Presidential Debate Analyis Biden Trump

First of all…it was anything but presidential. The parties, the candidates, and the country were not well served. I expected it and couldn’t resist tuning in having learned that I could get it on youtube.  Sadly, I also expected belly laughs and these two guys delivered on that count about twice. 

Despite Trump’s weak character, I found him to be somewhat compelling at times and was actually winning the debate early on. His problem though is his inability to recite honest facts which of course reverses any credibility he would establish through compelling moments of cerebral thought.

There was the obvious discord in context of COVID. Biden did poorly in reciting Trump’s missteps and Trump started to find some groove in talking about lifting lock down measures and the impact of lock downs on people’s well being.  

Biden was looking old and worn out and did not really possess the vitality to produce effective comebacks which is what we were all looking for of course. Trump has so much vulnerability that one thinks that it would be unfathomable not be able to produce stinging frequent jabs. However; Biden was on his heels partly due to Trump’s continual counterpunching which was at times effective Also,  the moderator’s attempts at policing Trump may have actually worked in Trump’s favour by extinguishing any eruption of emotion in Biden.

There were personal attacks. Biden referenced Trump as a liar and a clown out loud intentionally and not under his breath. Trump smeared Biden’s son and Biden’s record. Biden smirked and chuckled in reaction to Trump responses. Trump attacked, interrupted and exaggerated.

Tax return topic was addressed of course and Trump suggests millions of taxes were paid in 2016 and 2017 and not the $750 suggested by the Times. Apparently, the returns are still under audit and somehow this audit has not been expedited in lieu of the taxpayer in question. 

Trump was tested one more time to outright condemn white supremacist groups with a request to ask them to “stand down”. He stumbled and instead of voicing conviction, he referenced antifa.

The two of them were asked to articulate a message on climate change. Trump talked about managing the forest better and attempted to tie Biden to a radical plan differing from Biden’s actual plan. 

There wasn’t a lot of substance here and the biggest take away would be a simple feeling emptiness that this was the best that the country could produce in two candidates. I’m afraid that the democrats did almost as poor a job in appointing Biden as the Republicans did in appointing Trump.

A parent in the U.S. could have come away thinking that their child would be left with a worse off country given that the concluding question dealt a matter that an advanced democracy hasn’t had to face in decades….a question in confidence about counting ballots fairly and any collateral repercussions.   

The Wake Up Call

Bob Woodward exclaimed to MSNBC on Thursday before revelations from the NY Times regarding Trump’s tax returns, “I don’t know Where (when) the wake-up call comes to the country” in response to Trump’s notion of not committing to a peaceful transfer of power.

It’s quite astonishing but as Woodward insinuates through his words, this pitiful man, Donald Trump, could still in fact be awarded the White House via the electorate despite his contemptuous, deceitful, patronizing, and immoral behaviour. I’m aghast and have refrained from writing on the Trump indiscretions as they regularly occur just because it’s become so banal and disheartening.

Among the latest news, we have the New York Times representing “years of tax avoidance” when characterizing Trump’s tax returns. It’s hard to imagine a man who flaunts such wealth as one who wouldn’t be left with some net income to pay tax but this is what’s been revealed by the Times.

At this point, the only nugget of conscionable defence one could muster in casting a vote for Trump would be the “either/ or” argument that the opposing political ideology is so unpalatable that Trump’s behaviour as characterized is tolerable in context.

If the United States of America returns this man to power in spite of everything they’ve learned about him through his words, his manner, his questionable relationships with Russians, his treatment of decorated military officers, his revolving door of staffers, his midnight tweets, his mocking of the disabled, his withholding of aid to Ukraine in exchange for political dirt, his payoffs of women, his bungling of COVID-19 while lying about it, his disrespectful reference to war captured veterans (McCain), his associations with the criminally indicted….all within the backdrop of a national debt advancing, race relations abysmal, and a quality of life in decline then the plight of man in the first world is deserving of whatever fate comes hither.      

The Online Learning Phenomenon

Caught a piece of the local Calgary news tonight and I’m watching kids sitting behind a computer at home possibly with a parent who is ill suited for assisting with the curriculum. Apparently, the fear of sending kids to school has been so great that the board suggests that the numbers of home schooled in Calgary equates with 30 new schools.

In person teachers have training and experience to spot weakness in a child and react accordingly. The in person school environment also in theory facilitates the social development of a child so long as the school environment is socially healthy. Parents certainly will be cognizant of these elements forgone in the home environment. Parents will be able to monitor progress comparatively with benchmarks but trained teachers would still be more attuned toward applying corrective measures and provide an unbiased perception of a child’s developmental progress.

The new age parent may be in for surprises when their kid reaches late teen age years discovering that the broader world is not as hospitable as mom’s home office. 

Story Time Kananaskis Lodge

It was a couple of years ago that I had the thought of providing my ski resort’s only hotel some business after a hard day on the slopes. Allow me to share a story of Kananaskis Lodge.. The Kananaskis Mountain Lodge is located in the Kananaskis Village at the foot of Nakiska. Actually the Stoney Nakoda is a half hour down the road as well.  I thought, why not grab a bite and a room and come back the next day after a night at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge. 

Here is the thing. When reception greeted me, the price was $350 and rooms were available.

BTW….this story comes to you courtesy of inspiration derived from the Calgary Herald’s editing department who removed my dignified post in reply to an article today referencing hard times in hospitality in Banff / Canmore.   

I thought to myself….this can’t be right. “Excuse me” I exclaimed….did you say $350? Are there rooms available? Yes sir. Well, I’m not paying $350….can you do any better? No sir.  Naturally, I drove home. They didn’t get my business and neither did Nakiska the next day for lunch. My Nakiska early bird season pass was less than this one night quoted at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge.

Fast forward to today. The vacancy rate is very high. The Herald is quoting 50 per cent today during our covid reign and other posters whose posts have managed to subsist over at the Herald have declared that rates have not come down. 

Am I empathetic to hoteliers given my experience? No. Am I empathetic to folks in the service sector who have lost their jobs because of idiotic decisions by hotels? More so but not particularly. They decided to keep working for the misaligned greed driven owners who weren’t willing to accommodate me and obviously others local to their establishment. You see….Isaac Newton said it best. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If one goes about their business defying natural law expecting a consequence in their favour aberrant to normal course –why should one be empathetic toward a predictable plight? Although COVID may not have been on the horizon, certainly the potential for a Black Swan like event has always persisted as a variable to cause harm to hospitality.

If you ever conduct your affairs in such a way that you take advantage of someone with unfairness, there will be a consequence. You’ll never know when that consequence will show up. There is always reckoning in spite of a cultural denial at every turn that judgment can be avoided.