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If nothing else, Donald Trump is forcing mainstream America out of its jailcell of clichés and political correctness – even though his apparent “vision” for America is primarily a dark comedy of lies.

Yeah, I watched the debate. Was the Trump character played by Rodney Dangerfield? Maybe Don Rickles? He could have been. The problem, however, is that there’s nothing funny about racism, which seemed to be the primary core of Trump’s blather.

Did Kamala Harris “win” the debate? Uh . . . this wasn’t a ping-pong game, much as “who won?” seems to be the media focal point. My question is: Did anybody win? Did the whole country lose?

When asked why his latest map has erased the whole of the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retorted with the most detestable answer. 

 “I didn’t include the Dead Sea. It’s not shown on the map. I didn’t show the Jordan River. It’s not on this map. I didn’t show the Sea of Galilee,” was Netanyahu's response. 

 The Israeli leader must have known that neither the indigenous population of Palestine, nor the occupied territories of West Bank and East Jerusalem - which are recognized as such under international law - are topographical or geographical phenomena. 

DR. NANCY NIPARKO gives us a hot and heavy weather report from Santa Monica.

Executive Director ALAN MINSKY of Progressive Democrats of America gives us a parallel report on Get Out the Vote efforts and PDA’s new voting calendar.

Greenpeace stalwart KENNY BRUNO gives us the overview on how this year’s presidency could be stolen.

Communities United’s RAY MCCLENDON follows with a terrifying account of the “poster child” for election manipulation in Georgia, advocating that “we take action in advance” to protect our democracy.

From Arizona we hear that JOHN BRAKEY is still being sued by Santa Cruz County for making a records request…but that the likelihood of a fair vote count might be better in Arizona than in Georgia.

MYLA RESON wonders what happens if Harris/Walz win the White House but not the US Senate, especially as it applies to the US Supreme Court.

Nancy Niparko returns to give a rave review to Greg Palast’s new film “Vigilantes,” which we will be examining next week.

LYNN FEINERMAN and MARILYN MARKS express their concerns about counting votes in Georgia.

Kamala Harris won the debate. People being bombed in Gaza did not.

 The banner headline across the top of the New York Times home page -- “Harris Puts Trump on Defensive in Fierce Debate” -- was accurate enough. But despite the good news for people understandably eager for Trump to be defeated, the Harris debate performance was a moral and political tragedy.

 In Gaza “now an estimated 40,000 Palestinians are dead,” an ABC News moderator said. “Nearly 100 hostages remain. . . . President Biden has not been able to break through the stalemate. How would you do it?”

(Updated at 9:30 a.m. on 11/8/18)

One evening in early September 1964, a frightening commercial jolted 50 million Americans who were partway through watching “Monday Night at the Movies” on NBC. The ad began with an adorable three-year-old girl counting petals as she pulled them from a daisy. Then came a man’s somber voiceover, counting down from ten to zero. Then an ominous roar and a mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb explosion.

 The one-minute TV spot reached its climax with audio from President Lyndon Johnson, concluding that “we must love each other, or we must die.” The ad did not mention his opponent in the upcoming election, Sen. Barry Goldwater, but it didn’t need to. By then, his cavalier attitude toward nuclear weapons was well established.