2020’s First “Presidential” Debate

I watched the debate and think I had pretty much the same reaction to what I saw as most people did. That is most people except those on “cable news”. But once the debate was over I was interested to see what the coverage would be in the Gazette. And boy was there coverage! Thursday’s paper four articles and a cartoon on the debate and an additional article related to the election. Fridays Opinion Page had to columns, a cartoon and an additional column about a topic covered in the debate, but not directly about the debate discussion on the topic.

I wasn’t really interested in what others thought about the debate or o[pinions on who analysts thought had won it, I was perfectly capable of coming to my own conclusions. What I was very interested in seeing was any “fact checking” that was done. I’m still waiting for an article like that.

The debate covered some serious topics, though the responses to the questions were overshadowed by name calling and speaking over each other. Topics that I expected some “fact checking on” were:

Covid-19: Vice President (and his running mate) has been claiming that President Trump had no plan early on and still doesn’t have a plan. I wasn’t disappointed as he made those claims again. But what is the truth of the claims?

Without addressing whether the Trump Administration’s plan was timely or effective, there is no question they had a plan. I happen to watch Fox News and for what seemed at least two months we were subjected to daily Covid-19 Task Force updates. We were introduced to the leadership team, their responsibilities, updates on their progress and the latest Covid-19 statistics. While I could go into some of the details of their plan, that isn’t necessary to say that VP Biden’s statement that the Trump Administration had no plan and still has no plan is FALSE!

Climate Change: President Trump was asked if he believed in “climate change” and what he would do about it. He gave a lukewarm answer that he did and then claimed it was 37th on the list of things voters were concerned about. VP Biden went through a list of things the suburbs need to worry about if we don’t bring global warming under control. That was an obvious attempt to court suburban women voters. He then went on to include a pledge to make the Federal Government 100% Carbon Neutral during his time in office.

I was very disappointed in both candidates’ answers to the question. After all, the debate was being held in Cleveland! Less than 15,000 years ago what is now Cleveland was covered by a huge sheet of ice called a glacier. It had been in place for possibly 10,000 years. (The reached Chillicothe approximately 22,000 years ago.) That glacier is gone. And that glacial advance was the third in “recent” climate history. It is the reason why Michigan and Minnesota are “flat as a pancake” as is 2/3 of what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and much of Wisconsin. So the obvious correct answer to the question is NO! Man’s use of fossil fuels is not the main factor in warming temperatures and rising sea levels. The climate has been warming and sea levels have been rising for around 20,000 years. Their answers were FALSE!

Condemning Extremists and Trump is a Racist: Once again President Trump was asked if he condemned extremists and he was accused of being a racist by VP Biden. I rate Trump’s response to the requirement to condemn extremists as a bit weak, but he did do it. However with the dozens of times over the last four years that he has made clear statements and the acts he has taken it seemed like a foolish question to ask. And as far as VP Biden calling President Trump a racist, it might be another case of a Democrat practicing “projection” considering his recent comments. It is strange that Chris Wallace didn’t ask Biden about them? Or is it?

So basically there has been no official “fact checking” the things they said in the debate covered in the Gazette? That’s strange considering some of the insignificant things they carried fact check articles on in the past!

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