Can We Talk About That Debate?

Holy Hannah, Batman...  what a train wreck of an election this is turning out to be. I saw the vast majority of the first debate, because I was at work and there was, for once, relatively little going on- and I lasted for a good hour before a co-worker begged and pleaded with me to mute it and by that time I had reached my limit of sniffing and condescension. The second debate I only caught the back half of and it managed to be somehow worst than the first. So, some thoughts, in no particular order:

1. I don't like voting against people. I'd much rather vote for a candidate than against them. That might well end up being Secretary Clinton, but it might not be- I don't know. But damned if Donald J. Trump isn't making it really hard to stick to that notion. Nothing I've seen in either of the first two debates has convinced me that he's the least bit qualified to be President and, in fact, it's sent me in the opposite direction. I don't want him anywhere anything important, like say, the nuclear codes. The answers on foreign policy that I heard were downright scary. I honestly think that he's convinced the world works like it does in the movies and his answers were incoherent enough to make Gary Johnson look like Henry Kissinger. Johnson needs an atlas and a subscription to The Economist. Trump needs god only knows what, but I don't want him anywhere near our foreign policy.

2. That damn tape... That's not locker room talk. That's not how I talk. That's not how men talk. That's how scum-sucking assholes talk. And yes, Senator Sessions it is damn well is sexual assault. And I can't even with this Ben Carson crap. Seriously?

3. No, I don't want to hear any goddamn whining from any of the carnival of candidates the GOP ran in the primaries. You can't hire decent opposition researchers? You can't dig this stuff up in December and say something like, 'HEY LOOK WHAT HE DID, DO YOU THINK MAYBE THERE WILL BE MORE OF THIS CRAP OUT HERE? DO YOU THINK MAYBE THE DEMOCRATS WILL RELEASE THIS AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME, LIKE SAY IN OCTOBER? MAYBE WE SHOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT THIS YOU GUYS' I mean Christ on a crutch, people take some ownership for your massive incompetence and that holier-than-though sermonizing about Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment about 'thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican' needs to go. Reagan is dead and you people keep bringing a butter knife to a gun fight and expect to somehow come out ahead? Massive, massive incompetence all up and down the GOP. But hey, you reap what you sow, right? This represents the chickens coming home to roost in a big way. Newt Gingrich and his brand of hyper-partisanism sent everything off the rails into crazy town. Bush the Younger abandoned all pretense of fiscal responsibility at home and abroad. And you end up with Trump... I saw a great Tweet float by during this debate:

Trump is that colonic.

4. And now, apparently, we've reached the DGAF stage of the Trump Candidacy. Who knows how many turns are left of the dial on this, our long national highway to hell, but I check the forecast over at Real Clear Politics and Five Thirty Eight pretty regularly. I think the latter is probably more conservative than the former, but even with some conservatism thrown in, they've got Clinton at a solid 260 electoral votes already. A month out. The GOP has to be sweating bullets right now, because is Trump is serious about pouring gasoline all over the joint and setting the place on fire on his way to a titanic defeat, then who knows how bad this could get. Five Thirty Eight has Arizona about even right now and Alaska and Georgia are starting to look increasingly pale pink every time I check this place. At what point do you start worrying about the House? Or the Senate?

5. Last time I checked, Bill Clinton isn't running for President. If Hillary has been creepy/allegedly rapey with people, that's something I want to know. But so far, she hasn't. And for what it's worth, Bill was impeached, tried and acquitted. If there are rape allegations that are credible out there, that's troubling, but the Republican Party essentially denied those women their day in court when they pursued a partisan impeachment. Do I think Bill could have gotten away with his behavior toward women in today's climate? I absolutely do not- witness the level of squirming on the left about Joe Biden's handsiness. But either way, the whole 'THEY DO IT TOO' card isn't working for me and I'm pretty sure it isn't working for the country either.

6. If you've lost Glenn Beck, you might as well just pack it all in. Though if Senator Ernst fails to jump off the Trump Train, she won't be getting my vote in the next election. (I'm already not voting for Our Glorious Leader and Eternal Governor The Moustache and Senator Grassley ain't getting my vote either.)

7. Is the election over yet? Please, let it be over and soon.

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