There was an aspect of the debate I didn’t put focus on too much. It seemed like damage control from the Dems when I heard it, but it’s true. Donald Trump comported himself well, for a while. But he lied. I mean, he ONLY lied. And the longer the debate went on, the more he started getting agitated and showing more, well, Trump. I’m sure MAGA loved it.

It’s hard to blame them. Had Biden won, I would have been happy, too. Trump played the tough guy and he lied about everything. He had the best lies, the biggest lies, the easiest lies. It’s all hyperbole, all the time with him. Everything he did was the biggest, the best ever, the “super-de-duperist.” (You can imagine what “duperist” is doing to my spellcheck.) Meanwhile, Biden was the worst, the least, and the failed. Every word of that, especially in hyperbole, is exactly backwards.

Trump’s presidency was a train wreck. He inherited an economy humming along from the Obama administration. His tariffs started damaging that economy very quickly. He severely damaged American Soy farmers, like, the entire group, with his tariffs. People who once bought from American farmers just started buying elsewhere and the American farmers were reduced to receiving government checks to stay afloat.

There’s no telling where the damage would have ended except his dismantling of the pandemic response team – another moronic move – left the country vulnerable just as Covid-19 was rearing it’s ugly head. Every President faces challenges. I don’t blame Trump for the existence of Covid-19 in the first place. I can’t see him wearing a white lab coat and splicing genes. But he bears FULL responsibility for the miserable handling of the pandemic. Over a million Americans died – more than the American Civil War – and the economy basically flat-lined.

Trump said during the debate that when he left office, there was no inflation, a near-truth but a misrepresentation nonetheless. Biden had a great line for him. Of course there was no inflation. The economy Biden inherited was on it’s back. Trump’s actual record is one of failure and destruction and damage to Americans.

MAGA would challenge all of that, by the way. They’ve been told something different by their media and they believe what they’re told. To hear them tell it, the US was a dystopian hellscape under Obama. Then, on January 21, 2017, the US suddenly and magically became a utopian paradise with everybody happy, the economy buzzing along, success at every turn. Quite simply, life was perfect in every way for every person. Then, sadly, on January 21, 2021, right back to the hellscape. It’s stupid, but they believe it.

The Biden I wish had been present for the debate, instead showed up in North Carolina the next day at a rally where he knocked it out of the park. The Dems, as predicted, are going with their guy, absolutely gutting any enthusiasm anyone might have for getting out there and voting. They have excused the poor debate performance and continue to insist Biden is the guy. The thing about that poor debate performance is that Biden really DID seem to be having “old man” problems. At BEST, one can suggest that he does okay most of the time but occasionally gets stuck in senior moments.

But Trump is Trump is Trump. Trump cares about Trump. Period. Based on things I’ve heard, Trump absolutely despises his base but he tells them he loves them (“I love the poorly educated!”) and that’s what they want to hear. Well, that and easy answers. That seems to be a key element in the MAGA “mind,” easy answers. And Trump gives them that in spades.

As far as MAGA is concerned, there ARE no complex problems. Everything can be fixed to their liking easily. They just need the right tough-talking blowhard in there to do it. A guy so sure of himself, he’ll fix the problems without even thinking about the problems. Of course, one rarely fixes complex problems with easy answers but Trump tells them he can do it and they want to believe he can do it so they continue to support him, even after he proved he CAN’T do it. (MAGA just ignores that part…)

That’s an advantage for Trump. He knows he never has to actually DO anything. He needs to be returned to the Oval to avoid prosecution for his crimes, so he tells MAGA anything they want to hear. The lies are lies MAGA likes so they believe him. But his goal is only to get elected, not to serve America. Once in office, MAGA will be yesterday’s news and Trump will be free to serve himself.

Despite all the blather, blather, whining and blather we hear from Trump at his rallies, he HAS laid out policy positions and by every credible account, he is going to be a disaster for the US like nothing we’ve ever seen before, not even from his previous vile and failed maladministration. Trump plans to out-Trump Trump. If he gets the chance, everyone not rich suffers. Everyone. EVEN MAGA.

I’m not particularly surprised by the extremes of the right anymore but I’m quite disappointed by the Dems and their detachment from reality in their loyalty to such an old, possibly senile candidate. The ONE LINE I hear from everyone I talk to on the subject is, “Is this REALLY the best America has to offer?” But listen, we KNOW a president can be effective with dementia. We’ve already seen that movie in Ronald Reagan. If the worst that can be said (truthfully) about Biden is that he MAY be in decline, I’m STILL going with him. Because the BEST that can be said about Trump is that he will destroy this once-great nation, once and for all.

Donald J. Trump is a direct threat to the United States of America and the agenda these guys have in place promises to be cruel and destructive to the vast majority of Americans. Yes, even MAGA. (Possibly, especially MAGA, when one considers the niche they occupy.) The Dems could do better, should do better. But the MAGAGOP could NOT do any worse.

So my advice for Americans? Don’t compare Biden to some perfect candidate. Compare Biden to the alternative. Even if it’s true Biden has senior moments, he has things going quite well, considering what he inherited from the failures of the previous guy. He’s been working to make life better for all Americans. The alternative? All HE can think of is revenge and destruction and he’s excited about the possibility of being able to carry it out…