Last night was a master class in the use of body language and facial expression as rebuttal in a debate. When Kamala Harris was first asked by one of the moderators if she wanted to respond to a string of lies Trump had just spewed, she answered by launching into a recitation of her plans for the future of health care and housing and lowering taxes on the middle class. It made me wonder why she wasn’t taking the opportunity to poke holes in Trump’s nonsense.
For me, she had him from the git-go, when she strode confidently into his space, stuck out her hand and said "Kamala Harris".
I've been totally down with Kamala since the DNC, but after last night, I can only marvel at her masterful poise and ability to command a room. I can totally see her in the situation room calmly handling a crisis, and handing Putin's tuchus back to him in a paper bag.
And more than anything, I'll always be thankful to her for being the only person so far to completely and totally humiliate the Orange Felon. Damn, it was delicious!
Yes, it was indeed delicious. We have been waiting 9 long years for someone to stand up to the bully that is 45 and now she is here, and her name is Kamala Harris. Soon to be, Madam President.
That she FORCED the handshake on the racist, misyginous germophobe in front of the whole world on live TV, a woman, a BLACK woman, no less, was humiliating beyond his wildest fears.
About her handshake at the beginning. . .my husband says he remembers Reagan doing similar in a debate with Carter, and Carter reacting with surprise. I suppose advisors study past debates looking for tips.
I imagine that when Harris offered her hand to trump, the look of bewilderment on his face was much the same as when Biden called to offer good wishes after the "Miracle Ear" assassination attempt.
Don't you know that Clorox must have been used to clean that hand she touched him with. Shaking his insipid hand was hands down the bravest thing I saw all night.
thing is (and this is VERY important) it was SO EASY to do. she just did it. and nothing happened. the earth continued to spin on the same axis and everything.
I can only speculate that everybody else was somehow convinced (as TFF wants them to be convinced) that to call him a liar is to invite Armageddon. Kamala was willing to risk it and JEEZ LOUISE...NOTHING HAPPENED. I mean, like, TFF might have shit himself, but that's not exactly a rare happening.
Which brings up the old Soviet-era joke: In Pravda, there is no Izvestia. In Izvestia, there is no Pravda." (Pravda means "truth" in Russian, and "Izvestia" means "news.")
Again, in fairness. everything I read this morning said Harris overwhelmed him and clearly won. The only negatives I've seen are stories about some undecided voters still having doubts.
Keep in mind print publications are old media. Teevee is old media. The tires are worn as is the engine, exterior, and interior. There is little actual hi-tech in iithah print or teevee. So. expectations should be lowered because lower performance comes with being old.
The majority of Americans get their news from new media where they can interact w/others during real-time events. When anything is old it's highly likely to be slower. Moreover old media limits the number of direct participants. In print there will be a small handful of instant takes and a small number who put together a piece. Teevee panel discussions only have so many seats at the table. WABAC that had its place.
That place was reliance of a small number of journos, commentators, and teevee anchors/commentators who had wide and deep influence because they were the only show in town. In today's speak they would be called influencers. Alas, thery would have to compete w/sharp wit and fast minds who dominate new media. Those who lack both are poofed on the spot.
Followed #blacktwitter on X during the debate. The takes are not something old media would ever come up with even if they combined all their noggins. Blacktwitter yielded far more insightful takes because they did combine brain power and because they are Black. Kamala is a WOC and so is the moderator Linsey Davis.
Watched 2 supposed experts on statecraft/facial/voice. Both were lily white women. Both claimed Kamala's stage presence, hand gestures, and facial expressions were...not authentic. Meanwhile on #blacktwitter black women and black men were speaking to each look, each change in voice, each hand gesture, and each body language signal for both Kamala and Linsey because they have seen them before, given them before, and received them before. They went deeper by noting attire, makeup, nails, and hair for both WOC and compared them to the two white men.
Black Americans are the braided steel spine, the heart, and the soul of the Democratic Party w/Black wimmin leading the way. The remainder of the communities of color are the 4 limbs. White wimmin make up the next largest group and long have supported what society wrongly refers to as minorities because wimmin recognize inequality due to their own in society. White D-men?
Those under 35 will spend more time carefully going over Taylor Swift's Instagram post and come away with far more than what the white male dominated old media framed as a celebrity endorsement Trump badly wanted and with a dig at JD Vance. Taylor's piece was far more than that and Taylor is not simply a celebrity. There isn't a person in old media who has her reach, power, and above all else talent in writing words that carry great weight to and for so many.
Ari Melber said yesterday that Trump is an excellent debater and noted that he knew when to let Biden talk without interrupting. It's pretty easy to look good when your opponent is doing badly. If Lawrence O'Donnell wants to believe the debate performance by Harris was the best ever, that's fine. But when the person on the stage with you is stumbling, mumbling, bumbling and fumbling, as Walt Frazier used to say, instinct takes over and with no pressure on you the coup de grasse is that much easier.
For those not clear on the meaning of the phrase: "A coup de grâce is a death blow to end the suffering of a severely wounded person or animal. It may be a mercy killing of mortally wounded civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the sufferer's consent. The meaning has extended to refer to the final event that causes a figurative death. Wikipedia" Let us hope that the "debate" brought the coup de grace to the Trump campaign.
I've just browsed headlines of the online "front page" of the NY Times. and I see absolutely nothing like that. Do you have a link that demonstrates otherwise?
The looks on Kamala Harris's face said almost as much as her words. The camera angles were perfect for her to look directly at him in the "portrait frames." What a smile; what a laugh; what a master of controlling the stage and the narrative. She took over. And it wasn't 3 against Trump. All the MAGA fakery can't undo the fact that Trump was called out for his lies by the moderators. If you don't want to get called out, don't lie. In addition, I thought they had better questions and handled Trump better than anyone else, for what it's worth.
OMG! I loved watching her face and what I could see of her body language. Trump, OTOH, looked like he was trying hard to act like he knew what was going on.
Trump made such a big deal of allowing no platforms at the lecterns so that he could appear taller and more dominant. The camera angle though showed them at equal heights or even Kamala slightly elevated. And Trump's expressions were so telling. The moderators consistently gave Trump the last word too.
Trump said he thought she was being fed answers somehow. It’s called preparation, something that is really important when you have the toughest job in the world. A real leader has a great staff they don’t fire on a whim or with a tweet.
Well, Trumpy, if she was being fed answers, why couldn’t you have your people feed answers to you? George W. Bush managed it in a debate against John Kerry.
Watching Trump's head wobble as Harris landed blow after blow reminded me of a bobble head doll. Surely someone must be manufacturing Trump bobble head dolls in China! My apologies for the comparison, at least a bobble head has a spring between the ears, Trump has nothing between the ears!
I once had the idea of making and selling tRump voodoo dolls, to stick pins in, and then I found that this was already a thing. Beaten to the punch again!
I looked forward to Harris debating the orange monster even before she became the Democratic candidate because I was absolutely positive that she would shine and she did shine like a brilliant diamond last night! But she wasn't acting, she is the real deal.
Not all that surprising when you consider that district attorneys, like defense attorneys, are "onstage" a lot, and the good ones are very, very good at it. Kamala Harris has brought that experience and expertise to the vice presidency, and she sure as hell showed it last night.
Love that about the Oscar. It was a great performance. One commentator has said it will go down as the greatest debate performance (in the good sense of the word) of all.
About that introduction. A lady is the one who extends her hand first when meeting someone for the first time. Kamala is a lady. The ogre? He's no gentleman.
When she said, "Kamala Harris," I automatically added, "for the people."
For those of us living in CA, we knew how strong Harris would be. This was a prosecution closing argument for the jury/voters. The verdict is coming. And Trump and his allies know it. I only worry what his supporters may do to circumvent the election results this time. Hopefully, knowing Oath Keepers and others may die in prison will make them think twice.
Yes, Aaron, you’re right. We knew how motivated she can be and how brilliant she is. I simply cannot believe that after seeing this “debate” (debacle), that there are still undecided voters! Kamala was as clear as a bell while Donny Convict was a babbling brook of gawwd knows what!
The master of temper tantrums was spun into a frenzy. I hope once he left the spin room that Victor Orban was waiting for him with a nice crispy fried pet…possibly some reptile…not Fluffy the cat, Flopsy the bunny, or Cuddles the pup.
Yes, I can see eating alligator, or snake etc. as part of some knowledgeable, established tasty cuisine, but clearly the Shady Vance and Trump Big Racist Lie bit about Haitian immigrants eating our cats and dogs says more about them than about any cultural food preferences and traditions.
I don't know if "Shady Vance" was your invention, but I LOVE it! And unlike Trumps silly and insulting 3rd grade nickname, "Shady" offers an honest truth about the man.
For me, she had him from the git-go, when she strode confidently into his space, stuck out her hand and said "Kamala Harris".
I've been totally down with Kamala since the DNC, but after last night, I can only marvel at her masterful poise and ability to command a room. I can totally see her in the situation room calmly handling a crisis, and handing Putin's tuchus back to him in a paper bag.
And more than anything, I'll always be thankful to her for being the only person so far to completely and totally humiliate the Orange Felon. Damn, it was delicious!
Yes, it was indeed delicious. We have been waiting 9 long years for someone to stand up to the bully that is 45 and now she is here, and her name is Kamala Harris. Soon to be, Madam President.
That she FORCED the handshake on the racist, misyginous germophobe in front of the whole world on live TV, a woman, a BLACK woman, no less, was humiliating beyond his wildest fears.
I give her credit for being willing to touch his filthy hand. Who knows where that hand has been?
I was waiting for her to wipe her hand on her pants leg. I was itching to do it myself … ewwww
A few drops of hand sanitizer would have made for a viral photo.
The Constitution, civil liberties, state secrets politicized - partial list of places that have been violated by his tiny hands.
That’s exactly what Mary Trump said tonight on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show!
I don't know why there's no link on MSNBC/The Last Word for this segment on Wednesday night with Mary Trump but it's embedded in this article from Politicususa to be watched on X. I think the quotes in the article are sufficient to convey Mary Trump's take on tfg's "performance" in the debated. https://www.politicususa.com/2024/09/12/mary-trump-says-her-uncle-donald-will-never-recover-from-what-kamala-harris-did-to-him.html
About her handshake at the beginning. . .my husband says he remembers Reagan doing similar in a debate with Carter, and Carter reacting with surprise. I suppose advisors study past debates looking for tips.
But really, it's the polite thing to do. It shows that she has good manners.
Especially since they’ve never met, face to face.
Yea Ally, but she had to actually touch him. Eeew
Yes, but it was important that she introduced herself, "Kamala Harris" as if to say, don't fk up my name jerkhole.
She’s being aggressive, a good stance for a caged beast in a monkey suit.
We haven't quite caged him yet, but love the mental picture.
It's the professional way to begin debates, as well as shaking hands after the debate. The Japanese bow to each other before the wrestle.
She's got what it takes!!
I’ve loved her since she made Brett Kavanaugh cry.
I love how a handshake can be seen as a dominance move.
I imagine that when Harris offered her hand to trump, the look of bewilderment on his face was much the same as when Biden called to offer good wishes after the "Miracle Ear" assassination attempt.
He lost 'hand' literally after that move!
Don't you know that Clorox must have been used to clean that hand she touched him with. Shaking his insipid hand was hands down the bravest thing I saw all night.
thing is (and this is VERY important) it was SO EASY to do. she just did it. and nothing happened. the earth continued to spin on the same axis and everything.
I can only speculate that everybody else was somehow convinced (as TFF wants them to be convinced) that to call him a liar is to invite Armageddon. Kamala was willing to risk it and JEEZ LOUISE...NOTHING HAPPENED. I mean, like, TFF might have shit himself, but that's not exactly a rare happening.
I thought she might add, 'For the People'!!
Spot on! Put Mom in charge...everywhere!
After his rant about having people fired she told him 81 million people fired him! Ha Ha
I was watching with a friend on the phone and we were echoing each other's "BOOM"s.
NYT is apparently claiming that Harris didn't win the debate. Cancel your subscription. The Times is nothing more than a right-wing rag.
This just in .......NYTimes has now changed it's name to Pravda.
Which brings up the old Soviet-era joke: In Pravda, there is no Izvestia. In Izvestia, there is no Pravda." (Pravda means "truth" in Russian, and "Izvestia" means "news.")
Or RT, Russia Today.
Or, MAD!
The "Neither side won" nonsense.
Mine got canceled after the Biden Trump debate. The NYT is as bad as a Murdoch owned rag.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/11/us/politics/trump-harris-debate-takeaways.html
Not what I saw........
Again, in fairness. everything I read this morning said Harris overwhelmed him and clearly won. The only negatives I've seen are stories about some undecided voters still having doubts.
I canceled years ago - total disgrace of a rag...obviously totally biased for a fascist.
Keep in mind print publications are old media. Teevee is old media. The tires are worn as is the engine, exterior, and interior. There is little actual hi-tech in iithah print or teevee. So. expectations should be lowered because lower performance comes with being old.
The majority of Americans get their news from new media where they can interact w/others during real-time events. When anything is old it's highly likely to be slower. Moreover old media limits the number of direct participants. In print there will be a small handful of instant takes and a small number who put together a piece. Teevee panel discussions only have so many seats at the table. WABAC that had its place.
That place was reliance of a small number of journos, commentators, and teevee anchors/commentators who had wide and deep influence because they were the only show in town. In today's speak they would be called influencers. Alas, thery would have to compete w/sharp wit and fast minds who dominate new media. Those who lack both are poofed on the spot.
Followed #blacktwitter on X during the debate. The takes are not something old media would ever come up with even if they combined all their noggins. Blacktwitter yielded far more insightful takes because they did combine brain power and because they are Black. Kamala is a WOC and so is the moderator Linsey Davis.
Watched 2 supposed experts on statecraft/facial/voice. Both were lily white women. Both claimed Kamala's stage presence, hand gestures, and facial expressions were...not authentic. Meanwhile on #blacktwitter black women and black men were speaking to each look, each change in voice, each hand gesture, and each body language signal for both Kamala and Linsey because they have seen them before, given them before, and received them before. They went deeper by noting attire, makeup, nails, and hair for both WOC and compared them to the two white men.
Black Americans are the braided steel spine, the heart, and the soul of the Democratic Party w/Black wimmin leading the way. The remainder of the communities of color are the 4 limbs. White wimmin make up the next largest group and long have supported what society wrongly refers to as minorities because wimmin recognize inequality due to their own in society. White D-men?
Those under 35 will spend more time carefully going over Taylor Swift's Instagram post and come away with far more than what the white male dominated old media framed as a celebrity endorsement Trump badly wanted and with a dig at JD Vance. Taylor's piece was far more than that and Taylor is not simply a celebrity. There isn't a person in old media who has her reach, power, and above all else talent in writing words that carry great weight to and for so many.
I take great pleasure in deleting the daily email I receive urging me to subscribe to the NYT.
“Apparently?” What are you referring to , specifically? I am not defending the NYT, just interested in what was actually said/written.
Browsed today NY Time's online "front page" and saw absolutely nothing suggesting that Kamala "lost the debate".
Gray Lady DOWN!
Ari Melber said yesterday that Trump is an excellent debater and noted that he knew when to let Biden talk without interrupting. It's pretty easy to look good when your opponent is doing badly. If Lawrence O'Donnell wants to believe the debate performance by Harris was the best ever, that's fine. But when the person on the stage with you is stumbling, mumbling, bumbling and fumbling, as Walt Frazier used to say, instinct takes over and with no pressure on you the coup de grasse is that much easier.
coup de grace
For those not clear on the meaning of the phrase: "A coup de grâce is a death blow to end the suffering of a severely wounded person or animal. It may be a mercy killing of mortally wounded civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the sufferer's consent. The meaning has extended to refer to the final event that causes a figurative death. Wikipedia" Let us hope that the "debate" brought the coup de grace to the Trump campaign.
I've just browsed headlines of the online "front page" of the NY Times. and I see absolutely nothing like that. Do you have a link that demonstrates otherwise?
The looks on Kamala Harris's face said almost as much as her words. The camera angles were perfect for her to look directly at him in the "portrait frames." What a smile; what a laugh; what a master of controlling the stage and the narrative. She took over. And it wasn't 3 against Trump. All the MAGA fakery can't undo the fact that Trump was called out for his lies by the moderators. If you don't want to get called out, don't lie. In addition, I thought they had better questions and handled Trump better than anyone else, for what it's worth.
OMG! I loved watching her face and what I could see of her body language. Trump, OTOH, looked like he was trying hard to act like he knew what was going on.
Trump made such a big deal of allowing no platforms at the lecterns so that he could appear taller and more dominant. The camera angle though showed them at equal heights or even Kamala slightly elevated. And Trump's expressions were so telling. The moderators consistently gave Trump the last word too.
More like 4 against Drumpf if you count hisself!!
Real time calling out by moderators a must for the future. Trump's post event lies of him winning are hilarious!
Trump said he thought she was being fed answers somehow. It’s called preparation, something that is really important when you have the toughest job in the world. A real leader has a great staff they don’t fire on a whim or with a tweet.
Well, Trumpy, if she was being fed answers, why couldn’t you have your people feed answers to you? George W. Bush managed it in a debate against John Kerry.
MAGATs are claiming there were microphones in her earrings!
Well, that new nonsense didn't take long. Drumpf's "advisors" (babysitters) should read fewer comic books and get out more.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Answers to what, Fred? Her policy positions? What a bizarre accusation
difney, it is the MAGAt answer to her performance.
It was the first thing I saw last night in MAGAtville.
Also, Fred wrote: “Trump said he thought she was being fed answers somehow”.
Yez, from her brain. She was getting answers from her actual brain, a thing that you would not understand.
YES!! Good answer!!
We still have to act as if VP Harris is down 20 points! When we fight, we win!
🩵🎯🇱🇷💙
Watching Trump's head wobble as Harris landed blow after blow reminded me of a bobble head doll. Surely someone must be manufacturing Trump bobble head dolls in China! My apologies for the comparison, at least a bobble head has a spring between the ears, Trump has nothing between the ears!
Between Trumpski's ears is a vortex of vitriol and a felony factory, show some respect!
I once had the idea of making and selling tRump voodoo dolls, to stick pins in, and then I found that this was already a thing. Beaten to the punch again!
I received a home made Trump Survival Kit from one of my kids and one of the items enclosed was a Cheeto with a pin in it....
I had no doubt Kamala would destroy him. In fact, she did more than deliver and ought to be nominated for an Oscar.
Cancelled the Times long ago after the way they treated Hillary in 2016.
I looked forward to Harris debating the orange monster even before she became the Democratic candidate because I was absolutely positive that she would shine and she did shine like a brilliant diamond last night! But she wasn't acting, she is the real deal.
Not all that surprising when you consider that district attorneys, like defense attorneys, are "onstage" a lot, and the good ones are very, very good at it. Kamala Harris has brought that experience and expertise to the vice presidency, and she sure as hell showed it last night.
Love that about the Oscar. It was a great performance. One commentator has said it will go down as the greatest debate performance (in the good sense of the word) of all.
Topped only by Nixon's lack of a recent shave!
About that introduction. A lady is the one who extends her hand first when meeting someone for the first time. Kamala is a lady. The ogre? He's no gentleman.
When she said, "Kamala Harris," I automatically added, "for the people."
Stating her name directly to his face had the added effect that he couldn't mispronounce it during the debate without magnifying that he knew better.
Me TOO!!!
Brilliant piece capturing the Harris we need and love.
Thought she nailed it when she said America deserves better.
Yes! We have suffered enough under the cloud of Trump and nepotism, and that’s not even counting Maga Republicans and his dictator friends.
For those of us living in CA, we knew how strong Harris would be. This was a prosecution closing argument for the jury/voters. The verdict is coming. And Trump and his allies know it. I only worry what his supporters may do to circumvent the election results this time. Hopefully, knowing Oath Keepers and others may die in prison will make them think twice.
I am proud to say that I voted for her in the 2020 primary.
Yes, Aaron, you’re right. We knew how motivated she can be and how brilliant she is. I simply cannot believe that after seeing this “debate” (debacle), that there are still undecided voters! Kamala was as clear as a bell while Donny Convict was a babbling brook of gawwd knows what!
The master of temper tantrums was spun into a frenzy. I hope once he left the spin room that Victor Orban was waiting for him with a nice crispy fried pet…possibly some reptile…not Fluffy the cat, Flopsy the bunny, or Cuddles the pup.
Yes, I can see eating alligator, or snake etc. as part of some knowledgeable, established tasty cuisine, but clearly the Shady Vance and Trump Big Racist Lie bit about Haitian immigrants eating our cats and dogs says more about them than about any cultural food preferences and traditions.
https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/no-evidence-haitian-immigrants-stealing-eating-pets-ohio-2024-09-10/
I don't know if "Shady Vance" was your invention, but I LOVE it! And unlike Trumps silly and insulting 3rd grade nickname, "Shady" offers an honest truth about the man.
If I did emojis i'd post a mound of laughs here, Christina.
😹
They eat alligator 🐊 in Florida. Just saying…
I know. In several years there, I was offered it more than once. That was when i feigned being a “vegan.”
Gator is tasteless and uber chewey, one try enough years ago!
I made the correct choice then.
Her expressions! Loved every minute. The nod from Taylor was the cherry on top
Clearly a pop diva knows when to make her entrance. ❤️🌺 A big fan now
It was over for trump when Kamala went over to shake his hand and told him, " Let's have a great debate!"
"You watched the man lose the air out of the very important parts of his manhood." Michael Steele
Shrunken mushroom?
I slept well.
Me too
I was too overstimulated to sleep!
Me too!