I'm pretty sure I just heard Martha McCallum say that new debate rules were just released. There will be a mute button. Holy shit. They are full on not even trying to hide how scared they are about this Hunter Biden mess.

If there's a mute button Trump should definitely take a walk.

quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
If there's a mute button Trump should definitely take a walk.

That's what they're hoping for. Because they know he'll hammer him over this scandal. I believe they just instituted this new rule specifically for that reason to force the President to refuse to debate.

Or bring a bullhorn so they can hear him

Haha

John Roberts screws us again! Smarmy asshole.

Supreme Court Rejects Republican Challenge to Pennsylvania Vote-by-Mail Changes; 4-4 Split; Roberts Sides with Liberals.

Article

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
Indeed. If you wait, you could die first and end up voting Democrat.

Why take the chance?

LOL! Good one.

Roberts needs to go.

Commission Changes Rules To Mute Microphones During Next Debate; Trump "Remains Committed" To Debate

https://www.zerohedge.com/poli...denly-dropped-topics

Update (2050ET): According to the Trump Campaign, the president remains committed to the debate, regardless of the rule change.

Trump campaign statement on debate commission rule changes

"President Trump is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate.

This was supposed to be the foreign policy debate, so the President still looks forward to forcing Biden to answer the number one relevant question of whether he's been compromised by the Communist Party of China.

Why did Biden allow his son Hunter to sell access to him while he was vice president, and why were there Chinese payment arrangements for Joe himself worked out by Hunter and his sketchy partners?

If the media won't ask Joe Biden these questions, the President will, and there will be no escape for Biden."

- Bill Stepien, Trump 2020 campaign manager

With Biden 'hunkering down' to prepare, while Trump does 3 rallies a day, Thursday's debate is going to be must-watch TV.

Update (1955ET): Just as was suspected by the Trump campaign earlier, the completely non-partisan Debate Commission has decide to not only drop 'Foreign Policy' from the topics for discussion during Thursday's debate but AP has now confirmed that the mics of the two candidates will be muted in order to allow two minutes of uninterrupted time per debate segment.

Full Statement from the Debate Commission:

Following the first presidential debate in Cleveland on September 29th, the Commission on Presidential Debates issued a statement that "additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates in order to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues."

Since then, the Commission has considered the opinion of many who expressed concern that the debate fell short of expectations, depriving voters of the opportunity to be informed of the candidates' positions on the issues. They advocated a variety of changes that could be introduced for subsequent debates, including the turning off of microphones to avoid interruptions.

In considering this issue, the Commission is mindful of the distinction between enforcing rules already agreed upon by the candidates and making changes to the rules. The Commission has determined that it is appropriate to adopt measures intended to promote adherence to agreed upon rules and inappropriate to make changes to those rules.

Under the agreed upon debate rules, each candidate is to have two minutes of uninterrupted time to make remarks at the beginning of each 15 minute segment of the debate. These remarks are to be followed by a period of open discussion. Both campaigns this week again reaffirmed their agreement to the two-minute, uninterrupted rule.

The Commission is announcing today that in order to enforce this agreed upon rule, the only candidate whose microphone will be open during these two-minute periods is the candidate who has the floor under the rules.

For the balance of each segment, which by design is intended to be dedicated to open discussion, both candidates' microphones will be open.

During the times dedicated for open discussion, it is the hope of the Commission that the candidates will be respectful of each other's time, which will advance civil discourse for the benefit of the viewing public. As in the past, the moderator will apportion roughly equal amounts of time between the two speakers over the course of the 90 minutes. Time taken up during any interruptions will be returned to the other candidate.

We realize, after discussions with both campaigns, that neither campaign may be totally satisfied with the measures announced today. One may think they go too far, and one may think they do with the measures announced today. One may think they go too far, and one may think they do not go far enough. We are comfortable that these actions strike the right balance and that they are in the interest of the American people, for whom these debates are held.

We can only imagine how fast the mic will be 'accidentally' cut should President Trump decide to ask Biden about Hunter's laptop.

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:
John Roberts screws us again! Smarmy asshole.

Supreme Court Rejects Republican Challenge to Pennsylvania Vote-by-Mail Changes; 4-4 Split; Roberts Sides with Liberals.

I saw that headline and immediately knew it must have went down 4-4. Damn Roberts. Damn that man.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:

We realize, after discussions with both campaigns, that neither campaign may be totally satisfied with the measures announced today. One may think they go too far, and one may think they do with the measures announced today. One may think they go too far, and one may think they do not go far enough. We are comfortable that these actions strike the right balance and that they are in the interest of the American people, for whom these debates are held.

Who the hell do these people think they're fooling?

The GOP in the Senate should have already put Amy on the court. I blame them.

Yup. The GOP seems to do everything they can to lose.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:

According to Miller, the Debate Commission "changed focus of final debate away from foreign policy so Joe Biden wouldn’t have to answer to being compromised by the Chinese Communist Party, supporting endless wars and sending pallets of cash to Iran."

Assholes. Instead the moderator can ask Bien to discuss his preference with regards to milkshakes.

quote:

Originally posted by Ackks:
The GOP in the Senate should have already put Amy on the court. I blame them.

Indeed. They always try to be "nice" and exhibit modesty and decorum when it comes to Senate traditions, and it always comes back and bites us in the ass because the democrats will always play dirty. And this Pennsylvania decision is a freaking problem.

Trump is having a rally at our tiny Gastonia Municipal Airport on Wednesday evening, and that's where my Civil Air Patrol squadron meets on Tuesday evenings. Our meeting is cancelled (ok, moved to virtual) because the Secret Service will have the area secured on Tuesday. There expecting 15,000 to show up!

If the debate mute button is truly only used if one interrupts, then Trump should ignore one of the loaded questions put to him and instead just unload on Biden for the 2 minutes.

It appears that the mute button is supposed to be utilized only during the first two minute opening statements. Hmmm, we'll see.

ETA: Actually, the mics will be muted every new segment. Yeah, I'm sure this will work just fine.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
If the debate mute button is truly only used if one interrupts, then Trump should ignore one of the loaded questions put to him and instead just unload on Biden for the 2 minutes.

Absolutely. And I hope he has his remark prepared and practiced so he delivers it perfectly in the two minutes he has.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
It appears that the mute button is supposed to be utilized only during the first two minute opening statements.

If Biden can't respond in the moment, if he has to formulate a coherent response and has time to think about it, he'll expose his failings to the max. PDJT can hold a train of thought, Biden has no chance of doing that.

quote:

Under the agreed upon debate rules, each candidate is to have two minutes of uninterrupted time to make remarks at the beginning of each 15 minute segment of the debate. These remarks are to be followed by a period of open discussion. Both campaigns this week again reaffirmed their agreement to the two-minute, uninterrupted rule.

Interesting. It seems like someone on this forum, said something like this after the last debate. That the candidates would be separated and microphones turned on and off to avoid interruptions.

I wonder who that member was... Hmmmmmmmm


Interesting side note, I was watching a show on Air Force One on Smithsonian and one of the people interviewed said Trump is a huge germaphobe. He apparently has an aide nearby at all times with hand sanitizer and spray for his hands and surfaces. Interesting that this hasn't come out before as the left constantly accuses him of disregarding the virus and ignoring masks, distancing, etc. Seems unlikely for a germaphobe.