30 September 2020 — 0804 mdt
That Godawful debate last night
Donald J. Trump, narcissistic sociopath and President of the United States, and trailing Joe Biden in the polls, went into last night’s debate with one goal: to dominate Joe Biden and Chris Wallace in a mano a mano barroom brawl. It was a goal born not of rational calculation but of a powerful primal compulsion to always be the alpha male in the room. He constantly interrupted and belittled Biden, intending to throw the former Vice President off his stride and disrupt his train of thought.
And by the way, here’s the deal: for the first 20 minutes or so, the playground bully in chief did discombobulate Biden. Then Biden recovered his balance, delivered his message with grace and decency, and delivered enough sharp riposts to prove he was his own man, not Trump’s submissive. That infuriated Trump, whose color darkened until it was beet red as he scowled, smirked, and became increasingly vituperative and unhinged.
Moderator Chris Wallace never had a chance. A referee’s whistle would not have helped. Neither would have a bullwhip or flashbang grenades. He needed a Taser and a tranquilizer rifle.
The debate settled no issues, but it revealed why Trump is unfit for any office, high or low. He demands servile deference from everyone he meets. Convinced he’s always the smartest person in the room, he tolerates no dissent. All his life he’s gotten his way by using his wealth and sociopathic personality to steamroll those who get in his way. He cannot be reasoned with let alone controlled.
At the debate’s end, Trump all but promised he would challenge ballots in the courts. Here’s Ed Kilgore of New York Magazine:
Viewers fatigued by the first Trump-Biden debate and the endless cross-talking punctuated by fights between debate moderator Chris Wallace and the president may have missed the final topic and its significance. But it was potentially a bigger deal than anything else discussed. Directly challenged to forswear an early victory claim based on his plenary dismissal of the legitimacy of slow-to-be-counted mail ballots, Trump refused, instead suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court (buttressed by his nominee Amy Coney Barrett) resolve the election, after tossing a word salad of nearly incoherent complaints about voting by mail.
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If you weren’t alarmed by Trump’s threats to fight against a full count of ballots before, it’s time to get worried.
Who won (besides the devils of chaos)?
We already know who lost: the American people. Which candidate prevailed? CNN’s overnight poll of debate watchers reports Biden won 60–28 percent. That sounds impressive, but it’s meaningless. The real question is how many, if any, voters changed their minds about for whom they will vote. We won’t know for a few days.