Did you watch the debate last night? Of course, you didn’t. At least you didn’t if you were smart, unlike me. But even if you watched the debate, the obvious conclusion was no debate actually took place. I rarely swear on this blog, but what a shitshow.
The 2016 Clinton-Trump presidential debates were really bad but couldn’t hold a candle to this “debate”. A debate assumes that each participant gets a chance to expound on their views and there is some civility.
Donald Trump would have none of that and almost entirely ignored the rules to the debate that he has signed up to. Joe Biden looked like he would have preferred an enema and the truth is, I would have too, in retrospect. A bit more than an hour into it, I gave up. Literally anything I could have done would have been a better use of my time. I felt used and abused. I suspect any person watching the debate with any conscience would have too.
I’ve currently been rereading old Calvin & Hobbes cartoon books. Donald Trump is a 70-year-plus version of Calvin. He never made it out of his terrible twos. Conversation is simply not possible without a willingness to listen, and you can’t listen if you never stop talking. Trump talked over Biden, never letting him get a word in edgewise. Very little of what he said had any basis in fact. Demeaning anyone is the mark of incivility, but no one watching could have possibly objected to Joe Biden’s characterization of Trump as the worst president ever.
My Dad passed away in 2016 at age 89. Thank goodness! Not that I wished him dead, far from it. But at least he passed before Donald Trump became president. From my dad (and mom) I learned manners. To this day, it’s hard for me to swear, because I almost never heard either of them swear. They would say the kindest things about the unkindest people. But I am confident my Dad would make an exception for “President” Trump. He was running for president in his last year, but even then, he was openly appalled by his behavior. He was so circumspect and non-judgmental that we never knew for sure what political party be belonged to.
We really learned nothing from the debate because it was no debate. If there are any truly undecided voters out there, it’s hard to imagine how they could vote for Trump after watching his performance. If you met someone like Trump in real life, you would stay away from them. And while I’m met plenty of miserably awful human beings in my life, Trump stands out as the worst of the worst. And we elected him to our highest office.
I didn’t so much learn anything from Trump as confirmed my most worrisome fears. He’s not going to accept the results of any election that he loses. He’s going to encourage violence by his supporters and actually told the Proud Boys to get ready. He refused to denounce violence by white supremacists. The shitshow is going to become an epic shitstorm after he loses on November 3.
Moderator Chris Wallace lost all control over the debate, and even called out Trump for his interruptions and behavior which Trump just ignored. He ignored all the rules and just made the biggest, most obnoxious ass possible of himself.
So, it wasn’t a debate, but if we want a real debate there needs to be rules that are actually enforced. In the past, it wasn’t necessary. If I were Biden, I wouldn’t bother “debating” him again because doubtless the next two will be more of the same. The debates need a penalty box. If a debater violates the rules once they should get a warning. Twice, they should be removed from the debate for five minutes. A third time, they should be escorted out of the debating area and probably unceremoniously dumped in the parking lot.
Since we didn’t get a debate, all we really learned was how completely awful a human being Trump is. It was two hours of someone scraping their nails against a chalkboard. It was horrible and unwatchable. I felt slimed by the whole experience; I wanted a cold shower.
I feel sorry for any human being who likes Donald Trump. I understand completely why he doesn’t have any pets. Certainly, no dog would endure him.
Occam's Razor 