Thursday, September 12, 2024

And the winner is

 

(6-minute read)

Trump had a concept.  Harris had a plan.

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So far one of my top favorite comments comes from Marlene Kern Fischer of fb “Thoughts from Aisle 4” that she made during the debate:

“Basically the takeaway so far - nothing bad would have happened in the history of the universe if Trump were in charge. He’s like God only better.

~

Well, somebody prepped.

            I have zero intention of sane-itizing Trump.  He’s a disgusting, morally bankrupt human being.

            One of the better indicators as to who won or lost the debate is that Trump’s Truth Social stock dropped 15.4% in morning trading after the debate.[1]  Hands down, Harris won.

            Remember the Howard Dean “scream?”  You can watch the < video >.[2]  It was less than nothing yet ended his run for the presidency.  By today’s standards it wouldn’t even warrant a media blip.  Not since we have a creepy, old, finger-pointing, shouting, accordion-playing rapist felon running for office. 

            Obviously, Trump didn’t do much in the way of prepping for the debate.  Not a surprise really.  Preparation requires the ability to stay focused and have an attention span longer than that of a gnat.  Trump just did the same old schtick that he has been doing for years.  The debate wasn’t a rally but it’s not clear he understood that. 

            While I was watching the debate I shouted to my wife that Harris just baited Trump.  I shouted because that’s what I do when I’m wearing headphones.  I followed that with “he bit!”  And Trump bit again and again and again.  Harris clearly brought out toddler Trump when he resorted to the latest MAGA conspiracy lie about Hispanic immigrants.  It was stunning in its ignorance and I guarantee you that it was a history making comment that has never before been uttered in a presidential debate. 

~

“In Springfield they’re eating the dogs the people that came in. [immigrants]  They’re eating the cats.  They’re eating … they’re eating the pets of the people that live there and this is what’s happening in our country and it’s a shame.”[3] -Donald the genius Trump

~

            That’s probably the moment that his Truth Social stock dropped.  Also,

It was creepy weird.

Debate aggravations.

            I hate it when the candidates are asked a question and then they don’t answer it at all.  Especially when you know that they were prepped for it.  Well, maybe.  Anyway, Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t get off to a good start with me when she didn’t answer the first question posed to her.  I already knew that Trump wouldn’t answer questions put to him, even simple ones like, Do you want Ukraine to win?  His non-answer says that he doesn’t.  That’s scary. 

            Both candidates embellished, misrepresented, cherry picked statistics and lied to some extent, which is normal when campaigning.[4]  However, Trump by far exceeded Harris in that regard.  I give both candidates a bit of leeway because it’s easy for them to get carried away (you know, like when Trump talked about immigrants eating pets).

            It’s also aggravating when candidates are asked multipart questions regarding some policy or action and they only have 2 minutes to respond.  That’s not enough time to get to the nitty-gritty.  Seriously, Project 2025 is almost 900 pages.  And yes, Trump will use it.  The DNC platform is 92 pages.  The most people can get in any answer is the broadest of brushstrokes.  Harris provided those brushstrokes and even gave some details in her allotted time. 

It also aggravates me when corporate media says that the candidates aren’t talking about their policies when they clearly are.  This is one where VP Harris as a woman of color is held to a higher standard than the rapist Trump who continually demonized immigrants (Hispanic people) as often as he could.  He wants to round them up and put them in camps. 

That’s a policy!

Other things.

            Okay, I know both candidates had talking points but do they really need to get them in every question that they’re asked?  That gets a little old.  However, it did give Kamala the opportunity to make her “turn the page” and “we’re not going back” comments.  Trump had the opportunity to resolve the border problem when he was President and MAGA controlled both houses of Congress.  But he didn’t.  Why?

            There were good points to the debate.  Like, the moderators did a decent job, even fact-checking DonOld on a couple of his favorite tropes, after-birth abortion (what even is that?) and the newest – immigrants eating pets.  I was impressed that they had a fact-check ready to go on that one, that’s how easily read he is – they knew he wouldn’t be able to resist it.

            Harris’s facial expressions were priceless thanks to the split screen.  She laughed and smiled appropriately, and then watched with full-on pity as Trump teetered on the edge of the abyss.  She has empathy, something Trump knows nothing about.

            It was fun watching Trump squirm when he was asked about why he made a racist comment.[5]  He immediately went to what I call the Sgt Schultz defense.  He summoned up the courage to say that Kamala could be whatever she wants to be.  How white of him! 

            There was another teachable moment when Trump was asked if he had a health care plan yet.[6]  After all he’s had 9 years to come up with one.  Nope.  BUT he does have the concept of a plan!  I went to Trump’s Agenda 47 and as of today there is NO mention of a health care plan.[7]  His agenda is a series of lots of videos of Trump spewing his usual nonsense.  Fact check:  Trump did try to get rid of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) repeatedly but it wasn’t 60 times.[8]  Without an actual plan of his own…

Once was too many times.

Speaking of soul

            President Biden was right, this upcoming election is about the soul of our nation, our democracy.  It’s sad that tens of millions of people don’t consider that to be important. 

            The struggle for democracy is ongoing and real.  I believe that Leonard Cohen captured that in his song.  As a nation it would be nice to see a re-commitment to democracy as so many in our nation pursue fascism and the demagogue that leads them. 

The debate did highlight for sure Trump’s quest for fascism.  His constant trashing of immigrants is straight-up fascism.  MAGA calling Democrats Marxists while claiming it’s “cultural Marxism” is straight up racist dog whistling.  There’s no such thing as cultural Marxism.[9]  Fascist racists invented the term to provide cover for their anti-brown people, LGBTQIA, Diversity, Equity, Inclusive (DEI) agenda.  It’s roots are anti-Jewish.  They seek to reinstate a white patriarchal society. 

In closing, it looked like Trump had the concept of winning a debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. 

He needed a plan.

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[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-media-s-stock-tumbles-after-the-debate-taylor-swift-s-harris-endorsement/ar-AA1qomK1?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=5bd3fa11478e4e47fa8994b512256435&ei=21

[2] Dean scream, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i-gYRAwM0

[3] Pet eating, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16HAiBALMc

[4] https://www.factcheck.org/2024/09/factchecking-the-harris-trump-debate/

[6] Trump’s health care plan, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p6zZZ3DPGE

[7] Agenda 47, https://www.donaldjtrump.com/agenda47

[8] https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/jun/03/joe-biden/does-trump-want-to-repeal-the-aca-as-biden-says-tr/

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