Presidential Debate 9/29/20 Discussion Thread

[YHWH_Christ]

They are being deceived by the fake news media, and when given evidence otherwise I’d hope they’d think logically an accept the facts, or else then they’re just acting emotionally and refuse the facts. I do have tolerance for other perspectives, tolerance for perspectives that make sense, and Democrats beliefs do not make sense. Democrat leaders actually twist the truth! They ignore facts and make up false narratives to support their agenda so they can take power. That is how Democrats are.

 

[YHWH_Christ]

Yes.

Then I feel bad for you.

I gave my arguments above. You just ignored them. But they are there.

You gave no arguments. But I gave you arguments and all you did was ignore them and deflect. Admit it, you don’t have an argument.

Yes, because Trump supporters do not love debates, and he didn’t give you one.

. . . . We do love debates, that’s why we were happy Trump debated last night and won. . . . On the other hand, Biden lied, contradicted himself, went off on tangents, refused to answer basic questions, . . . .

 

[umamibella]

This morning I still remain embarrassed for our country, and incredibly worried that either of these men will be POTUS. That spectacle was shameful.

It leaves me, as an outsider , thinking one was patient and reflective and not easily roused, especially in a few segments, the other is a typical school yard bully that was unprepared for the questions and chose a very offensive tackle route.

I also believe your election will be won and lost in part, on the debate with the vice presidents up next, also to be televised here.

As an outsider nothing less was expected of the President who is characterised by that demenor. TV ratings enjoys controversy, great in reality tv, not so great in government.
I was pleasantly surprised that the characterisation of a bumbling old fool of Biden is quite far from the truth.

It was to us, an entertaining spectacle, dont be embarrased. People tuned in expecting and getting that type of ‘debate’ That says a lot about society. Would they have tuned in if it had been the boring old discuss the policies, I doubt it.

 

[meltzerboy2]

When you state that “Democrats are not true Americans,” do you mean the Democratic politicians or the Democratic electorate as well? In either case, this recalls the McCarthyism of the 1950’s in its extremism: it is untrue and it is a dangerous way of thinking about others who do not share your own particular point of view.

 

[RobertAdams]

It seems that the arguments various posters here have made about both individuals being objectionable from a Catholic POV were vindicated. Biden said Roe v. Wade was “on the ballot” as a reason for voting for him. Trump refused to guarantee a peaceful transition of power or indicate he would accept election results, reccomended “poll watchers” and undermined our electoral process.

I think maybe everyone on here deserves to be cut some slack for however they are trying to figure this out inside the voting booth.

 

[Caldera]

I thought last night’s debate was “fiery but mostly peaceful”.

 

[YHWH_Christ]

I am mostly speaking about Democrat politicians and radical leftists, not the poor people who have been brainwashed by the Democrat party, who need to be saved from their lies. Also, stop with your ad hominem attacks accusing me of being an “extremist”, that is simply false and untrue. I am simply observing the facts and laying them out. I have observed that Democrats hate the constitution, they hate things like the second amendment, they think the Supreme Court is monarchial and that they can just pack it, they hate American values and they hate the family, they promote the murder of children and homosexual “unions”, they attempt to subvert the people and commit voter fraud just like the corrupt Ilhan Omar has been caught doing, and they abuse their power just as Nancy Pelosi has, they lie and slander anyone who doesn’t agree with them just like they did to Justice Brett Kavanaugh and are currently doing to the new Supreme Court nominee. They don’t care about the Republic, they don’t care about what is fair, they care about their agenda and power. That’s all. They are not real Americans because they have shown how much they hate America.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That’s what we call a deflection. It doesn’t even attempt to refute the fact that Trump did not debate.

The format was terrible, and did not really allow for a debate. Even high school debaters get ten minutes. Two minutes is totally inadequate to do anything other than spout talking points and not even much of them. The interruptions were largely the result of that. Also, Chris Wallace has been a “never Trumper” from day one and was overtly partisan at times, which made it worse. At times, Trump had to debate Wallace as well as Biden. It could have been worse, but it sure could have been better in that respect.

But if there had been a non-partisan moderator or even a partisan moderator who tried harder NOT to be partisan, it would have helped. But most of all if the candidates had been given MORE TIME to give their answers, and were strongly encouraged to actually give answers instead of near-one-liners, it would have been a lot better.

 

[LeafByNiggle]

The format was terrible, and did not really allow for a debate

The only format change we needed was something to prevent interruptions, like a switch to turn off the mic of the one whose turn it is not. Going from 2 minutes to 10 minutes would not help that problem. Either that or get a spritz bottle and spritz any interrupter like one does with a misbehaving dog.

According to polls, Chris Wallace is considered one of the most trusted TV news anchors in America. Chris Wallace was more than fair to Trump. He does hold him to account when Trump strays from the truth, as every journalist should. There was no visible bias in his performance.

 

[Canvas]

Chris Wallace has been a “never Trumper” from day one and was overtly partisan at times, which made it worse.

No, Chris Wallace simply holds Trump to the same standard as other political figures.

The problem is, when Trump fans see Trump being called out on his nonsense, you assume it is “bias”. To me, this is an absurdity.

 

[meltzerboy2]

Sorry, but you are indeed extreme in your views of Democrat politicians and leftists. Your enumeration of what you consider to be the evils of the Democrats shows just how extremist your views are. You are far from the only one who thinks this way. And this kind of thinking is not confined to the far right for it is characteristic of the far left as well. You sum up Democrats, or Democrat leaders, as if they are all mindless sheep who have no free will as human beings, and you neatly display all the right-wing GOP talking points about Democrats without doing what you pride yourself on, that is, thinking rationally. You have drunk the far-right Kool-Aid rather than the far-left Kool-Aid in your attempt to pigeon-hole all Democrat leaders as subversive of the American way of life, exactly what many of the far left do with regard to all Republican leaders. Extremism is extremism. I only hope you are still young so that you can live a long life and learn to think in a more nuanced way.

 

[Canvas]

Maybe because I look at the facts and think about them logically. I don’t just mindlessly go off of emotions

So your defense of Trump is based on what? Because it isn’tr an objective reading of the facts. Trump manages to be both . . . immoral . . . and utterly, totally inept.

 

[meltzerboy2]

Are you saying that RBG was un-American and hated the Constitution, or did she want America to live up to its fullest potential?

 

[umamibella]

Can you explain this business of dog whistles to me, It was mentioned a few times in the debate. Thanks @meltzerboy2

 

[Ridgerunner]

Anybody who has ever debated competitively knows two minutes is not adequate time to develop anything. Even ten minutes is tight.

I think we know you prefer to blame Trump for all things. But having such a bias does not help anyone understand why a debate was essentially worthless for any informational purpose.

I have watched Chris Wallace for years and he is almost never fair to Donald Trump. I think anyone who has paid attention knows that. I was astonished that the Repubs agreed to having him moderate, but then there are anti-trump Repubs. And yes, I imagine Democrats think he’s trustworthy because of it. For Repubs, I imagine Tucker Carlson is trustworthy even though he’s very partisan.

 

[meltzerboy2]

The dog whistle is an indirect nod and wink to real Americans, that is White America, by saying, for example, that the GOP will keep the suburbs safe. The safety is in effect an appeal to keeping the suburbs White, free from people of color and immigrants who will tear down the (property) values of real Americans. But for Trump, it is not really a dog whistle; it is, as stated, a bullhorn. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and doesn’t even try to hide his racist attitudes toward Blacks and immigrants.

 

[umamibella]

The good thing to come out of the presidental debate is that is has prompted changes in the debate format. It is also reported many less people watched this one then the last presidential debate, a number like 15 million less. What does that say

 

[Freddy]

And bear in mind that who you choose represents your country and what it stands for. How it is perceived.

If you want to vote for a man who said live on national TV when the whole world was watching that white supremacist groups should stand by then go for it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Are you saying that RBG was un-American and hated the Constitution,

As I recall, she said the U.S. Constitution is outmoded. She preferred the Indian constitution which apparently is more malleable by politicians.

Can you explain this business of dog whistles to me, It was mentioned a few times in the debate. Thanks

That’s when one wants to say someone said something he didn’t say. So you substitute something else, misinterpret it to mean what you wanted the person to say (but didn’t) and call it a “dog whistle”. The reference is to those whistles dogs can hear but people can’t.

In the U.S. it’s most common use is in accusing people of racism when they didn’t really say anything racist.

 

[meltzerboy2]

So you believe RBG hated the U.S. Constitution because of this one statement she made about the Indian Constitution? Certainly she was not an originalist, as was Antonin Scalia, but that doesn’t mean she hated the Constitution.