Lauer was awful.
He spends 10 minutes of Clinton's time on the emails, NOT on Aleppo, or Syria.
Then, when he finally gets to Commander in Chief related stuff - aka ISIS - he tells her to "be brief" because he wasted so much time.

And, is he afraid of Trump? What soft ball questions. Lauer asks the man, "Are you ready to be commander in chief?" 
What is Trump gonna say? What would any candidate say?
You don't assess a person's preparedness by asking them if they are ready and watching how powerfully respond "Yes".
You ask them detailed questions about the task at hand and allow them to demonstrate to people their level of understanding.

Trump was given very generalized questions and was permitted, by Matt Lauer, to get away with very vague answers. Clinton got peppered with specific questions.
Let's face it, Donald Trump is simply held to a lower standard by the press who seem satisfied by an outrageous soundbite. He has a stagggering lack of knowledge on the issues, and is permitted to get away with it.

It was a waste of everyone's time.
Sheesh

Last edited by Goose (9/08/2016 5:12 am)

Just another comment... Trump's continued "bromance" (hate to use that cliche' but it really applies) totally shows his naivety about this man. That is dangerous. 

I agree with flower girl's assessment of the forum.

Today the surrogates of both candidates are re-explaining, clarifying, and emphasizing their candidates remarks and performance. At the same time, they are picking apart and criticizing their opponents responses. Drumpf's surrogates are busier at those tasks than Clinton's staff. The primary reason for all the clarification and attacks is that Drumpf, once again, had no viable plans to offer. He basically said he was a great businessman, the best negotiator in the universe, was very smart, would strengthen the military (although he had no specifics), loved and respected people who currently or previously served in uniform (even though he personally did everything he could do to avoid serving). Again, no viable plans to do anything. The Donald is asking the voters to just trust him and he will do what's right.

Based on his record in business, his ridiculous Twitter rants, his personal attacks on anyone that disagrees with him, his ignorance on international affairs, and his narcissistic attitude, I trust him about as much as I trust Eric Bolling to report factual information.

Drumpf's surrogates, in particular Newt Gingerich, are out there criticizing Lauer for being biased in favor of Hillary and attacking Drumpf with more difficult questioning.

I thought Matt Lauer was a strange choice for moderator also. I was expecting Lester Holt or Chuck Todd.

Here is an interesting exchange from last night with a funny description of Drumpf's attempt to answer a question without answering a question:

Consider, for example, Trump's Miss Teen South Carolina-level word salad when pressed on whether he really has a plan to beat ISIS, a line of questioning that somehow led Trump into saying he'll probably replace much of the career leadership of the military soon after entering office:

LAUER: But yesterday, you actually told us a little bit about your plan in your speech. You said this. Quote, "We're going to convene my top generals and they will have 30 days to submit a plan for soundly and quickly defeating ISIS." So is the plan you've been hiding this whole time asking someone else for their plan?

TRUMP: No. But when I do come up with a plan that I like and that perhaps agrees with mine, or maybe doesn't — I may love what the generals come back with. I will convene ...

LAUER: But you have your own plan?

TRUMP: I have a plan. But I want to be — I don't want to — look. I have a very substantial chance of winning. Make America great again. We're going to make America great again. I have a substantial chance of winning. If I win, I don't want to broadcast to the enemy exactly what my plan is.

LAUER: But you're going to ...

TRUMP: And let me tell you, if I like maybe a combination of my plan and the generals' plan, or the generals' plan, if I like their plan, Matt, I'm not going to call you up and say, "Matt, we have a great plan." This is what Obama does. "We're going to leave Iraq on a certain day."

LAUER: But you're going to convene a panel of generals, and you've already said you know more about ISIS than those generals do.

TRUMP: Well, they'll probably be different generals, to be honest with you.

Last edited by Rongone (9/08/2016 7:13 am)