Harris vs Trump

Kick out the jams, with Donald and Kamala.

We’ve been selected to rock your asses 'til midnight
This is my term, I've shaved off my perm, but it's alright
I solemnly swear to uphold the Constitution
Got a rock 'n' roll problem?
Well we got a solution
Let us be who we am, and let us kick out the jams, yeah
Kick out the jams; we done kicked 'em out

Song: Michael Davis, Dennis A. Tomich, Wayne Kramer, Robert W. Derminer, Frederick D. Smith

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On the right, Kamala Harris, the hope of many who cannot believe the US would even consider re-electing Trump. Declared supporters from evil incarnate Dick Cheney to America’s sweetheart, pop royalty Taylor Swift. The champion of those who believe in truth, justice, and the American way.

Assuming that by “the American Way”, you mean the usual deal from the Democrats - just as much war, no universal healthcare, but hey, at least they’re a bit nicer to minorities.

At the other podium - the Donald. Favourite of billionaires, foreign dictators, and a bunch of people the rest of the world likes to laugh at while pretending the same folks don’t exist in their own country.

How’s that working for you?

We got the same old Trump, fact-free and immigrant-focused. He had at least updated some of his rhetoric this time around.

Where last time, the illegal immigrants were coming and were “rapists” and “murderers” this time around, Trump said they were “eating your pets” and “getting transgender operations”.

Instead of building a wall and getting Mexico to pay for it, this time, it’s the war in Ukraine. Apparently, Trump’s going to get Europe to pay for that. Good luck.

Right on with the show. We were ready. My son Johnny had made popcorn - literally.

The set-up was bizarre: no interjections, microphones off when not speaking, and no live audience. As if they were wheeling out Hannibal Lecter or we were dealing with toddlers. Hmm.

The Economy

Kamala began by describing Trump’s economic plan. From a consumer’s point of view, it’s the equivalent of raising GST to give billionaires tax cuts. I hoped our Finance Minister wasn’t watching. Trump’s reply, and remember this section was on the economy, was that immigrants were invading and everyone was going to get murdered in their beds.

Donald then claimed to have done a great job on Covid. According to Trump, the US response to the pandemic was all down to him. Cool story bro, but even if it were true, I don’t think I’d be advertising my involvement in that effort if I were you.

Harris looked bewildered and surmised that Trump had no economic plan.

Trump began as he clearly meant to continue, lying in every sentence. Many falsehoods were so obvious that you wondered how anyone could believe them.

The mediator got involved, checking the facts. Trump declared that his tariffs won’t increase prices, which is simply horseshit, then made it sound like Americans had been starving in the streets since he left office.

Image: https://www.reuters.com/

Harris seemed perhaps a tad nervous. There was a bit of emotion there, but I liked it; she seemed authentic. Then Trump called her a Marxist, and she looked at him like he was a lunatic.

To be fair, her proposal to help small businesses did sound a bit like seizing the means of production.

Abortion

The moderator discussed Trump's flip-flopping on abortion issues from liberal to ultra-conservative. Trump responded by talking about abortions in the ninth month. Then he said the Democrats were ok with executions after birth. It was just insane.

Trump actually spoke quite strongly about distributing the decision to individual states. I imagine that played well with those who don’t trust the federal government.

Kamala talked about Trump loading the Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs Wade. She was angry about the control over women’s bodies and spoke very strongly, leaving people in no doubt about the differences between them on the issue.

Donald was becoming aggressive; he seemed to be ranting quite randomly. Talking about things like student loans. Anything to distract from the fact that no woman in their right mind should be voting for Trump. Nor should any man who believes women should control their own bodies.

Trump remained silent when Harris spoke, like a dead, angry lizard. Then Trump started talking about abortions after birth. I yelled at the screen - “you can’t have an abortion after birth!” Fi, who was working on the couch, giggled.

They’re eating the pets

Harris talked about Trump’s rallies, saying people were leaving them early and bored. Ooh, baby, you just knew that was going to get under Trump’s notoriously thin skin. Sure enough, he reverted to his standard refrain of having the biggest rallies in history. Then he started talking about pets being eaten by immigrants in Springfield.

“They're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame.” Like WTAF?

The moderator intervened, saying there was no evidence to back Trump’s claims.

Harris claimed the endorsement of two hundred Republicans and started listing things those who had previously worked for Trump had said. The consensus was that his re-election would be pretty much the end of the world.

Trump replied that he’d fired all those people. He must have said “fired” ten times. I suppose someone somewhere cheered.

Immigration

We moved to Trump’s favourite subject; he hit his stride, calling immigrants everything under the sun. It was all fear and bigotry, the classic right-wing combo.

The moderator interrupted to say that the FBI has confirmed crime is, in fact, down. Trump accused the FBI of fraud.

Harris highlighted the irony of Trump pointing the finger of law and order at others, given his recent convictions.

Justice

In Trump’s view, the entire justice system was weaponised and working against him. The man lives in an alternate reality. Unfortunately, it seems about half the population of America is just fine with that and happy to join him there.

Harris pointed out further irony with the claims of a weaponised justice system, given Trump’s suggestion that he’ll use power to seek revenge on his enemies when elected.

Kamala was about “lifting people up—not knocking them down”. Trump responded as expected: by getting nastier, telling lies, and name-calling, all while boasting about himself like a toddler—classic hallmarks of a President in waiting.

By the way, if you haven’t seen the debate and you’d still like to watch the whole thing, you can find it here:

The peaceful transfer of power

They talked about Trump’s behaviour the last time he lost. He did not seem contrite. In fact, he made it clear he was the real victim and then started ranting about immigrants again.

In Donald’s view, the events at the Capitol were Nancy Pelosi’s fault. Kamala, who was there, recalled what happened that day and on other days, like in Charlottesville. Again emotional, she was forceful in her call for democracy and the rule of law. Repeating the fact that Trump has said, in this election, that there will be a bloodbath if he doesn’t agree with the result.

The truth

Next up was the truth, or more to the point, the lack thereof in proximity to the former President. Trump was asked about his claims that he won the last election. Rather than responding to the question about having lied, his answer was about immigrants who can’t speak English. Don’t look here; look over there.

Lie upon lie upon lie. No remorse, no honesty, just vitriol. It is unthinkable that he could win again, yet here we are.

Image: NBC.

I see those Americans voting for him with less disdain, or at least laugh a little less, since our election last October. What is it that people find so damn irresistible about egotistical liars with no plans?

Foreign Affairs

Next to Gaza. This time Harris was challenged on her record. Her words were awful; she seemed to apportion blame equally to the two sides.

No matter how much I like Harris on everything else, she is terrible on this. Yes, I care about all the lives, but there are not two sides here - Fuck Israel and Fuck Kamala for not having the guts to stand up and do the right thing.

Trump claimed there would be no situation in Gaza or Ukraine if he were in charge. I don’t know if either situation would be better, but it’s hard to see them being much worse. I thought Trump did quite well speaking on foreign affairs, although the enthusiasm that various dictators around the place have for his reelection is a bit disconcerting.

As for Ukraine, according to Trump, he’ll just get Zelensky and Putin together on the phone and get it sorted. Good oh. He wouldn’t say that he wanted Ukraine to win. The moderator didn’t ask him if he wanted anyone else to.

Trump stated that he’d sorted out the situation in Afghanistan by saying, “Abdul, don’t you do it”. The Taliban leader, Abdul, supposedly responded to Trump by asking why he had sent him a photo of his house. Just incredible.

Race

Donald said that Harris was black when it suited her. Kamala responded by talking about the past when Trump wouldn’t rent property to black people and his insane “birther” nonsense.

Trump said, “She is Biden,” such was his desperation for that to be the case. Kamala assured him that she was not, in fact, Joe. Then she said, “I have a plan,” about ten times, pointing out that people want plans, not name-calling.

Healthcare

To be honest, I find the whole American medical system a bit confusing, Obamacare and all the different options. But mostly, I find it confusing that no one talks about simply having universal healthcare. It’s not like it’s that outrageous; pretty much every other advanced country has it.

Having said that, I’m sure that whatever the Democrats are offering is much better than whatever Trump might come up with. He didn’t have a plan.

Climate change

It's pretty clear-cut here. Kamala says it’s an existential threat and talks about the reality of what is already happening, whereas either Trump doesn’t believe in it or he just doesn’t care.

I wouldn’t trust either of them to do very much, but Trump is undoubtedly worse. One of the few times during the debate that he actually looked happy was when talking about fossil fuels.

Closing statements

Harris talked of two visions, hers forward-looking and his going back; it sounded familiar. She sounded like a President: clear-spoken, passionate, and genuine. It was a good speech that reached out to all Americans.

Trump talked about Kamala. Why hadn’t she fixed the border? It was all negative about what she would do, nothing at all about what he might do. Nothing was offered but bullying and scare tactics, claiming that if Harris won, it could result in World War Three. Then he ended with a final attack on immigrants.

After the debate, Jon Stewart was live on the Daily Show to dissect the proceedings.

Or, if you prefer, here is Colbert’s post-debate monologue, which is also very good.

The verdict

Compared to how I thought he would go, Trump went okay. He only sounded completely insane three or four times. Although, on the downside, he did lie constantly and offered no vision whatsoever.

Kamala was excellent, apart from Gaza she knocked it out of the park. She didn’t get rattled, and she spoke from the heart. Whether this debate will sway many votes is another matter.

I really want to see Harris win in terms of social issues and being marginally better on the environment. The thought of Trump being returned, with his lies and threats and his willingness to divide with hate, is ghastly.

But even if Kamala wins, it’s impossible to ignore the absence of a candidate willing to stand up to Israel. Leaving Netanyahu secure in the knowledge that America will back him - no matter who wins the election.

So yay, I hope Kamal wins. I really do, but you’ll excuse me if any claims of American leadership, or moral authority around the world, stick in the throat as they continue to turn a blind eye to the innocents being murdered in Gaza.

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Here they are, The Presidents of the United States of America, with Kick Out The Jams. It might sound a little bit different than you’re used to.