Elizabeth Warren as retold by MSNBC's by Chris Matthews on his telecast yesterday in so many words supposedly said the same thing as what the title to this blog post states. But so what if this independent voter has taken the liberty to repeat Senator Warren's thoughts. She was right on! The message came across loud and clear that the female gender that Donald John Trump so often and cruelly criticizes because of a female's looks or stamina got trounced in all respects by a representative of that gender class two nights ago before 84 million viewers. And trounced badly he was.
What can be said about the incredulity of Trump's performance during the 1st debate that has not already been told in countless stories already? Not much. Yes, he was ill informed; lacked knowledge; was lazy due to lack of preparation on the topics he knew he would be asked about; was un-presidential in the way he spoke, his demeanor and his presence; he lied countless numbers of times about well known facts; and had about as thin a skin as a snake that just went through its molting period. All this is not to mention the incredible personal insecurity he showed with the focus solely upon himself. Donald, the world does not revolve around you nor is it about you; it is about us, the American voter, what we need, and what you are specifically going to do to help us out. But to add rubber tires to an already smoldering fire you caused, you then go on Fox News yesterday to tout how all the polls showed you were the clear winner of the debate. The only problem, dear Donald, was the polls you cited were to ones online that were rigged. Let me explain it this way about those polls. They were just like if your beloved NY Mets or the Bronx Bombers conducted a poll on their respective websites, then asked the viewer to vote for their favorite team, knowing they could vote as many times as they wanted. Polls advertised this way are never scientific and more than a little bit biased.
But let's get back to Hillary Rodham Clinton. She performed like a president of the United States in waiting. Her demeanor was unimpeachable. What she said, and how she said everything, reflected many hours of preparation. And it showed. True, during the first 20-30 minutes, Trump had her back on her heals a bit in questions about trade and trade deals, but 30 minutes doth not make a 90+ minute debate. Clinton did not get into issues like immigration and the Supreme Court though she probably could have, and could also have highlighted her personal story more (as she effectively did at a campaign stop in Raleigh, NC yesterday). She needed to detail more why she is part of the solution and not part of the problem, i.e., despite her years in politics (nee, the "establishment"). She also forgot to respond to Trump's position of taking Iraq's oil as a spoil of our war with it. Regardless, she was strong, resolute and "ran through the finish line" of the debate like a Jesse Owens during an Olympics. All the while, her opponent stumbled, caved, and then collapsed, as if "gasping for air" as the debate ended. What we saw of Trump was oh so sad and despicable, but that I suppose was all he had.
True to form, Trump could not outmuscle HRC. Concomitantly, his narcissistic personality could not take any blame for his loss, pointing after the fact to his probably having a defective microphone so his minions in the audience could not hear him. What does this have to do with his presence on stage? Then he blamed a very fine moderator, Lester Holt, for tossing him questions he could not manage. It is surprising that he did not blame the stage hand that placed a glass of water at the podium for not having enough in it or that it was not cold enough; after all, he kept sipping out of it multiple times. Must have been he had a dry mouth, nervousness perhaps; maybe he was sick since he sniffled a lot (which he denied doing) and was on some sort of drug for an illness?
Debates are a snapshot in time, a look into how a president should act and his or her responses to questions that a real president might have to face after being sworn in sans not in front of 84 million viewers, of course. It is also a time when the voting public gets to see one candidate verbally spar against the other. Trump still has his hardcore supporters and voters, no matter his displaying lack of knowledge, lies, and unforced errors. Unfortunately, a segment of our country cares more about electing an incompetent, bigot and racist to defeat Clinton than anything else. How dangerous! We also realize that Trump has two more debates to redeem himself...if that is in the cards.
One indisputable fact, however, remains: in using any objective and honest lens, getting a whoopin at the hands of a woman like Trump received tears at the soul of someone telling us he is fit, strong, and has the temperament to be our next president.