Edit: forgot thanks, added []

[Forgot to say, thanks for sharing!]

It semes to just list Donald’s many faults, but it seems to dismiss the republican-lites many faults as well.

Article seems to be pretty mild, similar to a fake out, where no sytematic problems with the Republican and Republican-lite candidates were talked about.

I am for 3rd party, so I would have way more to say about the major systematic problems we have with the duopoly.

To restate a known saying, Donald and Joe are the results of the system we have, they are not an anomaly; IMO we will continue to get more people like them if we continue to prop up the duopoly, some furture candidates may even be smarter than them and hide their real intentions more well until they get elected.

Talking Points Memo (TPM) is an independent news organization that publishes reporting and analysis about American politics, public policy and political culture.

None of what I’m describing was any less true in 2020 or 2016 or 2008 or 2000. But it comes around again in 2024 with a particularly jarring level of discordance. We know so much about each candidate. No one is really in an information vacuum. The terms of the debate are so vastly different not just from past years but between the candidates themselves. This isn’t about Social Security lock boxes or tax cuts or health care policy.

Will you promise to abide by the results of the election or will you unleash violence against election workers to try to tilt the election your way? If you win in 2024, will you relinquish office at the end of your second term in accordance with the Constitution? These are legit questions, but they’re not likely to be asked, and, frankly, even if they are, I’m not sure the world’s best moderator can pivot from the “Trump, let’s explore the extent of your authoritarianism” questions to the more normal policy-specific questions for Biden without the whole artificial edifice constructed for the debate tumbling down — or at least giving the moderator a migraine.

All of which is to say that this year’s debates, more than in any other cycle, are not up to the task. Trump in word and deed undermines the entire premise of having open, transparent, public debates. The man incited a coup attempt against his own government to remain in power. He’s vowed if re-elected to abuse the powers of his office and leverage the criminal justice system to go after his enemies and reward his friends. How do you debate that?