Tag Archives: vice-presidential debate

Arrogance And Still More Arrogance

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Political commentary, Social commentary

Arrogance

At the presidential debate on Tuesday, September 29th, the family of Donald Trump refused to wear masks.  The rules clearly stated that everyone in the venue would wear a mask except the two candidates and the moderator, yet Ivanka, Melania, Junior, Eric and the rest of the clan were sans masks.  It was no surprise to anyone that this clan thinks they are superior to the rest of us, for they have demonstrated that every single day for nearly four years.maskless-TrumpsBut last night, at the vice-presidential debate, the same rules were in place and it was clearly stated that everyone except Mr. Pence, Senator Harris, and moderator Susan Page would wear a mask or would not be allowed into the venue.  And yet … Karen Pence, Mike’s wife, was maskless when she appeared onstage at the end of the debate.  This, my friends, is supreme arrogance.  She put the lives of everyone in that room in jeopardy, for no doubt she has been exposed via her husband who was exposed by Trump himself.  In addition, she attended the Rose Garden event on September 26th that has been blamed for many others in the administration contracting the virus.  masklessWHY was she allowed to remove her mask, against the rules?  Why wasn’t she told to put the mask back on or be forcibly removed, just as you or I would have been?  For the record, Kamala Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, did wear his mask throughout the event and even after, when he appeared onstage.

I expected such arrogance and lack of consideration out of the Trump clan, but until last night I thought Karen Pence was a more decent human being than the Trumps.  Obviously, I was mistaken.  Perhaps she thinks her god will protect her, but it should be obvious even to her that her god has not protected the more than a million people worldwide who have died from the coronavirus, 217,000+ in the U.S. alone.

Where does this attitude of arrogance come from?  Karen Pence is a schoolteacher, for Pete’s sake!  She, of all people, should know the dangers this pandemic carries!  She is an artist who painted the illustrations for a children’s book written by her daughter.  One might think she was actually human, unlike her husband and the rest of the current administration.  But no … she is just like Ivanka and the rest … a self-centered bitch who cares little for any and puts her own image far ahead of the safety of this nation.

More arrogance

This morning the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced that next week’s debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden will be held virtually in the wake of Trump’s positive coronavirus diagnosis.  I was glad for the announcement, for Trump has no concern, no care for anyone and has downplayed … continues to downplay … the virus as if it were naught more than a common cold.  He remains contagious, even as he himself recovers from the virus and should not be allowed to expose others.

However, in his supreme arrogance, Trump said …

“I am not going to do a virtual debate. I am not going to waste my time on a virtual debate.”

Okay, fine by me … the first debate was such a bloody fiasco that We the People gained nothing but elevated blood pressure and a sense of deep frustration from watching it.  Better not to have any more anyway, for they are costly and of absolutely no benefit to anyone, given Trump’s refusal to observe the rules of either the debate or of common courtesy.

When he says he isn’t going to waste his time, I suppose that means the time he would otherwise spend watching Fox ‘News’ or tweeting out ignominious one-liners while munching on his Big Macs.

Joe Biden’s campaign quickly agreed to the virtual debate, likely relieved that Joe and his family wouldn’t have to risk the exposure of an unmasked Trump clan.   Biden campaign spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield responded to Trump’s refusal to participate by noting Biden would be happy to appear virtually, but said if Trump refuses to appear, Joe Biden “will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly on October 15th.”  I think that may well be the best option anyway.

We already know what Donald Trump thinks … or says he thinks … on nearly every topic, for we have had four years of listening to his incessant b.s.  We would like to hear more from Joe Biden, which is nearly impossible in a debate venue such as the last one, where Trump literally bulldozed over Biden every time he attempted to answer a question.  I would much prefer hearing from Biden with Trump nowhere in sight!  We might actually learn what he thinks, what he his plans for the nation are.

To Donald Trump I say:  You just stay home with your cheeseburger and Diet Coke watching Fox and tweeting your little heart out.  We’ll all be better off.

And for a bit of spot-on musical commentary by James Corden of Gavin and Stacy fame, and more recently The Late, Late Show and Carpool Karaoke …

A Snarky Snarky Filosofa

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Political commentary

snarky-2Filosofa is feeling very, very snarky tonight!  The probable cause is that I watched the vice-presidential debate earlier this evening and growled through much of it.  Or it could be a lack of sleep.  Or the fact that my rent just increased by another $60 when they won’t even fix the @#$% door or lights or leaky faucet!  Whatever the cause, the snark must be vented so that I can catch a few hours sleep shortly.

Lies … again

So, Trump’s “White House doctor” says Trump has been ‘symptom-free’ for over 24 hours.  Don’t believe a word of it … it comes, after all, from White House staff, a doctor in Trump’s employ.  Nope, I don’t believe it for one minute, but neither do I particularly care.  I care more about the idiocy he is proliferating … the notion that the coronavirus is not anything to worry about, not to be taken seriously, despite the 216,000+ lives lost to date … many that could have been prevented if he had not acted like a jackass, if he had been honest with We the People back in the beginning.  But, he wasn’t honest then and he isn’t being honest now.  He is LYING to you, people.  The coronavirus is potentially deadly, especially for those of us who have any sort of underlying condition such as chronic respiratory problems, heart problems or diabetes.

I have no idea why Trump is still lying through his teeth about the coronavirus … he could have manned up and used his own experience to help us, to admit that he was wrong and that yes, we should all be observing the guidelines such as mask-wearing and ‘social distancing’.  Instead, he made a clownish attempt to show the world his ‘strength’, which is among the biggest jokes of the 21st century, and placing those who foolishly hang on his every word in jeopardy.

So no, don’t believe a damn thing you hear.  Like as not, he is still quite contagious and has continued to infect more and more of those whose presence he demands.  Any ‘man’ who would put his own son at risk of death, cannot possibly be a ‘man’ I could look up to or call anything other than ‘asshole’.

Debatable

I watched the vice-presidential debate earlier this evening.  Sigh.  I’ll have a more detailed analysis later, but for now, I will only say that Mike Pence is a bigger idiot than I first thought, and that Kamala Harris conducted herself well, made valid points, and in most cases actually answered the moderator’s questions.  But there was an unexpected highlight …

Yep, folks, a fly landed right on Pence’s perfectly coiffed hair … and stayed … and stayed … for what seemed like at least two minutes, though I was laughing so hard I lost track of time.  I’m thinking the poor fly had a hard time disengaging his little legs from all that hairspray.  I kept expecting someone to tell him, but he remained oblivious.  I imagine he was greatly embarrassed when he watched the clip later.

And as for next week’s presidential debate #2 … Joe Biden is prepared …biden-flyswatter

Fickle stock market

On Tuesday, after Trump told republican lawmakers to cut off talks with democrats over a new round of pandemic aid stimulus and declared he would not further discuss it until after the election, the stock market plummeted with the DOW losing as much as 413 points.  On Wednesday, Trump said he would be open to further discussion after all, and the stock market rebounded.  Now, we’re used to this crap, but Trump uses the stock market as a measuring stick for the economy, and this simply proves what I’ve been saying all along … the stock market is not necessarily indicative of the economy!

Sure, we all have a small stake in the market, most of us through our 401(k), pension plans, or other source, but the biggest chunk of the market is held by corporations and corporations are manipulators of the market.

Worse yet, Trump’s declaration that he is open to a ‘stand alone’ stimulus bill is one that would aid … wait for it … the airline industry, corporations owned by uber-wealthy people who want We the People to keep them afloat so they don’t need to dig into their billion dollar investment portfolios!  Not people who are struggling to pay their rent, medical bills, and put food on the table, but one to keep the airline industry afloat.  And to think how Trump bitched about the Obama administration bailing out the banking industry!

No doubt Trump’s base will listen to him as he points to the stock market as a sign of his success, but … it just ain’t so.  Better indicators are the unemployment rate and cost of living, both of which are higher than they should be, thus the economy, while not ‘in the tank’, is certainly not healthy.  Spin that one, Trump!

Okay, well, I think I feel better now, so I will answer a couple of emails and head for my bed!  Thanks for letting me vent!

Kaine and Pence … The Debate Mostly Ignored

Posted on by under Political commentary, Social commentary

“The man with the best job in the country is the vice-president. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, ‘How is the president?'” –  Will Rogers

In the carnival atmosphere, amid all the bluster and mud-slinging that defines the presidential race, nobody has paid much attention to the two candidates for vice-president, Tim Kaine and Mike Pence.  So it is not surprising that tonight’s vice-presidential debate rather snuck up on us and some are not even aware who the two men are.  I have written of both (At Long Last — Hillary Decides! & Idiot Of The Week – Mike Pence ), and I see no reason to repeat what I already said, but I thought it worth taking a glance at what we might expect to see in tonight’s debate.

I saw a clip on CNN this morning where a reporter stopped people on the street and showed them pictures of each candidate.  I was amazed by the number of people who did not recognize either one!  But then, many do not consider the office of vice-president to be particularly important, and this year Donald Trump has been such a spectacle, a media hog, that he has consumed most of the air time, leaving little for anybody else, even his own running mate.

What is the role of VP and how is he/she elected?

Under the original terms of the Constitution, the person receiving the greatest number of votes would be president, while the individual who received the next largest number of votes became vice president. This changed with the ratification of the 12th amendment in 1804, but just think about this:  what if the original terms were still in effect today?  We could see a President Clinton and Vice-President Trump!!!  I cringe, shudder and laugh at that prospect!  Today, though the Constitution says that the president and vice president are chosen separately, in practice they are chosen together, making the vice-president ‘indirectly’ elected.

The only role actually assigned to the vice-president by the Constitution is President of the Senate, in which the vice president has two primary duties: to cast a vote in the event of a Senate deadlock and to preside over and certify the official vote count of the U.S. Electoral College.  However, in practice, the role of vice-president may vary widely, depending on the relationship of a specific president and vice-president.  Typically, the vice-president will act as drafter and spokesperson for the administration’s policies, adviser to the president, and being a symbol of American concern or support. Vice-President Cheney, under President George W. Bush, took much upon himself, withholding critical information from Bush, making decisions without the president’s knowledge, and even refusing to do some things that were asked of him, such as playing a significant role in the recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina.  Other past VPs are barely remembered, if at all.

The role of the next vice-president?  Mrs. Clinton has said she chose Mr. Kaine to be a full partner in government. Mr. Trump said he selected the governor in large part to unify the Republican Party, but neither Republican has offered a clear vision for how Mr. Pence would function in government. Both men have experience in government, however in the last few years, Mr. Kaine has remained popular among his constituency, while Mr. Pence has lost his following by his harsh, unrelenting policies against the LGBT community.

What can we expect in tonight’s debate?

Most pundits predict two things:

  • That for the most part, the debate will consist mostly of each man supporting and defending his running mate. If it comes down to playing defense, Pence will certainly have the tougher task, especially in light of the past week, a week of unsavory revelations about Mr. Trump and his business practices1.
  • Social issues, such as abortion, contraception, gay rights or religious liberty, which have been largely disregarded by the presidential candidates, may be major topics by Pence and Kaine, as both men are deeply religious – Pence is a Christian conservative, while Kaine is a liberal Catholic. Some predict it could cause both to shed their “Mr. Nice Guy” images.

Like others, I have not given as much thought to the two candidates for vice-president as I have the presidential candidates, but that does not mean that they are not important … simply that they are not as flamboyant as at least one of the presidential candidates, and have been more ‘behind the scenes.”  I see Mr. Kaine as the stronger of the two.  Mr. Pence appears to be in a strange and unenviable position of not sharing many of his running mate’s ideas.  In fact, I would go so far as to say the Mikey and Donnie do not even like each other very much! More than once, Pence has been the one to go behind Trump and clean up a mess he left, trying to spin something crude Trump said into something slightly more palatable to the voting public. Pence has also come out in opposition to certain of Trump’s statements.  Kaine and Clinton, on the other hand, appear to have a genuine rapport and share the same basic ideology.

Rarely, if ever, has an election been decided because of the popularity or unpopularity of the vice-presidential candidate.  But it is important to remember that in the event the president is incapacitated, dies in office, or is impeached, the vice-president is the next in command. I predict that tonight’s debate will be much calmer, and hopefully more substantive than last Monday’s.  I happened across a really funny article from the opinion pages of the New York Times that I think you will enjoy … take a look as two writers carry on a pseudo-conversation about the debate.

1  a) The revelation that Trump had a nearly $1 billion loss in 1995, which enabled him to avoid paying federal income taxes in 1995, and likely for the past two decades.  b) Trump’s reference to veterans who commit suicide as being “not strong enough” to deal with PTSD.  c) The order of the New York Attorney General for Trump Foundation to immediately cease soliciting donations due to lack of proper certification, and the announcement that the foundation will be investigated.