Trump is shockingly careless about the most important thing he's ever done

Then I read this paragraph in a terrific New York Times story headlined "New Debate Strategy for Donald Trump: Practice, Practice, Practice" (the bolding is mine):

The team had primed Mr. Trump to look for roughly a dozen key phrases and expressions Mrs. Clinton uses when she is uncertain or uncomfortable, but he did not seem to pay attention during the practice sessions, one aide said, and failed to home in on her vulnerabilities during the debate.

(snip)

All of these things pointed to the absolute necessity for Trump to perform well. And, what happened? His debate prep team couldn't get him to pay attention. That is, literally, stunning. Put yourself in a comparable situation. You are applying for a job you really want. Your interview is in five days. You hire an interview coach to help you do well. Then you just can't bring yourself to pay attention to the advice he or she gives you.

It's hard to imagine that happening, right? After all, it's your dream job. You've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. You know it won't likely come around again. With all that in the balance, you would be far more likely to overprepare than underprepare, right? Can you imagine simply not being able to bring yourself to pay attention with the most important day of your professional life on the horizon?

(snip)
The problem for Trump is that a presidential general election campaign isn't analogous to anything else he's done in his life. You can't wing it in a debate in front of 80 million people against someone who has spent virtually her entire life preparing for this one moment. You can't ignore the advice of people brought in to give you advice because you are convinced you know better. In short, you have to pay attention.

That Trump couldn't bring himself to do that in a moment of such critical import as the debate on Monday night is the only evidence you need of something I have been saying for a while now: There is no other Donald Trump. No new leaf. No pivot. No 2.0. This is it — take it or leave it. Trump is absolutely convinced that who he is — before he reads a single policy paper or briefing book or participates in a single mock debate — is good enough to win. That's the most risky bet he's ever made.

Trump's idea of an unhinged Hillary

One of the more confusing moments of Monday night’s debate came during a discussion about presidential temperament.

A lot of voters ― millions, probably ― have wondered if Donald Trump has the proper temperament for the job. People in the audience laughed when he claimed to have a better disposition than his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

“I think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament,” he boasted. “I have a winning temperament. I know how to win.”

But as moderator Lester Holt tried to turn to Clinton for a retort, Trump didn’t step back from the microphone. He accused Clinton of having some kind of unpresidential meltdown in some way related to the AFL-CIO labor federation.

“The AFL-CIO the other day, behind the blue screen, I don’t know who you were talking to, Secretary Clinton, but you were totally out of control,” Trump declared. “I said, there’s a person with a temperament that’s got a problem.”

Trump apparently thinks this morning it is important to insult Alicia Machado

Donald Trump on Tuesday morning responded Hillary Clinton's comment during the debate that Trump once called a beauty contest contestant "Miss Piggy," saying on "Fox and Friends" that the Miss Universe contestant had "gained a massive amount of weight."

Trump brought up Clinton's remarks about Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe winner who Trump encouraged to lose weight after she won the crown in the 1990s, when he was asked if Clinton got under his skin. Trump said that Machado was the "absolute worst."

"She was the worst we ever had. The worst, the absolute worst. She was impossible, and she was a Miss Universe contestant and ultimately a winner who they had a tremendously difficult time with as Miss Universe," he said on "Fox and Friends."

"She was the winner, and, you know, she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem. We had a real problem. Not only that, her attitude, and we had a real problem with her," Trump continued. "So Hillary went back into the years and she found this girl. This was many years ago, and found the girl and talked about her like she was Mother Teresa, and it wasn't quite that way, but that's okay. Hillary has to do what she has to do. I see what's happening in the polls."

Bottom line from the debate: Hillary looked Presidential, Trump was a rambling wreck

I have NO idea how ANYONE could see Trump last night and think, "hey he looks presidential". Even conservatives in their hearts have to think the guy has serious control issues.

Hillary was calm and confident the whole time. I am so proud of her.

This is seriously like an adult (Hillary Clinton) debating a toddler

he is just all over the place... no control... spouts nonsense... lies constantly to evade blame.

Trump is such a fucking clown

I'm cracking up-- cannot take this guy seriously. No self-control. He totally babbles. Wow. Unreal.

My daughter had a lesson in climate change at school today-- 8th grade

The material was from the book, but apparently the teacher was fairly skeptical of the whole idea. This seems quite irresponsible to me, at this point in time. My question is-- is it worth saying anything to the teacher or the school? Of course my daughter is mortified at this prospect.



But I just wanted to get some feedback.

Thanks

The best way for Hillary to counter Trump, and upset him, will be to laugh in his face

IMHO.

Trump will be humiliated, and Hillary will look calm and upbeat.

Btw, does Trump ever laugh? He likes to make jokes and funny faces, but does he ever laugh?

It would be good to highlight that.

How many Trump voters actually want him to be president?

I just have this weird feeling a lot of his supporters just think they are giving a finger to the system by supporting him, or saying they support him, but haven't really thought about him actually being president.

Will any of these people change their minds at the last minute? Or just not bother to vote?

Of course you can say, they voted to nominate him for the GOP ticket, so they were indeed serious. But shit is real at this point, and we're talking life and death, maximum stakes.

Also, for undecided voters who wait until the last minute to decide (the people that drive us crazy), how many of them will really decide to put this ridiculous, erratic guy in charge of our whole country and particularly in charge of the military and national security?

Am I being overly confident in American's decision making skills?

does nuclear energy contribute to global warming?

It is certainly not emission free or carbon neutral.

http://commondreams.org/views/2016/09/23/how-nuclear-power-causes-global-warming