Is there any point? Isn’t this whole thing over now?
Anyway, tonight the competent, experience woman is going to have to share the stage with the ignorant, egocentric man, and give him unearned equal time. The topics that Hillary Clinton will discuss have been announced:
- Debt and entitlements
- Immigration
- Economy
- Supreme Court
- Foreign hot spots
- Fitness to be President
Note that I said these are what Clinton will discuss. Trump will be off in argle-bargle land, ranting about how great he is and how his enemies will face his wrath and vengeance. One thing I’ve noticed about these debates, though, is that they don’t discuss…science. I think the politicians are afraid of the subject.
But here’s something brilliant: Gaius Publius explains how every one of those topics could be turned into specific questions about climate change. All it would take is some intelligence and willingness to dig a little deeper on the part of the moderator…
Oh, crap. The moderator is Chris Wallace? Fuck it, he’s a schmuck.
I see the first category is designed to bring yet another question or questions written by Peter Peterson about how we should cut Social Security and turn it over to his cronies in the form of fees.
anthrosciguy, I figure #1 let’s Hillary Clinton portray herself as the protector of Social Security while setting up Trump to be a fear-monger about it. That’ll go over like a lead balloon among seniors in Florida and Arizona.
She needs to insist on expanding Social Security and debunk the Social Security is going broke myth. Medicare for anyone over 50. If the Cheeto Benito whines about the debt she can mention that he has made the debt worse by not paying his fair share and gloating over it.
Foreign hot spots
And he’s from Fox…so yeah, he’s a schmuck, a shill for Rupert and his boys.
This isn’t about the debate, but it is (sort of) about the Trump campaign here in VA. Last night my repugnant, flaming right winger, porcine faced neighbor’s Trump-Pence sign went missing. Though it irked me every time I drove into my driveway, I swear that I was not the one who took it. My wife, a big-hearted, tolerant soul, suggested that he removed it himself in disgust at Trump’s latest string of nauseating, sexist gaffes. I have no way to prove otherwise, but I highly doubt it. It is worth noting that his Bush, McCain and Romney signs never disappeared. This campaign is very different than those were. Emotions are running so high, the anger so deep, that I fear encountering anyone on the other side of the divide. When I do I keep my mouth shut and go quietly about my business. You know. Guns and shit.
At the same time, Trump will turn every topic around to ISIS.
The very fact that Wallace has worked so long for such a morally bankrupt network speaks volumes, but I think he will surprise you guys with his questions. He was tough in the primary debates.
It ain’t over till the very competent lady is inaugurated.
Trump is a poster child for the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
Clinton, IMHO, has her bad points and I wish we had a different Democrat candidate. But in comparison to Trump, it’s no contest.
I’m sure I’ll see some of it by accident as other people in my house are going to watch it, but I’m not planning to watch any of it on purpose. On the other hand, it’s sort of like a train wreck–terrible to see, but hard to look away.
Granted, it’s a low bar, but Wallace is probably one of the the toughest interviewers on Fox. He doesn’t toss all softballs, and he occasionally follows up or calls out someone for deflecting or avoiding the question. Democrats more often then not, but still. And with Ailes gone, I don’t think Trump has that many friends at Fox anymore. The morning morons, Hannity and O’Reilly seem to be about it. I guess we’ll see in a few hours.
Trump seems to be doubling down on the craziness though for the debate. He needs to win over A LOT of undecideds and 3rd party voters to even have a chance, but looking at who he’s invited as “guests”, it looks like it’s all gonna be Benghazi, emails, and Bill Clinton’s infidelities. Red meat for the base, but turn offs for everyone else. I think he’s either just out to do as much damage as possible or looking ahead at having a solid audience when he figures out how to profit off this spectacle. Perhaps both. Likely both.
Three interesting tweets.
I haven’t looked at it enough to know what to make of it, but the maps are fascinating.
Knowledgeable, competent person vs. ignorant buffoon.
SC:
Candidate vs. candidate.
Evidently, ignorance and buffoonery are not a fatal impediment to attaining candidacy.
(And, also evidently, chutzpah and bullshittery made him the chosen candidate for the Republican Party!)
Shut up, John.
Trump in this debate is pathetic and terrifying.
15 minutes to go.
He’s babbling.
Ha ha. Trump keeps basically saying, ‘I know you are, but what am I?’
Should we tell him???? And would he listen?????
A lovely bit of truth from HRC:
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/video/clinton-undocumented-immigrants-pay-more-income-tax-than-a-billionaire-789622339858
“Such a nasty woman.”
Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls wrote:
Like a toddler, he’d probably just repeat it until we got tired of telling him.
He won’t necessarily accept the election result.
SC (Salty Current) wrote:
Plus all his interjections of
every time Hillary repeated something Trump has said in the past.Watching Trump warble on in his disjointed way about the conflicts in the Middle East is terrifying. He’s like the leery bloke in the back of the pub who will give you his ridiculous opinion on everything, whether you asked for it or not.
How does thirty years of running sleazy casinos badly prepare him for understanding the complexities of military strategy? Why does he even think he is qualified to form an opinion on it? How does twenty years of building gaudy eyesores, diddling workers out of their pay, running a pretend university and starring in a dire TV series make him at all suitable to pronounce on matters of Middle Eastern policy? How does hawking cheap meat out of a photography shop make him an expert on international geopolitics?
I mean, I certainly don’t know enough about the situation to diagnose what needs to be done. But I don’t claim I do. It is painfully obvious that this man is utterly unsuited to any political appointment.
Poor Donald doesn’t have the stamina to be able to keep up a pretense of sanity for 90 minutes.
Cross posted from the Moments of Political Madness thread.
When asked, twice, Trump refused to say that he would accept the November election results.
SC @21:
“That’s President Nasty to you.” [from Teresa Kopec]
Trump’s actual comment in response to the question about accepting the results of the election: “I’ll keep you in suspense, okay.”
Josh Marshall’s analysis of Trump’s “keep you in suspense” comment:
Hillary Clinton really put Trump’s tendency to claim that things are “rigged” in perspective.
Link.
Video also available at the link.
Which company is that? Trump U? Trump steaks? The various Trump casinos?
Or perhaps the Trump International Hotel in DC?
More on the Trump International Hotel:
What a Maroon, living up to the ‘nym wrote:
Well, he’ll just have the U.S. declare bankruptcy when things don’t go his way, and get out of the business of nation…-ing.
Mobius @10:
His supporters are even worse.
I got a chuckle from this snippet of Donald Trump refuses to say if he will accept election result in final debate:
Teh trum-prat’s brownshirts have spiraled so far down their hole they’re failing in their manipulation of their own polls.
The point was to give Lord Littlefingers another chance to stick his foot in his mouth and see if this time he’d insert it so far that he’d disappear down his own throat. And he succeeded brilliantly.
This is marvellous. I can feel shadenfreude with a clean conscience when the vulgo-conservatives crash and burn.
— — — — — — —
“This is horrifying. Every time Donald thinks things aren’t going in his direction, he claims everything is rigged against him,”
Ze joos did it!
“Hey @RealDOnaldTrump, I’m an OB/GYN there’s no such thing as a ‘due date’ abortion”
I only lasted 26 minutes. Had to stop watching. Find it totally nauseating listening to that ignoramus prattle on in vague generalizations.
But I’m very glad I don’t live in the US. I think that no matter which way this goes, it’s going to be bad. If Trump were to actually win (and I don’t think he will), it would be an unmitigated disaster. But if he loses (as I suspect he will), he has primed the violent propensities of his base, and even if there is only a small percentage who are nuts enough to turn that bravado into action, I think there will be incidents of violence.
From here it looks like the country has gone crazy over the last 20 + years. Scary when you live next door.
Ha. Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon: “In the end, Philippe was a better Trump than Trump.” (Former Clinton aide Philippe Reines played Trump in practice debates.)
Hey, if Trump refuses to accept the results of the election, we can just charge him with sedition and put him on trial. What fun that would be. Most amusing would be his followers’ moral outrage that we could even think of such a thing.
The fact that he’s losing a Breitbart online poll as of right now is absolutely hilarious.
Debates need to be multimedia affairs with projectors and pre-loaded clips on a list, just to prevent/cut back on lying by candidates.
Clinton: He lied about supporting the Iraq war.
Trump: Wrong!
Clinton: Roll clip 15.
To pick up your assessment of Wallace as a Shmuck: Overall I’d say he did a good job. Much better than expected, and better, in my opinion, than Lester Holt. He did lob obvious softballs to Trump (2nd amendment) but he did on occasion interrupt Trump’s ramblings and held his feet to the fire. That got Trump to give his disastrous statement that he would “hold the country in suspense”…