This is getting to be an old, old story. Great Pretender JD Vance demonstrates in his debate with Tim Walz that he is one smooth operator…and the “lamestream media” (I can’t believe I am actually borrowing a phrase from Sarah Palin!) falls for his Oscar-worthy act. According to the utterly clueless reporters and pundits who get paid kings’ ransoms for their pearls of wisdom, Vance trounced Walz.
Aside from giving Vance’s slick but substantively-empty-overflow-of-lies presentation the nod, it was shocking to hear the after-action analysts do yet another “bothsidesism” commentary, equating Walz’s halting explanation for misstating when he happened to be in Hong Kong 35 summers ago with Vance’s awkward deflection when asked whether Biden won the 2020 election. Elevating what, at worst, was a teeny-tiny uncertainty (do any of us remember where we were on June 4, 1989?) with the Big Lie about a stolen election, a rip-roaring falsehood that led to an attempted coup d’état in which people died and 140 cops were injured. Unbelievable! Pundits, along with our major newspapers, cannot seem to get false equivalencies out of their systems.
Vance lied about climate change, abortion policy, Harris being the Biden administration puppet-master, and oh so much more. No matter. He did it with such panache!
While that was detestable, it paled in comparison to the deep pile of wool Vance pulled over viewers’—and commentators’—eyes. He came across as MAGA-reasonable, gentler, kinder than Trump certainly, and a total transformation from his stump speech self where he zealously rails against legal immigrants, women and all the other demographic cohorts that offend Trump and the MAGAverse.
What was not different were his incessant lies, delivered with a cloak of civility and friendliness definitely not in character.
Once again, style over substance mesmerized the easily misled punditocracy. We can only hope it did not have a likewise hypnotic effect on undecided voters. The danger is that, if it did, they may trend toward the Republican ticket despite the deranged lunacy Trump manifests at every appearance on the campaign trail. While Vance, like his running mate, lied about virtually everything, he was much slicker and effortless when doing so than the stumbling, bumbling Trump. Vance oozed earnestness. I am reminded of Conrad Birdie’s classic anthem in the musical, Bye, Bye Birdie, “You Gotta Be Sincere.” The fact that he elevated bullshit artistry to new heights doesn’t count, apparently, with the raters. Say it with elegance and victory is yours.
By pretending to be a decent guy, and doing so with such articulate ease, Vance neutralized Walz’s strongest suit, his “Minnesota nice” persona. A little more relentless “Purple People Eater” from Walz (an NFL reference—look it up) would have been preferred. Beyond that, however, lurks the danger that the result of the debate might be to make Trump more palatable.
Even more appalling were pundit observations that Vance looked much better than Walz’s pale and puffy-cheeked appearance. Amazing what a difference eye-liner can make.
Dick Hermann
October 5, 2024
Aside from giving Vance’s slick but substantively-empty-overflow-of-lies presentation the nod, it was shocking to hear the after-action analysts do yet another “bothsidesism” commentary, equating Walz’s halting explanation for misstating when he happened to be in Hong Kong 35 summers ago with Vance’s awkward deflection when asked whether Biden won the 2020 election. Elevating what, at worst, was a teeny-tiny uncertainty (do any of us remember where we were on June 4, 1989?) with the Big Lie about a stolen election, a rip-roaring falsehood that led to an attempted coup d’état in which people died and 140 cops were injured. Unbelievable! Pundits, along with our major newspapers, cannot seem to get false equivalencies out of their systems.
Vance lied about climate change, abortion policy, Harris being the Biden administration puppet-master, and oh so much more. No matter. He did it with such panache!
While that was detestable, it paled in comparison to the deep pile of wool Vance pulled over viewers’—and commentators’—eyes. He came across as MAGA-reasonable, gentler, kinder than Trump certainly, and a total transformation from his stump speech self where he zealously rails against legal immigrants, women and all the other demographic cohorts that offend Trump and the MAGAverse.
What was not different were his incessant lies, delivered with a cloak of civility and friendliness definitely not in character.
Once again, style over substance mesmerized the easily misled punditocracy. We can only hope it did not have a likewise hypnotic effect on undecided voters. The danger is that, if it did, they may trend toward the Republican ticket despite the deranged lunacy Trump manifests at every appearance on the campaign trail. While Vance, like his running mate, lied about virtually everything, he was much slicker and effortless when doing so than the stumbling, bumbling Trump. Vance oozed earnestness. I am reminded of Conrad Birdie’s classic anthem in the musical, Bye, Bye Birdie, “You Gotta Be Sincere.” The fact that he elevated bullshit artistry to new heights doesn’t count, apparently, with the raters. Say it with elegance and victory is yours.
By pretending to be a decent guy, and doing so with such articulate ease, Vance neutralized Walz’s strongest suit, his “Minnesota nice” persona. A little more relentless “Purple People Eater” from Walz (an NFL reference—look it up) would have been preferred. Beyond that, however, lurks the danger that the result of the debate might be to make Trump more palatable.
Even more appalling were pundit observations that Vance looked much better than Walz’s pale and puffy-cheeked appearance. Amazing what a difference eye-liner can make.
Dick Hermann
October 5, 2024
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