Portrait of a steady decline!

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

The commander-in-chief's health plan: Our failing society's dumbness quotient has grown and grown and grown.

At some point, we'll amuse you with the history of basic cable. We'll recall the lofty goals with which certain well-known channels began, as compared to the low-IQ dreck these channels now put on the air.

That's one way to think about our growing dumbness quotient. Or you can consider what happened last night when Chris Wallace asked the commander in chief about his health care plan.

In the beginning, it seemed to make sense. Wallace started like this:

WALLACE (9/29/20): Mr. President, the Supreme Court will hear a case a week after the election in which the Trump Administration, along with 18 state Attorneys General are seeking to overturn Obamacare, to end Obamacare.

So far, it all made traditional sense. Then the interjections began:

TRUMP (continuing directly): That’s right.

WALLACE: You have spent the last week—

TRUMP: Because they want to give good health care.

WALLACE: If I may ask my question, sir.

Already, Wallace was struggling. And when he tried to continue, so did the interjections:

WALLACE (continuing directly): Over the last four years, you have promised to repeal and replace Obamacare, but you have never, in these four years, come up with a plan, a comprehensive plan, to replace Obamacare—

TRUMP: Yes I have. Of course I have. We got rid of the individual mandate—

WALLACE: Well— When I finish, I'm going to give an opportunity—

TRUMP: Excuse me. I got rid of the individual mandate, which was a big chunk of Obamacare.

The moderator was getting sidetracked again. Before long, he was begging for the chance to get his question out:

WALLACE (continuing directly): That's not a comprehensive plan.

TRUMP: That is absolutely a big thing. That was the worst part of Obamacare.

WALLACE: I didn't ask, sir

TRUMP: Chris, that was the worst part of Obamacare.

WALLACE: You're debating him, not me. Let me ask my question.

TRUMP: Well, I'll ask Joe! The individual mandate was the most unpopular aspect of Obamacare.

WALLACE: Mr. President—

TRUMP: I got rid of it. And we will protect people.

WALLACE: Mr. President, I'm the moderator of this debate, and I would like you to let me ask my question, and then you can answer.

TRUMP: Go ahead.

At this point, Wallace still apparently thought that he was the moderator. "Go ahead," his thick-headed companion now said.

With that, Wallace actually managed to ask a form of his question. He managed to get this much out, occasioning a sad reply

WALLACE (continuing directly): You, in the course of these four years, have never come up with a comprehensive plan to replace Obamacare, and just this last Thursday you signed a largely symbolic Executive Order to protect people with pre-existing conditions five days before this debate. So my question, sir, is what is the Trump healthcare plan?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, I guess I'm debating you, not him. But that's okay. I'm not surprised...

Poor Trump! Just as he insightfully said during one of the 2016 debates, he was being forced to debate the moderator as well as the other candidate!

At this point, Trump briefly rambled the countryside, tossing in insults directed at Biden. He managed to make an incoherent claim about drug prices.

"What about preconditions?" Wallace actually said at one point. Basically, though, the commander ignored him, and the moderator finally gave up.

Wallace had been trying to ask a fairly obvious question. Trump has been claiming to have a health care plan for years, but he just keeps failing to release or describe it.

Some within the realm of "fake news" have suggested that he may not have a health care plan at all! In theory, Wallace was trying to make Trump talk about that, but he was defeated by the interjections, the interruptions, and the general all-around dumbness.

Bravo was supposed to be all about the arts. Now it's about the real housewives.

Kennedy and Nixon once spoke at great length. Now our "debates" look like this!

And also, such dumbness as this: All the way back in 1999, Candidate Gore had that one earth-toned suit. 

Our nation's pod of upper-end journalists discussed it for several years!


39 comments:

  1. ma0 ma0 * VVV ,!, ,!,

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was not an interview, dear Bob. It was a debate.

    In a debate, dear Bob, the moderator is not supposed to harass the participants, like Mr Wallace is doing here. He is supposed to ask a generic question, listen politicians bullshitting, and then ask another generic question.

    This is how it's supposed to work, dear Bob. And the public (or, rather, those fools who bother to watch) are supposed to decide for themselves if the answer was satisfactory or not.

    Comprende, dear Bob?

    Besides, it's quite clear what the Commander was saying: his healthcare plan is to kill Obamacare, reduce the cost of drugs, and mandate the coverage of pre-existing conditions. You don't like it, dear Bob? Tsk, well, go complain to WHO.

    "tossing in insults directed at Biden"

    Hmm. Funny thing: I didn't watch it of course, but I read some reviews. And I have the impression that Rapist Joe was doing most of the insulting. With all the usual liberal-hitlerian swear-words.

    So, what insults were tossed at Rapist Joe, dear Bob, could you quote, please? Thanks a bunch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ешь говно, тролль.

      Delete
    2. Mao, peak Goebelsian spin from you - you're on your game today, and you didn't even watch it (of course) (probably because you rightfully dreaded experiencing POTUS' bizarre performance. If I might dare, I was under the impression that if the moderator asks a question, and the pol-debater (as happens most of the time) gives a non-responsive answer, the rules permit the moderator to at last take a stab at getting an answer that is responsive. And now I see that Trump does have a plan, more succinctly laid out by you. 1) kill Obamacare (which covers millions who can't otherwise get insurance); reduce the cost of drugs (by 90% according to him, though not sure why he hasn't done that already, seems quite simple); and "mandate" coverage of pre-existing conditions - though not clear if insurers will also be mandated not to jack up their prices because that). Goebbels, if from wherever in Hell he is, must be proud of you.

      Delete
    3. Dear dembot, what Mr Wallace does here, in dear Bob's quote, doesn't sound like a follow up to me, probably because dear Bob introduces it as "Wallace started like this".

      But even as follow-up it would definitely be way too much. A follow up to "please describe your healthcare plan" could be something like "...and what about the pre-existing conditions?"

      As for goebbelsian shit, in my opinion, "you signed a largely symbolic Executive Order", coming from the moderator is 100% goebbelsian, without a doubt. Of course I do realize that you, being a mostly brain-dead dembot, will disagree.

      The rest of your comment is a word-salad, I'm afraid. Let me know when your have something intelligible to say next time.

      Delete
    4. My dear demented Trumpbot. You didn't even watch the debate, probably because you were too chicken to confront how weird your idol is. Undeniably, you are simply an obsequious sycophant when it comes to our bizarro president. I don't know if you follow some of my other offerings on this site, but I agree with hardly anyone here, though I think TDH is often intelligent. Word salad - just paraphrasing your summary of our genius POTUS's health plan according to your translation of it.

      Delete
    5. Ah, Wallace couldn't even ask the question.

      Delete
  3. Trump wouldn't answer. How is that Wallace's fault? It isn't as if he didn't ask the question.

    Somerby manages to refer to fake news a few times and then he concludes that Wallace did something wrong. Trump ran out the clock talking about his "achievements" instead of addressing his lack of plan. Wallace did his job, but whatever a journalist does, it isn't right or isn't good enough for Somerby. Because Somerby's goal is to portray the media as fake news. Just like Trump does, and just like conservatives do (all except Fox of course).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I am not sure what Wallace could have done with the 270lbs toddler screaming "yes, I did".

      Delete
    2. Whack Trump up the side of his head with a tire iron. If ratings are important to him.

      Delete
  4. Wallace said his goal was to be invisible. He failed in this goal.

    -- He failed by arguing with Trump.

    -- He failed by including statements of disputed facts in his questions.

    -- He failed in his initial question: demanding to know Trump's taxes paid in two particular years. Wallace knew that Trump had chosen not to reveal those figures. Making that his first question was a low blow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Somerby just quoted the passage where Wallace attempted to ask a question and was constantly interrupted? Did that confuse you?

      Trump could release his tax returns. If they contradict what the NY Times reported, then that will be settled. As it stands now, the NY Times account is the account of record and presumed correct.

      Delete
    2. "where Wallace attempted to ask a question"

      He wasn't asking a question; what he did was launching a long-winded attack: "you have promised to repeal and replace Obamacare, but you have never, in these four years, come up with a plan, a comprehensive plan", blah, blah, blah.

      That's not moderator's job, that's dembot's job.

      Instead, he should've said: 'please describe your healthcare proposal'. End of story.

      Delete
    3. Is that how it works? If he doesn't want to reveal it, don't ask him? Really?

      Delete
    4. Yeas, really. If he doesn't want to reveal it, the public will see that he doesn't want to reveal it. And the opponent -- the opponent, not the moderator -- is free to point that out.

      Again, this is not an interview; it's a debate.

      Delete
    5. I'll take it one by one for you, and will type slowly, so that you can follow along.
      "you have promised to repeal and replace Obamacare". Yes, as a matter of a plain fact he did. Wallace did nothing but restate a Trump's promise here.
      "...but you have never, in these four years, come up with a plan, a comprehensive plan". That's another statement of plain fact, as a comprehensive plan does not exist. If it does, feel free to link to it.
      His healthcare proposal should have already existed in a written form. He should have already made attempts to implement it. Again, for the slow ones: It. does. Not. Exist.

      Delete
    6. Ilya - yes, the words you quote are absolutely a valid criticism of President Trump. However, it's not the moderator's job to criticize either candidate. Their opponent can do that, and they sure did.

      Also, Wallace was not impartial in his choice of issues IMHO. Wallace chose not to criticize Biden for his son's apparent influence peddling, nor did Wallace even make that an issue.

      Delete
    7. David -- Healthcare has been front and center in the last seven presidential debates. So, of course, it comes up. And Wallace did not criticize Trump; he just stated Trump's promise in 2016. And it's not like Trump has tried and failed to do something. He just never gave enough of a fuck to even try.
      If Hunter were running for president, it would be an appropriate question. On the other hand, Wallace didn't bring up Trump extorting Ukraine to him a "favor" and investigate Hunter -- and getting impeached for it. That certainly was a germane question.

      Delete
    8. "... the words you quote are absolutely a valid criticism ...."

      It was an accurate, unvarnished statement of fact that republican, pearl-clutching slobs like you call criticism. Your aggrieved whine is duly noted.

      Delete
    9. So much BS. All the federal judge appointments left for trump to congratulate himself on making because effing McConnell held Obama’s appointments up. Democrats failed to lower drug prices even though McConnell republicans in the senate routinely voted down bills proposed to allow Medicare to negotiate them, strictly on party lines. So peddle your crap elsewhere about how unfair the habitual liar had it, cause we’re not buying it.

      Delete
    10. @6:58 PM

      He didn't 'just state Trump's promise in 2016'. He was spinning, contextualizing in the obviously hostile Orange Man Bad manner.

      He called the executive order "largely symbolic". No one asked for his opinion of the executive order.

      He said "you have never, in these four years, come up with a plan, a comprehensive plan". No one asked him to opine on what is 'comprehensive' and what isn't, and he doesn't know what The Commander has or hasn't "come up with".

      Again, to act as a moderator, you'd ask 'please describe your healthcare plan', and let the public judge the answer.

      He was helping Rapist Joe to survive the debate, that's all.

      Incidentally, that was probably what The Commander wanted, anyhow. Apart from demonstrating, once again, the goebbelsian M.O. of the establishment, it gave him the opportunity to act aggressively, to dominate the scene. So, no worries.

      Delete
    11. can i watch

      Delete
  5. Joseph Cannon:

    "It was clear to me that the president was on...something.

    Adderall seems a likely guess. Methamphetamine. Have you ever had to deal with a crazed meth-head? It can be terrifying.

    That's what I saw last night: Not only was Trump a motor-mouthed maniac, he fidgeted uncontrollably when Chris Wallace tried to admonish him. Excess currents of electricity zoomed through Trump's system, causing his face to jerk and his muscles to spasm. The dude was wired. And weird."

    ReplyDelete
  6. From Rude Pundit:

    "Trump barreled over Biden, saying, "I don’t know Beau. I know Hunter. Hunter got thrown out of the military. He was thrown out dishonorably discharged." (He was administratively discharged, which is very different and also shows how Trump understands jackshit about the military.)"

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is what debate analysis should be:

    http://yastreblyansky.blogspot.com/2020/09/keep-yapping-man.html#more

    Not this crap that Somerby writes.

    ReplyDelete
  8. After spending nearly 300 days in his first term on a golf course, at the last minute before midnight Trump issues a proclamation about pre existngs that has no teeth (senate approval) and is redundant to a pre existing law. The price of insulin is now equivalent to water except that it isn’t and hasn’t changed significantly. Effing liar. The questions must have seemed tough for a guy used to calling a mental status test that included identifying the silhouette of a zoo animal difficult. It is one thing if an organization of right wing racist antisemetic extremists decides to endorse you. It’s an entirely different thing when you publicly give them a shout out on an international platform. This idiot and a slew of his down ticket enablers who have no way of denouncing this are cooked. Midterms all over again. Kamala Harris will have all the necessary follow up questions for Pence about his boss, and that will be the nail.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This will ease your mind a bit. Also he can always cash-in like the Clintons and the Bidens.

      https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-donald-trump-new-york-san-francisco-archive-4475833ffad7162a460374f695786f27

      Delete
    2. No, not really Dixie. Unfortunately he would need more than a 3rd grade education to write books and make speeches from his prison cell.

      Delete
    3. Rubes like Cecelia and DavidinCal will be first in line to buy their Trump Bonds.

      Delete
  9. I can't believe a Republican cozied up to white supremacists, said no thinking person.

    ReplyDelete
  10. There will be plenty of time to talk about the hundreds of millions of dollars of personal debt that the brilliant businessman has due next year and how it could influence his unilateral policy decisions, if it has not done so already. Example: deserting the Kurds was the act of someone without any respect for that alliance or their sacrifice. It was shameful. Maybe Trump considered them losers like so many others. Maybe deserting our allies comes naturally to him. Or maybe there are incentives that came into play involving his debt and its repayment. I am not sure which is worse. Trump, the money laundering Deutsche Bank, and the Russian mob oligarchs they deal with routinely. What an interesting trifecta.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Incidentally the idea Trump floated that pharmaceutical companies are holding up developing and distributing a vaccine is quaint and shows zero understanding of how the free market works. Being first to market with a safe vaccine constitutes a windfall. Trump and the republican failure at addressing pharmaceutical prices over the last four years would put them in a favored position with the pharmaceuticals. Of course it’s all BS. That’s all he has. But he peddles it to less than bright base members, many of who have other agendas involving race, white privilege, xenophobia etc and whose constant attention to Fox makes them less than honestly educated about the issues.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Right wingers trying to defend the indefensible, those are the readers left to Bob. Trump needs to observe the agreed upon rules, or escorted out on the next debate. Another thing that happened over the years Bob, is that your readers who aren’t morons got frustrated and left. A few of us tried to save you from yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I want to thank Dr Emu a very powerful spell caster who help me to bring my husband back to me, few month ago i have a serious problem with my husband, to the extend that he left the house, and he started dating another woman and he stayed with the woman, i tried all i can to bring him back, but all my effort was useless until the day my friend came to my house and i told her every thing that had happened between me and my husband, then she told me of a powerful spell caster who help her when she was in the same problem I then contact Dr Emu and told him every thing and he told me not to worry my self again that my husband will come back to me after he has cast a spell on him, i thought it was a joke, after he had finish casting the spell, he told me that he had just finish casting the spell, to my greatest surprise within 48 hours, my husband really came back begging me to forgive him, if you need his help you can contact him with via email: Emutemple@gmail.com or add him up on his whatsapp +2347012841542 is willing to help any body that need his help.

    ReplyDelete
  14. BLESSINGS BE ON TO YOU ALL. THANKS TO GOD FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR ME FOR USING DOCTOR RAZOR TO HEAL ME OF MY HERPES INFECTION WITH HIS QUICK CURE FOR HERPES. I have read so much on Herpes Simplex virus. I hear of reaching clearance, I hear of no cure, I hear of recurrent lesions, poor immune system, poor diet, etc. I just do not know what to believe. I have visited many web pages that seem to sell you their version of removing or enforcing the immune system. Then I hear all the info on therapeutic vaccines as well as prophylactic vaccines and wonder how can that even help me. And I feel so worthless, Glad i came across Doctor Razor article on how to heal HSV forever. Words can describe how grateful I am. Endless Gratitude to doctor Razor for helping me get rid of my Herpes Virus Ever since being infected November 13, 2016 . Reach him on his clinic email drrazorherbalhome@gmail.com
    Whatsapp His cell phone on +2349065420442 , Website : https://herbalistrazorherb.wixsite.com/drrazorherbalhome

    ReplyDelete
  15. I want to testify on how I got cured from Herpes. I have been living with this disease for the past 11 months, i have done all i can to cure this disease but all my efforts proved abortive until i met an old friend of mine who told me about a herbal doctor called Dr Oniha, she told me that Dr Oniha have cure for all kinds of diseases, though i never believed in it because my believe was that there is no cure for Herpes disease. But I decided to give it a try when I contacted Dr Oniha, he told me he has a cure for herpes that he cured with herbal medicine. I order for the herbal medicine, which Dr Oniha sent to me through a courier service which i make use of and now behold the herpes is gone and i now have my life back,if you are out there living with this disease i will like you to also contact Dr Oniha and get this disease cured out of your body. I am a living testimony of Dr Oniha herbal cure. Thanks once again Dr Oniha for you are God sent. contact Dr oniha through his contact information.
    Email:drjohnsonlovespellcaster997@gmail.com
    Whatsapp number: +2347057052206

    ReplyDelete

  16. LOTTO, lottery,jackpot.
    Hello all my viewers, I am very happy for sharing this great testimonies,The best thing that has ever happened in my life is how I win the lottery euro million mega jackpot. I am a Woman who believe that one day I will win the lottery. finally my dreams came through when I email believelovespelltemple@gmail.com and tell him I need the lottery numbers. I have spend so much money on ticket just to make sure I win. But I never know that winning was so easy until the day I meant the spell caster online which so many people has talked about that he is very great in casting lottery spell, . so I decide to give it a try.I contacted this great Dr Believe and he did a spell and he gave me the winning lottery numbers. But believe me when the draws were out I was among winners. I win 30,000 million Dollar. Dr Believe truly you are the best, all thanks to you forever

    ReplyDelete
  17. Aw, this was a really nice post. In idea I would like to put in writing like this additionally – taking time and actual effort to make a very good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and by no means seem to get something done.

    Hotify.net
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete