One Small Voice: A debate that wasn’t really a debate

“Anything you can do I can do better.  I can do anything better than you.”

“Anything you can be I can be greater.  Sooner or later I’m greater than you.”

— Lyrics from “Anything You Can Do” by Irving Berlin for the musical “Annie Get Your Gun”

It was billed as a debate between two candidates for the office of the presidency of the United States of America.

Incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden were to engage in a carefully moderated exchange of information about their views on issues pertinent to the electorate of America.

It was hosted and held at Case Western University in Ohio, moderated by a tough interviewer from Fox News, Chris Wallace, son of the late Mike Wallace, who was the quintessential, tough-as-nails interviewer for 60 Minutes.

In this whatever-this-was, the moderator lost control early on.  It was certainly not a debate in any sense of the word.  And little or no information was gleaned by the viewing public that they didn’t already know.

The reason?

The president, Donald J. Trump, comported himself in a manner most unbecoming a president, and not at all in a manner of a man whose campaign staff had agreed to specific rules of conduct prior to agreeing to the debate.

The 90-minutes-plus of broadcast allowed us to see our president, the leader of the free world, compete outrageously for time, speak over his opponent nearly constantly, and give America a textbook example of unrelenting psychological and verbal bullying and abuse.

It was a disgrace, and it was a colossal waste of our time.

It was impossible to get a sense of how the candidates differed from one another in any useful way.

Trump relied on repeating his tried and true, highly hyperbolic lies and conspiracy theories.

When pressed for details on any plans he might have for rebuilding our COVID-19 decimated economy, he reverted to blaming the prior administration for leaving him with “a disaster.”

When asked for a strategy to contain the pandemic as we watch the expected surge of new cases appear, he blamed China for deliberately developing the disease and exporting it.

When questioned about his plan to provide health care coverage and relief from rising drug prices, he resorted to blaming the Obama administration for creating the ACA, which was “a nightmare.”  He claimed he had a plan, one that he has claimed to have at the ready for months now, and he claimed he had reduced the costs of prescription drugs drastically this year.

Biden attempted to outline his plans for health care, but Trump jumped all over it, calling it far-left radical socialism.

Biden attempted to detail his plans to grow the economy while addressing climate concerns, but Trump yelled “Green New Deal” so much Joe couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

I could go on, but if you watched you already know the gory details.

I could go on, but I did watch, and it makes my head hurt to relive it.

Fact checkers posted detailed summaries of all the untruths Trump uttered, and though they were the same old lies he’s told before, it was so sad to see him cling relentlessly to false talking points and conspiracy theories that have been debunked countless times.

You might be wondering why I chose to preface this column with lyrics from an old show tune.

The 1946 Broadway show “Annie Get Your Gun,” for which the song was written, was a fictionalized treatment of the life and romance between Annie Oakley and Frank Butler, two sharpshooters in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.

Sparing you the hokey romance, these two characters were of huge egos, and they competed relentlessly as to who was the better performer.

In a lovely, lilting song, reminiscent of playground banter, Annie and Frank sing to each other about how each is better than the other at just about everything in the whole wide world, from drinkin’ liquor to shooting “a partridge with a single cartridge” to jumping higher or buying cheaper.

I thought about this as I watched Trump dominate the whatever-this-was with his ridiculous claims and blatant lies.  How childish he acted.  Like that couple of outsized egos arguing who was the better performer in a silly wild west show.

Regardless the topic, Trump had to interrupt with his own superlatives, why he’s the biggest, best, most beautiful, done the most for, been the least of.  And why he’s never to blame.

Except it was worse than two conflicting egos.

For far too long, many of us have bemoaned the fact that Donald Trump behaves like a spoiled, petulant child.

But that would be making easy excuses.

Trump is worse than childish.

He is pathological.

In spite of agreeing, through his handlers, to specific standards of debate courtesy, he devolved into a shrewish bag of wind, blaming others for his failures and shortcomings, making slanderous accusations, speaking insensitively of his opponent’s sons (in particular, deceased Beau Biden, a decorated war veteran), and talking over Biden constantly.

No restraint, no filter, no impulse control, no sense of propriety.

But what was worst of all, and what should be compelled for him to reveal at every possible opportunity before the election, was Trump’s unwillingness to denounce racially motivated violence and white supremacist displays of hatred.

When prompted over and over by Wallace to denounce White Nationalists and white supremacists such as acted out in Charlottesville, Trump said specifically to the Proud Boys “stand back and stand by.”

Could Trump have been clearer about his desire to foment violence in America?

Could Trump have spelled out in larger letters his love of violent protest and confrontation?

Could Trump have been any more revealing had he simply said, “I want to divide this country so deeply it can never recover?”

I should revise a comment I made at the outset of this piece.

I described tonight’s whatever-this-was as a colossal waste of our time.

It wasn’t colossal, because I did learn a few things I didn’t know before.

First, I learned that my cat, Minnie the Moocher, is very sensitive to my counting on my fingers and shouting “Liar!” at the television.  (Such a stink-eye she gave me each and every time!)

Second, I learned a new vocabulary word following the whatever-this-was.  Rachel Maddow used the word logorrhea to describe what we had witnessed from our president.  Logorrhea – pathologically excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness.  (Like diarrhea, but linguistic.)  Logorrhea will likely become one of my favorite words when describing Trump’s communication style.

Third, I learned that the Presidential Commission on Debates, which sets the ground rules for real debates and whatever-this-was – is considered rather out of touch in regard to maintaining control.  On Facebook afterward, several people, including myself, suggested that moderators have a kill switch so that the mic can be shut off to anyone violating certain standards of comportment.  One went so far as to suggest soundproof booths for each participant so that neither could hear or utter anything not considered apropos to the topic.  And although these suggestions might have some merit, neither could be implemented for upcoming debates, since agreements have already been made and carved in stone.

I care about my country.  Really care.

I cared enough to protest against the Vietnam War in the ’70s.  I cared enough to write my senators about not confirming Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.  I care enough to criticize the elected leaders who work for us when I sense they’ve lost their way.  And I care enough to put myself out there for readers to judge when I feel strongly about something.  (Which is hard, because I’m kind of fragile where judgment by others is concerned.)

I’ve also cared enough about my country to vote in every single local, state, and national election, without exception, since I came of age.

That doesn’t make me any different from many of you.  It makes us more the same.

So it’s more important than ever that we urge everyone we know to get their tushies in gear, choose the best way for them to vote, and vote like our country depends on it.

Because after seeing the choice we have coming out of whatever-this-was tonight, four more years of a pathological megalomaniac is unacceptable.

God help us all.