Thank you, Mr. Blow. No reconciliation for me either. My only quibble with his message is the line, “You did real harm to this country…” Let’s be clear that the real harm is still to come. Tip of the iceberg so far.
As an aside: I would also point out that Trump’s statements quoted in the article (“I just appreciate the meeting and I have great respect for The New York Times. Tremendous respect. It’s very special. Always has been very special.”), much as any example of his verbal performance, illustrate directly just how stupid he is. (Since political correctness had gone by the boards, I’m relieved one can call out stupidity explicitly.) Take a look at anything he says from that vantage point. You will see that Trump struggles to have even one new idea in anything he says. And, when he does, he then invariably repeats it at least three or four times in quick succession with minimal variation, as if to reassure us of his certainty and to create the impression that there is any volume of thought there. But he is really illustrating how impoverished his thought process is and how slowly it moves, if it moves at all.
This is clearly demonstrated in any of his pronouncements. I have long since stopped believing that the American electorate would be concerned if they really knew how unintelligent he was (in fact, it may be part of his appeal); just saying how much of an issue it is for me that there is something so obviously wrong with the man’s mind.
(In the course of my demonstrating against Reagan’s reelection, I was lucky enough to have been interviewed on Boston’s WBZ Radio and I voiced my concern about the likelihood that he was already demonstrating signs of early dementia; and it was clear that Dubya was not very bright. But this is far worse.)
You don’t get a pat on the back for ratcheting down from rabid after exploiting that very radicalism to your advantage. Unrepentant opportunism belies a staggering lack of character and caring that can’t simply be vanquished from memory. You did real harm to this country and many of its citizens, and I will never — never — forget that.
As I read the transcript and then listened to the audio, the slime factor was overwhelming.
After a campaign of bashing The Times relentlessly, in the face of the actual journalists, he tempered his whining with flattery.
At one point he said:
“I just appreciate the meeting and I have great respect for The New York Times. Tremendous respect. It’s very special. Always has been very special.”
He ended the meeting by saying:
“I will say, The Times is, it’s a great, great American jewel. A world jewel. And I hope we can all get along well.”
I will say proudly and happily that I was not present at this meeting. The very idea of sitting across the table from a demagogue who preyed on racial, ethnic and religious hostilities and treating him with decorum and social grace fills me with disgust, to the point of overflowing. Let me tell you here where I stand on your “I hope we can all get along” plea: Never.
You are an aberration and abomination who is willing to do and say anything — no matter whom it aligns you with and whom it hurts — to satisfy your ambitions.
Source: Charles Blow, NYTimes.com
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