Autopsy on the Debate

Last updated on: October 20, 2016 at 10:34 am by Mark Shea

Autopsy on the Debate 2016-10-20T10:34:27-07:00 Mark Shea

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ezra Klein sums things up very well:

As far as abortion went, the candidates did exactly what they’ve done. Hillary was frank in her support for her biggest blind spot and defended the indefensible: sticking scissors in a baby’ brain in partial birth abortion. Appalling.

And Trump? Pressed repeatedly on whether he wanted the court to overturn Roe, he dodged, deflected, and refused to answer the question, eventually settling on this weird sort of passive, “Well, it’ll happen” stance that passively refused to answer the question–because he is massively uncomfortable with committing to it.

He did manage to fake opposition to partial birth abortion, but only by making clear he didn’t seem to have any idea what it is. It was the performance of a pathological liar–and a man who has in all likelihood paid for abortions personally–longing to get on to stuff he actually cared about.

Two spinoff things I would like to see discussed:

1. Nobody in these debates ever pressed him about the details of the vaunted list of 20 judges which supposedly proves his prolife bona fides. All he’s ever done is wave this list of names around as proof that abortion really super duper matters to him. I would love for somebody to press him on these people, their records, and what he actually knows about them. Because I can absolutely guarantee he does not know jack about them and couldn’t tell you a thing about them if his life depended on it. It’s a list, drawn up by flunkies in haste, and thrown as a bone to prolife supporters who will believe *anything* he tells them so long as it feeds the delusion he cares about them.

2. One of the constant rhetorical tropes of the Hillary supporter is that neither she nor anybody else is a “pro-abort”. This is, we are told, “mean-spirited”. People are pro-*choice*, we are told. They don’t *like* abortion. It’s a tragic necessity.

Now I grant that for the overwhelming majority of women, that is how abortion is experienced. Nobody has an abortion for fun. But here’s the thing: the existence of men like Donald Trump gives the lie to the claim that nobody is pro-abortion or that everybody involved in an abortion regards it as a tragic necessity. If you think that Trump anguished for one second over forcing a sexual conquest into having an abortion, I have a bridge to sell you. And there are plenty of men like him who do not have the slightest interest in the world in women having a “choice” when they demand “get rid of that thing.”

This is the point Charlie Camosy makes in Beyond the Abortion Wars. When rich women like Hillary talk to poor women about “choice”, the poor are perfectly aware that they have no choice–and rich women go off feeling good about themselves for providing “uplift” while poor women know perfectly well that they have been abandoned to the power of men like Donald Trump.

As to the rest of the debate, the biggest moment, of course, was when Trump, completely out-womanned and outgunned, declared war on the entire American Constitutional order by refusing to accept the outcome of the election. His flaks hit the airwaves immediately, comparing him to Gore in 2000. But it was, as has been the case throughout this surreal campaign of lies, ridiculous. Gore sued *after* the election because it was an incredibly close race. (In Florida, he lost by 537 votes.) Trump, in contrast, has been pre-emptively declaring the election rigged (while also proclaiming himself assured of victory). There is, very simply, zero evidence for his claim, but he is very dangerously setting a precedent that is already inspiring his mob to threaten violence when he loses.

In sum, Hillary creamed him last night. She’s going to win November 8 and he knows it, which is why he is screaming everything is rigged against him.

Therefore, with that threat neutralized, on November 9, the next task will be to oppose the new threat: Hillary Clinton (and the violent yeehawdis if they try to open fire).

Uncategorized

Politics and Other Social Diseases

Previous Post

October 19, 2016

How Catholic Catechesis Works, As Explained via a Star Wars Trailer

Next Post

October 20, 2016 On a lighter note...

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 September 2006 June 2006 July 2005 April 2005 May 2002 April 2002 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz