The reason why the presidential election looks geriatric and disappointing is that we are trying to convince ourselves to let go of the nation-state. We are all collectively putting on this embarrassing spectacle to make the loss not only palatable but desired.

This is why there are no younger, fresher candidates. This is why voting feels useless. Together, as a group of 320 million, we want national politics to be farcical. We really, really want it because we need an excuse to throw away the nation-state. The very first, the most successful, the most impressive nation-state in history has chosen to be the first in pulling itself apart.

Never forget they told us he got 81 million votes. Most popular candidate in HISTORY, by a large margin.

2020 was a STOLEN, FRAUDULENT election.

And everyone knows it.

— Thomas Jefferson (@BasedDetails) June 28, 2024

Both comments are phenomenally dumb but the “81 million votes” is the absolute winner. I’ve heard actual, real people (with fancy PhDs, may I add) repeat it with happy, zombified faces for years.

Obviously, Biden’s high vote count is owed, in large part, to how many people detested Trump and voted not so much for Biden as against Trump. Many of these 81 million are not passionate Bidenites but passionate anti-Trumpists. Is it a huge surprise that passionate anti-Trumpists exist? Have we not gotten enough opportunities to hear from them that we need to be so virginally surprised at their capacity to win elections?

The exact same people who can’t go a day without mentioning Trump Derangement Syndrome can’t fathom the possibility that this condition drove voter enthusiasm for an otherwise uninteresting Biden.

This is a huge pet peeve because I have two very dear friends who keep advancing this poster’s exact talking point and I just can’t already.

A gentle reminder to Democrats: you believe that women have penises, so there’s no intellectual advantage you can claim here. Humility is always in order until you can say publicly “women never have penises and men cannot give birth.” Whatever lunacy the Trump crowd advances, it has not remotely reached yours.

I didn’t watch the debate live because of the time difference. How did it go? I don’t know when I’ll have time to watch but what are everybody’s initial impressions?