USA Politics

[greg]

It was pretty funny.

[flyingdutchman]

Trump was Trump. Stop acting surprised.

Biden is 20 years past his political prime.

I'm not changing my mind having watched this.

Ya, Trump was a dufus. I'd expect idiots who support him to be idiots as well.

[greg]

Ya, Trump was a dufus. I'd expect idiots who support him to be idiots as well.

Candidate choice doesn't seem to be related to brains. The guy who is supposedly the smartest person in the US with an IQ of 195 is a Trump supporter.

It all just comes down to who people vibe with the most. That will then color their perception of the facts. I don't think people like to admit this.

[drogulus]

   

It all just comes down to who people vibe with the most.

     There are 2 kinds of people in the world, the kind that think there are 2 kinds of people in the world, and another kind I don't know about.

[Herman]

The one person who keeps talking about IQ here is also one of the most stupid, non-thinking posters.

Maybe he's got IQ backwards.

Nothing in his mind "seems to be connected to brains." I.e. he is unaware that even the stupid things one does, like blowing one's nose, are "connected to one's brains."

Of course the man he's so interested in who at some point long time ago scored IQ 195 is a conspiracy theorist who says Bush staged 9/11 and he's also an antisemite.

[vandermolen]

A disgrace of a President: "This will not end well"

+1 although I know I'm an outsider.

[71 dB]

Ya, Trump was a dufus. I'd expect idiots who support him to be idiots as well.

Trumps supporters aren't idiots. They are just utterly ignorant and misled. They have been culturally indoctrinated into fearing all kind of things from immigrants to leftism to liberals. Hearing Trump speak against these things and offering easy "solutions" make them feel good and that makes them believe they are right about these things. Nobody ever teached them how facts don't care about our feelings.

[71 dB]

Candidate choice doesn't seem to be related to brains. The guy who is supposedly the smartest person in the US with an IQ of 195 is a Trump supporter.

It just tells how little IQ means in many things. Understanding that Trump is unfit to be the president doesn't take high IQ. What it takes is a balanced person who is free from extreme cultural indoctrinations. It takes empathy. People with high IQ are often (but of course not always) sociopaths and psychopaths, because they learn (unfortunately) to manipulate other people thanks to their intelligence. Do you want sociopaths tell us who would be a good president?

[BasilValentine]

Trump's message to a white supremacist group: "Stand back and stand by." Unlike most of what the loudmouthed toddler spewed and drooled last night, those words were carefully chosen. What does Trump want the Proud Boys to stand by for? You'd better figure it out because the Proud Boys and other armed militia and hate groups got the message loud and clear.   

[Todd]

Some results of last night's grandpa fight:






Looks like Super-Creepy 46 pulled it off.

I do wonder how only 31% could have been entertained by the televised dumpster fire.  I managed to watch a bit more than 30 minutes, which was above average.  It was very entertaining.

I also learned something new later in the evening as the local new covered the results.  Apparently, per the president, Stumptown has a sheriff.  Who knew?

[krummholz]

Trump was Trump. Stop acting surprised.

Biden is 20 years past his political prime.

I'm not changing my mind having watched this.

Neither am I - I'm still voting for Biden.

But I didn't think Biden came off very well against Trump. Trump's strategy was clearly to hammer away at Biden, persistently, incessantly, until the latter was unable to think straight or put two words together.

And just as clearly, that strategy succeeded. This was NOT the image Biden needed to project.

It's probably true, but irrelevant, that no one could really have come off better than Biden did, and that most people would have taken the bait and gone mud wrestling with the pig, gotten dirty for it, and not come away looking any better.

At least Biden kept his dignity. But he needed to appear strong, in command, and Presidential, and there I'm afraid he was not entirely successful.

The next debate will be very interesting... if there is a next debate.

[krummholz]

Trumps supporters aren't idiots. They are just utterly ignorant and misled. They have been culturally indoctrinated into fearing all kind of things from immigrants to leftism to liberals. Hearing Trump speak against these things and offering easy "solutions" make them feel good and that makes them believe they are right about these things. Nobody ever teached them how facts don't care about our feelings.

Spot on -- at least in most cases. There are also some who are quite intelligent, but support Trump because they fear that any Democratic president will be beholden to the left wing of their party and move the country further toward socialism. There are good reasons to believe that socialism will not work well in the U.S. (And there is also an irrational fear of the Red Menace that is still with us since the Cold War days.)

[arpeggio]

After Trump's performance last night anyone who continues to support this monster should suffer the consequences and called out for what they are.

[Karl Henning]

Ya, Trump was a dufus. I'd expect idiots who support him to be idiots as well.

He's 40 years past his mental prime, and lacks the intellectual acuity to distinguish [reporting the fact] from [being surprised]

[Karl Henning]

Anyone who was looking forward to [lastnight's] debate hoping for greater clarity on the issues surely walked away disappointed. But anyone watching to better understand the contrast in character between the two men saw all they needed to see. Donald Trump behaved during the first presidential debate the same way he has behaved throughout his business and political career: running roughshod over norms, standards, morality and any sense of decency. And the American people noticed: a CNN post-debate poll showed Biden winning 60% to 28%, while a CBS/YouGov poll showed Biden winning by a smaller 7-point margin, but with significantly worse internals for Trump.

After agreeing to the debate format giving each candidate two minutes to speak on each question, Trump tried to bully, bluster and interrupt at every moment, rarely giving Biden a chance to finish a sentence. Debate moderator Chris Wallace seemed stunned and incapable of handling the situation, waiting until the debate was over halfway gone before telling Trump to observe the rules like a spoiled toddler, and becoming increasingly exasperated as the night continued. Trump's behavior was so abominable that much of the debate wasn't between Biden and Trump, but between Trump and Wallace, as Wallace tried without success to shame Trump into observing any sense of adult behavior.

Trump's hardcore supporters will no doubt be ecstatic, as they have thrilled to similar behavior over the course of his presidency. But Trump is currently well behind in the polls: he needs to do more than tickle the worst instincts of his base. He needs to win over the moderate and undecided voters he has lost, and there is no evidence he came close to accomplishing the task.

What? he needs to do more than be one of dowder's political wet dreams?!

MELTDOWN

[Karl Henning]

Anyone who was looking forward to [lastnight's] debate hoping for greater clarity on the issues surely walked away disappointed. But anyone watching to better understand the contrast in character between the two men saw all they needed to see. Donald Trump behaved during the first presidential debate the same way he has behaved throughout his business and political career: running roughshod over norms, standards, morality and any sense of decency. And the American people noticed: a CNN post-debate poll showed Biden winning 60% to 28%, while a CBS/YouGov poll showed Biden winning by a smaller 7-point margin, but with significantly worse internals for Trump.

After agreeing to the debate format giving each candidate two minutes to speak on each question, Trump tried to bully, bluster and interrupt at every moment, rarely giving Biden a chance to finish a sentence. Debate moderator Chris Wallace seemed stunned and incapable of handling the situation, waiting until the debate was over halfway gone before telling Trump to observe the rules like a spoiled toddler, and becoming increasingly exasperated as the night continued. Trump's behavior was so abominable that much of the debate wasn't between Biden and Trump, but between Trump and Wallace, as Wallace tried without success to shame Trump into observing any sense of adult behavior.

Trump's hardcore supporters will no doubt be ecstatic, as they have thrilled to similar behavior over the course of his presidency. But Trump is currently well behind in the polls: he needs to do more than tickle the worst instincts of his base. He needs to win over the moderate and undecided voters he has lost, and there is no evidence he came close to accomplishing the task.

What? he needs to do more than be one of dowder's political wet dreams?!

MELTDOWN

"Trump himself tweeted an image implying that he had to debate both Biden and Wallace–the self-pitying whine of a loser who knows he lost, and all the more pathetic from a man who attempted to bully his opponent off the stage and is attempting to bully his opponent's voters out of participating in the election."

[arpeggio]

One thing that really scares me is that anyone who can stand up to Trump would be a bigger monster than he is.

[drogulus]

     

One thing that really scares me is that anyone who can stand up to Trump would be a bigger monster than he is.

     Biden was not a very good debater against Dem rivals, none of whom were monsters. Biden is adequate in debates, so if he has front runner status he can hold on to it.

[BasilValentine]

A condition for the next debate should be that, during answers to questions and before open discussion (if that format is continued), silence should be enforced electronically. My preference, for Trump especially, would be electroshock to the testicles, but I suppose cutting the mic of one candidate might also work.

[JBS]

Trumps supporters aren't idiots. They are just utterly ignorant and misled. They have been culturally indoctrinated into fearing all kind of things from immigrants to leftism to liberals. Hearing Trump speak against these things and offering easy "solutions" make them feel good and that makes them believe they are right about these things. Nobody ever teached them how facts don't care about our feelings.

The possibility that people can be culturally indoctrinated into supporting leftist, and support leftist solutions that make them feel good and make them believe they are right about those things, has occurred to you, I hope.

Not only do facts not care about the feelings of MAGA folks.  They also don't care about the feelings of leftists.