"The Debate - Some Quick Reactions"

 This is short – just over 500 words – and it was done quickly, so there are bound to be errors, in facts along with grammar and syntax. Please excuse them.

 

Sydney M. Williams

www.swtotd.blogspot.com

 

Thought of the Day

“The Debate – Some Quick Reactions”

June 28, 2024

 

“I really don’t know what he said. I don’t think he knows what he said.”

                                                                                                                                 Donald Trump

                                                                                                                                 CNN Debate

June 27, 2024

 

Is this the best we can do? We are a nation that produced the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Marshall Plan. As a country with not much more than one hundredth of today’s population we elected Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison as President. With one tenth of the population, we nominated and elected Lincoln. More recently, but with still a smaller population than today, men like Roosevelt, Truman Eisenhower and Reagan campaigned and were elected to the nation’s highest office. And today – despite our history, diverse population, educational systems, free press, inventiveness, and role in the world – we look to re-nominate Joe Biden and Donald Trump? How has such a great nation fallen so far? 

 

The moderators, while colorless and humorless, pretty much stuck to their program. They asked questions about Ukraine and Israel, abortion, January 6, climate, the border, their age and fitness, the opioid crisis, and childcare. Trump was asked if he would accept the election results regardless of the outcome. He finally answered yes, so long as the election was fair and above board. Biden was asked about his fitness. His slurred and hesitant response, when he wasn’t searching for words, and his vacant stare seemed to answer the question. A low point came when both men argued about their golf handicaps – each claiming a number in the mid-single digits. Silly me, I had assumed they were too busy to spend time on the golf course.

 

Nevertheless, the two contestants acceded to expectations. Neither expressed a lightness of touch, a sense of empathy, or even a connection with the televised audience. Neither offered a vision for the America they would like to see. Trump came across as angry – though more controlled than he has been – but reminding one of the schoolyard bully who, after taunting his classmates during recess, tells the teacher of all the positive things he has done. Biden’s speech was confused and hoarse – we were told (after the fact) that he had a cold – hesitant and wandering. His eyes suggested that nobody was home. His non sequitur, “Look, we finally beat Medicare,” was telling. Trump’s quote in the rubric above is something many of is felt.

 

My initial reactions: Embarrassment, for our nation in the eyes of the world that these two men represent the finest we have. Anger, at Biden’s advisors and family for allowing him (or encouraging him?) to pursue a second term. Disappointment, at mainstream media for refusing to disclose Mr. Biden’s cognitive deterioration, something many have suspected, but which remained hidden to their viewers and readers.

 

At this point it is unknown how many people watched the debate or what the consequences will be. As for Mr. Biden, instead of dispelling concerns regarding his fitness to be President, the debate accentuated them. I suspect the biggest takeaway will be that Democrats will re-think their choice for nominee.