Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Biden Should Skip Debates: Why Would Any Sane Candidate Debate A Deranged Toddler?



"Donald today is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses - or take in and synthesize information."  -  Mary L. Trump, in 'Too Much And Never Enough',   p. 197.

"the fact that we have to make truth-telling an explicit condition is an incredibly sad statement about our time; normally such things are unspoken and understood. But if the past teaches us anything, Trump might very well lie and mislead for the entire debate, forcing Biden to have to spend a majority of his time correcting Trump before making his own points."   - Thomas Friedman,  NY Times, 'Biden Should Not Debate Trump Unless..."

"It's still just unbelievable this man is president of the United States.  It's just incompetence  across the board. He's an idiot. Some people try to create this idea that well, 'it's fourth dimensional chess, it's fifth dimensional chess' but they still haven't come to grips with the fact he's just a blithering idiot.  You can't even carry on a conversation about current events, and god forbid he is at the center of those events.   I don't honestly see how, if you are an American, you can say this country is in good hands with this person as president of the United States."  -  Stuart Stevens, long time Republican political consultant and author of 'It Was All A Lie- How The Republican Party Became Donald Trump'. on 'All In' last night,  regarding the (Jonathan Swan) Axios interview with Trump

The question of the moment in serious political circles is whether it makes sense for Democratic candidate Joe Biden to debate a 74 -year old deranged toddler named Trump.   So far a first debate is tentatively scheduled for September 29th but there is no reason why - given Trump's evident unhinged behavior- that Biden can't cancel.  I am forthwith for this option though with the provisos noted by NY Times Thomas Friedman:

1-  Trump must fully release all his tax files now being willfully concealed (Mainly 2016-2019).

2-  Presence of a real time fact checking team to hold Trump's dozens of expected lies to account.

3-No more federal agents to be dispatched to 'blue' state cities to cause more violent reactions

4-  NO more assaults on mail voting or mail ballots, including vile tweets, and no attempted lawsuits or executive orders. Oh, and no more attacks on the DACA kids.

5-  Immediate resumption of the 2020 census! (Trump ordered it shut down with a full month to spare, which would deliver more representation to Repukes than actually earned.)

The last three are my own additions.  Extreme? Off the wall? Hell no, not when you consider the Dotard  display of pettiness, ignorance, lies and bombast in that trainwreck of an Axios interview!  E.g.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/politics/fact-check-jonathan-swan-axios-hbo-interview-trump-coronavirus/index.html

So given Trump's Axios interview, from asserting the Covid plague that's already killed 158,000 Americans "is what it is", to not recalling the significance of  Rep. John Lewis, to earlier  taking the WH podium to claim an "attack" on Beirut (with NO evidence, period), any moron can see this asswipe is beneath debating.   As Janice said, "it would be like a grown man trying to debate a mentally disturbed 5 year old."

 But we give Trump an outside chance of having a debate by meeting the conditions set forth above. But if the Dotard cannot meet these conditions, then no debates.  Joe Biden is totally justified in saying 'Hell no!'  This despite the WSJ editorial ('Will Joe Biden Duck The Debate?', p. A13, Aug. 4) today, squawking:

"Mr. Biden portrays Mr. Trump as a bumbling incompetent, a racist and a liar. If he believes that he should be willing to repeat his accusations face to face."

Why?  Just because you demand it?  The fact is there would be no upside for Joe in facing a deranged baboon.  He's ahead in the polls now, and so why would anyone with a decided advantage willingly risk having a nice lead torpedoed by facing what former Emily's List strategist Jess McIntosh once called "a mad monkey with a gun."

In an appearance on 'All In' in 2016, Ms. McIntosh analogized what Hillary would face in a debate with Trump:

"It would kind of be like facing a mad monkey with a gun. And you just don't know what that monkey might do so there's no way to really prepare."

I see no reason that assessment would change now.  Indeed, given Trump's mental condition has further deteriorated, i.e.  he can't even distinguish reality from fantasy (as in embracing the daft 'cures' of a demon believing pediatrician)  there is nothing at all to be gained by citizens from witnessing such an event.  We know all that Trump will deliver is lies, and those mixed with bombast and name -calling, so what's the point? There is no educational aspect whatsoever.  As journalist Elizabeth Drew - a panelist in one 1976 debate- put it:

"The debates have never made sense as a test for presidential leadership."

This is because most have been decided by "snappy one liners" (zingers).   But there is no assurance we will get even those now with the likes of Trump ready to try to toss verbal fecal matter any which way he can.   SO no, it isn't so much a case of Biden "ducking" a debate, but rather avoiding stepping into a huge,stinking pile of horse manure.

Besides, we've already seen Trump fail the essential test for presidential leadership in his woeful and incompetent response to the pandemic. We don't need any more staged, artificial tests.  This is now Joe's election to lose, and if  he were daft enough to face the 'mad monkey with a gun', he might. Without at least imposing the conditions noted earlier!

Again, if you must have more proof this asshole is unqualified as a president, far less to engage in debate, check out the Jonathan Swan Axios interview link above.  It tells you all you need to know regarding why Biden shouldn't dignify this "mad monkey with a gun" via formal debate. The "gun" being his feral piehole,  from which he "spitballs" anything that pops into his empty, derelict head.  Biden doesn't need this and neither do Americans!

See Also:



And:
by Amanda Marcotte | August 4, 2020 - 7:57am | permalink

And:

by Ted Glick | August 3, 2020 - 6:26am | permalink


No comments: