Yeah, I kind of hoped we might have evolved a little since that first ever televised debate, but clearly things have only gotten worse.
Just because the better choice in that 1960 election won the televised debate, and ultimately won the office......Doesn't mean that the triumph of style over substance is ever a good thing, or that I was happy with the dangerous precedent set on that evening.
I just hope one candidate or the other doesn't come down with a sniffle or a pimple tonight, because that would surely render them entirely unfit to lead.
And Donald has neither substance or style, merely superficial appeal; He is polling well because there are a significant number of (proud) deplorables out there who are easily snowed.
There is a part of me that was glad that Nixon eventually did hold the office, if for no other reason to allow him to clearly demonstrate to the world what a slimeball he was, what a real crook looks like....... So we could all recognize it, and not get fooled again. But even slimeballs enjoy a core constituency, like minded individuals who will "stand by their man" no matter what.
9/25/16 LA Times:
"Scope of Trump's lies unmatched. No modern-day major presidential nominee has been so provably dishonest-Not that his loyalists mind."
Naturally, the article goes on to make the point, citing numerous specific instances and the verifiable facts; Details which even (intellectually honest) Republicans will agree are correct.
But it doesn't matter to the deplorables, they have their minds made up, and no amount of evidence can sway their "well informed" views. While the LA Times makes no claim to being entirely independent and neutral, it is a paragon of journalistic integrity compared to rags like the New York Post. Publications like that are several steps down the ladder from celebrity tabloid rags, and the sort of things posted online by the average 12 year old with access to a meme generator.
Read it for entertainment value, and I can (almost) respect that. Read it as the primary source of information about the world and politics; And no one with a shred of respectability should ever see you as much more than deplorable. Continue to surround yourself with other likeminded deplorables; Continue to feed on a steady diet of the garbage that The Post offers, and you will never see a world view that doesn't confirm what you have already been conditioned to believe. See those views often enough in print, and you will be increasingly convinced that The Post must be offering you "the truth"; All tied up with a neat little bow and a delightfully clever cover, tailor made for the small minded.
They have a more politically correct word for it now, but it used to be known as "brainwashing".
And step one of the conditioning process always involves convincing the subject that they are the one who sees things clearly. That they are the one in control, and certainly not the one being played.
And the smaller the brains, the quicker the laundry gets done.
I have suffered the consequences of quite a few elections gone wrong over the years, but never had a sense that it was impossible to respect the officeholder, their constituents, or that either could do any irreversible damage to the nation. Not this time.
Dan, I was with you up until a few months ago; it was abundantly clear to me what a load this guy is, and I was confident that would become readily apparent to all just how completely unfit a leader, and what a despicable (That's right, the donkey found a thesaurus, and managed to dig up another adjective) human being he is. He was obviously destined to be buried in the biggest electoral landslide of all time. It's becoming clear, however, just how wrong I was to give so much credit to the average American. It now seems clear that regardless of what happens tonight, this is going to be a frighteningly close election; And it may even break the wrong way.
At least I can console myself with the notion that "the donald" would likely do as other "brilliant leaders of the recent past" have done; Surround themselves with the "best and the brightest", the "smartest people in the room". Perhaps the likes of Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Rove, etc. can be talked out of retirement to take a well deserved bow, do a little encore number for us.
Just a reminder of how it went the last time a charming idiot with appeal to the common man took the levers of power:
The most ill advised military action of modern history, under demonstrably false pretenses, which neatly lay the groundwork for much of the instability in the region; Which the current administration gets the blame for having failed to clean up.
And an economy in such an unprecedented, horrifying tailspin; That expressions like "too big to fail" were created just to describe the mess. Another mess that was left to the current administration to subsequently "fail to clean up."
Maybe we can even talk Kenneth Lay out of "retirement", to have dinner at the White House, see if we can't get a cozier relationship between business and government. That doesn't always end badly, and I wouldn't be unconditionally opposed to having a good business man in the office of the presidency; But we would have to find one first.
I'm still puzzling over why our electric rates briefly went up 400% overnight, why my Epi-pens cost 600% more from one year to the next, and why traffic was momentarily so bad on the GWB that day........But there is no time for that now, I need to figure out why I suddenly have two additional bank accounts with Wells Fargo that I didn't authorize.
I wish I was exaggerating, for comic effect. Tell me again about how bad government intervention is, how government is always out to screw me........ While I consider what cabinet post Donald's good friend Chris Christie should be appointed to.
And P.S: The first debate begins any minute.....I would say, "May the best man win".........But we all know that has nothing to do with anything in presidential politics. So I'll just say "May the good Lord have mercy on our souls".
.