"Bread and circuses" vs. "a debate"

September 10, 2024

On Tuesday night, ABC will run an entertainment program billed as a “debate.” The notion that the event will be a “debate” in any meaningful sense is fatuous. A debate involves two parties discussing opposing views of the facts. On Tuesday, one party will be unbounded by the truth. If the past is prologue, 100% of the words spoken by Trump will be lies, and that includes the words “a,” “the,” and “and.”

There is no meaningful way for Kamala Harris to engage with a compulsive, shameless liar on the merits of contested policies. Trump doesn’t know what the contested policies are, much less the arguments supporting and against the policies. He is immune to logic. He will engage in personal attacks when Kamala Harris addresses substance in a way that “sounds” to Trump as if he is losing.

And yet, the media will judge the “bread and circuses” spectacle as if it were a debate. Since the rules of logic and persuasion cannot be applied to a pathological liar, the media will apply them to Kamala Harris alone—making any judgment about who “won” or “lost” the debate a nonsensical exercise, like asking how many oranges it takes to land on Mars.

Worse, because there will be no way to compare the substance of the answers from Harris and the lies from Trump, commentators will focus on the shiny objects that are the lifeblood of television: Appearances. How did the candidates “appear?” Did they appear “presidential?” Did they appear “aggressive?” Or angry?—A judgment commentators will reserve only for the Black female candidate. Or shrill?--A judgment commentators will reserve only for the female candidate.

You get the point. It makes little sense to watch the event on ABC as “a debate.” From Kamala Harris’s perspective, it is an opportunity to speak directly to millions of Americans who do not feel as though they know her well enough to vote for her. It will be a worthwhile effort if she can give viewers a sense of who she is as a person.

Whether the debate moderators or the media will hold Trump accountable for his lies is beyond our control, so don’t invest time or energy worrying about whether they will act as journalists or gossip columnists.

---

Lawrence O’Donnell’s “must watch” critique of the NYTimes

On Monday evening, Lawrence O’Donnell critiqued the NYTimes’ effort to correct its “sane-washing” of Trump's lies. As noted by O’Donnell, the Times described Trump's claim that a tariff is a “tax on foreign nations” as a “dubious proposition.”

Trump's assertion is universally rejected by economists. A tariff is not a tax on foreign nations but a sales tax paid by US consumers designed to drive up the cost of foreign goods and make them less competitive in the US market.

There is no sense in which tariffs are a tax on foreign nations—and the Times knows (or should know) that there is nothing “dubious” about that fact. It is a bald-faced lie.

It is worth ten minutes of your time to understand just how deeply the NYTimes has gone down the Trumpian rabbit hole of illogic. I promise you will not regret this investment of your time: The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell 9/9/24 (Start the video at 0:00; somehow, I can’t force the link to start at that point.)

---

The GOP is a voter suppression machine

Republicans currently control the House—by a few votes. One of the major functions of the House is to originate spending bills that fund government operations. Rather than performing their basic function as stewards of the fiscal operation of the government, Republicans are attempting to use the most recent “must pass” government funding bill to imposes a national voter suppression rider.

The rider, known as Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, imposes national “proof of citizenship” requirements. National voting eligibility has worked for 240 years without a “proof of citizenship” requirement at registration and there has been no uptick in voter fraud based on fraudulent claims of US citizenship. The SAVE Act is based on the same old Republican scaremongering designed to make it more difficult for the elderly, Black citizens, young voters, and disabled citizens to register.

Research by The Brennan Center for Justice, VoteRiders, and other organizations demonstrated that “more than 9 percent of American citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, don’t have proof of citizenship readily available.” See Brennan Center for Justice, Millions of Americans Don’t Have Documents Proving Their Citizenship Readily Available.

The good(?) news is that, as usual, Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to pass a six-month continuing resolution with the SAVE Act rider isn’t going to pass. Speaker Mike Johnson’s government funding plan already crumbling with at least 6 GOP no votes | CNN Politics. The bad news is that the House will likely jam the federal government into a spending crisis before averting a shutdown at the last moment.

The point is that the House GOP caucus is taking advantage of its core function of passing budgets to shoehorn in a voter suppression bill that addresses a non-existent problem while imposing significant obstacles to the voting rights of Black Americans, the elderly, young voters, and disabled voters. The GOP can best be described as a voter suppression machine whose only purpose is to perpetuate its death grip on power. We can break that grip in November by electing Kamala Harris.

---

JD Vance spreads racist internet rumors

In a dark corner of the internet, a basement dwelling troll started a false rumor that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were stealing and eating the pet cats of Ohio residents and waterfowl from local parks. Local authorities in the cities where the alleged acts occurred stated that no one had reported any instance of a pet being eaten by anyone, much less than by Haitian immigrants.

The falsity of the rumor and denial by local authorities did not stop JD Vance from posting the false and racist rumor on Twitter. See Vox, JD Vance’s racist, cat-eating conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants | Vox

At root, the claim is a racist slur against Haitian immigrants. A video posted by Keith Boykin, co-founder of the National Black Justice Coalition, explains the proud history of Haiti and the racist roots of the rumor. Keith Boykin on X: "This new lie about Haitian immigrants eating other people’s cats marks a new low for Republicans!

Of course, the racist slur has been promoted by JD Vance, Elon Musk, and Charlie Kirk, among others.

---

Personal favor

If you belong to Club 33, I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss my granddaughter’s upcoming trip to the happiest place on Earth. Email me at rhubbell@outlook.com

---

Concluding Thoughts

I have two quick thoughts to close tonight’s newsletter.

I have been receiving panicky emails from readers how have been misled by recent polls that some pundits have interpreted as Kamala Harris “stalling” in her effort to overtake Trump. Ignore the weaponized spin. The polls are statistically tied—and they have been since the first polls taken when Kamala Harris became the nominee. But the trends and histogram of results unequivocally demonstrate that Kamala Harris has the momentum in the race.

Kamala Harris stepped in six weeks ago—taking over a slot in a race that was tied but Trump had the advantage. Kamala Harris's progress in six weeks is phenomenal—and she has eight weeks to go. At this point, we would much rather be us than them! (Simon Rosenberg.)

If you want more detail and assurance, read the always-wise Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo, Another Poll Check In.

We are in a tough battle, but we have the momentum and the candidate who can beat Trump. Focus on doing the legwork to help her win—and don’t allow yourself to be manipulated by GOP polls designed to “flood the zone.”

Second, while the debate may be important to some, I think we should guard against over-interpreting its effect. Among allegedly “undecided” voters, many seek an excuse to act on their concealed pre-dispositions and hidden biases. I think it is a mistake to invest significant time in trying to convince voters who are undecided about Trump at this late date. 2024 is going to be a “turnout” election—where turnout will be decided by voters who do not usually vote and new voters who enter the system in 2024 because Kamala Harris has inspired them.

So, when CNN puts together a panel of “undecided voters,” the biggest question in your mind should be, “Why would anyone take seriously comments from voters who are undecided at this point in time?” Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are not alike. One vows to continue our system of democracy, and the other has told us he will destroy it. As between those choices, indecision is not credible at this late date. Let’s find new voters and motivate existing voters who “did not vote” in 2020 but will respond to Kamala Harris in a way they did not respond to the Biden-Trump contest in 2020.

We can win. It will take everything we have—including the mental fortitude to continue working despite the inexplicably close nature of the race. Remember in 2022 when we defeated the “red wave” in the face of polling that told us to quit? We need only repeat that performance to be rid of Trump for good. And yes, I know that will not be the end of MAGA extremism, but let’s focus on defeating its leader in November. Then we can go about dismantling the remnants of the GOP.

Talk to you tomorrow!

---

Daily Dose of Perspective

Yesterday, I posted an image that included IC 59 and IC 63, both located in the Cassiopeiae Nebula. After taking the combined image, I set out to capture each object separately (to make it easier to process them). The separate images are below. Each is roughly 590 light-years from Earth.