I mentioned this in the covid thread, but anyway the teeny-tiny plexiglass halfmoons they were using as "safety precautions" for the VP debate are a bad joke.
We'll probably watch here, though it'll depend on how my wife's day went. She had to reduce two employees' hours yesterday -- one to 0 from a few, and one from 25 to 15. So we'll see how much of the world we can handle.
I'm going past "bad joke" into "actively harmful to public health", in that they reinforce the early impressions that cheap, easy barrier, cleaning, and distance interventions are effective and expensive, disruptive interventions like not sharing indoor spaces, HVAC HEPA filtering, etc. aren't necessary.
There was a report in a NZ paper that 71 folks caught it from an elevator used by a carrier.
It's so f'ing stupid that they're not just doing it remotely. Did anyone even float that? I haven't seen anything.
Superspreader driven pandemics are so bizarre. How is it possible that one person spread it to 71 people by riding an elevator alone, but that the average person only spreads it to fewer than 3 people?
Stop assuming a normal distribution.
It's utterly absurd that they're doing this in person. I'm watching with three of the sobrino/as and plenty of ice cream.
I did end up watching the entirety of the last one, which was unbearably awful, but only because I was with all six of the older sobrino/as and they wanted to watch. It was pretty hard to explain to young people. On the plus side, the last four years have radicalized them so much that I have high hopes for the future of our democracy. Assuming we can hang on to it for the next few years.
I'm worried that this will be considered a win for the Trump team just because Pence will look more sane than Trump.
Pence looks pretty insane with his swollen eye.
So far I'm liking this moderator. She's describing the Rose Garden event and then asking Pence: How can you expect the American people to follow Covid restrictions when you yourself have not been doing so?
Pence needs to shut up after 2 minutes. Both of them, but he's worse.
Why can't the moderator cut the mikes? I remember a line from 2004 or 2008 about it, why was that dropped from the moderators' arsenals??? Pence and Harris are more self-spoken than Trump and Biden so this doesn't remind me of toddlers as much as getting smothered.
If Pence says "the American people" one more time...argh.
And Pence is already barrelling past time limits. He's got this tic of constantly referring to the moderator by her first name. I'm not sure why they scripted him that way.
The in-person part is ridiculous. Even worse is the live audience.
14: they would not agree to allowing the moderator to turn off the microphones.
Yes, she's doing a much better job. There was a heavy emphasis in the introduction about time without interruption, and they've been decent.
Pence: "Stop playing politics with people's lives" (re: vaccines). We burst out in startled laughter.
I have yet to hear Pence make a true statement.
This snaky motherfucker, I swear to god.
I wish Harris would just answer the question about disability.
Yes, me too. Neither was willing to answer about presidential disability.
It's very annoying that they're both pretending that presidential disability isn't an issue. Ages 74 and 78. Even without Covid that's absurd. We should be talking about what the Plans B, C, and D are.
She sure left a lot of his lies hanging out there about the swine flu.
22: or apparently whether the doctors should be more transparent about Trump's health.
24: oh, yeah.
Pence: He's a businessman and a job creator. For one minute, I wished that Mike Bloomberg was on that stage opposite Pence.
Interesting run by KH, from transparent taxes to actually answering the question about the president's health.
Harris got the $750 taxes line in. And he's $400 million in debt. "When we say in debt, it means 'you owe money to.'" It's annoying that she was pivoting off of the health issue to talk about transparency more broadly, but it's impressive that she got such easy-to-understand sound bites in.
I'm honestly pleased that she's hammering away on the 2017 tax bill. I feel like the level of rage that bill deserves has not nearly been met.
I have no idea how the mainstream audience is reacting to Harris's smooth, polished disdain for Pence's interruptions, but I appreciate it.
You're a white woman in a swing state. That's who they want to reach.
It sure would be nice if the Biden/Harris had some nice strong environmental policies she could stand up for instead of whatever the fuck "Joe Biden will Not Ban Fracking" is.
There was a minor earthquake this morning out in the part of the state with all the fracking. It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
It's genuinely bemusing to me that Pence and Trump are so obsessed with "forest management," which clearly doesn't actually include anything that any reasonable forester or arborist would recommend.
Pennsylvania forests are in rough shape. I suppose related to global warming, insect-created die-offs are becoming a real problem. And not just for scenery, but if you want to camp without worrying about dying in the night from a dead tree.
They don't care about me. I'm so far outside their target demographic that I'm a rounding error. And frankly they *shouldn't* care about me. They need to win mainstream voters, not people like me.
Pence just keeps bullying past the time limits again and again. So obnoxious.
Pence: "China IS to blame for the corona virus."
From the living room floor, where they are playing with Perler beads, a chorus of children's voices: No it's not!
The kids are all right.
I know my nerves wouldn't take it, so I'm only watching here.
He's coming off like an entitled asshole speaking over both women but it's preventing Harris from addressing the onslaught of lies. That's what Pence did to Kaine in 2016.
So the moderator says Harris can't take so long to respond because Pence took twice as long as he should have.
To my ear, Harris is expertly navigating the tightrope of being firm but clear, while Pence interrupts her, condescendingly and repeatedly calls the moderator "Susan," and barrels past time limits. But who knows, maybe most the
It's absolutely maddening that the moderator is SO ill-prepared for dealing with Pence's interruptions. I've moderated a few billion panels in my time and even I know that you need to have practiced ad nauseum until you were ready to step in and redirect on a dime. She is letting him run away with things.
...maybe most of the public hears Harris as hectoring or whatever sexist verb. Who knows. I have no finger on the pulse of public opinion.
To my ear, Harris is expertly navigating the tightrope of being firm but clear, while Pence interrupts her, condescendingly and repeatedly calls the moderator "Susan," and barrels past time limits.
Agreed, though Harris is calling her "Susan," as well, just not nearly as often.
It's absolutely maddening that the moderator is SO ill-prepared for dealing with Pence's interruptions. I've moderated a few billion panels in my time and even I know that you need to have practiced ad nauseum until you were ready to step in and redirect on a dime. She is letting him run away with things.
Word. If they don't start giving moderators mute buttons there's just no point.
45: Well Frank Luntz and his panel of utter morons undecided voters appear to be bothered by her reaction facial expressions.
Possibly there's no point anyway. What a "undecided" voter could possibly be thinking that would require more information, I can't even begin to guess.
I will say that Harris is super well prepped with good lines that cut to the chase on things that lower-information voters might not have fully grasped. You can tell she's practiced in how to frame things for a jury. "If you're under 26 and you're on your parents' insurance, they're coming for you." She's hitting hard on the ACA.
And her gleeful reaction when Pence trotted out his Supreme Court history lesson was hilarious.
"And furthermore, Susan, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that every one of them smoked Marijuana cigarettes!"
It was there for at least 30 seconds. That's the story of the debate.
Trump probably smells like death and it rubs off.
Sorry. Trump smells like death and it probably rubs off.
This moderator is shit. At least point out that Pence didn't answer the question about conceding either. And now she's ending with a both sides question.
BTW conjunctivitis is one of the inflammatory symptoms of Covid. Of course there are many other causes but come on it's obvious that fucker Pence is diseased.
It's probably just that he like to stick his eye in fresh human feces.
32: I saw it clocked as 2 minutes 23 seconds. Get yours today.
Biden still owe me a hat, two t-shirts, and a couple of pins.
Trump supporters claimed a conspiracy when Biden's rapid response team had an ad up within hours after the report of Trump calling veterans losers. So I look forward to them claiming that Harris trained the fly to land on Pence because they're selling flyswatters minutes after the debate.
Another word for it is "logging."
He's in the pocket of Big Rake.
Has the Biden campaign publicly said that they're keeping Biden and Harris apart? They've both had potential exposures.
Trump is not willing to do the next debate unless there's a chance to infect Biden.
I'm sure middle america will be sympathetic with trump's unwillingness to go on zoom for work.
Except for the fact that this money would benefit DJT, I would like one of these. I expect they'll sell out if he worsens next week.
https://www.whitehousegiftshop.com/product-p/trump-defeats-covid.htm
This one is sold out, even though the design isn't by clip-art master Tony Giannini
https://www.whitehousegiftshop.com/product-p/covid-heroes.htm
66 - doesn't benefit trump, but it does go to a "charitable" fund that provides more guns to cops so yeah no.
https://www.whitehousegiftshop.com/aboutus.asp
|| What the fuck is all this about kidnapping the Governor of Michigan? |>
Tea-leaf reading, but I feel like if Trump thought the DOJ and appendages had a Big Plan to disrupt or ratfuck the elections, he would not this morning be snapping at Barr, Wray, and Pompeo on the air.
Of course that doesn't rule out plans he's not in the loop on, or less centralized ratfucking.
Federalism has many weaknesses, and I don't know whether one should call local control of elections a strength or a weakness. But it sure makes the Big Plan complicated.
Maybe the October surprise will be Trump firing Barr because he won't indict HRC. How far down the ranks at DOJ do you have to go to get a Bork? Durham doesn't seem to be getting the job done . . .
Certainly, if you had a Big Plan, Trump would be just about the last person you'd tell.
Even if the Big Plan is to stop advertising in places like Arizona and Ohio, and instead find ways to get the money to the Trump Organization.
There are just so few Trump commercials here. It's really been great for my mood.
Melania has started funding movies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z64XvPERZ50
There are just so few Trump commercials here.
I can't say that unfortunately. I've seen them here in Northern Virginia. The DC area market isn't a great target except that there is one person who wants to see these ads.