Notices by Ian Bicking (ianbicking@hachyderm.io)

@inthehands it was a nice contrast, and definitely the left is in a funk, maybe this can build some confidence. But damn we love our powerlessness, and on the ground (not in the media) I only felt that powerlessness during the protest.

I'm actually pretty happy with a state monopoly on violence, even when I don't like the state. But too many people accept a state/electoral monopoly on direct action. And No Kings isn't just indirect action, it's many steps removed from direct action.

Digressing to your minnebar talk, it was also focused on imagining ourselves as powerless and then... coping, I guess. But that was not a room full of powerless people, nor was the protest! But if some group is actually trying to engage people's power, I haven't seen it. And the Right actually does this, they engage with that power.

@skinnylatte I don't live in a tech hub and... tech jobs just aren't something people think about that much.

There's also a ton of immigrants, and they do things like roofing, working in elderly care, etc.

I don't think tech money and H1Bs are very salient in most parts of the US, and probably the same in other countries.

I did gasp when Trump brought up eating dogs, and then defended it because it was on TV. He really is running on an old-man-yelling-at-the-television platform.

"I'm talking now, does that sound familiar?" WTF?

Trump is getting actively dumber through this

Kamala's little jabs are great chaff. But I'm surprised Trump was able to move on from the crowd size as quickly as he did

What does "peacefully and patriotically" mean?

I feel like Charlottesville is a bit overdone though. She should have named one of the officers who died

Trump has had a lot more rebuttals than Harris, right?

She's not as reactive so it's harder for me to tell which of her times are rebuttals

Complimenting Orban: "They call him a strong man"

His ignorance/mental deficiency is really coming out

He totally forgot to talk about Afghanistan because he was obsessed with Russia. He WANTS to talk about Afghanistan.

Phew, commercial break.

Great moderation! I should learn the journalists' names

Edit: ABC News' David Muir and Linsey Davis

It's like their names rhyme!

Realistically barely anyone thinks about our involvement in Afghanistan anymore unless it is brought up for other reasons.

Maybe we should? I don't know, maybe not?

"This... ... ... former president"

Mmm, I feel ya

Harris is going down the non-grievance path on race... Nate Silver will be excited (ala https://www.natesilver.net/p/kamala-harris-is-not-going-back-to )

Of course his babbling is already priced in

I really wish Kamala had pushed harder on Trump to answer the abortion ban veto question. It could have been a moment, because any answer will hurt him a lot

Trump is really embracing his silly faces. Probably a better choice than the alternative

Totally off topic, but the real downside of Tim Walz getting the VP nomination instead of Pete Buttigieg is that Doug Emhoff and Chasten Buttigieg would have been a great first/second gentlemen team/bromance comedy

Just for the lulz... https://theonion.com/so-which-ones-yours-asks-doug-emhoff-trying-to-make-small-talk-with-melania-backstage/

(I'd be a little surprised if Melania is attending)

I really want Walz to say something like this in his first remarks at the Walz/Vance debate:

Vice President debates didn't usually mean much. And if Kamala Harris is elected it's her character that will define the presidency, not mine. But you should pay attention tonight. Because if Donald Trump wins the election you can be pretty confident that within two years, when Trump's mental decline can no longer be ignored, the man next to me will inherit the presidency. #debatefanfic

And it's over! I could not tell you a single thing about those closing arguments. But perhaps because the rest of the debate was so strong.

I'm very disappointed that this will probably be the only debate. Unless somehow the Harris campaign manages to bait him, which isn't out of the question after tonight

Debate posting!

I love Kamala's intense stare at Trump. A man could never do that, it would read wildly differently.