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Point of View Op-Ed

Op-Ed: What a Debate by Steve Carns

October 2, 2020 by Opinion

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It was a raucous debate. Sure it was a “High-energy performance” from a “Part angry bar-room debater.” Yes he was, “Bulldozing his way through the 90-minute debate.” Admittedly he was, “Shaking his head and scoffing pityingly.” He did keep, “Interrupting to attack.” He surely, “Let loose” and “Unleash(ed) his inner barroom brawler.” And, “His smile veered—yes—between amused and condescending.”

All true. Joe Biden’s debate performance with Paul Ryan in October of 2012, according to the actual quotes above, was all of these things…and the press loved it. “Joe Biden’s alpha-male display leaves Paul Ryan overwhelmed in VP debate,” The Guardian, 10/12/12. “Biden comes out swinging at debate,” Reuters, 10/11/12. “Joe Biden Looked Like a Deranged Bully in the Debate …”, US News 10/12/12…oops, how did that get in here?

Vice-President Biden made a few promises in the 2012 debate. On Benghazi he promised, “One, we will find and bring to justice the men who did this… And secondly, we will get to the bottom of it.” Hmmmm

He also said, about Afghanistan, “With 49 of our allies in Afghanistan, we’ve agreed on a gradual drawdown so we’re out of there by the year — in the year 2014… But we are leaving. We are leaving in 2014, period.” Really?

During the first Presidential debate of 2020, Biden said, “Here’s the deal. The fact is that everything he is saying so far is simply a lie.” Can that be accurate?

Here’s a perspective: Trump does make commitments…but he follows through. Want a partial list from Politifact?

Take no salary

Create private White House veterans hotline

Make no cuts to Social Security

Slash federal regulations

Place lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign government

Defund Planned Parenthood

Nominate someone from his list of justices to replace Antonin Scalia

Ensure funding for historic black colleges

End the defense sequester

Keep Guantanamo Bay Detention Center open

Move U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

Reverse Barack Obama’s Cuba policy

Cancel the Paris climate agreement

Ask countries we protect to pay more for joint defense

Increase veterans’ health care

Suspend immigration from terror-prone places

Limit legal immigration

Use U.S. steel for infrastructure projects

Stop TPP

Renegotiate NAFTA

Raise tariffs on goods imported into the U.S.

Save the Carrier plant in Indiana

Won’t say ‘Happy Holidays’

Create a 10-percent repatriation tax

Reverse Barack Obama’s 2016 gun executive order

Not bad for, “The worst president America has ever had.” Joe Biden, 9/29/2020

Steve Carns is a former executive with IBM Corporation and a twenty-five year resident of Talbot County. He lives in the town of Easton. 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Op-Ed

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Letters to Editor

  1. Deirdre LaMotte says

    October 2, 2020 at 11:09 AM

    Wow, and he probably doesn’t boil kittens either. Sorry but kids in cages and lying constantly “trumps” your list.

    Some people just don’t care about racism, climate change, foreign affairs, women’ s rights, The Office Of the Presidency and all that stands for.

    Some people are only interested in their 401 (k), health insurance paid by someone else, cheap gas, and “Undesirables” in their neighborhood. Some people are just like Trump: absolutely no compassion for others and only interested in themselves.

    Wow.

  2. Louie Nicholson says

    October 2, 2020 at 3:34 PM

    Thank you for a refreshingly fact-filled article. Wish the mainstream media would follow suit.

  3. DOUGLAS C MALONEY says

    October 2, 2020 at 6:31 PM

    Kids in cages? Wasn’t that started under Obama? Climate change? Trump withdrew us from an agreement that was supposed to be absolutely essential, but wasn’t binding. Square those two concepts. Racism? I thought the BLM movement started under the Obama-Biden administration. Foreign affairs: Trump stood up to China, actually gave Ukraine weapons, opposed the Nord 2 pipeline, is getting NATO allies to pony up more cost, has very significantly improved the chance for peace in the Middle East while isolating Iran, eliminated ISIS (an outgrowth of the feckless Obama-Biden foreign policy); Women’s rights? I guess that’s because he’s pro-life. Plus a great economy (pre-Covid, but coming back). Yeah, I’ll take that, but I guess I’m just interested in myself.
    If you want to see Joe Biden’s major, maybe sole accomplishment in 47 years of public life, check out the Biden Welcome Center on south-bound I-95 a few miles south of the PA border.

    • Deirdre LaMotte says

      October 2, 2020 at 11:02 PM

      You are in total denial and every one of your comments is false. Sorry, your man and cause is finished.

      • Patricia Heaps says

        October 5, 2020 at 8:11 AM

        Every one of his comments is false? Everything he said was absolutely true but he did leave out some of his other accomplishments.
        Recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel
        Replacing NAFTA
        America has Become the World’s Largest Oil-Producer
        Got Rid of the Obamacare Individual Mandate
        Pulling Out of the Iran Deal
        And Judges! Don’t forget the judges. Two Supreme Court justices (with one more on the way) and over 200 judicial appointments.
        It’s enough to make you want to scream at the sky! PS – I’m sure someone will organize a Scream at the Sky event in November, you may want to sign up.

  4. Vic Pfeiffer says

    October 2, 2020 at 10:16 PM

    How about adding these to the list:

    Giving the wealthy a huge tax break that he said would also reduce the deficit but has done the reverse.

    Reversing many significant environmental regulations -especially backing off those that address the Chesapeake Bay.

    Attacking the Affordable Care Act in the courts while providing no alternative.

    Undermining our key relationships with our world allies especially in Europe.

    Removing 5 Inspector Generals because they were investigating Trump Administration malfeasance.

    Creating “ the greatest economy in history” while 20% of Americans live under the poverty line.

    Calling Nazi & White supremicists “good people.

    Having the largest turnover in the cabinet in history because members won’t do what he wants or realize what a nutcase he is.

    Being the first Presidential candidate in 50 years to not release his tax return after saying that he would.

    Paying off women with whom he had sex to keep them quiet.

    Lying to the American public about the threat of the coronavirus then not being able to generate a coordinated plan – and putting pressure on the CDC & FDA to adjust its advice to meet his political needs.

    Telling 20,000 big and small lies as President.

    Being willing to take intelligence from foreign governments to help him politically

    Calling John McCain not a hero, and calling Americans who serve in the Armed Forces “losers”.

    Need I go on?

  5. DOUGLAS C MALONEY says

    October 4, 2020 at 6:58 AM

    My facts are off? Tax breaks only helped the rich, and 20% poverty level. Trump lies? Biden’s last 2 campaigns for President ended, respectively, when he was caught plagiarizing a speech, and lying about his academic background. Here are some facts on the Trump economy from the US Census Bureau:

    Income:
    Median household income was $68,703 in 2019, an increase of 6.8 percent from the 2018 median of $64,324 (Figure 1 and Table A-1).
    The 2019 real median incomes of family households and nonfamily households increased 7.3 percent and 6.2 percent from their respective 2018 estimates (Figure 1 and Table A-1). This is the fifth consecutive annual increase in median household income for family households, and the second consecutive increase for nonfamily households.
    The 2019 real median incomes of White, Black, Asian, and Hispanic households all increased from their 2018 medians (Figure 1 and Table A-1).
    Real median household incomes increased for all regions in 2019; 6.8 percent in the Northeast, 4.8 percent in the Midwest, 6.1 percent in the South, and 7.0 percent in the West (Figure 1 and Table A-1).
    Earnings:
    Between 2018 and 2019, the real median earnings of all workers and full-time, year-round workers increased 1.4 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively (Figure 4 and Table A-6).
    The 2019 real median earnings of men ($57,456) and women ($47,299) who worked full-time, year-round increased by 2.1 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively (Figure 4 and Table A-6). The 2019 female-to-male earnings ratio was 0.823, not statistically different from the 2018 ratio (Figure 5).
    Between 2018 and 2019, the total number of people with earnings, regardless of work experience, increased by about 2.2 million. The number of full-time, year-round workers increased by approximately 1.2 million.
    Poverty:
    The official poverty rate in 2019 was 10.5 percent, down 1.3 percentage points from 11.8 percent in 2018. This is the fifth consecutive annual decline in poverty. Since 2014, the poverty rate has fallen 4.3 percentage points, from 14.8 percent to 10.5 percent (Figure 7 and Table B-5).
    The 2019 poverty rate of 10.5 percent is the lowest rate observed since estimates were initially published in 1959 (Figure 7 and Table B-5).
    In 2019, there were 34.0 million people in poverty, approximately 4.2 million fewer people than 2018 (Figure 7 and Table B-1).

    • Deirdre LaMotte says

      October 4, 2020 at 11:39 AM

      Yeah, and the economy was great under Hitler.
      Happy?

  6. Patricia Heaps says

    October 5, 2020 at 11:07 AM

    Thank you for an article which doesn’t have Trump-hate as the topic – refreshing. And to see the gnashing of the teeth that you have set off among the “regulars” – amusing.

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