What I'm Not Doing Tonight

I'm not watching the Presidential Debate…or at least, not watching it live. I figure that if God had wanted us to watch everything live, he wouldn't have invented TiVos, streaming services, Betamax or VHS, network websites, YouTube, etc. God did invent all that, didn't He? And I figure that if either candidate says anything really smart, you can count on their campaign to make sure I see it and if either candidate says anything really stupid, you can count on the opposition campaign to make sure I see it. Over and over and over and over and over…

The slugfest will be followed by various campaign allies telling you how their candidate obviously mopped the floor with the other candidate. I don't need to see that either. Later, I may take a spin around the Fact Checkers and see what truths and falsehoods most of them concur upon.

And what I'm really not going to do is watch the debate and hang on every answer and every rebuttal, wondering if that's the one that's gonna win us the election or cost us the White House. Given Americans' capacities for overlooking or denying bullshit from the person they've already decided to vote for, I doubt any one faux pas will decide this election. What was it the semi-retired pundit Michael Kinsley once said? "A gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth."

I agree with Kamala Harris on most issues. I disagree with Donald Trump on all issues and think he's a horrible excuse for a human being. What could possibly happen in this wrestling match being passed off as a "debate" to cause me to switch my vote? Trump would have to prove he's a different person than he's been for the last decade or more. Let me know if that happens.