The first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is about to begin. I'll be sipping on one or more martinis and making snarky comments. For real live-blogging check out Josh Marshall and Andrew Sullivan. Oh, and the Times.
I was going to watch PBS, but apparently Bloomberg will be fact-checking in real time.
Let the games begin...
21:04 EDT: Oh, can't do Bloomberg. Moved back to PBS with Gwen Ifill, Mark Shields, David Gergen, and a few other sane people.
21:06: Bad timing! My big New York-style pizza (in honor of my alma mater, Hofstra) just arrived.
21:10: First big lie on his first sentence. Routine opening from Clinton. Trump is pitching directly to people who have been left behind by change.
21:12: "We just have a different view." And "he really believes that the more you help wealthy people, the better off we'll be."
21:15: "I want you to be happy, it's very important to me." WTF?
21:17: "That's called business, by the way." She's already getting to him.
21:20: The Times already has one of his tweets up (about China and climate change).
21:23: "I know you're living in your own reality."
21:30: The Times' Nick Confessore: "This is a moment when Trump’s ideas are conflicted. He is now defending companies that offshore their profits and stick them in places like Ireland, and blaming Clinton and other politicians for not letting them bring the money back tax free."
21:32: Ah, tax returns. Coming right after a pile of nonsense on how the Federal Reserve works. And a lie about the audit.
21:36: "Maybe he doesn't want you to know...he hasn't paid any taxes. ... There's something he's hiding. Who does he owe money to?" Well, yeah.
21:39: Well, maybe if you paid your taxes we could have better roads, Donald?
21:42: "Maybe he didn't do a good job." "Maybe you should apologize?" Because, it turns out, he stiffs people all the time. "You call yourself the king of debt."
21:43: One of my Facebook friends just now: "I'll release my tax returns when you release the Kraken." Same friend a moment later: "I can't tell who's winning, rubber or glue."
21:48: "Law and order." Welcome back, 1968.
21:50: Andrew Sullivan: "It’s clear that Trump has no idea what a debate is and has never actually debated an equal. He rants and then shouts over and interrupts his debate partner. This is the performance of a tyrant – someone utterly unsuited to the give and take and reasoned debate that’s integral – essential– to a liberal democracy."
Meanwhile, he's talking about bad people and an against-police judge. Is he six?
21:52: A friend whose opinion I trust just sent me a message that Clinton calling Trump "Donald" seems disrespectful against him calling her "Secretary." Leaving out that she's no longer entitled to that title (so to speak), I'm not sure whether this is a net gain or loss for her. I will ponder this.
21:57: Another friend on Facebook: "You don't learn that much from tax returns?! Um, if that's the case, bro, just turn them over."
21:58: Sullivan again (on the race question): "What he has just said in a presidential debate is indistinguishable from what a drunk at a bar might say before he is thrown out. It’s incredible to me that this ranting, incoherent bigot is actually a nominee of a major party in the U.S."
22:06: Confessore again: "Let’s not skip over this moment, colleagues. Has a presidential candidate ever accused the other of being racist on a debate stage?"
22:07: "I settled that lawsuit with no admission of guilt." My god, talk about being lawyerly.
22:09: And now we come around to Russia. She's almost...almost...linking him to Putin.
22:13: "We need to do cyber better." This from the guy who wants to date his daughter. Urban Dictionary much, Mr. Trump?
22:14: Martini #1 was with a London dry gin from the UK, in honor of the country I hope takes me in if this guy gets elected. Martini #2 is with Death's Door gin, for reasons I trust the reader will infer.
22:16: Not wrong, Donald. Do you not understand how the Internet works? You supported the Iraq war.
22:18: Andrew Borowitz: "The most coherent moments for Trump at this debate were the sniffs."
22:20: So, other than throwing themselves in front of Russian tanks, what has NATO ever done for us?
22:23: "I have a winning temperament." "Woo! Okay!" Snorts and literal rolling on the floor over at IDTWHQ.
22:26: "A man who can be provoked with a tweet should not have his finger anywhere near the button...."
22:28: Sullivan again: "He’s actually doubling down on the war crime of “taking the oil”. Again: no American presidential candidate has ever advocated plunder as a goal in foreign policy. No Western leader has supported such a thing in modern times. The fact that he is still repeating the need for such a war crime is all by itself disqualifying for a Western leader."
22:30: I think Sioux Nation might disagree that the Iran treaty is "the worst deal ever made." Also Poland (1938), Germany (1919), and Lando Calrissian (a long time ago).
22:35: Sometimes a stamina is just a stamina. This time, however, I think he means "penis."
22:38: Awww...it's not nice. Poor Donald.
22:39: Jeffrey Goldberg earlier: "Trump is admitting here that he would open fire on Iranian ships and then see what happens."
22:40: So...any answer other than "yes, I will absolutely respect the results of this election" is just bizarre.
OK. Time to finish my second martini. And then sleep, fitfully...