Content warning: A super late politics hot take.
Well, I finally heard some of the debate despite thinking I'm not going to find out anything new beyond what I've already read and heard about it. I gave in and listened because I started to suspect people of panicking unnecessarily because people on the left tend to want to be fearful.
Well, Trump said some absolutely insane things like "we have the H20" and "immigrants are taking Black jobs" and completely ignored questions about his explicit vengeance promises.
Biden really was more messed up than I expected. I know people unfairly give Biden shit for talking slowly, but this was something else. (Incidentally,
Ron Gilbert also speaks very slowly but is quite focused.) He couldn't keep his thoughts straight. Even this I wouldn't normally be too concerned about because I've interviewed people who sounded super confused like that and then later found out they were just flustered and could actually solve the problems in a low-pressure context. But I've seen Biden in at least two previous debates, and he was nothing like this.
There's several levels of tragedy here. One, Biden was so messed up that the press at large, who can only keep one thing in focus at a time, completely ignored how dangerous Trump is.
Two, for complicated reasons, we have a shitty press. Three, the voters who are persuadable at this point (and people who are persuadable at this point are largely idiots — by which I mean that they're literally worse at thinking than the average person) probably would have missed the debate. But the press vibes will be absorbed by these people.
So, is the left panicking unnecessarily? Well, I could dodge the question by saying yes because panic is never helpful. But to be less disingenuous, I do think the concern is justified.
Did it actually help to listen to parts of the debate? I guess as a cultural participant, I should know about major events like that that kick off other events, so there's that. But I don't think it changes anything I decide or do.
The guy and his friend are screaming and laughing about Minecraft upstairs. I kind of get what Minecraft is, but should I dig is so I know what's creating such intense reactions? I bet it won't change any of my actions. It probably won't be as uncomfortable as listening to that debate, though!