There, fixed it for you.
1 Like
One can have respect for the office without having any respect for the stooge who currently occupies the office. Respect is earned.
I can’t imagine Trump participating in a debate. There’s just WAY too much for his opponent (Biden or ??? (I’m not convinced yet it will be Biden)) to bring up in a formal debate process that Trump can’t answer in a thoughtful coherent way.
I know “Thoughtful and coherent” are not powerful words within his base… Still…
That makes little sense. He participated in debates in 2016 just fine based on results of the elections I’d say. The same evaluation of Trump’s chances vs. Hillary in debates was also made 4 years ago. Maybe not underestimating Trump should be a lesson learned at this point?
Plus empirical evidence elsewhere may suggest that being thoughtful may be a bit overrated these days. Look at Boris Johnson. The guy has always cultivated the image of being a brash clown, and outside of his recent COVID-19 experience, he’s done fairly well for himself. 
3 Likes
Well yeah. Stupid people can vote for stupid candidates. And the vast majority of people are complete idiots. That’s why the founding fathers put the electoral college there. (and similar representative steps within the political parties).
It’s supposed to be a check to prevent candidates that aren’t competent and block demagogues from being elected.
We’ve moved much closer to a direct democracy over the years. Which is good in many ways.
It’s true that he’s a clown, but I’ve heard him speak, and unlike Trump, he’s well spoken and not a complete moron. Apparently people liked him fine when he was mayor of London.
1 Like
The clown figure is a facade though. He’s from a wealthy family, went to Eton college (private boarding high-school at $60k/yr), studied at Oxford - a pretty selective college, was president of the Union there. If you find photos of him back then, he was the model for rich privileged silver-spooned kids completely out of sync with the rest of the population. He felt he had to break that image to be successful in politics. He deliberately ruffles his hair before any appearance on TV,… it’s all cultivated. He admitted in an interview that he plays the buffoon constantly so that people do not know when he actually knows his facts or when he doesn’t have a clue.
My point is sounding thoughtful and eloquent may not be a huge advantage if it makes you sound too much unlike voters and give the impression that you cannot relate to their issues.
3 Likes
This sort of thing is party dependent. If the allegations are against any Republican candidate then, sure, the press will turn that person into a reprobate. And any woman working for that person will be interviewed to death and challenged mercilessly.
But the rules are not the same if the offender is a Democrat. For Biden, after all, the event(s) happened MANY years ago. He was a different person back then. And most important, unlike with any Republican you can name, Biden is sensitive to a woman’s right to choose. So Biden must be cut some slack, if not forgiven outright. And any woman seeking to work with, dare I say “beneath”, Biden can be excused by the press and not challenged as she would be were Biden a Republican.
It’s the old double standard, alive and well in 2020 pandemic-infested America.
Biden is noticeably confused. Dems make jokes about keeping focus on subject. They don’t care. 
Sadly it seems like this is the familiar movie being played again. On the side of the “alleged” guilty party, it’s denial if at all plausible, questioning the credibility/character of the woman accuser, it’s dismissal (say locker room banter), different eras, old stuff, it’s whataboutism, etc… all to deflect attention until the news cycle turn to something else. On the opposite side, demonization, empathy and understanding for the victim, ignoring similar behavior in your own ranks, extreme outrage, claims of higher moral ground, etc …
Moral of the story - or lack thereof apparently - is both parties are chock full of old men who cannot keep their pants under check when given a measure of power and influence over others. And sadly, both parties will gladly continue to give them a pass, elect and re-elect them, forgive any transgression for expediency and the supposed greater good, when we should send them to jail and bar them from office forever.
This is a main reason for remaining independent. So you can keep calling it as it is when someone of either party commits crimes without being married to a party with reversible moral compass and being called a traitor if you don’t abdicate free will in favor of the party line.
1 Like
Trump’s reputation as a wealthy playboy and philanderer goes WAY, WAY back. Anyone who followed events in NYC even a little knew about all that stuff by 2016. It was no secret.
I prefer to judge Trump, or any President, by a different standard: How do they behave where women are concerned once having assumed office. And I’m not aware even of allegations of misbehavior by Trump since he was elected.
Persons elected to our highest office have an obligation to meet a very high standard. Obama did as far as we know, though the press would have protected him had anything been amiss. Trump has met the standard since 2016. Clinton did not meet the standard. But because he is a Democrat his gross misbehavior was tolerated and excused on the left . . . . even envied and admired by some of them.
LOL.
2 Likes
We are talking about illicit sexual relationships here.
Kindly state where you have seen allegations of Trump being unfaithful to Melania since he was elected to office in 2016. You know, as was the case with Clinton multiple times.
I’m aware of none.
1 Like
I’m also putting marital infidelities, paying for sex, and sexual assault at different levels of wrongdoing. Adultery while morally wrong, is not criminal in most states. In many jurisdictions, prostitution is illegal but not outright criminal (although some activities linked to it are). But rape (like Biden’s alleged act) is definitely criminal everywhere.
The issue with limiting judgement to what people did as president or vice president is that there is so much scrutiny on them that they’re less likely to misbehave. Take Biden, by the same measure, he did not misbehave (that we know of) during his years as VP. That doesn’t excuse prior behavior though.
But to each their own in terms of method for judging the morality of the candidates. As long as the same standard is applied for all. Sadly, that’s hardly ever the case, as shown in both the Biden case and the Kavanaugh case. And it probably won’t matter for the outcome of this election either as it did not for confirmation of a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.
On Obama and meeting the standard:
I believe President Obama was, and remains, faithful to Michelle. My only hesitation revolves around the fact that the American mainstream media would not be anxious to reveal any sort of infidelity on Obama’s part. This whereas they would rip Trump to shreds over even a HINT of any wrongdoing of this sort at Melania’s expense.
But back to Obama. I recall only two episodes during his presidency, and neither was really serious . . . not like Clinton. But there was one time, at the Mandela funeral, when Obama became fascinated with the President of Denmark, a good looking blonde woman. Michelle was seriously ticked off and it showed.
The other time was Obama with Kamala. He couldn’t hold in his admiration for her . . uh . . special qualities. Kamala is an attractive woman. But no way am I accusing Obama with doing anything inappropriate. Sure he might have been thinking of what he would like to do with Kamala. But that does not count.
Oh boy. I’m glad it doesn’t count otherwise my many fantasies about various actors would get me into hot waters with DH. LOL
2 Likes
I think the same standard could be applied to Senators, judges, etc, and anyone else who’s accountable to the public; being elected President is the relevant time frame for Trump simply because that’s the only public office he’s held. I’d think that Biden’s time as a Senator would be as relevant as his time as VP.
1 Like
Wait…is this maybe what the POTUS has been attempting to do? Dumbing it down?
Hey, congrats! You have found your candidate . . . somebody in the mold of your boy, Romney. 
You cling to losers like barnacles do to the hull of a ship. 
Wait wait, I nearly missed it:
You are citing CNN, yet another loser nobody with sense even watches. You raise losing to an art form.