Columnists

On the heels of a fractious presidential debate came the news that Donald Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. Where does this leave the presidential contest? There were ten takeaways from September 29 debate: -more-

For a person with a severe psychiatric illness, empowerment doesn't mean finding a miracle cure that eliminates the need for treatment. It doesn't mean we are denying the existence of the condition, believing we were misdiagnosed, or trying in some other way to fight against facts. (This means you.)

If you believe your psychiatrist is wrong and you're right about the causes of your problem, presumably one that led to psychiatric intervention, you need to get a second opinion from another M.D. psychiatrist. You can't just dismiss all psychiatry.

If you think taking a street drug induced your problems, you must be straightforward with treatment professionals and tell them what you took, how much, and when. If you fail to do that, it is a lot harder for them to make a fair assessment of whether drugs caused your symptoms, or your brain did this on its own.

While psychiatrists may appear to be villains, they are highly trained and educated villains. They may have things to say to you that are unflattering or that get you upset. They may enact orders that seem unfair or even oppressive. -more-

Trump and the First Lady have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Trump is now a patient at the Walter Reed medical center; the First Lady is quarantined at the White House. -more-

After the first five minutes of the Presidential Debate Debacle, I switched off the telly and went out for a bracing three-mile walk. CNN Anchor Jake Tapper later nailed it with this description: "That was a hot mess. Inside a dumpster fire. Inside a train-wreck. That was the worst debate I have ever seen. It wasn't even a debate. It was a disgrace. And it's primarily because of President Trump."

There was an obvious solution to turning down the rhetorical heat in future Biden-Trump rumpty-dumps: Turn down the volume of the vitriol—i.e., whenever a candidate insists on speaking out of turn, mute his mike.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (aka boldprogressives.org) immediately posted a petition to do just that and the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) quickly announced plans to mute interruptions during future debates.

Here's another suggestion: Along the bottom of the screen, post a running count of how many fibs and falsehoods each candidate tries to fob off on the viewing audience. Detailed reports on each mistruth would be available online. In the first debate, fact-checkers at the New York Times found Trump uttered 16 falsehoods, lies, and misleading statements while Biden made just one false claim.

There's one last suggestion I'd offer to the CPD: install a large monitor visible to both candidates that clearly displays the number of lies being racked up during the debate. It would drive Trump crazy. Instead of being able to lie with impunity, he would finally be held to account, watching helplessly in real time as the numbers mount. -more-