ARGUING WITH IDIOTS

With a small smile, Donald Trump declined to answer the question. Would he abide by the results of the coming election? He would have us wait in suspense.

But that's Trump for you.

Every other presidential candidate has agreed up front to abide by the results of American elections. Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, agreed. Trump's campaign manager said they would agree.

But Trump's a maverick. He's not your everyday political chump. He's a man who likes to keep his options clear.

He's also very suspicious of other people's motives. In a discussion of the Second Amendment, when Hillary Clinton mentioned Trump had been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, Trump wondered aloud if she was being sarcastic.

Implying he hadn't been endorsed by the NRA?

Again Trump makes us wonder if he knows the meaning of words.

He said the flap over women coming out to accuse him of misconduct was largely debunked. By which he apparently means: has in no way been debunked.

In fact, corroborating witnesses have said several of the women mentioned the incident at the time, years ago. So much for folks making it up at Hillary's insistence.

Trump is fighting hard to get people to believe he's the sort of fellow who lies about being a scumbag—but is not an actual scumbag. It's a mighty fine distinction for a presidential candidate.

(In her take on the "bus tape," Trump's wife seemed to concentrate on his use of bad language, ignoring that this language was used to describe truly lowlife behavior. She also ignored the fact Trump went into some detail to insure Billy Bush would believe her husband actually did act that way.)

In his explanation of the dismantling the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, Trump suggested the way the law read, a baby could be ripped out of a woman's womb on the day before the planned delivery—a very late term abortion.

I think it's more likely the baby would simply be delivered one day early. And watched very closely.

Because about the only circumstance that might warrant such extraordinary action would be if the baby were seen to be armed and intent on murdering the woman.

(Think Stewie Griffin.)

On the subject of immigration reform, Trump pointed out President Obama had deported millions of illegal immigrants. He made it sound like an accusation, as if it didn't fit perfectly with his own plan for those folks.

(A month or so ago Trump announced the end of the Birther Movement in tones that suggested he'd had quite enough of such nonsense—as if he wasn't at the center of that nonsense, pushing it forward with everything he had.)

Bringing up a fragment of a Wiki-leaked bank speech, he accused Hillary of wanting "open borders." She explained she was talking about the transport of energy, not people. If true, that ought to have put the "open border" thing to rest, but Trump wasn't buying it. Why should he trust Hillary's version of what she was talking about?

(Of course, releasing the entire texts of all those speeches could go some way in settling the matter, but that's clearly not going to happen now. Similarly, Trump will never release his taxes. Folks should just stop asking.)

Trump's fixing of the economy relies on the same massive tax breaks for the rich that George H. W. Bush deemed "voodoo economics" when fellow candidate Ronald Reagan suggested it. Didn't work then, and there's no reason to think it would work now. Give rich people a windfall chunk of money and it's just as likely to go into the bank—or into foreign investments—than to "trickle down" to folks with lesser incomes.

On the other hand, Trump knows it will work, instantly creating a new Golden Age of America.

As usual, Trump ignored questions to make the usual points: How Hillary created ISIS, how bad NAFTA was, how bad the Iranian nuclear deal was, how Hillary got those guys killed in Benghazi, how she's been at the center of American politics since the Dawn of Time and has gotten nothing done.

If the man didn't have God's own confidence in his abilities, he might be a little humbled by that last point. Maybe things are harder to accomplish in Washington than he thinks they are. "Quickly and easily" may not always be possible.

Unfortunately, the only way to even attempt to teach him that lesson would be to elect the guy president and let him fail at every promised task. But that may not be good for the country.

Also, Trump would undoubtedly produce plenty of scapegoats to blame for any whiff of failure. It's probably not possible to teach the man anything. He already knows it all.

(It's a common human attribute.)

During the debate, Trump spent his downtime smirking and shaking his head and fiddling with his mike. I expected at any moment to see him make the hand gesture that signifies masturbation. His contempt for Hillary was fully manifested.

(His core followers all agree. The Secret Service better hire some more good people.)

Trump's voice often took on a certain put-upon tone, as if he were attempting to explain the obvious to an obstinate child.

I'm reminded of the old saying: Never argue in public with an idiot; bystanders won't be able to tell you apart.