I was out of town all weekend without much Internet access. Lots of driving, some hiking, and a very fun wedding instead of blogging? Well, duh.
And here we are, a few minutes from the second presidential debate, watching "Frontline" on both of the candidates. It's not changing any opinions at Inner Drive Technology World Headquarters, nor, do I expect, will the debate itself. Buckle up.
21:02 EDT: "This could be one of the most repulsive debates in American history."—David Brooks. And here we go.
21:05: "I've heard from parents and teachers about their concerns about things being done in this campaign." Yep.
21:08: "I agree with everything she said." I hate to say it, but that's because she didn't say anything controversial. And then...inventing statistics about Obamacare, the Iran deal, etc.
21:10: "You bragged that you committed sexual assault." "No, it's just locker-room talk. ... We're going to defeat ISIS with locker-room talk." Donald Trump did not deny that he assaulted women. I'll have transcripts tomorrow.
21:14: "This is who Donald Trump is." Yes it is. Can't wait for the response...
21:15: Oh. Of course. He's simply not going to address what she just said at all.
21:20: "He never apologized." This is a good refrain, and it lets her get all his crap into the debate. And it gets right to his narcissism.
21:23: The Roman Republic fell, in part, because people kept getting sued and prosecuted the moment they left office—so they stopped leaving office. So basically, what we're seeing is the beginning of that here in the U.S. Trump very likely has committed crimes; he's saying he'll prosecute Clinton if he wins. Great.
21:29: "Oh, he can answer it first. Go ahead, Donald."
21:33: Watch out! The government is going to give you free health care if you vote for Hillary!
21:37: I don't have enough booze in my house to make this pain go away.
21:39: "Islamophobia is bad, and that is why my administration will make all of them wear yellow crescents on their clothes."
21:44: Hillary Clinton plays chess. She just moved her bishop to Russia-4. Watch for the knight...and watch Donald Trump try to jump the queen.
21:50: Clinton's linking of Putin to influencing the election might sound crazy to people. But it's true. Does anyone care?
21:51: "I think it would be great if we could get along with Russia, because maybe they could help us fight ISIS." Trump doesn't understand this, but the President might say exactly the same thing right now.
21:55: "He lives in an alternative reality. ... It's amusing hearing someone who hasn't paid taxes in 20 years tell us what he's going to do. ... Donald always takes care of Donald." And then she used math.
21:58: "Of course I do."—Trump answering the question about whether he used his $915m loss to avoid taxes. But it's OK, because everyone else does.
22:02: "Because you have to be able to get along with people to get things done in Washington." Zing.
22:06: "We're old and tired in terms of nuclear." Russia has about a third of the submarines and half the bombers we have. And we have an attack boat about a hundred meters behind every one of their submarines, and a satellite looking at every one of their bombers. But you see, in order to understand what that means, you'd have to know what the triad is.
22:08: "Mr. Trump, let me repeat the question."
22:09: "You disagree with your running mate." Not a question; just summarizing what he said.
22:09: Aleppo has already fallen. So fuck 'em.
22:11: Did Patton and MacArthur endorse Trump? Weren't both Patton and MacArthur fired for insubordination?
22:14: "Do you believe you can be president to everyone?" "Yes, I'll grab all their pussies."
22:17: Shorter Trump on inner cities:
22:21: Trump's answer about the 3am Tweet...I mean, I just...What? The? Fuck?
22:28: So, he's "invested" $100m of his own money in becoming president? "Invested?" What an interesting thing to say by a person who views the world transactionally. What will he consider a return on that investment?
22:31: "China is illegally dumping steel in the United States and Donald Trump is buying it." This hurts, if you care about policy. If not, eh?
22:34: "Would you say one thing that you respect about your opponent?" Hardest question of the evening. And I'm cringing in advance of his response...
22:39: What do I think about this debate? Splash of Vermouth, jigger of gin, 30 more days of this...
22:43: Mark Shields on PBS: "He doesn't have an embarrassment gene in his body. ... I was amazed he showed up tonight."