The dogs didn\u2019t sleep well last night. Atticus, our nervous Lab, whispered in my ear about 4:30am: \u201cDad, there eating dogs\u201d. I rolled over \u2013 \u201cNo Att, they\u2019re not eating dogs, that\u2019s just a Twitter rumor. Go back to sleep\u201d. Then, at 5:20am, Keelie, our motherly Australian shepherd, was barking: \u201cDAD, DAD, DAD; He said they\u2019re eating cats AND dogs\u201d. So I got up, and went to calm her down. \u201cKeelie\u201d, I said, \u201cThis is what happens when you listen to the Presidential debates. It\u2019s not real.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By then four of the five dogs were up, all talking about someone, nearby, eating dogs. (The youngest, CeCe, slept through the debate and the discussion). After all, the Republican candidate for President, the forty-fifth President of the United States said it was happening, just an hour away in Springfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was a kid, maybe three, I watched a Twilight Zone <\/em>episode about large ants from space taking over the earth. To this day, if I\u2019m going to have a real nightmare, big ants the size of shoes are the protagonists. But I didn\u2019t think watching the debates last night with the dogs would scare them so badly. There was no going back to sleep. So I calmed them down, gave them breakfasts, and started writing. Atticus was still so scared, he wouldn\u2019t eat. He\u2019s lying right here, beside my chair, as I write this essay. I even had to go outside with him in the pre-dawn darkness this morning \u2013 \u201cthey are eating dogs in Springfield!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They say that only the Super Bowl gets more viewers than the Presidential Debates.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Biden debacle in June had over 50 million.\u00a0\u00a0The numbers for last night aren\u2019t out yet, but it\u2019s likely that many more than that watched this one, the only scheduled Presidential debate in this current election cycle.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And for the 45th<\/sup> President, Donald Trump, the line that everyone remembers is the same one that scared the dogs so badly; \u201cThey\u2019re eating cats and dogs in Springfield\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n First of all, according to Trump, \u201cthey\u201d are \u201cillegal\u201d Haitian immigrants in Springfield.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThey\u201d are in fact, not illegal, \u201cthey\u201d are legal migrants settled in Springfield after escaping the disastrous conditions on their home island.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThey\u201d speak Creole, and that\u2019s causing some pressure on the Springfield Schools,\u00a0\u00a0caught unprepared for Creole translators.\u00a0\u00a0So there\u2019s that.\u00a0\u00a0But \u201cthey\u201d aren\u2019t eating Dogs, Cats, or the local geese in the city ponds.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, Ohio Governor DeWine is increasing some services to the city for the new residents.\u00a0\u00a0Dogs, cats and geese are safe. (In fact, the only one I know who is eating dogs, is Bobby Kennedy Jr, who recently endorsed Trump for President). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ex-President Trump didn\u2019t have a good night. When Vice President Harris said that foreign leaders were concerned about another Trump Presidency, Trump searched for a character reference that Americans would appreciate. He chose Victor Orban, the Hungarian President who is working to end democracy in his own country. And Trump yelled, a lot, as if yelling would make the \u201cfake facts\u201d he was spewing real. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As for the Vice President, she was controlled, on message, and sharp.\u00a0\u00a0She definitely goaded Trump into some of his more out-of-control moments and got the exact contrast she was looking for.\u00a0\u00a0Harris wanted to show Trump as an agent of chaos, rumor, and craziness.\u00a0\u00a0She wanted to remind Americans what the day-to-day life was like during Trump\u2019s term, the constant fear of what the next bad thing would be.\u00a0\u00a0And in contrast, she presented a plan for the future, with solid proposals for improving life in the middle class.\u00a0\u00a0Her overall goal:\u00a0\u00a0show a potential Presidency of hope and joy, or the dark return of Trump.\u00a0\u00a0And that\u2019s exactly the image Donald Trump gave her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can you criticize Kamala Harris?\u00a0\u00a0Sure, she could have been more definitive in answering questions.\u00a0\u00a0There is a clear answer to the \u201cflip-flop\u201d on fracking question:\u00a0\u00a0the US is meeting our environmental goals enough that we can continue to frack.\u00a0\u00a0But she chose not to go into those details, rather falling back on her \u201cpat\u201d and true answer:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMy values have not changed\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0But if she didn\u2019t hit all the \u201cfacts\u201d to the final point, she did achieve the \u201cart\u201d of this debate.\u00a0\u00a0She made the contrast, and the choice, clear to the American people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump tried to scare Americans with the dark and gloomy future he sees. And there are problems; that\u2019s why choosing a President is so important. But Harris offered solutions, and hope, and even some joy in our future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All Trump did was scare the dogs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fact Check<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
On Message<\/h3>\n\n\n\n