October 6, 2016

Thank goodness a few people on television notice our mainstream media's shameless efforts to frame this election as a real horserace, and it seems that they'll do whatever it takes to boost their ratings. The slightest favorable news regarding the Trump campaign is praised effusively, and nothing has been praised more highly than Mike Pence's Tuesday's VP Debate performance.

Somehow, Pence was the debate "winner," which is likely due to the low expectations of having to defend his always unorthodox running mate. The standards for Kaine were far higher.

Late Night's Seth Meyers gave us the real account of what happened.

Meyers sees this highly acclaimed "Pence VP Debate victory" as nothing more than a performance, which had no regard for the truth. If you remember things a bit differently, perhaps like this, you're not alone:

Throughout the debate, Pence kept furrowing his brow, shaking his head, scoffing, laughing out loud, saying things like “that’s absolutely false” and “oh, that’s nuts” whenever Tim Kaine brought up true things that Donald Trump had either said or done. Pence’s skepticism of the world that Kaine was describing—a world many of us thought we inhabited—was so adamant that it was hard not to question our own sanity.

Seth really nailed it:

While Kaine seemed to channel Donald Trump in the number of times he interrupted, Pence tried to act like Donald Trump wasn't his running mate.

He digs right in to the oft-ignored blunders from Trump campaign surrogates and bashes Eric Trump for his failure to remember the most obvious thing about Mike Pence.

Yesterday Eric Trump went on Fox News to talk about how close he was with Pence, but watch as he forgets where Pence, the Governor of Indiana, is actually from.

ERIC THE LESSER: Well listen, Mike is solid as a rock and I've got to know him incredibly well and his wife and they're an amazing family and he's an amazing guy. But his track record in his home state in Illinois. er -- in um -- his home state, is exactly why we picked him and why my father picked him.

Meyers interjects: I'm assuming you meant Indiana, not Illinois, correct?

Apparently, the male Trump genetics seems to have a state recognition deficiency. Meyers found a clip of a similar incident where his dad also had difficulty remembering which state is which.

When Kaine, the former Governor of Virginia, was first picked, Trump said this.

D.TRUMP: Her running mate,Tim Kaine, who by the way did a terrible job in New Jersey. The first act he did in New Jersey was ask for a $4 billion tax increase and he was not very popular in New Jersey and he still isn't. What? I mean Virginia.

The host also pointed out how Donald's campaign was charged with curtailing his less than presidential behavior on Twitter.

According to CNN, he wasn't allowed to Tweet without his handlers around him.

He played a few clips from the cable news network which aired right before the debate.

Just one quick point on the Twitter, I am told that they plan to have his team around him tonight ... -- So he doesn't get to hold the device, He gets to dictate the Tweet. Someone else decides.

If he just says he's going for a snack or the bathroom, somebody follows him..

MEYERS: Yes. One of our presidential nominees is a man-child who can't be trusted to Tweet without adult supervision. Yes, this is good. This is good for America. This is all very good.

The blatant denial of all the awful things Trump has said, which Sen. Kaine listed, was utterly lost on the mainstream media, but not Seth Meyers. He saw right through the b.s.

Nonetheless --nonetheless, as much as Pence lied about Trump's record, pundits declared him the winner last night on style. His calm demeanor got glowing reviews, specifically in comparison to Donald Trump's debate performance, and apparently that made Trump very jealous.

Meyers played some clips from CNN and MSNBC that hinted that Donald was not thrilled by being bested by Pence's performance.

JOHN KING (CNN): I want to give you one insight from somebody inside Trump's World, who is in the inner circle in Trump's world, who said that he does not think this is going to go down terribly well with Donald Trump.

There is frustration inside Donald Trump's camp according to some Donald Trump advisors that Mike Pence did too well last night.

TAMRON HALL: (reading a John Harwood Tweet) One Trump advisor said, "Pence won overall but lost with Trump." "He can't stand being upstaged."

Meyers acknowledged that Pence is definitely a polished politician who has previous debate experience. He concluded his 'Closer Look' by speaking to an imaginary Donald Trump:

What a good debater. He is nothing like you. He was calm and polite, regular sized hands. I mean -- he never got all red and sweaty. He should coach you! But seriously, it was a great night for the Pence-Trump ticket, sorry, Trump-Pence, Why am I doing that? It's probably -- it's probably because he seems so presidential. By the way, is he younger than you? I'd watch your back around Melania. Anyway, great pick. You nailed it, bro. You nailed it.

It's sad that a victory in a debate of this magnitude no longer mandates the participants' honesty. After the next debate, we should shun all commentary that doesn't come from a respected news source, like Late Night or The Late Show!

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