Presidential Debates: 9/26/16

I have strong memories of the 1960 Presidential debates, when the telegenic Kennedy outshone Richard Nixon and his five o'clock shadow.  I don't think these debates have much value in helping to decide for whom to vote, nor do I do I think the Libertarian and Green Party candidates should have been left out simply because they failed to poll some arbitrary number.  And though I don't think we need any more proof that Trump is a sleazy con man and serial dissembler, we got it anyway last night.

1. Yes, he was sued for discrimination against African-Americans in the housing market, but then, as he said, so were a lot of other people (as though that makes it okay).

2. Yes, he has called women "pigs" but some of them, especially Rosie O'Donnell, deserved it. When he was asked why he thought Clinton did not "look like a President" he sidestepped the question and said he thought she did not have the stamina.

3.  Trump claimed he convinced Obama to produce his birth certificate but offered no reason why he continued for another five years after it was produced it to claim that Obama was not American-born.

4.  He continues to state that if you walk down the street in an African-American neighborhood you will be shot and says we need "law and order" without any description of what that means.  He did not respond to Clinton's suggestion that we improve our justice system and limit incarceration.

5.  He says "hundreds, thousands" of manufacturers are relocating to other countries and we should bring them back, though he has no idea how to accomplish that other than keeping them from leaving in the first place, though he doesn't know how to do that either.

And so on.  I did like the TV format of almost always showing both candidates, no matter who was speaking, so we got to see Trump constantly muttering about everything Clinton said and were spared shots of the moderator and the audience.  The debate was unfortunately very short on specifics, though Clinton did mention college debt and free tuition, as well as equal pay for equal work, a higher minimum wage and family leave, while Trump blustered about Mexico and China, offering only to cut regulations so that businesses could pollute as much as they wanted to .