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Republicans have a problem with women. Their problem is basically that more and more women don't want to vote for them. By increasingly-wide margins, in fact. Some Republicans have now begun to realize this, and they are desperately trying to woo these women back to their side of the aisle. This is not going well, to put it mildly.
Donald Trump (rather infamously) never admits he's wrong. Even on things that are easy to disprove with incontrovertible evidence, Trump will still insist he is right. He will construct an alternate reality inside his own head where he is proven to be right and all those who disagree are proven to be in some giant conspiracy against him, and he will go right on insisting that up is down, or that night is actually day. He never backs down and certainly never apologizes -- no matter how much harm his lies may cause.
CNN just published a bombshell report with details of the online past of the Republican gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina, the current Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson. Much of their reporting dealt with Robinson's history on a pornographic site, which is in keeping with previous reports that Robinson was a regular at video porn shops in the town where he lived in the 1990s and 2000s. But what's much more concerning than his apparent sexual tastes and habits is what he had to say on plenty of other subjects. An argument can be made that a person's private sexual habits aren't really germane to their fitness for office, but it's a whole lot harder to say the same thing about someone who openly supports bringing slavery back.
Sadly, that is not the title of an upcoming episode of The Simpsons. Instead, it is how the citizens of an Ohio town are now feeling, due to the stochastic terrorism coming from the very top of the Republican presidential ticket. People in Springfield are scared because these nationally-known politicians are lying about them, demonizing them, scapegoating them, and dehumanizing them. This is a perfect recipe for some hotheaded deranged individual to commit a random act of violence against them, which is precisely why they are so scared right now.
In the political debate over abortion, people like Donald Trump (and plenty of others) like to use a dodge, when talking about what they support. They say they are in favor of three exceptions to abortion bans: rape, incest, and "the life of the mother." But what does that last one mean, on a practical basis? It means needless suffering, pain, risk, and in some cases the actual death of the mother -- all because doctors are scared of being thrown in jail for providing necessary medical services on a timely basis. This is beyond tragic and completely unnecessary, and yet it is no mere hypothetical -- it is happening right here in the United States of America in the twenty-first century.
This week, millions of Americans tuned in to politics only to make an astonishing discovery: Donald Trump is still exactly who he always was! He opens his mouth, and lies and crazy talk pour forth. Same as it ever was... what a surprise!
Now, normal people can be excused for being surprised that Trump is still Trump. Most people have lives to lead and plenty of other things to do, so they simply don't pay much attention to politics. But tens of millions of them made the time this week to tune in to the first debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. And it was like going to a family Thanksgiving dinner and once again having to put up with your crazy uncle -- because you had somehow forgotten just how bad he truly was. And still is.
Traditionally, Labor Day is the kickoff to the "real campaign season." This implies that none of what has gone before really made much of a difference, and that the American people will now give each of the candidates a fresh look as people slowly turn their focus to politics after the summer season is done.
Maybe that was true once, but quite obviously we've been in the midst of the general-election campaign season for most of this year already. There was no drama or mystery about who would become the major parties' nominees -- Donald Trump and President Joe Biden had the primaries wrapped up before they even began. And then the most dramatic event of the general election campaign happened midsummer, as Biden decided to end his candidacy (after a disastrous debate performance with Donald Trump). In other words, plenty has already happened this election season, and so we've got to look at the remaining two months as nothing more than the homestretch.
In normal times, with normal political candidates, I wouldn't even have to say this. However, since we live in the age of Donald Trump, I do. One week from today is the anniversary of the September 11th attack. People will gather at the site of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers to pay their respects and remember. But this year there may be a problem.
This week, the mainstream media proved yet again how good they are at missing the forest for the trees, at least in the political world. The entire week, the chattering classes pushed their new Donald Trump scandal for all it was worth. Now look, we're no fans of Trump (far from it!), but it all just seemed like the attention and outrage were a wee bit misplaced.
Two Tuesdays from now, the two major presidential candidates are set to have a debate. At this point it seems more likely than not that both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will actually show up, although the details are still being hashed out between the two camps. The biggest sticking point seems to be whether the microphones will be live throughout the entire evening or whether they will be muted when the other candidate speaks. What is rather mystifying is that the positions have been reversed in this squabble -- it is Harris who is arguing for live microphones, while Trump wants them muted. Which leaves me to wonder whether we'll get a real debate or whether it will devolve into a shouting match.