God Help Us!
The Presidential Debate
Yes, that is how the crows responded when I asked them what they thought of last night’s debate. It didn’t even take much provoking. I just leaned out the window and said, “So, Biden-Trump. What did the world of crows think?
I thought it was just me. But no, even nature responded. That is why I am calling on God. It was that bad. Be careful. They are pretty pissed.
That is not a blasphemy, that calling on God. It is a sincere prayer flowing from Thursday night’s debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
We have one man who is clearly too evil, and one man who is clearly too feeble, and I hate having to say that. But as an old guy myself, I think I can make that judgement. Joe might be fine sitting in the living room down in Rehoboth and gabbing up a storm and it would be great fun to do that with him.
But again, the day after, Biden delivers a strong message in North Carolina. He said he knows right from wrong. He knows how to tell the truth. He know how to do the job.
But under huge pressure on a TV debate? No.
So, there’s your November choice!
It was a stupid debate. But that wasn’t the fault of the candidates.
What’s your golf handicap, and what does it matter?
There are people who love golf and who are genuinely impressed that Donald J. Trump spends so much time at the game that he can really swing his big fat ass into a drive.
Which means nothing and why the hell (not the word I wanted to use) was this in the first big presidential debate? And also, why the hell (again, not the right word) did Donald Trump’s weight come into it? I cringed. As golf is viewed by some as a wasted walk, to bring it up in a presidential debate is wasted words.
Some prep person told Biden he could use that to his advantage. But they were wrong because the president just couldn’t pull it off. He’s too nice for the message and too old for the delivery.
The way to do it would be to say, “Hell, Donald, your ass alone looks like it weighs 220 pounds! I know you love golf, but have you ever tried walking the course? Pretend there’s a Big Mac at the 18th hole. That will make you go faster.”
Also, Donald, stop with the cognitive test stuff.
That is used to determine whether dementia is lurking. It’s basically connecting dots, drawing a clock with a time on it, discerning between, say, a camel and an elephant and drawing a three dimensional box. There is a trick to it. I’m not going to tell you. There are some words you have to remember. It’s easy if you create an acronym for reference later. At least that’s how I did it.
You are welcome, old folks!
Joe Biden is just not mean enough to play that way. Also, he should find some way to keep his mouth shut when he is not speaking. Or not. It’s up to him.
What a huge disappointment this was.
Within a few minutes of its end, pundits were saying big time Democrats all over the political universe were texting them to say Biden should get himself off the ticket and get someone much more compelling on.
Don’t you love the way loyalty flees at the first sign of blood in the water?
I love Joe Biden.
But those weighty hidden Democrats are right.
Whatever magical thing propelled him through his long and admirable career is gone . It has retired.
And he should, too.
He could be a vastly respected heroic, Democrat if he would just give the job a fond farewell and go to his beach place in Delaware and sit petting his unpredictable German Shepherd.
There’a nothing wrong with being real old. Look at Dick Van Dyke.
Donald Trump remains a fraud and a liar.
Maybe he believes himself, but no one else should. He would turn the nation into the failed state he wrongly accuses Biden of creating. You want proof of that? I don’t have it and I am NOT going to lie about it.
It would be nice if Trump would be sentenced to prison when the time comes and stripped of all his bucks by various legal problems then go to gripe the rest of his life way down in Florida, assuming he still owns the place when the slicing and dicing are done.
I suspect that his blind followers would threaten a revolution or something ridiculous like that. Think about that for a while Trumpites, then repeat after me: “SWAT teams will kill me!”
So, friends, we are deep, deep, deep in the shit and we need someone to throw us a rope and pull us out. There is still time, but do the Democrats have the balls to do that?
Long story short, people who like Biden will rationalize and note he was very good on policy points, and hence, won, and people who like Trump will say, “Millions of crazy felons crossing the border to rape our women, or at least take a lot of jobs middle class people don’t want” and hence, won.
Jaysus!
Charlie Madigan, who is 70-freakin’-5, was a reporter and editor for United Press International and the Chicago Tribune for 40 years
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He covered two presidential debates he can remember. But probably more.
Listening to Trump's non-stop lies, it was frustrating for me to see Biden's tepid responses in a gravelly voice, clearing his throat, not finishing some sentences. The most egregious lie was that Biden and Democrats want legalized abortion at 9 months - at birth, Trump said! A totally outrageous falsehood!
Trump is a bombastic liar at the extreme, so it's hard enough to counter him; he blathers; he's loud, and proclaims his lies with force (even if he doesn't finish a sentence), but when Biden can't muster the voice power to really attack those lies, the president seems weak.
I was distraught, watching the "debate," Trump often having to be asked at least THREE times to answer the damn question on the table, instead, just rambling and using his time like an attack dog, bringing up issues he wasn't asked about.
And I agree, Biden needs to close his mouth when he's listening. So many old people do this: let their mouths hang open. Be aware! Biden looked worse when he wasn't talking than when he was.
It seems too late to get someone else to run, so his team must do a better job of prepping him. Where was the Biden we saw at the State of the Union (Of course, he had a teleprompter and prepared speech for that. No notes allowed at the debate, such as it was!) Distressing.
all too true. but for those of us who think Trump is very bad and Biden, if increasingly inarticulate, is pretty good, the challenge here is in best playing the challenging hand we've been dealt