Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay suggests we watch, again, last Tuesday night’s ABC News debate between presidential candidates Donald J. Trump and Kamala Harris, this time with the sound turned off. 

The Hustings comes with no sound -- just words -- in our week-long coverage and commentary on the debate. [Be sure to read our free Substack newsletter.]

In the center column, read Charles Dervarics’ coverage and analysis of the debate under the headline “The Gloves Came Off in a Combative Debate.” Use the trackbar on the far right to scroll down to that page.

In this, the left column, read “No Debate Inflation” by Kate McLeod, “MVP Performance from Harris and Team” by Ken Zino, and “Undecideds Were Waiting for This Debate?” by Hugh Hansen.

In the right column, read Rich Corbett’s “Preparation Matters” and Macaulay’s “There’s Reality. Then There’s Trump.” 

You’ll notice that Corbett is a pro-MAGA conservative while Macaulay is a never-Trump conservative. 

Both conservatives are welcome to comment for our right column, just as progressives and moderate are welcome to comment for our left column. 

This means you. Email your civil, fact-based comments to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate which side of the political horseshoe best describes you, in the subject line. 

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MONDAY 9/16/24

By Stephen Macaulay

Although it would be surprising if anyone who is reading this has actually met Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in person, it would be more surprising if all of us don’t have some notions about both of them from having seen and heard tape from them over the years. It may be hard to remember the first time (the former skewering Biden during a debate; the latter on Saturday Night Live?), and subsequently our impressions of them are regularly refreshed as there is a veritable flood of coverage of both.

But here’s a little experiment that you can run for yourself and see whether it might not affect how you think of them:

Watch all or at least part of the September 10 debate with the sound off.

That’s right, no audio, just visual. A few minutes will do.

Now you might say that that is absurd. What is important is what they’re saying, not their appearances, right?

But given that according to CNN’s Daniel Dale, Trump lied more than 30 times (no, there is no baby execution after birth; illegal aliens are not eating pets in Ohio; global jails are not being emptied; China will not pay the tariffs for goods (just like Mexico didn’t pay for the Wall) etc., etc., etc.), what at least one of them was saying was by and large unsubstantiated nonsense, so what is the point of listening to that again?

Look at their demeanors on the split screen.

Trump is hunched and staring at some point in space that he seems angry to have in his vision. There is very little physical animation, almost as though he is gripping the podium sufficiently to leave fingermarks in its surface.

Harris runs through a range of looks, at one point smiling and at another point appearing empathetic. 

Where he is stiff, she is fluid.

Where she has a smile, he exhibits rictus.

He appears to be an angry old man, increasingly incensed by what he is hearing but through some incredible force of will or chiropractic concern unable to face the person who is making him agitated.

She appears to be, well, normal.

And here’s a question to ask yourself:

Which of the two would you want to be your doctor: some guy who seems as though what he learned in medical school was the final word on the subject and he’ll be goddamned if he’s going to change his opinion about that, regardless of what evidence shows (“I smoke two packs a day and I’m still kickin’!”), or someone who evinces an intelligence and openness to both the patient as a person as well as new medical findings?

The difference couldn’t be much clearer.

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MONDAY 9/16/24

By Kate McLeod

It’s true. The cost of four ounces of cream cheese in New York City was $10 the last time I checked. Do we blame Biden, the supply chain/pandemic or corporate greed? 

Among the calculated 33 lies told by wannabe King Donny, the inflation for food, housing and fuel is apparent. The exit from Afghanistan should have been planned and it did result in chaos. Now, may I continue?

A very rich man who didn’t pay workers wants to destroy the Constitution, wants complete immunity as president. Take a moment here and think about this person in a powerful position in the world with no guardrails.

Example: when the Democrats put a bill forward to protect the border –- one of his favorite screeds because frankly, he does not have a platform –- he got on the phone to the sycophants in Congress and told them to veto it, which, being the sycophants they are, did his bidding.

I felt outrage when he accused my side of executing babies and favoring abortion in the ninth month. What kind of monster would come up with that? He said, and I quote, “execute the baby.” That is what he said.

And does he not understand rape and incest? I think he knows what rape is, but the deeper problem here is that this person has no capacity for empathy. If you are going to lead a country as diverse as America, you have to feel something for someone other than yourself. He can’t.

I have another question for Donald Trump: could you explain what IVF is?

Trump stood up in front of the country and said he had not read Project 2025. OK, we know he doesn’t read. So does Melania read to him at night? And do the tenants of Project 2025 give him so much comfort that it puts him to sleep? Out with DEI. Out with gender difference, critical race theory.

What about his support of a national sales tax? Protect the billionaires; burden low- and middle-income families.

Harris landed on her feet last night. The commentators began their analysis with the fact that Harris baited him at every turn and at every turn he took the bait. But when she was answering questions, I never felt her strategy. I felt like she was honestly trying to answer our questions about how the government is running the country, how working class and middle-income families are going to survive and what role we play in keeping the world a safer place.

Inflation: Trump lied. Fact: the year-over-year inflation rate has fallen since its 2022 peak under Biden. It was at 2.9% in July, and fell again, to 2.5%, in August. I’ll check the cost of cream cheese today.

Do you want to talk about immigrants eating cats and dogs? Do you? This is what you get if you are going to vote for a disturbed, self-involved person. Also, crime is down and immigrants, fearful of being deported, are not the ones committing most crimes. 

Fave Donald phrase: “in the history of our country”. Could Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham and Donald Trump have a fireside chat on national television to see what he truly knows about the history of our country? 

To my nephew the gun owner: Both Harris and Walz are gun owners. They’re not about to “take your guns away”. What needs to happen, is getting guns out of the hands of mentally disturbed individuals so that children in grade school aren’t gunned down. Are you OK with not having any more school shootings? You’re OK with that, right?

Other topics: NATO, Ukraine, concepts of a plan (Is that like infrastructure week?), 60 attempts to kill the Affordable Care Act (thank you john McCain), why don’t I invite the Taliban to Camp David, Victor Orbán, like Putin, is a bestie.

It is so clear that he can’t manage the fact that he lost the election – folks, it’s been 3 1/2 years, that he can’t listen to any criticism about his over-the-top mouthing of insanities at his rallies.

I don’t know a diagnosis. Is it narcissism? You cannot be diagnosed by a psychiatrist unless you are evaluated in-person. But what I do know is that I don’t want this fragile democracy turned into an autocracy where the only people that count are white Christians. 

I live in New York City. I come from Massachusetts, but I have known for a long time that this is where I belong. Know why? Every day, I walk out on the street and I look around and up at the sky and feel a thrill.

“I live here,” I say to myself. And in the three-block walk to the subway, I see several different colors of skin, maybe hear four different languages. I live near celebrities and don’t really care. I get on the MTA and in ten minutes I can be 80 blocks south and on my way to a play or a meeting. I can cross town in three stops and get to my doctor’s appointment. I can enjoy countless cuisines. And I can walk to Zabar’s where sometimes I get to talk to Saul Zabar. What’s not to like about diversity? Are you kidding me?

McLeod is a playwright and a frequent contributor to the left column of  The Hustings.

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FRIDAY 9/13/24

A YouGov poll conducted Wednesday shows more than 53% of Americans think pop superstar Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris after Tuesday night’s debate will benefit the Democratic presidential candidate, FiveThirtyEight reports Friday, and that includes 31% of Republicans surveyed. Just 4% believe Swift’s endorsement will hurt Harris.

This follows Donald J. Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, telling Fox News apparently without irony that Americans will not be “influenced by a billionaire celebrity.”

What do you think? Whether you are a never-Trumper or a pro-MAGA conservative, we humbly seek your comments on this question for this column. If you lean liberal, anywhere from center-left to hard-progressive, we want to hear from you, too, for posting in the left column.

We also seek your opinions on Trump's association with racist/conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer.

You are also invited to comment on whether the US and UK should approve Ukraine’s request to continue and intensify its missile attacks on Russia and whether or not we should take Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat against NATO seriously. 

To submit your comments, use the Comment section in this column or the column on the left, or email editors@thehustings.newsand please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

Sign up for our free Substack newsletter at https://thehustings.substack.com.

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FRIDAY 9/13/24

By Ken Zino

While I’m not a big fan of covering politics as if it were a sport, Vice President Harris and team had an all-star performance last night against Team Trump on my scorecard. They are clearly the favorites to win the World Series of American politics this November. 

Well prepared from scrutinizing Trump game film, the Democratic game plan shut down all the usual Trump plays of bluster, lies and apoplectic rage. Harris was ready to be thrown at, which Trump did multiple times, but he wildly missed her because he couldn’t hit the strike zone with his increasingly wilder pitches. 

Moreover, the loser Trump couldn’t make adjustments during the game and was so flustered that he committed babbling and ranting error after error allowing multiple runs for Harris. From the first inning fastball of the aggressive Harris handshake, Trump demonstrated he couldn’t recognize, let alone hit a curve, so to speak, or any other Democratic pitches as he was shut out enduring a humiliating no-hitter. What could you expect from a loser who boasted about his coaches – autocrats Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban. Harris crushed the ball, noting both wanted him in power because they know “they can flatter you and manipulate you.”

Yes previous game film shows Trump said he would let Russia “do whatever the hell they want” to our NATO allies. And he calls soldiers who gave their lives in defense of American democracy “suckers” and “losers.” Top American military generals and national security officials – including those who worked for Trump – have warned that he is “dangerous” and “unfit” to lead, and now he is surrounded by ultra-loyalists who enable his worst impulses.

When Trump lied about “migrant crime” in cities: “Well, I think this is so rich,” Harris said. “Coming from someone who has been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes, election interference, has been found liable for sexual assault and his next big court appearance is in November at his own criminal sentencing.”

Harris meanwhile kept adding to her score in what was a rout of Trump. She spit on his wild pitches while laughing. She was a joyful player with positive moves – in the tradition of “let’s play two,” which will be the second debate. Here, I wouldn’t “Bank” on it because Harris has sunshine, fresh air and the team behind us, as the great Hall of Famer Ernie Banks observed. 

Trump’s rally crowd was leaving the stadium because he wasn’t talking about doing anything for their problems. “You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter, he will talk about windmills cause cancer,” she said. “What you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. And I will tell you, the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you. You will not hear him talk about your needs, your dreams, and your desires.”

The result was a convincing win for the Democratic candidate in the first game of a double header who used her experience from years in minor league politics to show that Team Harris is ready for, and can win and stay in The Show. 

“Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people,” Harris said. “Clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that.” Trump will be sent down to the minors. 

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Stephen Macaulay

There is one simple reason why Donald Trump should not be elected. Arguably, he ought not be the Republican nominee because of this.

He still thinks he won the 2020 election. He has no evidence for it. He make claims that he has it, but if he did, if he had the honest-to-god-fact-checked proof, then wouldn’t he have blasted it out, oh, say, January 6, 2021?

The man does not have a grasp of what is generally considered to be accepted reality.

You know, that stuff that’s based on facts, not grievance.

“Everyone” this, “everyone” that.

Yet no substance. Nothing tangible.

And this is the guy who should be running the country?

He claims that he did everything great during his term. He claims that the country is in the shitter since.

When it is pointed out that there have been improvements in things like employment, he says that’s because of what he did.

So could we take it a step further and say everything good that happened on his watch was a consequence of what Obama put in motion?

He can repeat and amplify stories about illegal aliens eating pets. He can claim — with no backup information — that crime rates in other countries are down because all of the bad, very bad, very, very bad . . . insane criminals who have been sent to the U.S.

But if he still thinks that he won the last election, then there is a serious problem — not just for him, but for us if he gets reelected.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Hugh Hansen

It could have been much, much worse. It could have been a little bit better. 

I continue to have a hard time wrapping any part of myself around the idea there are 1.) genuinely undecided voters who 2.) sought to make their decision based on watching the debate (I felt that way about the conventions too).

So, what was there for them to see and hear? Trump told many more lies than Harris did, though the moderators only spoke to a few of them. Both candidates sidestepped questions, though in my biased opinion Trump did more of it, and sidestepped into wackier territories. 

Harris missed a rhetorical opportunity when asked whether they should have acted earlier or differently on the border; that was the moment to tie it to Trump's torpedoing the Congressional border deal, e.g. "We thought we'd dealt with it more comprehensively and six months earlier, until he meddled." 

I was glad she got it in a minute later. Trump gave the Blue side a gift with the criminal immigrants eating pets thing, and with "performing transgender operations on illegal immigrants in prison," things that only the most MAGAfied didn't laugh at. Those will translate better into social media clips, too.

Eight weeks.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Rich Corbett

Like it or not, last night’s debate on ABC demonstrated why politicians are often trained attorneys. I’m reminded of a high-profile lawyer, turned law professor, telling me that a prosecutor can convince nearly any jury to convict, if the court has favorable judge, or two. 

Last night Kamala Harris, the prosecutor, came well-rehearsed and had two favorable moderators; they all spent 90 minutes focused on prosecuting Donald Trump. If voting was scored like boxing, very few punches wielded by Trump connected with Vice President Harris. Trump was not successful in this round in exposing Harris’ failed record and far-left radical “values.” She sustained only a few body blows, so this round goes to Harris.

The problem for Kamala Harris is that the fight isn’t just one round. Trump has time to recover while the Harris campaign, and their propaganda arm -- mainstream media, has been clearly exposed. They can’t hide their candidate, her record and flip-flop positions for another two months … or can they? 

Americans know what to expect from a Trump administration. The first Trump administration’s “no wars” kind of strong foreign policy leadership, closed southern border, tough on crime pro-law enforcement positions and lowered taxes to promote a pro-domestic manufacturing economy was impressive. All Americans were doing better prior to the Biden/Harris inflation and world on fire. 

A thoughtful voter should be able to see the difference between one artful debate performance by Harris and a lifetime executive manager such as Trump when it comes to being POTUS.  It is one thing selling platitudes such as "opportunity economy," but eventually her lifetime of progressive and radical California values will be clear for all to see. Will the real Kamala Harris be exposed? 

Hats off to a debate prepared Kamala Harris last night … let’s see if the repackaging and marketing can continue. 

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Vice President Kamala Harris meets former President Donald J. Trump for the first time, at the National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia Tuesday night for what looks like their only debate before the November 5 presidential election.

The debate begins 9 pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific time on ABC TV with moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir, and NPR will simulcast the debate on radio.

An NPR/Marist poll says 70% of all Americans say they'll watch all or most of the debate, Morning Edition reports Tuesday. The poll results break down 72% of Democrats, 74% of Republicans and 67% of independents.

You know what’s coming. We would like you to participate in a civil discussion about the debate. Who won the night? Did either candidate convince you, or change your mind, about who to vote for? 

Whether you are progressive or pro-MAGA, center-left or center-right, we want to foster fair and civil discourse in these columns. 

To submit your comments, use the Comment section in this column or the column on the right, or email editors@thehustings.newsand please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

And don’t forget our FREE Substack newsletter.

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By Stephen Macaulay

It is somewhat like the dog in the Sherlock Holmes story Silver Blaze: it doesn’t bark.

The absence brings up presence. What should have happened doesn’t.

Which brings us to Mitch McConnell, who is still the leader of the Republicans in the Senate.

Back in February McConnell pushed a bipartisan immigration and foreign aid bill. 

Donald Trump had posted this on Truth Social about the bill that was to both tighten asylum standards and shut down the border if there was an influx of an unmanageable number of illegal crossings, both the sort of thing that would provide the “border security” that so many Trump and Trump-PAC ads are now shrieking about: “Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Shutdown Authority after 5000 Encounters a day, when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done.”

The bill was written, in part, by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), not a fool nor a “Radical Left Democrat.”

Lankford wrote of the bill, “Americans are not opposed to legal and orderly immigration, but they are tired of the chaos and abuse at our border.”

No one should argue against that. Or maybe people need to be reminded that we are a nation of immigrants.

Lankford went on to write:

“The border security bill will put a huge number of new enforcement tools in the hands of a future administration and push the current Administration to finally stop the illegal flow. The bill provides funding to build the wall, increase technology at the border, and add more detention beds, more agents, and more deportation flights. The border security bill ends the abuse of parole on our southwest border that has waived in over a million people. It dramatically changes our ambiguous asylum laws by conducting fast screenings at a higher standard of evidence, limited appeals, and fast deportation. 

“New bars to asylum eligibility will stop the criminal cartels from exploiting our currently weak immigration laws. The bill also has new emergency authorities to shut down the border when the border is overrun, new hiring authorities to quickly increase officers, and new hearing authorities to quickly apply consequences for illegal crossings. It changes our border from catch and release to detain and deport.” 

Remember: this is a conservative Republican (a real conservative, not the kind that have co-opted the ideology).

What’s not to like about that?

But Trump spoke, his acolytes listened, and McConnell, who had once been a force in the Senate — and in his party — wandered off in silence. Even though he is not running for reelection, even though he would have no political capital to lose by strongly voicing first his support then his concern, McConnell folded.

The reason Trump was against the bill was because if the border was at least somewhat “fixed,” he wouldn’t have one of his primary issues to rant, rave and inexplicably riff about.

So people fell into line and supported their liege.

Now arguably the bill has things in it that people don’t like, but the nature of developing legislation is — or it used to be — one of give-and-take and compromise. It is working to get the most of what you can get and to minimize the amount of what you don’t want, knowing full well that there are opposite numbers to your position trying to do the same thing from their points of view.

But at the end something — not nothing — results.

Or at least that used to be the way things worked before the House became not much more than something you might find on the grounds of a carnival and the Senate has gone from a “deliberative body” to one where people thinks the word “debate” is something that Herve Villechaize might have referenced in relation to fishing on Fantasy Island.

Now Trump has returned to directing Congress by saying that if the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act isn’t signed into law (it is essentially a law that says illegal aliens can’t vote in federal elections, which is actually something that noncitizens can’t do anyway, so if you’re all about reducing regulations and the size of government, enacting something that essentially repeats what’s already there is nothing but waste), then:

“I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don’t get it.”

Congress is going to have to actually do some work, or the government will be largely shut down on September 30. 

What Trump is saying, in effect, is that if the SAVE Act isn’t passed, then Congress shouldn’t do its job to keep the government running.

Here is the man who wants to lead the government who is saying that it should be shut down.

How does that make any sense?

It is all about him and what he wants. Never mind the rest of the people in the country he wants to represent. If he doesn’t get his way, then it is no way.

And there is either silence (McConnell) or fist-pumping support (Hawley, Jordan).

Trump clearly doesn’t understand that it isn’t about him, in large part because there are so many who either keep quiet or tell him that it is and pretend that it has something to do with making America great again.

It isn’t. It is simply giving him what he wants.

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