The Trump Trio Credit: DonkeyHotey

Dear Former Friend: I was wrong. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this wrong about anything. Or about anyone. And I seem to be getting more and more wrong by the day. I feel the need to do something.

After the initial shock of Election Night 2016 wore off, I remember thinking, “Well okay, so a whole bunch of pissed-off white people got to cast a screw-you vote in an election that pitted a crappy candidate against a really vile one.” They voted the way they did because they sincerely hated the Crappy One. They hated the fact that she wore pantsuits, that she used words with multiple syllables in them, and that she didn’t seem to share their nightmare vision of a brown tidal wave sweeping across America’s southern border.

I had no doubt that you also voted for the Vile One, but you’re highly educated so I always assumed that you had held your nose while doing so (just as I had done a couple times in my voting life). I had always known you to have a love for America and a deep respect for the Constitution. However, you also had a disdain for the pantsuit-ed one, plus you probably figured that if the dolt ever took office, you and your rich buddies could use his greed and ego for your own purposes, nudging him in one direction or another and maybe making a few bucks along the way.

You and I always had lots of things that we could argue about, but we agreed on the important stuff, the American stuff. And, because we felt strongly about wanting to do the right thing, both of us were more likely to call bullshit on our own side than on the opposition.

That is no longer the case. I sincerely thought that after the initial exhilaration of having kept a woman from becoming President subsided, at least some of the Trump voters would come to see him for the really bad guy that he is. I thought that decent middle-class people would resent the repugnant manner in which he treated women. I believed that true conservatives would be appalled at his complete lack of understanding of—and respect for—the Constitution.

I believed in my heart that good Americans would peel off, layer after layer, until all that would be left was the core of his core, that being the white supremacists who would support him forever as long as he promised to keep the dark-skinned folks at bay. Instead, 90 percent of Republicans support this human pestilence. Our country has lost its way.

You and your fellow revelers are so caught up in the hillbilly hoopla that bursts forth from the Bully rallies that you have broken through that wall that used to keep us all decent and focused and American. You elected a man who lies far more often than he tells the truth. In the past, supporters of a scuz like that would have at least tried to rationalize such behavior, but you and yours just lie to yourselves and everybody else by claiming that his obvious lies aren’t really lies.

You elected an admitted sexual predator and then willingly gave up what you had always claimed to have been the moral high ground in exchange for a tax cut. You elected a guy who is almost certainly the dumbest person ever to occupy the White House and then you don’t call him on it when he claims to be the smartest person in the room. You elected a guy who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and then shreds it every chance he gets…and your side says nothing!

This is serious: I would bet my house that Trump (like most Americans) has no idea how many amendments there are to the Constitution. How much would you be willing to bet that he does? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

And you elected a racist and sexist person who does racist and sexist things to satisfy his racist and sexist base and you pretend it’s not happening. And saying that you’re not a racist, even with all the faux outrage you can muster, doesn’t make it so. If you support a racist—even a little bit—you’re at least partly a racist.

What it comes down to is that all those years that you and I enjoyed each other’s company, discussing policy and arguing issues, that’s gone. You can’t bring yourself to admit that your guy lies—not even once. You can’t find fault with anything he does or says. You are complicit in his misogyny and his un-American behavior.

The other day, I saw this Phyllis Schlafly clone on Fox News almost crying as she said, “They call us a cult. What about the people who supported Obama?” You’re freakin’ kidding, right? Lots of us who voted for Obama criticized him all the time. (I, mostly because I felt he needed to be more assertive and progressive.) Plus, the definition of cult is “a misplaced or excessive admiration for a person or thing.” That sounds about right.

Frankly, I never thought that you would willingly surrender an ounce of your integrity, even for a great statesman. Instead, you’re whoring yourself out for a tyrant.

We’re done.

This article appears in Jul 5-11, 2018.

48 replies on “Danehy”

  1. Thank you for putting down so eloquently what I have felt a few times with colleagues of mine. I cannot believe that people can be so blinkered, but it seems to be true.

    Please keep up the great work. We will prevail.

  2. Nearly word for word what happened with my ex-friends and my ex-family members who voted for tRump and who continue to voice support for the dime store Mussolini the orange turd in the White House. Great column, Mr. Danehy.

  3. Spoken like a true “can’t get over the b*tch lost and blame it on the white male” liberal. Never mind 3.2 million people voted then there are adult voters in the US.

  4. Divisive politics are here to stay. Its easy to inculcate outparty animus, and its contagious too! There is more to life than Trumps lying tweets and his myopic apologists. If you let politics tear your friendships apart, youve already lost the good fight.

  6. Ah, the old line that anyone opposed to illegal immigration is a racist. Yawn. Got anything else?
    This is why Trump was elected: a large majority of voters in *every* state want immigration reduced. Dems want more and more immigration. Fine, we disagree, but don’t call everyone who disagrees with you a racist.

  7. Gee I guess we finally know how Danehy really feels, give it a rest you simpleton, put your head back in the holier than thou sand and scream

  8. Those who still maintain their laughable pose here as know-nothing Trump apologists are beyond redemption. Perhaps they should be reading the Constitution instead. Oops – it doesn’t come with a comments section!

  9. The hatred exhibited by frothing at the mouth anti-Trumpists is delicious.

    Just delicious.

  10. We denied the first woman President? Tom how ignorantly sexist. You said nothing of her qualities. I wonder why?

    John 8:7

    Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone …”

    Is that who you think you are? Any of you?

  11. I love how Tommy shows his total ignorance. I didn’t vote for Hill the Shrill because she’s a woman? I don’t think so. I’d list the reasons why I didn’t but I’d like to get to bed by midnight.

  12. Now EPA Pruitt, numero uno tRump crook, resigned today. How many of tRump’s appointees does that make? However many, it’s a record for the number of executive branch resignations, firings, exits in this short of a time. That failing clearly demonstrates how flawed tRump is. Keep defending him to yours and our country’s detriment. tRump is a dime store Mussolini, a con man, who is violating the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, among a long list of other crimes, most notable TREASON. List the number of indictments of people affiliated with tRump. Unless you’re drunk, on hard drugs or extremely limited in cognitive abilities, you cannot possibly examine factual information and still support tRump, the orange turd in the White House. Impeachment, conviction and either execution for treason or imprisonment for life is justice for tRump.

  15. The personal insults from CW13 are just like others from anonymous commenters who have nothing factual to say. They resort to making fun of my last name, among other lies. Most anonymous commenters are cowards, who would defecate their pants face to face and run from a physical fight to back up their personal insults.

  16. And so, it goes without firing a shot the American Republic could fall and all that will be left is the sound of laughter from Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

    I myself have contributed to this debate, but the viciousness and divisiveness of it must end.

    When I was old enough to register to vote, I registered as an Independent because I wanted the freedom to vote for the best person regardless of party affiliations, but today, from both sides, I hear that there are only two choices and I must choose; However, recent history has shown that neither side can claim exclusive rights to knowing what is best for our nation.

    What the two parties have shown again and again is how frequently they act like what is best for their party is best for the nation in the face of all evidence to the contrary. There is also a tendency, regardless of party affiliation, to take the side of corporate and special interests as being what is best for the nation — again in the face of all evidence to the contrary.

    There must be a better way than pitting one side against the other fighting in some colosseum of ideas where only one side can win, and the others must die.

    I do not claim to know what the solution is, but this continual and visceral fighting between ourselves serves only our enemies, and rest assured we have many enemies in the world that are delighted by this base and vulgar display that is neither great or American.

    “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” — Unknown, often attributed to Abraham Lincoln

  17. “Never mind 3.2 million people voted then there are adult voters in the US.” You’ve got your lies mixed up. Trump claimed 3.2 million illegal immigrants voted. Turnout was 58% so its impossible that there were more voters than adults in the US. He had to make up some excuse for Clinton getting over 2 million more votes that he did.

  19. Hey Human Garbage, why does this list you link have to be listed as having happened under Obama? Surely any right thinking person would not want these things to happen under any administration? Pruitt is a nincompoop no matter who he serves under. Thank god he has gone.

  22. This is Tom. I don’t believe that people who are in favor of strict immigration enforcement are inherently racist. I have never made that claim. I’m not even sure how much of Trump’s racism enters into his border “policy.” He might just see it as a winning strategy, politically. He’s very obviously racist, but I’m not sure why. Maybe Ivanka smiled at a black guy once and it was more than Trump could take.

  23. Okay, CW13. What is your real name? Come out from behind CW13. Or, are you too chicken? Where do you want to meet up for a little face to face discussion?

  24. It won’t happen Ricardo Small. Yes, your last name may be Small, but the true Small Man is CW13. I’m amazed at the fact that he’s still able to break the rules in these comment threads and hasn’t been ousted from this site. There have been plenty of people who have done much less and have been banned. It makes you wonder what he’s doing and who he is doing it to in order to keep on posting the vile and senseless BS which he continues to get away with.

    P.S. – I am sorry that you have broken relationships with family over the Orange Turd. I’m fortunate enough to have not one family member that doesn’t see through the PO(TU)S who currently sits in the Anal Orifice. But, there are friends and co-workers who don’t see the light; because of that, there is tension. I do my best to avoid those once close people at any cost these days.

  25. Thanks, but no thanks. My late father and I share the same name. His phone number is listed. Mine’s not. Years ago I had a letter printed in the Red Star. My father’s phone rang off the hook
    with calls from liberals who disagreed with me. When he died earlier this year my mother found out that she can’t unlist his number until next year. That being said there’s no way I’m going to subject my 88 year old mother to the abuse I know she’ll have put up with.

  26. Gee, maybe because of all that, you shouldn’t be a troll in the first place.

    Yes, if your comment is genuine, your mom shouldn’t be bothered because of your mistakes.

    I feel for your mom, yet I feel nothing for your trolling.

  27. Believe me, I don’t have the imagination to make up something like that. Just what is a troll? Someone who disagrees with you. I’m the bad guy, huh? Be honest, I didn’t say boo and Ricardo is calling me human garbage. And I’m the trouble maker? Yeah, we disagree but that means I can’t express my opinion in a public newspaper? According to you yes. Yeah I can have a big mouth and say things that aren’t called for but, more times than not I’m responding to something that was said about me. 95% of the time I’m playing defense.
    Re-read your post. My mistakes? How about me expressing my opinion which happens to differ from yours.
    Want me to go away fine. But, like I told Tommy years ago it’ll get mighty boring if I did. He agreed 100 %.

  29. Tom opens with a bit of sophistry – literary legerdemain – if you stretch “literary” a bit. Clinton, Tom notes, was a crappy candidate – so far we are on the same page. But here is the twist, the slight of hand:

    “They (pissed off white voters) voted the way they did because they sincerely hated the Crappy One. They hated the fact that she wore pantsuits, that she used words with multiple syllables in them, and that she didn’t seem to share their nightmare vision of a brown tidal wave sweeping across America’s southern border.”

    Nope. It ain’t me, babe.

    Many (including Danahey’s despised independents – like myself) didn’t care a whit about Hillary’s lack of sartorial splendor, do enjoy a well-turned phrase and cogent argument, and celebrate our nation’s diversity as a fountain of renewal. So why did we despise and distrust Hillary?

    She took millions from Wall Street denizens for “speeches.” She and her former POTUS husband ran a monumental pay for play scheme linking her position as Secretary of State to Bill’s Clinton Global Initiative. She foolishly thought she could hide behind a private email server in her basement while serving in her capacity as SOS. She was as authentic and compelling as a garden gnome in the Louvre.

    Feel free to add to the list of attributes that made Hillary, in the end, a deplorable candidate.

    And the rest, as they say, is history. The only Democrat remotely capable of losing the presidency, and our national reputation, to a bloviating, hate-speaking carnival barker with a business record that includies the nearly impossible task of managing to bankrupt casinos accomplished just that.

    Yeah, I am one pissed off white guy. I am pissed at the hubris and sense of entitlement and machinations that resulted in Clinton’s nomination and the subsequent coronation of a village idiot as president. I am pissed that my grandchildren will be living in a world that has witnessed the decline and fall of their country leaving them to scramble for clean air, water and opportunity.

    Thanks Hillary. Thanks Debbie. Thanks Super Delegates. Thanks DNC. And don’t let the door bruise your collective butts on the way out.

    You were saying something, Tom?

  30. And in the true Alice in Wonderland repartee seen on these boards, we have one anonymous poster (CW13) being attacked by another anonymous poster (CW13 falls again!).

    I do appreciate that neither has opted for the familiar sentence-length pseudonym like “Fed up with current illiberal state of affairs but too afraid to use my name because someone may get mad at me and call my employer or sister.”

    Grow up.

  31. “Leaving them to scramble for air, water, and opportunity?”

    Who is the deranged carnival barker now?

    My God men you have lost your minds.

    Decline and fall of their country? Wow you guys come on….You may be getting too much opinion masquerading as news. The party out of power has never fixed much of anything. Why would you want them back? We just keep getting jerked back and forth.

    This is a cleansing, regeneration for the country. Enjoy it. We are much more durable than you believe.

  32. CW13 fails again. It’s going as it always does. I make several points and you have nothing to say.
    Rick. I don’t have a sister and I’m retired. It’s my mom I’m concerned with.

  33. Poor old Tom, who seems to exhibit every symptom of TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome). Like all TDS sufferers, he endlessly blathers on with all the typical TDS symptoms: “DT is a liar! Misogynist! Racist! Sexual predator!, etc. And like all TDS sufferers, cannot provide one single example supporting any of his/their accusations, and is willing to sever relationships/friendships, and revert back to square 1 rantings with every ‘new’ writing or ranting.
    Don’t worry Tom, the Dems are in great hands with the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Mad-Max Waters. OMG, the tears of laughter are dripping into my keyboard!!

  35. Rick Spanier:

    I agree with virtually everything you have to present, although I don’t agree with your assessment of my words towards CW13 as an attack. I view it as presenting reality to an obviously unrealistic personality. If CW13 insinuates that Ricardo Small earned his surname due to having small genitalia, then he takes that extra step backwards to use misogy while presenting his opinion, I see that as a verbal attack. But that’s just me, you may or may not see things the same way.

    You are correct about him needing to grow up though. He presents his opinions in a very juvenile fashion. Heck, for all I know, you may not agree with me there either.

    I hope that you don’t view this response to your post as a verbal attack, because that was not my intention.

    Also, rest assured, I will never use a pseudonym such as “Sick and tired of the Dems ruining everyone else’s love for Trump.” That commenter has some seriously deep rooted issues.

  36. “Russia, Russia, Russia and still no proof.”

    I didn’t realize that FBI agents posted on this site. They would be the only people besides those being investigated who would know if there’s proof or not. All I know is that Gates, Manafort, Flynn and Papadopoulos seem to be running scared. But hey, what do I know? I’m not the FBI agent commenting in this thread.

  37. I’m not so sure the FBI is who we want to trust any longer, after seeing what Comey and Strock have done to use it for political purposes. We have seen how those in power treated Martha Stewart.We should return to the presumption of innocence or how does anybody receive a fair trial?

  38. Oh believe me, I understand that honesty is a virtue that few have, especially in the White House these days. And Martha Stewart, spare me. She did the crime so she got the time, which was a much lighter sentence than most others would’ve received.

  39. My original post was intended as a rebuttal to Danehy’s excusing Clinton’s loss to Trump to “the deplorables” alleged idiocy, misogyny, and racism. My point was simply many independent voters (and not just a few Democrats) where sickened by Clinton’s engineered nomination despite her lack of appeal, her dithering on issues of importance to the base, her intimacy with Wall Street and her casual relationship with the truth. Trump’s election may have come as a shock to many but others saw the passion and excitement of two candidates, Trump and Sanders.

    I did. So did a friend of mine who is apolitical but loves the theater (bring on the brew and the popcorn!).

    Trump ran a better campaign, read the mood of the nation’s voters and was elected president with a healthy share of the electoral college votes. No magical thinking (impeachment, 25th amendment, indictment for collusion with Russia) will overcome the current state of affairs. No excuses (Russian involvement, Comey, misogyny) matter.

    So yes, I am angry and disgusted by this president and the circus of horrors he plays ringmaster to every day. But, ultimately, the Democratic Party has only itself to blame for making Clinton’s nomination inevitable. By honoring a political deal for a do-over after her second most embarrassing political loss – to Obama for the nomination in 2008 – the party apparatus placed the nation at risk and is now suffering the consequences.

    Back to Danehy’s profound loss of respect for a former friend who signed on with the dark side. Maybe this friend was, in reality, nothing more than a familiar acquaintance. I’m pretty sure we all have true friends who’ve done something we consider stupid and out of character. But to write them off because of political differences, even differences as significant as the current muck we are drowning in is telling.

    Maybe Tom’s and my own understandings of friendship are categorically different. If a friend of mine shoots my dog, he will no longer be my friend. If she votes differently than me, even for someone I detest, we will both get over it.

    Because we are friends.

  40. Well said Rick. One of my best friends is a stone cold, all out liberal. We met in a local pub about 3 years ago. It took me a while to realize just how liberal he was. He was shocked to learn that I was the exact opposite. We made a simple rule. We can talk about anything we desire, just no politics. In 3 years we’ve never had a problem. Plus he hates the Yankees with a passion, so he’s not all bad! I could never in a million years see us not being friends because we disagree politicly. I guess it’s one of Tommy’s many weaknesses.
    Now, Mr. CW 13 Fails Again. You’re right. I tried to ignore you but with such an idiot it’s impossible. Case in point. You thought I was referring to Mr. Small’s privates. I was talking about his brain. Something you sadly lack. So who’s mind is in the gutter? Anyway, I’ve got good news for you. Once again you’re correct. I should make myself scarce. Trying to make you see the light is an exercise in futility. Just like you’ll never get me to stop being a huge supporter of Trump.
    Besides, next week I’m having surgery on my right wrist for carpel tunnel. 45 years of turning wrenches will do that.so, I wont’ be able to type if I wanted to. But that’s not the reason I’m going to take my leave for a while. Every morning I’m going to get out of bed knowing that Donald John Trump is in the White House and all is good. I’m also going to know that you, Ricardo, Pulitzer Tommy and the rest of the stooges that suffer from T.D.S. are crying in their beer wondering what went wrong.

  41. No crying here, and just as all the other Trump puppets, you are definitely a liar. If it were Ricardo’s mind that you were insinuating, you would’ve said that. Instead, you mentioned that you would get in trouble because you have a funny feeling why his last name is Small. If it were his mind/brain/thoughts/etc…you wouldn’t be concerned about getting in trouble. I also find it interesting that you didn’t bring up the misogyny. Just like all other Trump puppets, you’re okay with that because women don’t really mean anything to you. You prove that every time you refer to someone who is obviously a male as Miss. No offense to me, because being called an idiot by an idiot will never offend me, it does offer me some insight into your small mind though. It shows that you can’t resist paying attention and being awed by someone that you consider an idiot. Whether it is me or Trump, you just can’t resist. In the words of the orange moron which you Bigly support: SAD!

  42. Multiple national media outlets are reporting today, that Hillary Clinton has begun preparations for another Presidential run in 2020.

  44. Alan Dershowitz, emeritus professor at Harvard Law School and lifelong liberal Democrat, just wrote a book outlining the case against impeaching Trump. A NYTimes article on the topic reports that subsequently he has been shunned by fellow denizens of Marthas Vineyard. He responded by suggesting that the publisher produce a Marthas Vineyard edition of the book with a brown paper cover that would allow his neighbors to read it clandestinely without risking making themselves social pariahs.

    Way to go, Alan. Really the only thing to do with all these supposedly serious adults behaving like temper tantruming toddlers: have a good laugh at their expense.

    (The sad part that you cant laugh at is all the things they smash with their tantrums: free speech protections, friendships, a climate of civility, even family relationships. Some of this will be permanent damage even after the current hysteria has passed.)

  46. As a registered Republican and lifelong Independent voter, I am saddened that the Dems ran such a flawed candidate, and the DNC can thank themselves for the current state of affairs. I am one of the 10% of the GOP who hates Trump, his hubris, his idiocy, his lack of any understanding of the Constitution, and the fact he claims responsibility for the currently booming economy-not his doing. Tom, I too have friends that support Trump, and it is very difficult for me to get past that. It means that we don’t share the same values.
    The epic mistake in electing this man will come into focus sooner than later. Which is why this November is so important. All you people who hate Trump and what he stands for, you had better get off your asses and vote this November or you deserve your fate. The balance of power can be altered but action, not complaining will accomplish the goal of neutering the megalomaniac idiot currently serving.

  47. i I was a Conservative Democrat. However, President, Obama’s, policies forced myself and many other conservatives to leave the party. I voted in favor of Obama, first black President, in American history. so no one can accuse me of being a racist. Then candidate, ‘Donald, Trump’, came along and promised he would defend my religious conservative values. Obama, and his policies clearly favored the Muslim faith, and the new Democratic party, under his leadership started referring to the conservatives within their own party as” Islamophobic’s ,bigots, Homophobic. In the other hand, Obama, never mentioned the fact that homosexuality is strictly prohibited by Islam and the penalty is ‘death’ under their law. He never referred to them as Homophobic, but clearly was bias in his reference to the Christian faith.

    Obama, took an oath in his inauguration ceremony, he swore to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. Isn’t the Second Amendment right, a part of the Constitution ? Yet his ambition was to annual it altogether.

    Obama, under his administration deported more than 2.5 million men, women, including children, through immigration orders, which doesnt include the number of people who “self-deported” or were turned away and/or returned to their home country at the border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. No one ever called ‘Obama’, a racist.

    The new Democratic party boosts of their compassion for children of illegal aliens coming across our southern border, yet it has no compassion for infants who can now be subject to lethal injection at birth, if the mother wishes to do so.

    According to the left wing, ‘racism’ is one sided and it can’t possibly infect people of color. Wrong again, racism is not prejudice , it doesn’t care what color you are, it’s an “equal opportunity employer”.

  48. …and today we find out that the FBI conspired IN WRITING to entrap Gen Flynn to cause his firing and remove the elected President.

    trea·son
    /ˈtrēzən/
    noun
    the crime of betraying one’s country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government.

    Where do we go from here?

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