What was supposed to be the second of three presidential debates morphed into two concurrent town hall-type broadcasts on competing networks because a certain Republican candidate was too chickenshit to appear in a virtual setting. His non-debate provided more evidence (as if any more was needed!) of his unique blend of malevolence and vacuity. Joe Biden’s non-debate went well. What it lacked in excitement, it more than made up for in substance. Joe demonstrated the considerable breadth and depth of his knowledge on an array of policy matters, he handled all of the questions competently and respectfully, and without even trying he reminded us what a breath of fresh air a return to normality would be. Three takeaways:

1. DT is either ambivalent about winning the election or he’s even dumber than I thought.
   His core supporters are very much still with him; he didn’t need to give any further ammo to their conspiracy theories. Yet he feigned ignorance of QAnon and, when it was explained to him, declined to denounce it. This was an apparent attempt to alienate the remaining non-whack conservatives still on the fence because, deep down, he doesn’t want four more years…or it was just plain stupid. It’s not as if the QAnon creepers would abandon him for denouncing their theory. (It’s a coded sign, don’t you know? By pretending to denounce us, he was really giving us clues about a certain congresswoman’s favorite pizza topping. And you know what that means!)
2. DT and his Republican enablers are a bunch of crybabies.
   Did a big bad journalist ask tough questions? Did yet another “nasty woman” fail to genuflect before His Royal Heinousness? Poor, poor president! (Honestly, these people have the nerve to call progressives snowflakes?)
3. Joe Biden is everything that DT is not.
   He has dignity, class, manners, poise, knowledge, intelligence, empathy…and he’s not a crybaby.