And there they stood. Together for one last time, these two old men who would lead you. Together, yes, for now, but each on his own path, looking in his own direction. Donald Tantrump once of New York but now of Florida, and Joe Biden, once of Scranton but now of Greerville, Delaware near Wilmington. Of course, Tantrum doesn’t actually live in Florida. And BIden? Well, everything in Delaware is near Wilmington.
This night, they share a stage at Belmont
University, a religious-based college you may never have heard of in a city you
most certainly have, Nashville, Tennessee. They are candidates for President of
the United States. They are to debate. To tell us where what they
believe, why they believe it and why you should vote for them.
Thing is, most of our minds are already made
up. We know these men. One is the sitting president, the other… a
long-sitting United States Senator and two term vice president -- perhaps a
heartbeat away from the presidency but in service to the man with the
presidential heart least likely to stop beating while in office.
In this campaign, many of us watch in
anticipation of hearing something outrageous. We expect Tantrump to come up
with new and childish self-pitying and/or braggadocious putdowns and of Biden
to babble in evidence of a brain in disarray leading to a mouthing of
forgetfulness and incoherence.
Disappointing. Tantrump was as civil as
we’ve ever seen him in public. Biden, if he has it, has learned to
disguise the signs of creeping dementia.
As old men so often do, the candidates tired
toward the end of the program. It was more likely for Tantrump than Biden to
revert to form as the night wore on and their hinges started thirsting for
oil. So a bit of Tantrumpis Interruptus. But not before websites
like Snopes and the New York Times had already annotated his encyclopedia of
lies.
He lied about his response to COVID 19. He lied
about the economy. He lied about the children who were separated from their
parents who now can’t be found on either side of the Beautiful Wall that Mexico
has failed to pay for as he demanded. He lied about everything.
So here’s the part where we try to figure out
who won. If you only analyze the two men, it was Biden. There are those
of us who believe the winner was Kristin Welker. But there is no doubt about
who lost: the rest of us.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but
you’re welcome to them. ®
Any Questions? Wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2020
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