There was a satisfying moment during the debate for me

[Shermann]

Chris Wallace: (25:09)
We have six segments. We have ended that segment. We’re going to go to the next segment. In that segment, you each are going to have two uninterrupted moments. In those two interrupted minutes, Mr. President, you can say anything you want. I’m going to ask a question about race, but if you want to answer about something else, go ahead. But I think that the country would be better served, if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that.

President Donald J. Trump: (25:37)
Well, and him too.

Chris Wallace: (25:38)
Well, frankly, you’ve been doing more interrupting than he has.

So, an accusation is made against Trump. Trump goes with the standard Republican distraction, the false equivalence. Maybe I was interrupting, maybe not, but if I was, well so was he, so it's a push. Is it? There never is an independent ruling on these. There is one for every occasion in the Republican playbook (see "Hillary's emails" ), and they are just tossed out there like handfuls of baking soda on a grease fire.

But in this case, there was a definitive ruling. You’ve been doing more interrupting than he has.

[better]

1. More like buckets of water on a grease fire.

You are completely correct, though, in the false equivalence assessment, and it is a HUGE problem, that we see applied to damn near every aspect of political life. My facebook feed was inundated this morning with idiots talking about "two old white men, nothing different, blah blah blah", as though two things are automatically equivalent on the basis of one or two similarities.

Try swimming in sulfuric acid, and then tell me about how equivalent it is to water, because that's also a clear liquid.