Its just words, folks.
So said Donald Trump as he fought for his demented and dwindling political life in last nights presidential debate.
Short of exposing Hillary Clinton as the devil incarnate and he tried!
Credit: Rick Wilking-Pool/Getty Images
This isnt an election anymore, people.
Its an impeachment a vote to deny office, not grant one.
His egregious banter with Bush, he explained with weary condescension, was mere locker room talk.
In one hysterical moment, he tried to do both things at once.
His crazy cross-cutting and queasy juxtapositions undermined both his narratives, and his transparent manipulations and evasions were exasperating.
Trumps threat to put a political opponent in prison was both alarming and laughable.
Her assailants court-appointed lawyer was Hillary Clinton.
It was a stunning low even for Trump.
Was he also trying to rattle Clinton, too?
Regardless, he wound up objectifying them and demeaning them all over again.
It was part Barnumesque humbug, part psychological terrorism, all terrible.
What he didnt take a stab at do was position himself as an exemplar of GOP Christian values.
The debate was presented in the form of a town hall.
Clinton and Trump were surrounded by a group of undecided voters (such creatures actually exist?
on a small stage.
The candidates had very different strategies for engaging these citizens.
Cooper and Raddatz fought a valiant fight trying to keep the candidates focused and the crowd behaved.
The debate was a hermeneutical nightmare.
How are we supposed to know what were supposed to know?
Not through this debate, thats for sure.
But his resentment at being judged was apparent, and his usual biliousness couldnt be cloaked.
Expressed through a cooler persona, Trump radiated a pretentious and contemptuous affect.
He wandered the stage when he wasnt speaking, sometimes slowly circling his chair, listening, smirking.
His best media form is a product of careful editing.
Fitting that he should be undone by something found on the cutting room floor.
Apparently, theres another debate in nine days.
Can we just vote already and be done with this damn mess?
