That's an issue. The purpose of debates shouldn't be based on entertainment. Sadly, they've turned into a blood sport. I understand your point, though.
Yeah, it was obviously a joke. But on the other hand I haven't heard of one person who will not watch debates and especially this debate purely for entertainment purposes...
Speaking of basic questions about American politics/history/government that most elementary students should know…I find it a bit galling that US immigrants are required to take a “citizenship test” that I’d wager Trump and most of his anti-immigrant supporters might very well have a hard time passing.
Another question: Christian nationalists see you as their savior and you have facilitated the expansion of their power. How do you explain the Establishment Clause?
Another question: Should women have the right to determine the healthcare of their bodies?
A couple questions I'd ask: "You say the Bible is your favorite book and you have copies all over Mar-a-Lago. What is the Great Commission? Who authored Corinthians? What is the difference between the old and new testaments?"
Man I really miss watching you make ignorant scumbags squirm!
That said, I think you’re totally right that a majority of the country would agree that “What is the third amendment?” or “What do the letters in NATO stand for?” would be considered totally biased and unfair “gotcha” questions even though one would assume an aspiring American President and Leader of the Free World would obviously know the answers.
And yet…in this same country, it would be considered heresy to ask “Would
you unconditionally support our good friend and ally Israel in an indefinite war against Hamas (which apparently now also includes any civilian living trapped in Gaza, journalists, the UN, the ICJ, the ICC, UNWRA, WFK, & humanitarian aid workers) by any means necessary?” That’s because regardless of which party you support or what you personally believe, there’s only one correct *acceptable* answer to that question. If you don’t know what it is, ask any 4th grader ;)
"Pig ignorance" is an insult to pigs. Pigs are highly intelligent animals! I'm not bothering to waste my time watching the debate. After 2020's fiasco, I don't see the point. Tomorrow's highlights will suffice. I've never supported Trump and I never will. I'm voting for Biden instead.
MEHDI: Your questions are excellent, but they won’t be raised because the “debate” is actually a scam; an infomercial. CNN seeks to ingratiate itself with both candidates, for obvious reasons. It’s an opportunity to promote our electocracy; wherein more often than not money determines who wins. These “debates” need to be in quotes to highlight that they are media concocted shams; free propaganda for the candidates.
Although I only support Biden as a last resort—he should have been forced to resign for complicity in fascist Israel’s crimes of genocide, including starvation, of Palestinians in occupied Palestine—the President should have refused to “debate”
the convicted felon, pathological liar and malignant narcissist; a wannabe dictator…Biden, a sycophant, will likely shake hands or fist- bump and offer a smile as he meets the serial criminal on stage who has expressed support for destroying all his enemies.
The piece should have have included another one regarding the recent defeat of progressive Jamaal Bowman. AIPAC needs to be boycotted and investigate as to whether or not it needs tonbe registered as a foreign agent/lobbyist.
AIPAC efforts to buy our elections will likely fuel antisemitism, a tragic side-effect. The billionaires behind AIPAC need to be publicly shamed. Sociopaths, however, have no shame.
Bottom line: Zionist Israel, our presumed ally, is a threat to our democracy and needs to be treated as such. Let’s advocate for a one-state solution proposed by Dan Kovalik, in “The Case for Palestine: Why it matters and why you should care.” He should be a guest on ZETEO. His book is a must-read.
It’s imperative we demand an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire along with a U.N. enforced no-fly zone in the region. All military aid to Israel must end. The BDS campaign needs to be supported, the damage caused repaired/restored and reparations paid; until the one-state (Israel/Palestine) with equal rights for all is a reality.
Many “progressive” pundits have avoided the Palestinian plight. We forget that, as they say, justice denied anywhere is justice denied everywhere. I would like to see Mehdi debate these sanctimonious talking head and make them justify their callous indifference. Indifference allowed Hitler’s Holocaust. The more recent indifference is allowing Holocaust II, as we keep our eyes off the proverbial ball; seeking to satiate an insatiable addiction for irrelevant mind-numbing entertainment.
Not a whole lot can be expected from a debate that is organized by the Corporate press. Besides what are we expect to learn about these two charlatans that we already haven't learned from their time in the office. So I am not going to waste my time to be made a fool out of by listening to a bunch of rehearsed lies.
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
I’m not a fan of some of what Biden has done but to call him a charlatan is disingenuous if you have looked at whaat he has done as president. Here’s a list:
Economic Growth and Job Creation
Nearly 15 million jobs created since 2021
750,000 new manufacturing jobs
Established $15 minimum wage for Federal workers and contractors
Companies have announced nearly $300 billion in manufacturing investments in the United States
Enacted the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowers costs for families, combats the climate crisis, reduces the deficit, and finally makes the largest corporations pay their fair share
Near record low unemployment rates for the Hispanic and African-American communities
Record low unemployment rate for people with disabilities
Infrastructure
Infrastructure investments in all 50 states, D.C., territories, and throughout Tribal nations, to rebuild or add new highways, bridges, and rail.
Led the world in a historic release of strategic reserves.
Over 16 million households receiving lower cost or free high-speed internet through the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Public Health and Healthcare
Lowered seniors’ health care expenses, including capping out-of-pocket expenses on prescription drugs for seniors at $2,000 per year, ensuring that people enrolled in Medicare will not pay more than $35 for a month’s supply of insulin, and recipients will receive free vaccines.
Hosted the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in over 50 years and released a National Strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities by 2030.
Four out of five people who sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act can find health care coverage for $10 a month or less, and millions of Americans on Obamacare are saving an average of $800 a year.
Combined 50 percent increase in enrollment in states that use HealthCare.gov and the nation’s uninsured rate is historically low at 8 percent.
Over 16 million Americans signed up for quality, affordable health coverage, the highest number ever produced in an open enrollment period.
Signed the PACT Act, the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans in more than 30 years
Defended reproductive rights by signing Executive Orders to protect access to reproductive health care and taking action against state or local officials who attempt to interfere with women exercising their constitutional right to travel out of state for medical care.
International Relations and National Security
Rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine, imposing unprecedented economic costs against Russia and securing bipartisan support at home to deliver critical assistance for Ukraine.
Strengthened America’s alliances and partnerships to advance our interests and values, including strengthening NATO, deepening security and economic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, and building coalitions to solve shared challenges across the world.
Took key leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda off the battlefield, defending the American people against terrorism.
Environmental Stewardship
Rejoined the Paris Agreement on day one to reassert the United States global leadership to combat the climate crisis.
Jumpstarted the American offshore wind industry and convened the nation’s first federal-state offshore wind partnership.
Accelerated adoption of electric vehicles by reducing costs for families, jumpstarted the first national EV charging network, and made historic investments into EV batteries and materials.
Set new policies to reduce super pollutants like HFCs and methane to protect communities and reduce emissions fueling climate change.
Restored protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments and designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument to conserve our lands and waters, honor our nation’s veterans, protect Tribal cultural resources, and support jobs and America’s outdoor recreation economy.
Awarded more than $1 billion to initiate cleanup and clear the backlog of 49 previously unfunded Superfund sites, over $250 million to clean up hundreds of contaminated brownfield sites and $725 million for abandoned mine lands.
Safety
Signed legislation to put more cops on the beat and invest in community policing.
Signed legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act.
Signed an Executive Order on Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.
Signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major piece of gun safety legislation in three decades.
Signed a landmark executive order on safe, effective, and accountable policing, mandating federal reforms and strengthening public safety and public trust.
Equality and Justice
Invested historic funding for Tribal governments and Native communities.
Signed historic executive orders to advance equity and racial justice, leading to bold action to narrow the racial wealth gap, invest in communities facing persistent poverty, deliver racial justice, and reform criminal justice.
Signed legislation protecting marriage for same-sex and interracial couples and advancing full equality for LGBTQI+ Americans.
Appointed a record number of women and people of color to serve in his Administration.
Nominated and confirmed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, along with a record number of diverse judicial appointees.
Initiated the process to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law and pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession.
Education and Debt Relief
Increased the maximum value of Pell Grants by $900.
More than 40 million borrowers stand to benefit from student debt relief.
Announced debt relief for Americans earning less than $125,000 per year who had Pell Grants in college, and up to $10,000 for all other borrowers below that income threshold.
Early 2023, announced a plan to provide millions of borrowers with more affordable monthly student loan payments through changes to income-driven repayment plans.
True enough. Biden is absolutely blind and deluded about Israel and the genocide they are perpetrating. It’s unforgivable. But the definition of charlatan is someone who is a quack. I’m sure he understands the very real threat Iran poses (to wipe Israel off the world map) and he can’t move on from that. I agree with Mehdi, about his assessment that Biden has got to go. I’m just a fan of the ‘whole’ story and your use of the term “charlatan” pissed me off. I’m tired to death of the lack of ANY critical thinking and one sentence descriptions of a person’s entire career.
While the word of charlatan might not be the best adjective to describe Joenocide Biden, it is a word to describe a person that is fraud and tRUMP is a perfect example of that.
However, don't you think for a person that wears his religion on his sleeves and pretend to be a devout catholic yet complicit in killing so many children would be a fraud?
It does piss me off too, to have been fooled by him four years ago and it brings home the expression of :
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
Yeah, I get you, and there are so many things Biden has done that are infuriating and inexcusable (Mountain Valley Pipeline he gave to Manchin is one that affects my family personally). And yet, I don’t know of any other politician who would have done so much for the American middle class. He has to go but he set a bar for other would be presidents; keep demanding we take care of ALL Americans. Biden has changed so much from his Senate days. I think he will see, before he leaves this world, that his stance on Gaza was not only wrong, but appalling in every sense of the word. I think he will die brokenhearted for his complicity in the genocide perpetrated by Israel.
This debate is merely a pantomime showcasing two geriatrics who are nothing more than figurehead mouthpieces for their respective parties. If Mehdi were the moderator and these questions were actually being asked, we’d be in a different world, a distinctly better one.
Ask Biden to square his reputation as a compassionate man with his decades long ignoring ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and now the genocide carried out with his vocal and material support.
As there seems to be little understanding that a presidential term is not a broadcast TV production - How would you compare and contrast the terms of President Jed Barlett and Presudent Ronald Reagan?
If only this could be the debate!!
Hope you have at least sent these to CNN. They will ignore them, but one can dream
I still think we deserve a son vs son debate between Hunter and Don Jr... We would see the best entertainment ever produced and will ever see!
That's an issue. The purpose of debates shouldn't be based on entertainment. Sadly, they've turned into a blood sport. I understand your point, though.
Yeah, it was obviously a joke. But on the other hand I haven't heard of one person who will not watch debates and especially this debate purely for entertainment purposes...
Speaking of basic questions about American politics/history/government that most elementary students should know…I find it a bit galling that US immigrants are required to take a “citizenship test” that I’d wager Trump and most of his anti-immigrant supporters might very well have a hard time passing.
BRILLIANT questions, and it’s a travesty that undoubtedly nothing approaching them will be asked.
If you were the moderator, I'd watch the debate.
Another question: Christian nationalists see you as their savior and you have facilitated the expansion of their power. How do you explain the Establishment Clause?
Another question: Should women have the right to determine the healthcare of their bodies?
A couple questions I'd ask: "You say the Bible is your favorite book and you have copies all over Mar-a-Lago. What is the Great Commission? Who authored Corinthians? What is the difference between the old and new testaments?"
Man I really miss watching you make ignorant scumbags squirm!
That said, I think you’re totally right that a majority of the country would agree that “What is the third amendment?” or “What do the letters in NATO stand for?” would be considered totally biased and unfair “gotcha” questions even though one would assume an aspiring American President and Leader of the Free World would obviously know the answers.
And yet…in this same country, it would be considered heresy to ask “Would
you unconditionally support our good friend and ally Israel in an indefinite war against Hamas (which apparently now also includes any civilian living trapped in Gaza, journalists, the UN, the ICJ, the ICC, UNWRA, WFK, & humanitarian aid workers) by any means necessary?” That’s because regardless of which party you support or what you personally believe, there’s only one correct *acceptable* answer to that question. If you don’t know what it is, ask any 4th grader ;)
"Pig ignorance" is an insult to pigs. Pigs are highly intelligent animals! I'm not bothering to waste my time watching the debate. After 2020's fiasco, I don't see the point. Tomorrow's highlights will suffice. I've never supported Trump and I never will. I'm voting for Biden instead.
MEHDI: Your questions are excellent, but they won’t be raised because the “debate” is actually a scam; an infomercial. CNN seeks to ingratiate itself with both candidates, for obvious reasons. It’s an opportunity to promote our electocracy; wherein more often than not money determines who wins. These “debates” need to be in quotes to highlight that they are media concocted shams; free propaganda for the candidates.
Although I only support Biden as a last resort—he should have been forced to resign for complicity in fascist Israel’s crimes of genocide, including starvation, of Palestinians in occupied Palestine—the President should have refused to “debate”
the convicted felon, pathological liar and malignant narcissist; a wannabe dictator…Biden, a sycophant, will likely shake hands or fist- bump and offer a smile as he meets the serial criminal on stage who has expressed support for destroying all his enemies.
The piece should have have included another one regarding the recent defeat of progressive Jamaal Bowman. AIPAC needs to be boycotted and investigate as to whether or not it needs tonbe registered as a foreign agent/lobbyist.
AIPAC efforts to buy our elections will likely fuel antisemitism, a tragic side-effect. The billionaires behind AIPAC need to be publicly shamed. Sociopaths, however, have no shame.
Bottom line: Zionist Israel, our presumed ally, is a threat to our democracy and needs to be treated as such. Let’s advocate for a one-state solution proposed by Dan Kovalik, in “The Case for Palestine: Why it matters and why you should care.” He should be a guest on ZETEO. His book is a must-read.
It’s imperative we demand an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire along with a U.N. enforced no-fly zone in the region. All military aid to Israel must end. The BDS campaign needs to be supported, the damage caused repaired/restored and reparations paid; until the one-state (Israel/Palestine) with equal rights for all is a reality.
Many “progressive” pundits have avoided the Palestinian plight. We forget that, as they say, justice denied anywhere is justice denied everywhere. I would like to see Mehdi debate these sanctimonious talking head and make them justify their callous indifference. Indifference allowed Hitler’s Holocaust. The more recent indifference is allowing Holocaust II, as we keep our eyes off the proverbial ball; seeking to satiate an insatiable addiction for irrelevant mind-numbing entertainment.
Not a whole lot can be expected from a debate that is organized by the Corporate press. Besides what are we expect to learn about these two charlatans that we already haven't learned from their time in the office. So I am not going to waste my time to be made a fool out of by listening to a bunch of rehearsed lies.
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
I’m not a fan of some of what Biden has done but to call him a charlatan is disingenuous if you have looked at whaat he has done as president. Here’s a list:
Economic Growth and Job Creation
Nearly 15 million jobs created since 2021
750,000 new manufacturing jobs
Established $15 minimum wage for Federal workers and contractors
Companies have announced nearly $300 billion in manufacturing investments in the United States
Enacted the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowers costs for families, combats the climate crisis, reduces the deficit, and finally makes the largest corporations pay their fair share
Near record low unemployment rates for the Hispanic and African-American communities
Record low unemployment rate for people with disabilities
Infrastructure
Infrastructure investments in all 50 states, D.C., territories, and throughout Tribal nations, to rebuild or add new highways, bridges, and rail.
Led the world in a historic release of strategic reserves.
Over 16 million households receiving lower cost or free high-speed internet through the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Public Health and Healthcare
Lowered seniors’ health care expenses, including capping out-of-pocket expenses on prescription drugs for seniors at $2,000 per year, ensuring that people enrolled in Medicare will not pay more than $35 for a month’s supply of insulin, and recipients will receive free vaccines.
Hosted the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in over 50 years and released a National Strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities by 2030.
Four out of five people who sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act can find health care coverage for $10 a month or less, and millions of Americans on Obamacare are saving an average of $800 a year.
Combined 50 percent increase in enrollment in states that use HealthCare.gov and the nation’s uninsured rate is historically low at 8 percent.
Over 16 million Americans signed up for quality, affordable health coverage, the highest number ever produced in an open enrollment period.
Signed the PACT Act, the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans in more than 30 years
Defended reproductive rights by signing Executive Orders to protect access to reproductive health care and taking action against state or local officials who attempt to interfere with women exercising their constitutional right to travel out of state for medical care.
International Relations and National Security
Rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine, imposing unprecedented economic costs against Russia and securing bipartisan support at home to deliver critical assistance for Ukraine.
Strengthened America’s alliances and partnerships to advance our interests and values, including strengthening NATO, deepening security and economic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, and building coalitions to solve shared challenges across the world.
Took key leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda off the battlefield, defending the American people against terrorism.
Environmental Stewardship
Rejoined the Paris Agreement on day one to reassert the United States global leadership to combat the climate crisis.
Jumpstarted the American offshore wind industry and convened the nation’s first federal-state offshore wind partnership.
Accelerated adoption of electric vehicles by reducing costs for families, jumpstarted the first national EV charging network, and made historic investments into EV batteries and materials.
Set new policies to reduce super pollutants like HFCs and methane to protect communities and reduce emissions fueling climate change.
Restored protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments and designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument to conserve our lands and waters, honor our nation’s veterans, protect Tribal cultural resources, and support jobs and America’s outdoor recreation economy.
Awarded more than $1 billion to initiate cleanup and clear the backlog of 49 previously unfunded Superfund sites, over $250 million to clean up hundreds of contaminated brownfield sites and $725 million for abandoned mine lands.
Safety
Signed legislation to put more cops on the beat and invest in community policing.
Signed legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act.
Signed an Executive Order on Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.
Signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major piece of gun safety legislation in three decades.
Signed a landmark executive order on safe, effective, and accountable policing, mandating federal reforms and strengthening public safety and public trust.
Equality and Justice
Invested historic funding for Tribal governments and Native communities.
Signed historic executive orders to advance equity and racial justice, leading to bold action to narrow the racial wealth gap, invest in communities facing persistent poverty, deliver racial justice, and reform criminal justice.
Signed legislation protecting marriage for same-sex and interracial couples and advancing full equality for LGBTQI+ Americans.
Appointed a record number of women and people of color to serve in his Administration.
Nominated and confirmed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, along with a record number of diverse judicial appointees.
Initiated the process to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law and pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession.
Education and Debt Relief
Increased the maximum value of Pell Grants by $900.
More than 40 million borrowers stand to benefit from student debt relief.
Announced debt relief for Americans earning less than $125,000 per year who had Pell Grants in college, and up to $10,000 for all other borrowers below that income threshold.
Early 2023, announced a plan to provide millions of borrowers with more affordable monthly student loan payments through changes to income-driven repayment plans.
impressive record, so lets add one more to it.
- 15,694 and counting children have been killed and 17,000 are without parents after 8 months of Israel’s war on Gaza, let that sink
True enough. Biden is absolutely blind and deluded about Israel and the genocide they are perpetrating. It’s unforgivable. But the definition of charlatan is someone who is a quack. I’m sure he understands the very real threat Iran poses (to wipe Israel off the world map) and he can’t move on from that. I agree with Mehdi, about his assessment that Biden has got to go. I’m just a fan of the ‘whole’ story and your use of the term “charlatan” pissed me off. I’m tired to death of the lack of ANY critical thinking and one sentence descriptions of a person’s entire career.
While the word of charlatan might not be the best adjective to describe Joenocide Biden, it is a word to describe a person that is fraud and tRUMP is a perfect example of that.
However, don't you think for a person that wears his religion on his sleeves and pretend to be a devout catholic yet complicit in killing so many children would be a fraud?
It does piss me off too, to have been fooled by him four years ago and it brings home the expression of :
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
Yeah, I get you, and there are so many things Biden has done that are infuriating and inexcusable (Mountain Valley Pipeline he gave to Manchin is one that affects my family personally). And yet, I don’t know of any other politician who would have done so much for the American middle class. He has to go but he set a bar for other would be presidents; keep demanding we take care of ALL Americans. Biden has changed so much from his Senate days. I think he will see, before he leaves this world, that his stance on Gaza was not only wrong, but appalling in every sense of the word. I think he will die brokenhearted for his complicity in the genocide perpetrated by Israel.
" I think he will die brokenhearted"
This implies he has a heart. I have a serious doubt if this is the case after the last few months.
This debate is merely a pantomime showcasing two geriatrics who are nothing more than figurehead mouthpieces for their respective parties. If Mehdi were the moderator and these questions were actually being asked, we’d be in a different world, a distinctly better one.
I wish you were the moderator. I would definitely tune in! As it is, I don't know if I can stand it. These debates are so painful.
Ask Biden to square his reputation as a compassionate man with his decades long ignoring ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and now the genocide carried out with his vocal and material support.
As there seems to be little understanding that a presidential term is not a broadcast TV production - How would you compare and contrast the terms of President Jed Barlett and Presudent Ronald Reagan?