The first debate was an ugly and painful and unprecedented 90 minutes in American history.
Trump debates like he tweets –– loud, erratic, and filled with misinformation and outright lies. His performance lowered the standard of presidential behavior even further, which I did not think possible for the president who paid hush money to a porn star.
For months the Trump team has been pushing a smear campaign that questions Biden’s mental acuity and makes claims that he’s likely slipping into dementia.
These ads are so absurd that they should be funny, but they’re not. Here’s why: a staggering number of Republicans actually believe them.
It would be just as absurd if I believed that Trump was unable to drink a glass of water with one hand or walk down a ramp without taking baby steps because I saw The Lincoln Project’s very funny ad.
I’m voting for Biden this fall because right-wing media outlets and Trump have done a hit job on American democracy.
This week, Fox News even admitted in a U.S. District Court that Tucker Carlson is full of it.
Fox lawyers won a defamation lawsuit brought against Carlson by arguing that any reasonable viewer would “arrive with an appropriate amount of skepticism” toward any statement Carlson makes.
But sadly, 43 percent of Americans and 65 percent of Republicans lack that skepticism and still trust Fox News.
You already know who I’m voting for, so I’ll take a quick detour today and offer some thoughts about the language we use when we talk politics.
One of my favorite essays is Politics and the English Language –– George Orwell wrote this examination of language in 1946, and in it, he describes the “swindles and perversions” politicians use when they want to mislead the public. He also warns us that slovenly language can lead to slovenly thoughts.
One of Orwell’s “swindles” is the use of “meaningless words” –– words laden with emotion, words that generalize without specific meaning, words that create a reaction (either positive or negative) rather than a thought.
Here’s a sentence I recently saw in my Facebook feed: “In the same way, to choose not to vote is a choice to hand America over to the evil forces behind the DNC platform, which is truly evil to its core.”
I’m voting for Joe Biden for President because he is a good and moral man, and because the person who holds our highest office should be held to the highest standard of character.
One of the moments I was proudest to stand in support of Joe Biden was watching 13-year-old Brayden Harrington speak at the Democratic National Convention. If you missed it, watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syNswizgPOU
And if you haven’t seen the video of when Biden first met Brayden, spend a minute and watch it too: https://twitter.com/jeffreyguterman/status/1296897983385141252.
This is what compassion and goodness look like.
I’m voting for Joe Biden this fall because Trump’s fan base is still chanting “Lock her up!” at his rallies –– rallies which Trump now describes, without irony, as “protests against stupidity.”
We all remember the fun and misogyny from 2016 when Republicans were outraged that Hillary Clinton used a private email server, but this is 2020, the opponent is now Joe Biden, and it’s the Trump administration now breaking federal rules regarding email systems.
If you’re interested in reality, here’s a list of the email misdeeds of the Trump administration:
I’m voting for Joe Biden in November because Democrats will be more responsible stewards of the economy than Trump and will help raise the fortunes of working-class Americans.
Here’s a chart to mull over –– it shows how the stock market has performed under each of the last four U.S. Presidents expressed as a percentage from where it started when their terms started.
I don’t for a second think the stock market results are the work of the sitting President nor do I think the stock market is indicative of the American economy, and I only include this graph for some context for those who believe Trump when he brags about the market and takes credit for its gains.
Here’s the deal –– it’s been a pretty average market under Trump. I don’t blame him for it, and I don’t give him credit for it. But if he’s convinced you into thinking that it’s spectacular and that he’s responsible, then you’ve been conned.
Have you noticed how on the days when the market goes down, it’s always someone else’s fault? Can you possibly believe that the complex forces that shape the market are less powerful than Trump’s random ramblings on any given day?
This is the Trump pattern –– brag about the stat that looks good and ignore everything else. In July, August, and September of this year, Trump tweeted “Great jobs numbers!,” ignoring the fact that there are still more than 11 million jobs that were lost between February and April that haven’t yet returned.
The American economy is in trouble, and there are Americans who are in great need. Trump is not working in a bipartisan manner to solve this problem. The Republican side seems to honestly believe that their side will create prosperity for all, at least that’s what the memes I’ve seen them post on Facebook say.
Trump’s latest gambit of a payroll tax deferment is a complete swing and a miss, and it definitely won’t bring prosperity to working class Americans. It will only aid those who already have jobs, and its assistance is temporary as the deferred tax will be due by April 30. In other words, it’s a 7 month loan to yourself. Big whoop.
I’m ready for leadership that will take a measured, intelligent, and comprehensive look at the economy and craft policies that truly help the working class voters of America.
Did you see the Trump ad this week that said “Support Our Troops” over a photo of Russian MiG-29 fighter jets and Russian models holding Russian weapons?
I’m not making this up.
Even FOX covered this story.
I yearn for the good old days when the Republican Party was simply trying to gerrymander their way into the majority or using voter ID laws to disenfranchise U.S citizens who just happened to be disproportionately elderly or from minority or low income groups.
This year we’re seeing an all-out campaign by Trump against voting by mail, and the hypocrisy of Republican messaging on this issue is beyond staggering. Don’t believe me? Head to gop.com and you’ll be greeted by a popup video of Donald Trump signing his absentee ballot that he’s going to MAIL IN! And he’s encouraging his voters to do the same!
One of Trump’s favorite bogeymen is Antifa –– he warns his Twitter followers about them regularly, and this week in his campaign speeches in Nevada and Michigan he warned his followers that Antifa was buying houses and moving into the suburbs. (Seriously!)