Year: 2016

I really don’t get it. People are already accusing the moderator of last night’s debate as being partial toward Clinton.

I’m sorry: this isn’t a high school debate where the moderators must remain impartial. This is basically, as I’ve said, a glorified press conference with journalists sitting there conducting it.

Furthermore, and this is a major point: FACTS ARE NOT IMPARTIAL. FACTS ARE FACTS. When Trump (and to a much lesser degree, Clinton) said something demonstrably wrong, I don’t want the journalist to sit there and say nothing. Screw that: when Trump says, “I never said that,” I want his dámņëd Tweet in which he said exactly that to be projected on the wall behind him. These people are fighting for the hardest job in the world, and if they cannot be counted on to be consistent with things they themselves have said in the past, how can any sane person count on what they say in the future? And how can any journalist just let them go?

I want the reporters to take off the kid gloves and grill these people. It’s their dámņëd job and it’s about time they started doing it, because I’m sorry, Walter Cronkite wouldn’t let them pull this crap.

PAD

8:56: We will be watching on the Bloomberg Channel because they are supposed to be doing live fact checking.

9:02: It remains amazing how the bar skews toward Trump. Clinton has to go out there and convince America to trust her. All Trump has to do is not lose his temper. She has to accomplish things and he simply has to not have a breakdown. Not sure if this is gender related or simply standard GOP/Democrat.

9:04: By the way, feel free to comment along the way so I know someone is reading this. Wonder if they’ll shake hands and smile.

9:05: Yes, they did.

9:06: Because I’ve never declared bankruptcy, that’s why.

9:06: Why the HÊLL don’t they ever answer the questions? I mean, EVER? Don’t make an opening statement: tell why we should support YOU, for God’s sake.

9:08: Why can’t she say, “Because I’m sane and he’s not.”

9:10: But is any of this true? Is anyone checking whether what he’s saying is factual?

9:11: Hillary launches the first attack. She has to keep on it. She has to underscore how his plans make no sense and won’t work.

9:12: Good. Let’s see if he answers. And no, $1 million is NOT a small loan, you dip šhìŧ.

9:14: Nope. He’s not answering the question either. Jesus. Good: Lester is staying on him.

9:15: TRUMP is talking about special interests? Everything about him is special interests.

9:17: Good, keep interrupting her so that she can keep ignoring you when you do that.

9:19: I love that she tried to interrupt him and he immediately said, “Excuse me” and wouldn’t let her talk. She, on the other hand, just ignores him and talks over him.

9:22: They’re really just going at it. The moderator isn’t interrupting.

9:24: He’s being insanely aggressive, which I’m sure his fans are loving. It doesn’t matter that what he’s saying isn’t true.

9:26: He’s blowing his stack and we’re only half an hour in.

9:28: Leadership STARTS with the secretary? Why not blame her for everything?

9:29: She is perpetually semi-smiling and he is perpetually scowling. And he KEEPS INTERRUPTING or trying to. He can’t keep his cool.

9:30: The “worst revival?” What the HÊLL does that mean?

9:31: Of course it’s doing political things. It’s a political office.

9:31: NO. THE IRS HAS SAID THERE IS NO REASON NOT TO RELEASE HIS RETURNS. NONE. ANOTHER LIE.

9:32: SOMEONE CALL HIM ON IT.

9:32: YES!!!! THE AUDIT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NOT RELEASING YOUR RETURNS, YOU JÃÇKÃSS.

9:33: And the Trumpites start shouting.

9:34 YES! Take him down, Clinton!

9:35: No, that doesn’t make you smart, you idiot.

9:37: Yes, you do learn a lot from financial disclosure. Which is why you don’t want to release the tax returns; because you don’t want anyone to learn anything from that disclosure.

9:38: “Braggadocious”” Is that a word?

9:39: So he doesn’t DENY that he hasn’t paid taxes. And yes, let’s talk about business. Go for it.

9:40: Oh, come ON! He’s going to claim that everyone he hasn’t paid was because they all sucked at their work?

9:41: There’s nowhere for him to hide. She’s filleting him.

9:41: No, it’s not words and sound bites. It’s FACTS. The FACTS are that he is a lousy businessman. That his businesses fail.

9:42: But he’s SCREWING OVER his employees. That’s what she’s saying.

9:45: Good. Good answer. Talk about police training.

9:46: She didn’t use the words “law and order” because they’re not relevant to the question. The question he’s not answering.

9:48: And here we go: the trouble is illegal immigrants going around shooting people, and so we all need to be armed to prevent it. Christ.

9:49: So I’m lost. He wants to…take away guns? What about the Second Amendment? He wants to restore stop and frisk? What the hëll is he talking about? How does this relate to the question about harmless blacks being gunned down by cops?

9:51: Blacks currently support him by 0%. I wonder if he can drop to negative numbers?

9:52: She sounds SO SENSIBLE. He sounds hysterical.

9:53: Caroline suggests they should make it as hard to get a gun as it is to get an abortion.

9:55: Of course, the problem with watch lists is that they’re not dependable. Kathleen wound up on a watch list for a year because her name was similar to some one else.

9:58: Trump is wrong. Murders are down. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nypd-low-crime-first-quarter-2016_us_5702b0dae4b0a06d580653e3

9:58: She decided to STAY HOME?! Christ, what an áššhølë!

9:59: She just won. That’s the quote that everyone is going to go with. She prepared for the debate and she is preparing to be president.

10:00: What in HÊLL is he talking about?!?

10:01: No, he was NOT the one who got him to produce the birth certificate. It’s true because he says it’s true? It’s true because he had a dream about it?

10:01: Hillary looks like she’s trying not to laugh.

10:03: YES. Bring up his history of racism. Excellent.

10:05: He didn’t like the way she treated Obama during a DEBATE? Jesus.

10:09: Yes, her time has expired, but since he keeps talking over time, it seems fair.

10:09: He was endorsed by Ice? Who the hëll is that?

10:10: No, they knew for sure it was Russia. And that’s not the point: he ENCOURAGED Russia to hack into America. THAT is what should be addressed.

10:14: Except BUSH was the one who was responsible for the creation of ISIS, you idiot. Not Obama, not Clinton.

10:14: It doesn’t matter that you say “wrong,” Trump. Everyone KNOWS you endorsed the invasion.

10:19: Lester, stop letting him ramble over stuff that was already answered.

10:20: THERE IS VIDEO OF HIM ENDORSING THE WAR! IDIOT!

10:22: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMgQAyZC-Vg

10:22: Kathleen is ready to throw up. He has a better temperament?! Is he INSANE?!?!

10:24: She’s destroying him. With his own words.

10:25: It’s old because it remains accurate.

10:29: What in God’s name is he talking about? I mean, is it me? I literally cannot follow what he’s talking about.

10:31: That’s no secret. We know he has no plan.

10:32: SHE has no business ability? Multiple bankruptcies and SHE has no business ability?

10:33: No, he said “look.” And Lester just called him on it. This is nuts. Over and over he gets called on his lies and he just ignores them.

10:34: Kath just said “Game, set and match to Hillary.”

10:35: I see Lester is no longer trying to rein in the audience cheers.

10:36: OH, BÙLLSHÍT! Now he is taking the high road?! About her ads, which are wholly accurate? Trump claims that Mexicans are criminals and rapists and SHE is the one who is not nice?

10:37: Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains.

10:37: ANSWER THE QUESTION YOU NITWIT!

10:38: Christ, I can’t believe there are two more of these things.

So be sure to swing on by. You can safely assume that I will be pulling for Hillary, but will still endeavor to be evenhanded during the course of the mutual press conference that passes for debates in this country.

PAD

Nearly four years ago, Kathleen was being told by a doctor that she might “have to make some tough choices” while I lay in a hospital bed drifting in and out of consciousness. (I spent ten days in the hospital and only really remember about several hours of it.) I should have packed it in at age 56.

Instead today I turn sixty.

I cannot fathom why I’m still here. I’ve had friends much younger and in much better shape than I am drop dead with no warning. I can’t understand why I’m still sucking oxygen.

Maybe it was to welcome a new generation of children into the world, with the birth of my two grandsons, A.J. and Orson. Maybe it’s to see Caroline through to her goal of becoming president. Maybe it’s to provide company for my beloved Kathleen. Maybe it’s to finish the third “Hidden Earth” novel. Maybe it’s to see the next “Star Wars” movies.

Whatever it is: I’m still standing.

PAD

Some years ago, I had pneumonia. I was flat on my back for three weeks. I could barely speak. I was miserable.

Hillary Clinton has pneumonia and the worst that happens to her is that she almost faints while maintaining her public schedule. And we’re worried about HER health? While Donald Trump continues to refuse to release medical records, and IRS records, we obsess about Hillary? Are our priorities just slightly out of whack?

PAD

Fifty years ago today, “Star Trek” debuted on NBC.

I wasn’t watching it. I don’t recall why. Probably there was something on opposite it that my parents preferred to watch and since they controlled the television, that would be pretty much that.

I wound up stumbling onto one episode in the third season: “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” I was underwhelmed and didn’t bother to keep watching. However when I was in middle school, my friend Keith introduced me to the series through the James Blish-written books that were adaptations of the episodes. By that point the program had gone into syndication and I wound up watching “Who Mourns for Adonis?” I was totally hooked.

I met my first wife at a Star Trek convention. I met my second wife because she had made a Klingon puppet that I bought in order to use it as a prop during “Mystery Trekkie Theater,” the annual skewering of Trek that Bob Greenberger, Mike Friedman and I perform at Shore Leave convention. So basically my four children owe their lives to Star Trek.

I’ve become friends with some of the cast members. Attended George Takei’s wedding. Co-wrote Jimmy Doohan’s autobiography. Presented the Julie Award at Dragon*Con to Leonard Nimoy and, the following year, William Shatner. And I have an entire aspect of my career based on Star Trek novels.

Long live Star Trek.

PAD

Trump will release his tax returns if, and only if, Clinton releases 30,000 emails.

Despite the fact that every GOP candidate since Richard Nixon (with the single exception of Gerald Ford) has released his returns doesn’t weigh in. The fact that Hillary has released every one of her returns since 2000 doesn’t weigh in. All that matters is that Hillary Clinton releases emails, potentially revealing private correspondence and perhaps even secure information.

Plus does anyone really think that Trump will then release his returns? I certainly don’t.

He claims that people don’t really care about his tax returns. Uh, Donald: Yes. We do. Because you’re deliberately coming up with dodges, which prompts us to speculate as to what’s going on. Will they reveal that you’ve been lying about your net worth? That you never pay taxes? That you never donate to charities? All we can do is speculate and you refuse to clarify it. Because that’s who you want in the Oval Office: someone who refuses to ever be candid about stuff that everyone else has no problem discussing.

How in God’s name did Hillary get the reputation for being duplicitous when Trump lies more than he tells the truth?

PAD