Roped a Dope

I will always remember what happened 23 years ago this morning. It was a day that forever changed our lives in America.

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On last night’s 2024 Presidential Debate. It wasn’t even close and MAGA world knows it. From the get-go handshake, it was all Vice President Kamala Harris. Be honest. You don’t need any talking heads, spin room jabbering, or post-debate polls to tell you she owned Donald Trump’s arse for ninety-plus minutes. And she looked like she was having fun owning it. It was a joyful debate. See the featured photo.

I am amused at those MAGA jokers who are saying that the ABC News debate moderators tipped the scales in favor of Vice President Harris. My goodness. They did very minimal fact checking like correcting the immigrant pet eating lies. Come on MAGA world. You can’t let someone lie about folks eating pets in front of a kazillion folks on national TV.

This morning on “Today,” Saturday Co-Host and NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Peter Alexander reporting from the debate site in Philadelphia said the Vice President pretty much cleaned Trump’s clock. Meanwhile, in Studio 1A, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker and NBC News journalist Hallie Jackson said they didn’t think the Vice President did enough to separate herself from President Joe Biden or showcase her policies to the American people. Oh, brother. Maybe she didn’t, but Americans certainly now knows that the Vice President owned Trump’s arse last night.

This David Frum column on the debate is a doozie. So is the headline:

How Harris Roped a Dope

Vice President Kamala Harris walked onto the ABC News debate stage with a mission: trigger a Trump meltdown.

She succeeded.

Former President Donald Trump had a mission too: control yourself.

He failed.

Trump lost his cool over and over. Goaded by predictable provocations, he succumbed again and again.

Trump was pushed into broken-sentence monologues—and even an all-out attack on the 2020 election outcome. He repeated crazy stories about immigrants eating cats and dogs, and was backwards-looking, personal, emotional, defensive, and frequently incomprehensible.

Harris hit pain point after pain point: Trump’s bankruptcies, the disdain of generals who had served with him, the boredom and early exits of crowds at his shrinking rallies. Every hit was followed by an ouch. Trump’s counterpunches flailed and missed. Harris met them with smiling mockery and cool amusement. The debate was often a battle of eyelids: Harris’s opened wide, Trump’s squinting and tightening.  

Harris’s debate prep seemed to have concentrated on psychology as much as on policy. She drove Trump and trapped him and baited him—and it worked every time.

Here is the entire read: How Harris Roped a Dope (msn.com).

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I didn’t pay much attention to the game that we lost in extras last night. We still lead the AL West by 4 ½ games.