them on a starvation diet without first seeing where the problem(s) have arisen from. That example, Nikhil, deserves reproach: warning- warning: bullshit alert. But great example of putting the fox in the henhouse.
I do not know if we can find common ground between our views. I would welcome an open debate between you and me anytime. But I would speculate, that if I suggested we have a panel of fact-checkers to discern bullshit when spoken, you would not agree to this.
The devil is in the details. "The facts, ma'am, just the facts." Or, as Mike says, 2+2 =4 and there are 24 hrs in a day (unless you are on Mars).
Someday maybe we can debate and find common ground. Since you have already decided the outcome of Trump’s actions and I am willing to wait, it is a seemingly pointless exercise at this time.
OK, Steve. Here’s one thing that Trump has done that should get the attention of someone aged 62.
Fifteen years ago my financial advisor told me, as we were planning my retirement, that I should plan on a big cut in my Social Security benefits in the first half of the 2030s.
Now, I just asked Grok about that problem and here’s what he had to say:
“According to the 2024 Social Security Trustees Report, the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund is projected to be depleted in 2033. If no legislative changes are made, benefits would need to be reduced starting in 2034 to match incoming revenue, resulting in about a 21% cut to scheduled benefits.” His source is the bastion of progressive truth — none other than NPR. You probably trust them. (https://www.npr.org/2024/05/06/1249406440/social-security-medicare-congress-fix-boomers-benefits).”
I guess my financial advisor was prescient.
For the last 15 years no one in authority has attempted to do anything about this until Trump came along. He and his good bud and Grok’s boss, Elon, are trying to do
something about it.
If they succeed you won’t have get your benefits cut 21%.
Steve, in 2034 you’ll be 71 and drawing full SS benefits. Trump and Elon are doing you a solid. You should thank them for at least trying.
Have a nice retirement.
PS My bad. Just reread your post. “62 years in medicine” puts you in your 80’s. You’ve got nothing to worry about. 😀
Scott, please read my reply to Skenny since it also applies, in part, to your comment above.
• The devil is in the details. What Musk, acting illegally, and Trump have done is emasculate every agency with the excuse of improving efficiency.
- They have torn apart just about every agency to a degree to render them no longer able to accomplish their primary goals. Yes, for sure, there is too much gov't in gov't, but if you are an obese person harboring too much "fat" you do not chop off limbs to attain your ideal body weight. You do not create Towers of Babel in USAID, Social Security, Veterans Affairs, Medicaid, Medicare, National Security, IRS, Deptartment of Education, Dept. of Labor, The Office of Federal Contracts, FEMA, and others. For a comprehensive list, see Wikipedia at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_federal_agencies_targeted_by_DOGE
Wikipedia, to my understanding, is not controlled by so-called left-wing radicals.
What Trump has done with his obsession with tariffs has destroyed my 401K and those of millions of Americans. I am not counting on getting my Social Security Benefits in 2033, which I do get now, Scott, since my current age is 82.
What you and others have seen and been taken in by are Trump's proclamations about making real issues (e.g., sharing NATO expenses, more equitable trade agreements (major tariffs in S. Korea for American-made cars and vehicles), etc), but you are missing the horrendous damage he has done on his destructive path to "good" intentions. Like the old expression, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions," one needs to grasp the full picture, to see the rest of the story, and to realize the context to understand the destruction of Democracy by a rising Fascist president.
Very well stated, sir.
Nikhil, the truth is that you’re just a stupid old man, right? You’re shriveled and old, you’re probably going to die soon, so you think: “to hell with the world.” Such a disgusting sentiment, but what else should we expect from a kulak like you. I look forward to watching you scum lose everything.
You just proved my point buddy. This is now the typical lefty playbook. Cannot debate view points so goes straight for personal attacks! Now you’re going to say that Hitler survived and I am him! Hope the vitriol doesn’t dissolve you my friend! Have a good life.
Look everyone. We have a nasty one right here. Disrespectful jerk!
“Kulak” was the term Stalin used to describe anyone — primarily in 1930s Ukraine — that he was about to round up and either have shot dead while standing in their wheat field, or deported to a gulag where they would starve to death within six months. Which direction are we going here?
Yes, I’m aware, that’s what makes it a good slur. Thank you for the history lesson!
Thank you for this. I was disgusted with Maher and his monologue. Doesn't he understand that narcissists can be charming when it suits them??
No, he doesn't. I am frequently shocked at how many people are not familiar with antisocial personality disorder and sociopathic traits....coupled with, as you said, narcissism.
Maher is fine here
Go back to your cult of 47, you witless little troll
Make me punk. Fucking lizzy Dumbwit. What kind of dumb name is that?
I caught part of his interview with Bannon last night. It was curious to me that he was invited on the first show after the dinner. Bannon stuck to his usual gruff, noxious, threatening persona. Maher reacted skeptically to his claims (and threats) but didn’t really push back. Yes, Bannon is tough to interview. But would it have been different if Maher had not just returned from kissing the ring? Trump is a con man, so his dinner performance should not be a surprise.
IMHO, and this is just an opinion, he's melted his brain with drugs. He gets no respect from me. I do find it funny though that he considers himself an authority on how the rest of us should think. That part is funny.
I'm not on social media (to protect what's left of my fragile mental health), but I hope someone who is will forward this to Bill Maher. I enjoyed and was beguiled by his account of his dinner with Trump. Until I listened to this Substack I, like Bill, did not understand the dynamic and significance of Trump's personal charm. Then I remembered Trump is a sociopath and it is as if a light clicked on.
just wanted to say this is really well written effective communication
Meanwhile in Deerfield, Illinois school administrators are forcing girls to undress in front of a boy (something the Trump administration is seeking to stop) and you don’t give a shit. Who are the monsters?
Good point.
Maybe Bill is just covering his ass from retribution.
He went at Trump pretty hard in the first term and he probably figured he was on the enemies list. So he gets Kid Rock to set up a detente dinner.
Win win. Trump converts a liberal critic and Bill won’t end up in El Salvador when the the MAGA cultural purge goes into effect.
Ahem, yes, akin to mega-wealthy law firms, big corporations and media conglomerates collapsing as tyrant amasses ever more might. If these powerhouses don’t lock arms and stand tall, how will the people?
Here we go down the rabbit hole.
Exactly
Grow the fuck up and get out of mom’s basement
Or maybe because Bill is a Zionist Jew.
Bill Maher is of Irish descent
https://www.jewishtelegraph.com/prof_273.html
Bill was actually raised Catholic in River Vale, New Jersey, and didn't discover he was Jewish until he was 12.
His father was Irish-Catholic while his mother, Julie (nee Berman), was Jewish, of Hungarian descent.
Bill recalled: "When I asked her why she never told me she was Jewish, she said she was not keeping it from me or my sister, it was just something which did not come up in conversation.
"We went to church every week, although my mother never came.
"I didn't think anything of it because, I guess, when something is habitual to children, they don't mention it.
"She probably thought the church would give us structure and discipline - but it gave me pain and heartache."
Bill was surrounded by Jews growing up in New Jersey, though.
He said: "I had lots of Jewish friends and our next door neighbours, who were my parents' best friends, were Jewish, too.
"There were many Jewish people in our area.
TV
Thanks for the laugh. You're right, probably just covering his own ass by kissing 47's ass!