Presidential Debate # 1, 2020

Prepared after last night's Presidential Debate, and before going online to see what others thought of it.

Political debates are often nothing more than joint press conferences.  I frequently compare politics to professional wrestling, where the performers pretend to beat up on each other, and then laugh about the crowd's reaction while having dinner together afterward.  A good debate is more akin to boxing.  History will reveal what actually transpired last night behind the veil.  For now, a boxing analogy seems more appropriate.

Watched on CBS.  The couple minutes of post-debate commentary from the talking headless that I endured was something I would expect more from NBC than CBS.  But then, CBS started hitting the skids after Walter Cronkite retired and Dan "Oswald did it" Rather took over.  Still, it was a bit of a surprise how far CBS has sunk.

Chris Wallace did a solid job.  Some had predicted he would help Biden.  I did not see that.  However, Biden didn't need Wallace's help as it turned out.

Biden beat expectations, and that counts for a lot in these debates.  Unlike Hillary in 2016, or Bush in 2000 and especially 2004, I saw no signs that responses were being fed through an earpiece.  I suspect that Biden was given some really good performance-enhancing drugs.  Biden might be able to gain a few million votes by telling us what the drug(s) were.  This was not The Walking Biden that has been wheeled out so often in recent months. 

Many of Biden's answers were lame, evasive, even false.  Had Trump been properly prepared by his team, there were numerous opportunities where solid punches could and should have been landed.  But they weren't.

The incumbent in these debates has the disadvantage of having to be President, of not always having enough sleep or time for preparation.  A competent debate prep team works with the circumstances they have, not those they wish they had.

Trump faced two basic scenarios, assuming Biden made it at all: Biden would be the beneficiary of performance-enhancing drugs, or Biden would be the pitiful shadow so often brought out.

Either way, Trump needed to have a strategy: A vision of what four more years of President Trump would bring.  A solid focused critique of why four years of President Biden would be a disaster, based on Biden's performance on his own and while part of the Obama Regime.  Mindful that Biden's public persona is of a personally affable person, so a brass knuckles streetfight would not be an advisable approach.  Landing solid punches if Enhanced Biden showed up, a steady respectful critique with appropriate interludes of sadness and pity if Feeble Biden stumbled in.

Instead, we had Trump flailing away at Biden, unfocused, throwing one thing after another.  Some of the points Trump made would have landed solid blows if so much comparatively minor stuff wasn't mixed in.  Interrupting one's debate opponent to deliver a powerpunch is a good strategy, but not when the interruptions are too frequent and scattershot.

President Trump has on many occasions shown that he has a powerful vision, and that he knows how to handle himself in such forums.  Tuesday was not one of those nights.

Sports analogies and strategy analysis aside, the most dismaying substance was Trump taking credit for shutting down the economy--and for causing immense needless misery.  Trump's Center for Disease Causation (CDC) made recommendations, but it was up to the States whether to accept or reject those recommendations, what were legally nonbinding suggestions.  It was largely Democrat Governors, declaring they had dictatorial powers, with Democrat Legislatures sitting on their hands, wetting their collective pants, and cheering the tyrants on, that shoved the dagger into the economic heart.  Last night at least, Trump took what should have been a mighty sword, and impaled himself.

Another troubling emphasis was on rushed vaccines.  Silence on whether they would truly be voluntary, silence on what Trump would do to ensure governments and businesses didn't use laws or other coercion to make them necessary to work or shop, and very brief mention on multiple known cures that would eliminate any argument of laws or coercion for vaccines. 

Finally, there was a complete emphasis on paper ballots (mail, forged, trashed, duplicate, etc), when the biggest modern-day thievery is by the voting machines--programmed, hacked, no solid audit ability/trail.  Why the complete silence from Trump on that aspect?  A huge myth is being pushed this year that it's paper that matters, while in many places that hasn't been the case for a long time.  Ask Presidents Gore and Kerry.  Or read the many excellent works by Greg Palast ("Armed Madhouse"), Bev Harris' Black Box Voting, Brad Blog, and Mark Crispin Miller.  For example, does anyone seriously think California voted against gay marriage, or against the GMO Labeling Initiative?

Two more such meetings between Trump and Biden are scheduled.  Whether either or both take place remains to be seen.  Thus it was imperative that Team Trump have their candidate prepared to deliver a knockout, or at least an overwhelmingly positive performance, in case tonight turns out to be it.  They had one job, and they came up short.

--TLC

Ashes II

"Do not forget that the ashes falling from the sky are all that remains of the pine and grass and thistle and bear and coyote and deer and mouse that could not escape. Gather some up in a sacred manner. Take it to your altar. Offer prayers for these beings. Honor their death. Pray for life. Call in rain. Remind Fire that it is full, has gobbled enough, and can rest. May all beings be safe. May all beings be loved. May all beings be remembered. May all beings be mourned." --Ana O.