Mark Evanier's Blog, page 114

One More…

Nicole Karlis explains where this nonsense about aborting babies after they're born comes from. Actually, I think it comes from the kind of politicians and political operatives who'll say anything if it prods some person into pledging donations and/or support.

Some Links of Note

Fred Kaplan on how easy it is to manipulate Donald Trump.

Jonathan Chait on how JD Vance and the right-wing conspiracy nuts sabotaged Trump's debate performance.

Steve Benen on how Trump avoided answering the pretty simple question, "Do you want Ukraine to win this war?" The former prez also declined to give an answer to "Would you sign a National Abortion Ban?" I think we all know where Kamala Harris stands on those matters.

Tim Miller on his adventures last night in the post-debate "Spin Room."

And speaking of the Spin Room: I was talking earlier today with a friend who's well-versed in politics but had somehow never heard that term. I thought the best explanation would be to show this video from after the third Kerry-Bush debate in 2004. Here's Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and I don't know how he got a press pass either…

Reflections on Last Night

One measure of how poorly Trump did in last night's debate is how fervently he and his backers are blaming the moderators today.  With Trump, any time he doesn't get exactly what he wants, it's unfair, the game was rigged, somebody cheated, there was sabotage, everything he did was perfect.  But if you look at what the moderators did, what they did was to ask questions that anybody could have anticipated.  There was sure to be a question or two about abortion, a question or two about Ukraine, about the Southern Border, etc.  Some of them were even challenging to Harris but she was wise and prepared.  He gave stupid answers.

A concept for a plan about health care?  This has been a major issue in this country for years.  When he was running against Hillary, Donald said he had a simple, wonderful plan and he was only weeks away from unveiling it.  That's what I would have asked him about.

What Day This Is

Today is, of course, 9/11 — a date that will always cause folks over a certain age to remember where they were that day in 2001, how they saw what happened happen and how it was so sad and so numbing at the same time. I woke up to messages on my answering machine — remember answering machines? — from friends who were already up and in the greatest of despair. And then I watched TV in a state of horror for hours and hours.

I watched the whole TV news footage of that day again some years back, acting as a kind of tour guide for a friend who'd been too young when it occurred to really have a sense of the national state of shock. And I was shocked all over again. And saddened. And numbed.

I wouldn't blame anyone who didn't want to relive all or any part of that day. But if you do, there are a few hundred — maybe a few thousand videos online. This one runs an hour and forty minutes and like I said, I wouldn't blame anyone who didn't want to tumble into all that darkness and woe again…

Just Before Bedtime

I finally knocked off work on a script with a pressing deadline and made time to watch the debate. I thought Kamala Harris did great — a judgment I see all over the Internet and saw on Donald Trump's face on screen, starting around 30 minutes in. The man did not look happy.

Of course, he'll claim it was all rigged…just as he would if you beat him in a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors. I thought he did himself a lot of damage by not having a better defense on the Abortion issue — one he and his advisors had to know would come up. Harris was pretty impressive talking about that and also about Ukraine. She also did a lot of pretty powerful rebutting just via facial reactions.

Heading for bed now. I may have more to say about this tomorrow.

Today's Video Link

And this time, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra favors us with a mini-symphony of tunes from old Tom & Jerry cartoons…

What I'm Not Doing Tonight

I'm not watching the Presidential Debate…or at least, not watching it live. I figure that if God had wanted us to watch everything live, he wouldn't have invented TiVos, streaming services, Betamax or VHS, network websites, YouTube, etc. God did invent all that, didn't He? And I figure that if either candidate says anything really smart, you can count on their campaign to make sure I see it and if either candidate says anything really stupid, you can count on the opposition campaign to make sure I see it. Over and over and over and over and over…

The slugfest will be followed by various campaign allies telling you how their candidate obviously mopped the floor with the other candidate. I don't need to see that either. Later, I may take a spin around the Fact Checkers and see what truths and falsehoods most of them concur upon.

And what I'm really not going to do is watch the debate and hang on every answer and every rebuttal, wondering if that's the one that's gonna win us the election or cost us the White House. Given Americans' capacities for overlooking or denying bullshit from the person they've already decided to vote for, I doubt any one faux pas will decide this election. What was it the semi-retired pundit Michael Kinsley once said? "A gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth."

I agree with Kamala Harris on most issues. I disagree with Donald Trump on all issues and think he's a horrible excuse for a human being. What could possibly happen in this wrestling match being passed off as a "debate" to cause me to switch my vote? Trump would have to prove he's a different person than he's been for the last decade or more. Let me know if that happens.

And In Passing…

Let's note that of all the tributes and expressions of love being posted for the late/great James Earl Jones, no one has probably topped what Mark Hamill posted to social media…

Peter Renaday, R.I.P.

Sorry to say, I have no real anecdotes or personal insights to go with the news that actor Peter Renaday has died at the age of 89. TMZ is reporting that "…cops did a welfare check at Peter's Burbank home Sunday after receiving a call, and they found him dead inside. The death appears to be natural and isn't being handled as a medical examiner case."

Peter had a great career to go along with his great voice. His face was seen in many a TV show and movie (Wikipedia has a list) and his voice was all over the animation world with a special emphasis on Disney movies and Disney theme parks. But that list is very incomplete and doesn't even include a couple of ABC Weekend Special and CBS Storybreak episodes that I wrote and for which Mr. Renaday did voices.

I remember him being the model of a professional actor: He was there on time and no matter what the directors asked of him, he could do exactly what they wanted, usually on the first take. We didn't talk much but he was the kind of performer who gets hired a lot because the folks doing the hiring know he'll deliver. Good man, good actor, sad loss.

Early Tuesday Morning

It's been really hot in Los Angeles the last few days and it's made hotter, at least for me, with everyone talking incessantly about how hot it is.  The heat doesn't bother me much but it does tend to send me into weird sleeping patterns which is why I'm up writing this at four in the morning.

Assuming there actually is a Presidential Debate tonight  — this year, we take nothing for granted — I probably won't watch live.  My guess would be that an exercise like this is less about actually making someone decide for Candidate A over Candidate B than it is about ramping up or down their enthusiasm for their chosen candidate.  In November, there will be a lot of folks who will think they know who they want to vote for but not with such certainty or determination that they'll actually do whatever is involved with casting a vote for that person.  And really, I'm fine with someone preferring Trump as long as they don't actually cast ballots.

Living in a state that Trump couldn't win if he ran unopposed — in fact, which he definitely wouldn't win if he did run unopposed — is nice in a way.  I imagine it's hellish in a place like Pennsylvania with a barrage of TV ads, radio ads, billboards, robocalls and maybe even people ringing your doorbell and trying to get you to see things their way.  I wouldn't buy a box of candy from a stranger who came to my doorstep so I'm certainly not going to change my political views or my religion there.  I once subscribed that way to a service that promised to keep mosquitoes away from my home.  Later, I was tempted to subscribe to a service that kept the mosquito service away from my home.  They turned out to be the more prevalent pests.