December 28, 2024 / by 

 

2024 Presidential Election: Second Presidential Debate (for Trump)

[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

ABC News network hosts a presidential debate this evening beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET. It’s the first time Kamala Harris meets Donald Trump but it’s Trump’s second presidential debate. Will he do any more than Gish gallop like he did against Joe Biden?

Major news outlets don’t seem to care how badly Trump did last time. They were far too focused on their “But Biden is Old” agenda to focus on Trump’s bullshit. All his lies should have been noted in real time for the benefit of the public but apparently informing the public is not the job of corporate-owned major news outlets.

Marcy’s already spelled out the case: at 92% of the election season, Trump has used up most of his campaign already. Harris is less than half way and has plenty of room to run circles around a stultifying campaign dependent on outrage cycles and old ratfucking tricks.

And in spite of Trump having burned so much of his campaign promulgating crap which does nothing to lift the American public and everything to save his ass from prosecution and jail if he should win, major news media outlets insist on putting all the pressure on the seated vice president who has already been engaged in much of the work she’d do if elected. They’re pretending she’s wet behind the ears.

Here’s what I see from out here in the cheap seats: Donald Trump lost already.

He lost my dad.

My 90-year-old dad, a veteran who lives in Florida, has always voted Republican. ALWAYS. He has already told us several weeks ago he’s going to vote for Harris

When asked why he explained in his usual economic fashion: “I can’t vote for a felon.”

This decision has been an evolution. You see, two years ago when the FBI served a warrant on Mar-a-Lago for the presidential records including classified materials, I asked my dad what he thought.

He tsk-tsked, shook his head and said, “Sloppy. He’s sloppy.”

Last year dad wouldn’t talk about Trump at all, just shook his head.

This year he’s blunt about it. Trump is a felon.

The doubt began for my father with the presidential records scandal in no small part because Dad worked SIGINT in the Navy. We’ve had a few interesting discussions about intelligence but even now, though more than 65 years has passed, my dad is still closed mouthed about what he did. He took an oath and he’s kept it.

Donald Trump did not.

Furthermore, he cheated in 2016 to get elected. All his bullshit claiming Democrats are cheating is projection, because he cheated on his wife and then he cheated the state of New York and the American public to hide that he cheated in order to win the election.

It took my pops a while to break through the lifelong conditioning that he should vote for a Republican for president.

It only took Trump being outed as a felonious cheating loser.

He remains one no matter what happens tonight.

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This thread is dedicated to this evening’s debate. Please stay on topic, thanks.

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Originally Posted @ https://emptywheel.net/2024-presidential-election/page/14/