Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Working at home today and catching up on things, including some practicing. The Beethoven's coming along, but I'm still a bit weak on the Strauss and Hindemith.
The Nevada debate began at 6 p.m. and I had rehearsal at 7:30, so I wasn't able to watch all of it until later in the evening at 10 p.m.
Oh, boy. Oh, man. I did not like what I saw tonight. I started off an email to the B'ham gang that I'll send tomorrow:
"Anyone watch the debate last night? I found myself unraveling as I watched. Unraveling, because Trump was largely ignored as a target. Elizabeth Warren was effective in taking a blow torch to Bloomberg, but why not include Trump as well? Why not mention Trump as a target in every talking point raised? The Healthcare nitpicking/PowerPoint/Post-It Note criticism was utterly lost to me when Trump wants to dismantle healthcare completely. Where was that reminder? Where was the reaction to Trump's dismantling of the entire credibility of the federal judiciary system and the clemency he gave to convicted felons this week? I get that they all want to be the nominee/savior of the Democratic party, and perhaps need to knock out the late-to-the-party billionaire ASAP; however, last night felt like a profoundly lost opportunity in positioning this larger contest as a battle to preserve American Democracy, rule of law and the US Constitution by defeating the most malignant un-American president in our history. Since Trump was largely absent from last night's debate, that equals a win for Trump. Warren, who was on fire last night, spent less than five seconds focusing on Trump. Unbelievable. The petty swipes and barbs they all rattled off at each other left me uninspired and angry for all the wrong reasons. They looked like fools up there, all of them, for not targeting their sites squarely on the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War.
Bloomberg looked rusty, detached and indifferent, somewhat out of touch and didn't respond well to Warren's attacks (his NDA response was just awful). He'll get better, but I don't see him getting any big bump from last night. If anything, his numbers might go down. Warren was strong but all that fire went everywhere except at Trump. How is that a good thing? Her numbers might rise a bit, but perhaps not enough to justify the firebomb she delivered to each one of her comrades. She may be smarter than everyone else on stage, but my God she sure channeled her inner Tracy Flick last night. Klobuchar appeared off her game and also said nothing about Trump. She let Pete get under her skin and for a few moments we saw her unhinged and defensive, kicking in her mean mode. I don't see her on the stage after Super Tuesday. Buttigieg gave a typical Mayor Pete performance and at this point needs to bring out a much bigger gear if he has one. His petty attacks against Klobuchar seemed gratuitous. I wish he would launch a full frontal assault on the con-artist commander in chief who protects soldiers who commit war crimes while punishing those who follow procedure, rule of law and chain of command. Biden is trying as hard as he can to be the focused, experienced leader we need to defeat Trump, but he's simply not projecting that in his words, tone and demeanor. Aside from Trump, the night was ultimately won by Sanders, who delivered what he always delivers, a strong, steady, consistent message that speaks to the unfairness of our system. I don't see his numbers going down and it makes me wonder if America's version of Jeremy Corbyn is simply one day closer to the nomination. That's what it feels like the morning after, a rising nominee who has the truth on his side, who is skilled and articulate in these debates, but who is polarizing to centrists and allows Trumpists to toss out easy distraction material to help deflect all of their deceit, racism, amorality and rottenness.
I don't know how many new viewers tuned into last night's debate, but the program they saw was NOT the program they should have seen. It felt much more like a self-inflicted firebomb at the Dems than a firebomb directed at Trump."
I watched the FiveThirtyEight podcast to listen to their take. I agreed with most of their reactions. We could be in serious trouble. My panic attacks are continuing!
Working at home today and catching up on things, including some practicing. The Beethoven's coming along, but I'm still a bit weak on the Strauss and Hindemith.
The Nevada debate began at 6 p.m. and I had rehearsal at 7:30, so I wasn't able to watch all of it until later in the evening at 10 p.m.
Oh, boy. Oh, man. I did not like what I saw tonight. I started off an email to the B'ham gang that I'll send tomorrow:
"Anyone watch the debate last night? I found myself unraveling as I watched. Unraveling, because Trump was largely ignored as a target. Elizabeth Warren was effective in taking a blow torch to Bloomberg, but why not include Trump as well? Why not mention Trump as a target in every talking point raised? The Healthcare nitpicking/PowerPoint/Post-It Note criticism was utterly lost to me when Trump wants to dismantle healthcare completely. Where was that reminder? Where was the reaction to Trump's dismantling of the entire credibility of the federal judiciary system and the clemency he gave to convicted felons this week? I get that they all want to be the nominee/savior of the Democratic party, and perhaps need to knock out the late-to-the-party billionaire ASAP; however, last night felt like a profoundly lost opportunity in positioning this larger contest as a battle to preserve American Democracy, rule of law and the US Constitution by defeating the most malignant un-American president in our history. Since Trump was largely absent from last night's debate, that equals a win for Trump. Warren, who was on fire last night, spent less than five seconds focusing on Trump. Unbelievable. The petty swipes and barbs they all rattled off at each other left me uninspired and angry for all the wrong reasons. They looked like fools up there, all of them, for not targeting their sites squarely on the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War.
Bloomberg looked rusty, detached and indifferent, somewhat out of touch and didn't respond well to Warren's attacks (his NDA response was just awful). He'll get better, but I don't see him getting any big bump from last night. If anything, his numbers might go down. Warren was strong but all that fire went everywhere except at Trump. How is that a good thing? Her numbers might rise a bit, but perhaps not enough to justify the firebomb she delivered to each one of her comrades. She may be smarter than everyone else on stage, but my God she sure channeled her inner Tracy Flick last night. Klobuchar appeared off her game and also said nothing about Trump. She let Pete get under her skin and for a few moments we saw her unhinged and defensive, kicking in her mean mode. I don't see her on the stage after Super Tuesday. Buttigieg gave a typical Mayor Pete performance and at this point needs to bring out a much bigger gear if he has one. His petty attacks against Klobuchar seemed gratuitous. I wish he would launch a full frontal assault on the con-artist commander in chief who protects soldiers who commit war crimes while punishing those who follow procedure, rule of law and chain of command. Biden is trying as hard as he can to be the focused, experienced leader we need to defeat Trump, but he's simply not projecting that in his words, tone and demeanor. Aside from Trump, the night was ultimately won by Sanders, who delivered what he always delivers, a strong, steady, consistent message that speaks to the unfairness of our system. I don't see his numbers going down and it makes me wonder if America's version of Jeremy Corbyn is simply one day closer to the nomination. That's what it feels like the morning after, a rising nominee who has the truth on his side, who is skilled and articulate in these debates, but who is polarizing to centrists and allows Trumpists to toss out easy distraction material to help deflect all of their deceit, racism, amorality and rottenness.
I don't know how many new viewers tuned into last night's debate, but the program they saw was NOT the program they should have seen. It felt much more like a self-inflicted firebomb at the Dems than a firebomb directed at Trump."
I watched the FiveThirtyEight podcast to listen to their take. I agreed with most of their reactions. We could be in serious trouble. My panic attacks are continuing!
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