Taking Debate

   "Never argue with an idiot. Because, being an intelligent man, you'll try to deal with him on his level. But on his level, he'll beat you every time." -- Pug Mahoney

  Consider for a moment the plans for a televised discussion of campaign issues by the two major candidates for president.
   It has been suggested that former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate, avoid debating Donald Trump, the current president and Republican candidate for re-election.
   The view from here is that Biden should not avoid a debate, but that he should ignore the many falsehoods, incorrect propositions and flat-out lies that Trump has a habit of spouting.
   Instead, Biden should focus on his own plans to lead the nation out of recession and virus problems. Otherwise, he would spend his whole time correcting Trump's lies. Better to present his own plans, and leave corrections to the moderator and the news media.
   A major issue, however, will be how to deal with Trump's habit of interrupting, which is his way of dominating news conferences as well as any discussion about anything at any time.
   This habit was especially noticeable four years ago during debates with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. One way to deal with this could be for Biden to appeal to the moderator to enforce what rules there may be about interrupting. Another would be to stop talking, and wait for an opportunity to silence the interrupter the way Joe McCarthy was silenced many years ago: "Have you no shame? At long last, have you no sense of decency?"
   Still another would be to talk over the interrupter with a chant of "Yammer, yammer, yammer, yammer ... etc."
   When the yammering president finally does stop talking, Biden can return to describing his plans to help revive the nation, unlike his opponent's habit of blaming others.
   Will any of this happen? Stay tuned. We live in interesting times.