get ready for the bloodsport!

Trump vs. Biden: "like Mike Tyson fighting a three-year-old" (Joe Rogan)—

Are Tim Pool & Co. right? Will Biden be that incoherent versus Trump on the debate stage? I don't think so. I think he'll be energized in much the same way that Hillary Clinton, despite her fainting spells and bizarre fugue states, was able to perform more or less coherently on the debate stage. I don't actually expect Biden to flub more than a few times, as would be natural for someone his age. I don't think he's going to appear especially demented. If anything, I expect focus, at least in terms of his delivery. He's going to get a lot of facts wrong, and he'll make claims that turn out to be senile-sounding once the fact-checkers pick him apart, but all of that will happen after the debate(s) with Trump. Biden will do well enough for his people to claim that he won—if not in terms of facts, then in terms of character, i.e., in terms of standing bravely before the dragon that is Trump.

Sure, I'd love to see the man crash and burn. And if I were Trump, I'd do everything possible to goad Biden into physically attacking me. Biden has already made schoolyard-style threats about taking Trump behind a building and thrashing him. Biden adopts a macho pose and challenges interlocutors to pushup contests, all in a hilariously vain attempt at highlighting his virility. All Trump needs to do is shame Biden by working on his family: "How are you honoring the dead members of your family by being on stage, looking pathetic, and stammering your way through a debate you can't even understand? How does this honor the Biden name? You've lost your son Beau; you lost your first wife and your daughter years back... do you think they'd want to see you up here, getting your ass kicked by an orange-colored fat guy with weird hair? And don't you need to tend to your other son Hunter—the one who's currently under the microscope for his own Ukraine scandal? Hunter, just like his dad, is bringing shame on the Biden name. Please, Joe, for the love of God, and in memory of your lost loved ones: just hang it up. I'm begging you. This is painful even for me. Just retire, and tend to your son Hunter. He needs your help getting out of the mess that you and he made. This isn't the legacy you want for your family—shame and disgrace. Let it go, Creepy Joe."

Is Trump enough of a troll to go that low? I don't know. I do know that this debate is all about Trump's second term, which means Trump isn't going to care what people think of him if (when) he wins reelection, and he'll free to do whatever the hell he pleases. He can probably afford to take the nasty route with Biden; Trump's voter base is pretty solid at this point, and they won't be shocked or repulsed by the fact that Trump is a go-for-the-jugular kind of guy. As to whether Trump vs. Biden really will be like Mike Tyson fighting a three-year-old... I have my doubts. Biden's certainly losing his marbles, but even the demented and the insane have been known to summon up surprising reserves of focus when survival is on the line. Seriously, though—Trump needs to try to get Biden to march across the stage and physically attack him. That's all Trump needs to clinch the election.