The Debates - who won?

[Pat Hartman]

I know that Trump is a Democrat and they are the people who play "the x card" but he's not that dumb. It's more likely that the radical left would be celebrating rather than sympathetic so he would never expect get any sympathy from them and he doesn't need any from his supporters.

Given your myopic view of our politics, I'm pretty sure you are not well read or you would know that there are probably as many experts who think masks are placebos as those who think that they actually protect you or those around you. Take a look at the specs for your mask. Does it say it blocks virus particles? Not a chance. Some masks are more effective than others but virus' are really tiny so wearing most masks is a little like erecting a chain link fence around your yard and expecting it to keep out mosquitos.

Don't ever forget the power of confirmation bias. Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are all blocking content that offers opinions different from that of the hard left or that is in any way positive regarding the President. At best, competing opinions are 5 pages down in your feed so you would never see them. The social media companies pretend that algorithms just materialize out of thin air so the bias of the designer and the programmer could never affect the actual code. the public and our Congress believe them. I hope you know better. Take that thought to its logical conclusion if you can.

I know I've mentioned this before but I'll do it again. I was explaining click bait and confirmation bias to a non-technical friend about 6 years ago. To convince him, I went to Yahoo, which I rarely use and for a week, the only articles I clicked on were those that mentioned members of the British Royal family. By the end of the week, I had to scroll down almost 50 links before I got to anything that wasn't "royal" related.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Speaking of hypocrisy when will the UK be sending it's favorite son Prince Andrew Duke of Dork, to be properly interrogated by The FBI? We wait patiently for your response.

 

[Isaac]

Speaking of hypocrisy when will the UK be sending it's favorite son Prince Andrew Duke of Dork, to be properly interrogated by The FBI? We wait patiently for your response.

Imagine the British tabloids on that. They get pretty excited if someone famous just coughs...I imagine with Andrew's situation their heads are literally exploding.

 

[ColinEssex]

Given your myopic view of our politics, I'm pretty sure you are not well read . . . . .

My apologies for being a dumb Englishman who has more things to worry about than the USA election. I'm obviously not on your level intellectually but as a foreigner it is wierd and complicated.
However, as I'm not qualified to have a discussion to try to learn, I'll butt out and leave the discussion to the Americans here and those that are better read than me.
Col

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Col, you know I try to respect your questions. I must honestly say that we can't tell if DJT is playing a sympathy card. It will depend on his subsequent actions. Right now, there is no evidence of it.

If we wanted the debates to be fair, though, we would take away Joe Biden's earpiece because it is NOT a hearing aid.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Col, my point, which was a little too subtle had nothing to do with your country of origin. Hate for a person who has never harmed you in any way is irrational. Where does all that vitriol come from? It comes from the media and means that you have fallen for the click bait and conformation bias. You believe the hateful things you read and don't even think to look past them. Stop clicking on the lurid headlines. You can probably find another version of the story that isn't trying to poison your opinion and uses less purple prose. And then as you read, be a little critical. Am I reading a fact or someone's opinion? Why do I care what that person's opinion is? Do they really have some inside knowledge that they are sharing or do they think I'm too stupid to form my own opinion so they have to clarify for me?

Wallace was so biased during the debate on Tuesday that even liberal talking heads are calling him out on it. How can someone three years later still reference "Charlottesville" as if it were a dirty word and repeat a partial quote that is deliberately and repeatedly misrepresented because it cuts off in mid-sentence? The whole quote is quite clear. The half-sentence is intended to make you have a bad opinion of Trump. This is what you fall for over and over and over again. Do you really think that half of America would vote for someone so despicable? and be looking forward to voting for him again? Do you think that little of us? Or, maybe you are missing something. Talking heads on TV today were actually wishing Trump would die and blaming him for getting infected. How about those other 200 + thousand folks? Would you blame them for getting infected? How about all the people who wear masks even when they're alone in their car? If they still get sick is it their fault? Unless you're wearing a moon suit with its own filtered air supply, you are going to cross paths with the virus at some point. Either in the air or on a surface touched by someone else. Faucci was recently recommending that people wear goggles so the virus won't get in through their eyes!!!!!

 

[ColinEssex]

In the UK, the phrase 'you are not well read' is a very snobby way of saying that someone is thick and stupid.
I am aware that The poster hates me and has done for years, my 'style' of posting has been a constant source of annoyance. How someone, who has no idea of my educational background can say such a thing is beyond me.
Anyway, I'm not taking that from some Yank, even if she is brilliant at Access. So I'll shut up and just read the posts from time to time. I'll keep my thick and stupid comments to myself. I'll leave you to deal with other posters that are not 'well read'.
Cheers for now, Col

 

[Pat Hartman]

Cultural differences can start wars. I wasn't trying to insult you. I was merely suggesting that you broaden your news reading so you can see that there are other "opinions" out there that are not actually hateful. Despite his sometimes boorish behavior, Trump has actually been our best president in years if you can look past all the personal negativity to what policies he has actually implemented. Your hate for Trump has to boil over into your opinion of the people who voted for such a hateful, disgusting man. Do you also hate Americans who voted for trump? ALL news outlets are biased. The bias starts with deciding what story is "news" and what isn't. Then they decide which "facts" to present and which to withhold or bury 10 paragraphs in. Most people read the headline and maybe s-3 paragraphs and then move on so even articles that eventually reveal all the facts consciously hide them so far in that you loose interest before getting there. Reporters used to start with who, what, where, and when. Now their goal is to insert themselves into the story and give you their interpretation. Facts are much less important.

 

[Isaac]

I try to avoid dignifying C's posts with a response, but this is more to what Pat said -- Another aspect of understanding another country's news is to remember that you are probably getting most of your perception based on your (home) country's depiction of the (foreign) country's affairs.

I'm not necessarily saying that's always going to be the wrong perception, but it definitely might. For example, as an American, I've gotten an impression that the U.K. barely has news - that the market is saturated 90% in garbage tabloids, that the tabloid business is so much bigger there than most places that it's consumed daily life, information-wise. (I'm not referring as much, here, to the statistics, but rather, to the importance it's given, & seriousness of consumption). However, I must keep in mind that my stereotype impression may be very wrong. After all, I'm mostly getting that based on reading OUR news about YOUR country, which is going to leave a lot to be desired in terms of local feelings and realities. Therefore, while I may not be able to totally shake the image out of my mind, yet, objectively speaking, I realize there's a good possibility it may be way off.

 

[AccessBlaster]

This is a pattern with Col, "he likes to wind Yanks up" it a national pastime really. It's been going on for long time. He knows more about USA culture then most native born, almost to the point of obsession. The seeming simple inquiries are design to provoke us into rattling on. I guess it's working.

 

[Steve R.]

This is a pattern with Col, "he likes to wind Yanks up" it a national pastime really. It's been going on for long time. He knows more about USA culture then most native born, almost to the point of obsession. The seeming simple inquiries are design to provoke us into rattling on. I guess it's working. (emphasis added)

Earlier today, I was reading comments (unfortunately) supporting Wallace in asking the question concerning White supremacy. They could not understand the "problem". Sounds legitimate on the surface. A few others, as an attempt to make them understand, thankfully responded that Wallace's question was not an honest question. It was dishonest since it was a lead-in for provoking an "endless" series of adversarial opinionated remarks. (Semblance of a perjury trap????) (Of course there is the point that this question had been asked and answered numerous times before, so it was unnecessary.)

 

[Isaac]

This is a pattern with Col, "he likes to wind Yanks up" it a national pastime really. It's been going on for long time. He knows more about USA culture then most native born, almost to the point of obsession. The seeming simple inquiries are design to provoke us into rattling on. I guess it's working.

Usually that's a symbol of jealousy. However repressed it may be. Maybe the grass seems greener on the other side?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Everyone talks about how "the grass is greener on the other side" but nobody remembers to ask how much horse manure was required to get the field that green. If you are fed enough horse manure, you might turn green and sprout weeds too!

 

[Steve R.]

Censorship anyone? In Post #52 I posted a You Tube video of Lou Dobbs highlighting that Wallace was not asking an honest question of Trump. That video was taken down. Found another one. Guess what?

Video unavailable
This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated.

That video too has been "disappeared". So far the video in Post #47 is still-up. Any bets on how long before it is taken down?

 

[Isaac]

wow interesting!
but devil's advocate i'm just wondering maybe the account who hosted that video had other videos that were problematic since the whole account was suspended.

 

[Steve R.]

wow interesting!
but devil's advocate i'm just wondering maybe the account who hosted that video had other videos that were problematic since the whole account was suspended.

A valid point. But then we are talking about two videos that have now been taken-down. The other video simply had the generic: "This video is no longer available". It is still possible that both videos were associated with the same account. Will never know.

 

[Isaac]

Definitely concerning

 

[ColinEssex]

Look, Pat said I was 'not very well read' which in the UK means I am stupid and thick. Most of my comments are based on what I see on the BBC news. The bit about Trump seeking the sympathy vote came from an interview with an American, It never even crossed my mind.
Yes, the British press and some TV take great delight in slagging off the USA, especially with a clown in the White House. Some may be true, some may be false, we in the UK have no idea - so I post it here and seek clarification from sensible people like Doc. I certainly didn't expect someone of Pats' calibre to indicate I was thick and stupid.
For what it's worth, I don't read newspapers as a) that are expensive and b) usually full of rubbish about celebrities. I only watch the BBC news, if I hear something of interest relating to the USA, I ask questions here. I don't deliberately wind people up, I just phrase things in my own style, never personally offensive (unlike Pat). I know people like Pat hate me and are itching to ban me, but sometimes as one president said 'you can't please all the people all the time'.
So, if I should comment here on a thread, I will check that Pat is not posting on that thread, as I don't want to give her aggro over my postings. I actually have a lot of respect for Pat's incredible skill in Access.
Col

 

[Pat Hartman]

I just phrase things in my own style, never personally offensive (unlike Pat).

Really????

 

[Isaac]

My level of ignorant bliss has been taken to new levels. A second person now happily occupies my ignore list.