Following the Vice Presidential debate last night, I checked around the Internet to see what the general consensus was regarding who won the debate. About one-third had Mike Pence winning by a 3-2 margin, while the rest were about 50-50, although in none that I found was Kamala Harris actually ahead. My initial impression was that Harris seemed a bit too “earnest”--and I have to say it, “emotional.” Pence, on the other hand, was as “cool as a cucumber.”
Unfortunately, for many people “surface” impressions are more important than substance. Take for instance Vox reporting that
Polling expert Frank Luntz convened a focus group of undecided voters after Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, and all but one of the participants declared Vice President Mike Pence the winner.
Nine of the 13 voters were men. But many of them, both women and men, described Pence in positive terms, such as “presidential,” and “calm, cool, and collected.” When asked to sum up Sen. Kamala Harris’s performance on the debate stage, however, the voters said she seemed “evasive,” “nervous,” “snarky,” “rehearsed,” “abrasive,” “unsteady,” “rigid,” and “unpresidential.”
One wonders if these “undecideds” were cherry-picked closet Trump supporters who needed a little more convincing that their man was not a dangerous fool. I also question voters who may not be all that bright. I admit that Harris’ biggest mistake was not putting to bed that shibboleth that Chuck Schumer put out there about “court-packing.” It ain’t happening. FDR couldn’t do it when 80 percent of the population supported the New Deal, which the conservative Supreme Court early in his presidency was trying to block. Even if the Democrats manage to gain a slight majority in the U.S. Senate, they won’t have the votes to make it happen. So Biden and Harris should just say there will be no court-packing, regardless of their actual stance on the issue.
But that didn’t stop “undecided” John from complaining that “I didn’t really get an answer. Packing the Supreme Court — these are all issues you want to know what they’re going to do. So, yes, it is very important to me.” If “court-packing” is an issue that is “important” to him, then maybe he should get into the “uninformed voter” focus group that spends too much time watching Fox News’ prime time line-up. Same goes for “Tom from Nevada.”
Moderator Susan Page should count herself fortunate for not having to face Donald Trump, because he would have eaten her alive. While Chris Wallace pitched overhand fastballs, Page threw underhanded softballs. Wallace had demanded that Trump answer the substance of his questions and explain his own statements that were contrary to the national interest, while at no time did Page ask direct questions concerning Trump’s own words and actions, nor did she attempt to intervene when Pence refused to address the many discrepancies between what he was saying and what was in the public record. She never stopped Pence from using his time to “finish” his previous false messaging in order to avoid answering the question at hand.
Trump tweeted that Harris was a “monster,” so you know she hit him in places where it hurt. Pence, of course, did his “duty” and told us that we need to ignore Trump’s own words and deeds, and pretended to know what Trump is “really” thinking. The problem with that line is that Trump tells us what exactly is going on in his feverish mind almost every hour of the day in his twitter account, adding at least 20 more lies and falsehoods to his count. Fortunately, for those who prefer substance over the superficial, there is the transcript of the debate to mull over. To recap some of the “high” points:
Well, the American people have demonstrated over the last eight months, that when given the facts, they’re willing to put the health of their families and their neighbors and people they don’t even know first. President Trump and I have great confidence in the American people and their ability to take that information and put it into practice.
If I may say, that Rose Garden event, been a great deal of speculation about it. My wife, Karen and I were there and honored to be there. Many of the people who were at that event, Susan, actually were tested for Coronavirus, and it was an outdoor event, which all of our scientists regularly and routinely advise. The difference here is President Trump and I trust the American people to make choices in the best interest of their health.
One may note here that Pence is talking out of both sides of his mouth, making two competing claims that never intersect, but go in opposition directions. Has this administration given the American people all of the facts? Remember what Trump said in his interview with Bob Woodward, and what he was saying in March--and what he was showing us now after testing positive for COVID-19. When he tore off his mask on the White House balcony, he was telling his base they don’t need to wear masks, they don’t need to be safe, or respect the safety of others. “Trust” starts at the top, and Trump failed to set the example in the most miserably fashion--and many who followed him, like Herman Cain who attended Trump’s Tulsa rally, paid with their lives. A little later Pence said this:
And Senator, I just ask you, stop playing politics with people’s lives.
I think that Harris could be forgiven for being “snarky” when confronted by the unbelievable level of mendacity on display here. Trump has been downplaying the virus for the precise reason that it hurts him politically. Pence is not the president, Trump is; Pence is just his fool.
When President Trump and I took office, America had gone through the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression. It was when Joe Biden was vice president, they tried to tax and spend, and regulate, and bail our way back to a growing economy. President Trump cut taxes across the board.
Fact checkers have noted that the first claim is false, and that even if it was true, it would make “sense” that it would have been the slowest since the Great Depression, since this was the “Great Recession” that that in no small the responsibility of the actions of the Bush administration, which piled-up massive debt because of misbegotten tax cuts and the endless Iraq War. In fact, the slowest recovery was from the 2001 recession, and the 2007-2008 recession would have been even more devastating without the Obama administration’s stimulus package. Oh, and by the way, has Pence suffered amnesia about the $3 trillion HEROS Act--which was a far greater infusion of cash to stem the highest rate of job losses than even during the Great Depressions? And it was needed in part due to the incompetence of the Trump administration’s pandemic response?
When Pence was obliged to address what the Trump healthcare “plan” was, this was his response:
Well. I hope we have a chance to talk about healthcare because Obamacare was a disaster, and the American people remember it well. And President Trump and I have a plan to improve healthcare and protect preexisting conditions for every American. But look, Senator Harris, you’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts. You yourself said on multiple occasions when you were running for president, that you would ban fracking. Joe Biden looked at a supporter in the eye and pointed and said, “I guarantee, I guarantee that we will abolish fossil fuels.”
First of all, a majority of Americans support the ACA, and those who have affordable healthcare coverage for the first time in their lives probably like it too; the ACA’s most vociferous opponents are those who just can’t live with the idea that it was a black president who was finally able to do something about a broken healthcare system that left tens of millions of people without health insurance. Harris’ comment that “There is a weird obsession that President Trump has had with getting rid of whatever accomplishment was achieved by President Obama and Vice President Biden” is absolutely true. We are still waiting for a Trump plan that guarantees affordable coverage for those with preexisting conditions; as I pointed out before, an executive order is not binding on health insurance companies.
Let’s also observe here that instead of answering the question about the MIA Trump “plan,” Pence went on a binge on a totally unrelated topic--about fracking. What the hell does fracking have to do with health care? Absolutely nothing, but it helps Pence avoid admitting that there is no “plan” to defend.
Then there was this about Trump’s environmental policy; Page asked Pence about the science of climate change, but not about the more pertinent question of the Trump administration;s massive gutting of environmental regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Super Fund.
Thank you, Susan. Well, first, I’m very proud of our record on the environment, on conservation. According to all of the best estimates, our air and land are cleaner than any time ever recorded. Our water is among the cleanest in the world. And just a little while ago, the president signed the Outdoors Act. It’s the largest investment in our public lands and public parks in 100 years. So President Trump has made a commitment to conservation and to the environment.
Most of that is unapologetic hyperbole without a shred of data to support it, and environmentalists have pointed out that the Trump administration has been undermining protection of public lands more than any administration since Reagan. The cynic will note that Trump only signed the Great Outdoors Act against the opposition of ranchers because of veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate, and to help two endangered Republican senators, Corey Gardner and Steve Daines.
Now with regard to climate change, the climate is changing, but the issue is what’s the cause and what do we do about it? President Trump has made it clear that we’re going to continue to listen to the science. Now Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would put us back in the Paris Climate Accord. They’d impose the Green New Deal, which would crush American energy, would increase the energy costs of American families in their homes, and literally would crush American jobs.
Pence is obviously taking voters for complete idiots. Trump has gone out of his way to banish science from entering into policy decisions, and not just in environmental issues but in regard to the pandemic. There have been calls for CDC Director Robert Redfield to resign because of his failure to resist political interference by the Trump administration in CDC policy directives. Everyone knows that, even Trump’s “base” expects that. Why doesn’t Pence know that? What does Pence do when there really isn’t any specific policy or rule that he can point to justify the claim that Trump respects science? He goes off on another tangent about a policy proposal that may or may not have long-term benefit for this country and the environment. Or he goes off on another related topic:
As I said, Susan, the climate is changing. We’ll follow the science. But once again, Senator Harris is denying the fact that they’re going to raise taxes on every American. Joe Biden said twice in the debate last week, that on day one, he was going to repeal the Trump tax cuts. Those tax cuts delivered $2,000 in tax relief to the average family of four across America.
Again, when Pence knows he has no leg to stand on, he just changes the subject, and lies about it. Biden has only said that he proposes tax increases for those making $400,000 or more. Those “tax cuts” for people making the median wage or less, they have only seen pennies saved a week, and much lower tax refunds. Pence then made this fanciful assertion:
We stood strong with our allies, but we’ve been demanding. NATO is now contributing more to our common defense than ever before thanks to President Trump’s leadership. We’ve strengthened our alliances across the Asia Pacific, and we’ve stood strong against those who would do us harm.
What he forgot to mention that our “friends”--outside of Israel--just don’t trust this country anymore. Polling among Europeans shows that less than 20 percent consider the U.S. under Trump a trustworthy ally to secure Western ideals and democratic interests in the world. Trump has preferred to cosy-up with dictators in Russia, Hungary, Turkey and North Korea (despite the exchange of “love letters,” the “art of the deal” hasn’t worked out there as planned). The U.S. is in fact in a weaker position to confront worldwide threats, because our natural allies simply do not like Trump and have no wish to bail him out after he has heaped contempt on them for so long. If anyone “fears” the U.S., it is out of concern about Trump’s next crazed turn that will undermine international security.
And I must tell you, this presumption that you hear consistently from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, that America is systemically racist, and that as Joe Biden said that he believes that law enforcement has an implicit bias against minorities is a great insult to the men and women who serve in law enforcement. And I want everyone to know who puts on the uniform of law enforcement every day, President Trump and I stand with you. And it is remarkable that when Senator Tim Scott tried to pass a police reform bill, brought together a group of Republicans and Democrats, Senator Harris, you got up and walked out of the room and then you filibustered Senator Tim Scott’s bill on the Senate floor that would have provided new accountability, new repeat resources. We don’t have to choose between supporting law enforcement, proving public safety and supporting our African-American neighbors and all of our minorities.
Believe me, if you are a minority in this country, it is always in the back of your mind what a police officer is up to when he or she happens to be in the vicinity. In my post of June 9, I described some of my “experiences” with police. In each one of those incidents, I am fairly certain that racial profiling was the principle motivating factor, because in no case was I doing anything to justify the “attention” I was given otherwise. It disgusts me when white elitists like Pence actually have the gall to pretend to know what it is like being a minority in this country.
In regard to Tim Scott’s “Justice Act,” it was a sham. It proposed to do nothing more than collect data, suggest but not require new training. It would not stop police from using choke holds or other potentially lethal means to “subdue” suspects. It also did not limit the use of “limited immunity,” which shields individual police officers from being sued for actions taken under the color of law; limiting its use would be a more effective deterrent from the use of such actions as choke holds leading to deadly results.
What we see here is that Pence is a slick liar. He has no real “authority” in making policy--his failure to “lead” in the White House’s COVID-19 “task force” is proof enough of that. Trump makes all the decisions based on what is “good” for him politically, and Pence’s only function is to be his loyal manservant and stay out of the way.
And that fly? Unlike those “undecided” voters, it knew from whom that bovine scatology was coming from.
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