I didn’t watch the debate. I did have the opportunity to see the highlights. Given what I’ve seen and heard, I’d tend to empathize. It’s baffling to me there’s not a single candidate from ANY party that the majority of voters can get behind. And it’s certainly not a good look for us on the world stage.

Deviating from the main point of your post for a moment… I thinks lot of us had friends, colleagues and/or family members who served, who had a personal stake in those Commander-in-Chief decisions. But Uncle John, I can’t fathom how anyone could compare the Trump admin’s “art of the deal” negotiation strategies with that abhorrent display of politically-driven and willfully ignorant action taken by old man Biden. At least one of these guys was trying to do the correct thing over the popular thing. Apples to oranges?

I absolutely agree there’s a distinct parallel between that event and the withdrawal from Saigon. The fallout from Biden’s self-serving, idiotic decision is reminiscent of the former. Not just the immediate devastation but the future impact of what we left behind…. It should be a major, continuing discussion on the public stage. It’s another example of political indecision costing lives. It should *never* happen again. And it was entirely brushed aside within about a month by their media lapdogs. Just like the devastating results of this administration’s immigration “policies”.

Anyway…

You’ll notice I keep using the term “administration” when I’m talking about the executive branch. Now that the American people have started treating presidential elections like American Idol, our Presidents have the same power over their puppet masters as the Royal Family does over parliament. Except in this case, we’re not voting for the puppet masters. And when folks like me point it out, they call us conspiracy theorists…

Yeah, I would tend to agree with your reaction. This election begs for third party candidates.

The Biden administration has completely failed on policy, catastrophically, so many times and on so many levels. Yet they have never been brought to account. After each breathtaking display of incompetence, we are presented with a new and exciting story about Donald Trump. Look at that shiny object.

The GOP, on the other hand, is making the mistake of running Trump the man and not Trump the policy. The puppeteers could easily run someone more palatable who would absolutely take the win over this incompetent fool in the White House. You could throw a rock and find someone more palatable at this point than Donald Trump. But the GOP is afraid his massive base (a foreseeable right wing response to that embarrassing leftist tantrum in 2016) will splinter from the party if they don’t get behind him *personally*. They continuously underestimate the power of the press, whose spotlight on Trump’s personal flaws will devastatingly limit turnout of mainstream conservatives on Election Day. We are frustrated by Trump’s childish insults and pompous behavior.

So someone like Harris, who is even more incompetent than either of them, will soon be running the country. This isn’t about race or age or sexual proclivities. It’s about leadership, plain and simple. So where are the third parties?? Anyone with a pulse, a brain, and a filter could win this one.

So yes, I agree. We lose, our country is weakened, and things will get worse. Sadly, I think fewer and fewer Americans actually know or care about what is happening to our country.