First US Presidential debate:A Review

 If one was seeking a winner of Tuesday’s Presidential debate all one witnessed was political suicide of decorum, dignity and respect for a democratic tradition that was designed to give substance to process of electoral choice. Instead of a statesmanlike debate one saw two men in their seventies bicker, abuse and insult each other in manner that even ten year olds would not do in the school yard. Each side will claim victory when in reality both should shamefully reflect upon how low the stature of candidates for the highest political office has sunk to. 

That aside the performance of each candidate needs to be reviewed. 

It was clear that President Trump came out really hot with the intent to not only control the rostrum and tempo of the debate but to provoke Joe Biden into losing his temper and balance. The moderator, Chris Wallace, at times struggled to control the floor, largely on account of Trumps interruptions, and could have been better served if the format would have been more like a college debate; each side two minutes per issue and then two minutes each for a rebuttal with microphones turned off when  it was not a candidates time to speak.

The review of this nasty and disgraceful debate would nevertheless be essential as some interesting statements and messages came across:

Trump:

High points : attacking Biden of his lack of bringing the change he promises now when through his 47 years in politics and 8 years as Vice President failing to implement the change. 

Missed arguments: Biden seemed hesitant to discuss his economic plan and Trump should have pushed him on that. 

Low points: attacking Biden’s family, failure to condemn white supremacists, (instead telling them to stand by) and failure to state that he would accept the election result.

Biden:

High points: not to get lose his temper over the family attack, not to retaliate against Trumps family, bringing some humanism about his sons addiction, clearly stating he would accept the election result.

Missed arguments: pressed harder on Trumps handling of the pandemic, pressed on Trumps refusal to confront Russia.

Low points: telling Trump to ‘shut up’.

Interestingly the whole debate was fact checked with Trump having a 80% false rating and Biden 20% false. Sadly this election is not going to be about facts it’s about emotions. 

The chilling messages one reads into this debate are worrying for then tradition of US democracy. It is clear that this election may well be decided in courts especially if it’s a close election. If there is an overwhelming Biden victory this may well be avoided but who knows what unfolds in the next 35 days. In some respects we must be braced for politically motivated street violence especially if Trump loses the election and hence the ‘stand down and stand by’ remark has a significance one should not brush aside.

For an independent observer, especially from abroad, the debate was a sad reflection on where the US political tradition has come to, and one cannot get to terms with the consequences of what we are seeing unfold. While it’s an exhaustive subject on its own it would seem America might well be irrevocably divided and in a decade or so a unifying charismatic leader might emerge. 

Scorecard for USA on COVID-19

 Statistics in themselves do not lie, our interpretations of the numbers may vary and create a bias but the raw data is what it is; facts. As of September 25th a tally of data from 213 countries reveals the following comparisons for the United States:

• With 207,000 deaths USA ranks highest in deaths and 21% of all deaths world wide.
• 626 deaths per million ranks 10th highest in the world. ( San Marino is first and so in Andorra is the top ten, excluding them for their small populations USA ranks 8th).
• The world average of deaths per 1 million is 128 per million.
• In testing coverage USA ranks 20th with 30% of the population tested. 
• Total cases USA ranks the highest 7.2 million cases representing 22% of all cases in the world.
• With 4.4 million recovered USA ranks second in the world. 
• In active cases USA ranks the highest with 2.54 million. 
• With 14,156 currently critically infected by the virus USA ranks the highest, implying these people will sadly be added to the death list. 
• Canada, USA’s neighbour has had 245 death per million and total deaths there are 9,249.

President Trump has often said that his administration has done a great job and are leading the world in fighting Covid-19. The statistical evidence clearly establishes that the US is far from leading the fight against the virus largely because of the lack of policy and cogent action against the pandemic. President Trump has ridiculed the wearing of masks, encourage political rallies with no social distancing. In April he said they had predicted total deaths in USA would be 60,000! Two weeks later that number was exceeded. 

The concoction of misleading information, even suggesting unproven cures and all the time ignoring scientific advice when in private he knew this was the worlds deadliest pandemic. In effect his lack of policy and actions contrary to his duty to protect the American people can only lead one to call this the Trump Virus. Even today experts point to shortages in sanitizers, PPE equipment and other support equipment putting the lives of patients and the caregivers at risk. 

There is evidence that the virus may well be mutating and while infecting more people it’s fatality rate seems to be less in the recent weeks. However this does not mean that the virus will go away as President Trump has been often heard to say. The danger of the virus remains that it continues to spread through asymptomatic carriers therefor suggesting that a strategy of prevention ( masks and social distancing), mass testing, contact tracing and isolation are the key pillars upon which any plan to contain the virus rest.  

On all these criterion President Trump has failed, so much so he extolled that testing should be slowed down, and recently asked CDC to only test people with symptoms of the virus thus ignoring the simple fact that this virus spreads primarily through asymptomatic carriers! What is even more sad is that had measured been taken in a timely and effective manner the death toll in the United States would have perhaps been one third of deaths would occurred from the present level. Instead President Trump says had he not done what he did the death toll would have been in the millions, whitewashing that all he did actually created the impact of the Trump Virus to be worse than it could have. 

Countries with less resources, weaker health care facilities and certainly less money have done a remarkable job. This was because there was leadership on the issue and the leadership of these countries listened to the scientists and took the bitter pill of lockdowns and their economic impact. With out a doubt it is obvious that USA’s COVID-19 score card would have been much better had it been for better leadership. There can be no doubt that Donald Trumps lack of leadership and his push back against sensible measures to tackle the Covid-19 virus was and is tantamount to homicidal negligence.

A Letter from D J Trump

 My dear ‘Lucifer’,

You may wonder why I am calling you Lucifer, it’s not that I have forgotten your name it’s just that I don’t want those ANTIFA hooligans to troll you when they learn you have been by confidante for over three decades. Your amazing guidance has brought me to be the greatest President the United States has ever had, a position that has added to my wealth and stature and those of my children. Imagine the value of my brand name after I leave the White House, that’s if I ever leave the house that I have come to love just as much as Mara Lago. 

As you know I do not read but I took your advice of the principal of divide and rule which you said is how a small island called Great Britain became great in colonising more than half the world. You were spot on to embrace the forgotten voice of the White Supremacists, they are at the core of my base and just like me do not read much and unlike me did not have the money to fix their school grades. Their attention span is four words and “Make America Great Again“  is enough for them to get into their Pick up trucks or onto their motorbikes and turn up where I want them. Knowing the art of the deal I know I can sell them back their own hard earned pickups by simply saying its to make America great again.

You were right about going after all the recent immigrants, the Latinos, the Muslims because my base doesn’t know that they all are the sons and daughters of immigrants, every single one of them. You were right to say they will not research their ancestry, many don’t know where the nearest library is, well neither do I but then that’s not the point I am the greatest POTUS ever, I mean ever! Thanks for reminding me to go soft of the Latinos this election as we need Florida more than ever, and sure I am considering my Supreme Court nominee to replace RBG (sorry of the initials I cannot spell her surname), to be a Latino woman. 

I am a bit disturbed about this book by this Bob fellow, I know you told me not to talk to him but come on Lucifer this Bob fellow is the dean of FAKE news and if I, the best negotiator ever to be President, could disarm him then the fake news crowd of Coumo, Don Lemon, Wolf (cannot spell his surname) etc would all come crumbling down. I think this Bob is a poor man and doesn’t own any stocks because I kept telling him about the stock market and he did not even respond. As you once said “no point talking about a rib eye steak to a guy who only eats hot dogs”. The problem is he has these tapes, not like the loser Nixon’s tapes, with my voice on them. Should I deny I ever spoke to him? I know my MAGA crowd will believe me. You told me to say it’s a boring book, which I did and the MAGA suckers cheered, you think I should read it? 

This China flu thing seems to cause some stink on me, but only time to time. Yes I knew it was deadly and may be I should have said in April that about 50,000 people will die instead of saying it will go away and it’s under control, I called you back then but your phone was disconnected, my office forgot to pay the bill. Can I tell the people that this is God’s wrath on the Americans who are not true MAGA and Trump supporters? I can make up some numbers to show only Trump haters are dying. After all I tell about ten lies a day and these idiots are so busy fact checking me they will never catch up.

Joking aside, Lucifer you are right that telling them that 200,000 dead is better than 500,000 dead! So you are right I have done a great job in fighting the China flu. I know this Dr Fauci fellow is believed more than me but you were wise to suggest to get a mountain of man of science to neutralise Fauci; so I got Dr Atlas, Kellyann Conway told me there are the Atlas Mountains somewhere in Africa or Asia. (Sending Don Jr there to see if we can build a Trump property on the Atlas Mountains). This Atlas fellow is so great he just parrots whatever I say but with a degree the geeks will believe him rather than me. That way we get the swing votes, right?

Thanks for sending me the additional oath you want all people who serve me to make. I agree these people like the rat Cohen, and the coward Mattis, should never emerge again. I have modified the oath that each person working for me shall make. Let me know what you think:

“I ........... swear by God this holy oath that I shall render unconditional obedience and loyalty forever, to the leader of the American Republic and the American people, Donald J Trump, the greatest President of USA and it’s supreme leader. This oath is binding on me for life and even if, God forbid, Donald J Trump is no more the US President. This holy oath is bound to me till my death”.

Just to let you know I spoke to my good friend Kim in North Korea and Comrade Putin and both confirmed their inner circle has a similar oath they have to swear. So if it’s good for them it’s good for America, don’t you agree?

Talking of Putin, you have to come up with something that can make this Russia connection disappear, just as I am making the China flu disappear. I will take on board your last advice to criticise Putin a few times and to do it in gentle terms. I agree with that strategy as it will shut up the fake news media but I will make sure I will call my good friend Putin before to warn him it’s just an election ploy. Given what my FBI guys are saying about Russian interference (yet again), I am sure Putin will understand my little polite needle jabs at him. 

On a closing note I have told my office to make sure your phone bill is always paid so I can reach you anytime I want. I know at times it’s 3 AM but then I am also the most hard working president the United States has ever had. Oh I almost forgot, please reach out to Ms G Maxwell, she is a very fine person and needs some advice on this Epstein thing. Hell, he is dead why should this poor woman suffer for his pleasures? As I said in public I wish her well.

Take care and check your post box, Don Jr should have sent you some presents. Hope you like the POTUS bedroom slippers.

Signed 

DJT

(This is a satirical piece and should be read only in that context)

 

America’s Choice

 

In less than two months Americans will make a choice, a choice that comes at perhaps the most defining moment in US political history. The effects of the changes to the political landscape from four years ago do not only linger on but create deep schisms in the US political psyche. These schisms do not traverse the  lines of political agenda or policies but are schisms of division that bear horrible consequences for the future direction of American society. The choice is one of measuring character, values, decency and honesty, all of which define the moral compass not only of the candidates but of Americans by and large. 

The character flaws of the incumbent President run deep and are well talked about, and as Election Day nears more tell all stories spew out into the public domain, from his closet former advisors to his family. As if the thousands of recorded lies of Donald Trump needed any more proof these new narratives while reaffirming his lack of decency, truth and moral values perhaps will not dent the 30 odd percent of his base  supporters. Trump has sold to them large doses of fear and hyperbole which he knows is not entirely true but it is what they have wanted to hear. 

Four years ago in electing Trump a marginalised blue white collar workers and a largely mid western white population signalled that they believed the USA was being flooded with immigrants and that their jobs were shipped aboard. Trump promised a wall which Mexico would pay for, he would engage China in a trade war, he would roll back medical care for all and the list goes on. Today his message of fear is that the protests over the police having killed unarmed black men and women are violent and this threatens white suburbia. The fact that 93% of the protests have been peaceful is not relevant to his base, to them Trump as president has said that these protests are led by thugs and looters is enough proof.

On the flip side the Democratic Party has its own unique set of challenges. After the unifying and effective leadership of Barrack Obama the party  four years ago became the vestige if the Clintons. With Bernie Sanders presenting a too radical alternative to the party Hilary Clinton was propelled to take on Trump. Bad political strategy and an over whelming belief in the polls caused crucial swing states to go to the Trump camp. It just became obvious that while in polls people preferred Clinton the party could not get that support to come to the polls on Election Day. The challenge in this election is if the Biden-Harris ticket can muster the Democratic Party vote bank to the pols and more importantly swing the marginalised voters back to their fold.

While President Trumps base has largely remained intact and it has ignored his failures and character flaws it assures him between 30 to 38% of the electorates support. The Biden camp would seem to have an edge on the popular vote but for them the crucial issue will be if they have enough of a lead in the swing states, the very states that Trump edged into his side in 2016. Back in that election it is estimated that Trumps margin was so thin in these swing states that the total number of voters who helped him clinch the election could have fitted into on football pitch.

Over the next fifty odd days Trumps strategy will be to kindle the fires of fear, extolling his divisive pitch that a Biden victory will mean an end to white suburbia. His attacks on Biden will echo more along the lines that only Trump is the patriot and good for America, a rally call that appeals to his base. He will deflect critics of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by continuing to lie that under his watch America handled the crisis better than any country. This is a claim that goes against the facts and with 190,000 Americans having perished to the virus Trump will ignore this issue.

Biden must not make the mistakes that Hilary Clinton made by ignoring the swing states during the campaign trail. He must also continue to hit Trump on his weakest points; the pandemic handling by Trump. There is a plethora of statements in Trumps own words that highlight his bungling of the crisis and then all the misstatements and outright lies that came from the President. Some have suggested that President Trump exhibited “homicidal negligence” in the manner he handled the COVID-19 crisis. 

Nothing irks Trump more than the Russian issue and his soft stance towards Putin. While it was established through the Mueller investigation that out of the ordinary links existed between key Trump confidants and the Russians, with some of them going to jail, Trump anchors his defence on the fact that direct collision between his campaign and the Russians was not established to the extent of no shadow of doubt. Irrespective of that investigation to any omniscient observer it is clear that Trump holds back his criticism of Putin, most recently over allegations that the Russians offered bounties in Afghanistan to those who killed US and NATO troops. This is Trumps Achilles heel and the Biden camp should continue to hammer away at it.

This election for America poses the choice of decency over crudeness, unity over divisiveness, truth over lies, multiracial empathy over racism and most of all good governance over chaos in the White House. The Biden-Harris ticket is clearly the choice over the Trump-Pence camp who after four years have failed in every respect by dividing America, ignoring the threats of the pandemic leaving 190,000 dead and creation of a swamp of nepotism and sycophancy in the government like never before. 

The prospect of a Trump victory cannot be ruled out, which might well be because of Biden’s electoral strategy failures, a Trump loss could well be a major challenge for Americans. He will not concede a loss easily, mail 8n ballots will become and issue and perhaps the courts will have to intervene. More dangerously the white supremacist supporters of Trump will perhaps take to the streets and civil disobedience backed by guns cannot be ruled out. 

If Trump does win the best thing for the US would be that the Republicans lose control on the Senate and with the House controlled by the Democrats there could be some checks and balances restored to a rouge President. This is a highly likely scenario and something that should be watched. However, a victorious Trump will edge to the dictatorial style he loves and we may see him more unhinged. That can only be avoided if people who find it repulsive the way Trump has thickened the swamp he promised to clear they should come out and vote in large numbers. This is America’s most defining election become a part of it.