THE FLY!

 

    In politics we often hear people say "Man I wish I was a fly on the wall in the oval office that day" what we don't hear usually is "Did you see the fly on the Vice Presidents head during that debate?" but last week that was the topic of so many memes, news stories, and social media buzz.  What does that say about the debate itself?  Now that I have had a chance to watch the debate I am here to offer my opinion.

    Lets talk first about the challenger, Senator Kamala Harris.  Throughout the debate she repeated talking point after talking point with little to no facts to back up her statements.  She directly misquoted the President and VP while denying statements Joe Biden and herself have made in speeches that were recorded.  Here are a few of them I have seen for myself.  First she denied Joe Biden and herself wanted to end fracking, they have both been on video in multiple instances stating indeed they wanted to end fracking.  Next she denied that Joe Biden would raise taxes.  She stated he was simply going to repeal the Trump tax cuts granted to big businesses and the wealthy.  Joe Biden has been on video multiple times saying he would raise taxes.  When asked about the Green New Deal she avoided support of this even though Joe Bidens own website states it is a critical piece of their platform.  This was the strategy, avoid admitting or stating the facts of their campaign but instead attack Trump and Pence for being elitist, racist, and utter failures.  Her most effective attack came while trying to tie the administration to Russia and Putin.  That too was weak but at least Trumps friendly nature with Putin and Chinas leader seem like a valid criticism. 

    VP Pence did not do much better.  For anyone who suffered through the Bush/Gore debate his performance was eerily similar to Gore.  He talked with a monotone voice standing on the Presidents record and stating statistics and facts that we have all heard a million times.  His attacks on both Harris and Biden failed to come across as genuine despite the validity of the claims.  His overall performance seemed tired and lackluster.  His best attack came when pointing out the records of Biden and Harris in reference to criminal justice reform and and packing the supreme court.  While he had many good points in his holster he failed to deliver any form of hard blow at all.

    The moderator was annoying all night as she repeatedly cut VP Pence off, although more than once it was valid due to his bloviating and going over time.  She seemed to Favor Harris but overall had more control them the last moderator did with Trump and Biden.  Both candidates avoided name calling and dragging it into the gutter which was a nice change. At the same time both candidates seemed to be simply going through the motions.  At one point a fly landed on the VP's head and stayed there for some time.  Social media blew up with memes ranging from "Flies are attracted to shit" to a pic showing Kamala spread eagle with the statement "Where the fly came from".  The memes kept coming and the fly became an overnight celebrity.  

    In the end an hour of peoples time once again wasted as nothing substantive was presented.  Pot shots and repeat talking points, real or not, was all we got.  Maybe for the remaining two debates we can invite the fly and a spider to debate one another.  As the saying goes "What's normal for the spider is chaos for the fly."