Stone Age Chat
By John R. Stone
I missed the opening and early parts of the recent presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald J. Trump.
When I caught up on the debate, I was only able to watch about 15 minutes, so that was probably okay, because I knew if I watched the rest I would not be able to sleep that night.
What I saw was shocking: two older men in the schoolyard during recess talking to each other like nine-year-olds. Hardly presidential.
It was the part where President Biden said that some historians have concluded that Trump was the worst president in history, but he doesn't remember how many polls it took to reach that conclusion. Of course, Trump couldn't ignore that, and he responded that Biden is and always will be the worst president in history.
Two grown old men who could potentially be leaders of the free world within six months talking like kids on a playground. Unbelievable.
The next day newspapers ran coverage of the debate and fact-checks of what each man said, with both men getting their facts wrong – Trump was the clear winner, according to one report, making as many as 30 such statements.
Biden falsely claimed that no American soldiers had been killed during his term. Some publications say 13, others 16. Neither report mentioned soldiers who died in training accidents, who died just as quickly as soldiers killed by enemies of the nation, and whose families suffered just as much.
Trump exaggerated that taxes would quadruple under Biden (not sure if he meant four times). This is not true. Of course Trump (and Biden) failed to mention that the 2017 tax cuts favoring the wealthy expired in 2025 because they were not fully funded at the time. The extension to 2025 would mean that they would have expired at the end of Trump's second term had he been re-elected in 2020. If the tax cuts are not renewed, taxes will go up no matter who is president.
The next morning, while driving, I listened to Michael Smerconish on SiriusXM, who was interviewing a seasoned debate moderator to get his thoughts on the event, and the topic of fact-checking came up.
The debate moderator said that it is not his job to fact-check the debaters. A debater's job is to point out errors in the facts presented by their opponents. If the moderator began fact-checking as the debate progressed, the audience would sense a bias against the debaters, especially if one side told more falsehoods than the other.
In such a debate, each candidate is expected to tout their own accomplishments. They might even go so far as to say that their policies were the best ever or the most effective ever at solving a particular problem.
This one was a lot more personal. Biden pointed out that Trump is a convicted felon, which is true, but Trump then fired back, “You might be a convicted felon, too,” threatening that Trump would somehow get Biden convicted.
Smerconish pointed out another point: Wasn't Biden instructed to look at the camera at all times? Both men's faces were shown on a split screen, both when they were speaking and when they weren't. Trump was always looking at the camera, smiling and grinning. Biden was not, and he often looked very tired and old. The difference between the two was stark.
After the debate, some called for Biden to drop out of the presidential race. The next day, he held a rally and appeared more animated, but the image of him on Thursday night is hard to erase.
Nearly a year ago, I wrote that both Republicans and Democrats should be looking for younger, better candidates for the 2024 presidential election. Nothing in the debate or coverage of it has changed my mind.
I also sent a letter to my congressman the same day. I received a call from someone claiming to be a staff member who said they couldn't show the letter to Congressman Fischbach because it was a campaign issue. So I sent a letter to his campaign office on March 4th, but haven't heard anything there either.
