What. A. Week.

 And it's not even over.  There's so much to unpack but I will try to keep this brief.

My thoughts on the "debate" - I watched 5 minutes of these two old guys interrupting each other and decided to binge watch Downton Abbey instead.  Apparently that was a wise decision.  Of the 5 minutes I did watch, Trump got to answer the first question uninterrupted... But when it was Biden's turn, it quickly became a shit show with interruptions etc.  I thought Chris Wallace handled one of the 2016 debates pretty well, but he had no control over this one.  That was quickly apparent so I changed the channel.  I already knew who I was voting for and I'm thinking most of Americans also know too.  For those on the fence, they probably got no clarity from this "debate."

My thoughts on the NYT report that Trump paid "$750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750. He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made."  This was no surprise to me; nor is it a surprise to me that his CULT45 followers don't care that they pay more in taxes than this supposed "successful businessman" did.  They brag about how he gave up his salary while in office (something many Presidents did), yet ignore how he's been cheating the country for decades.  They say, "Well, he was just smart and got out of paying taxes."  One Republican once railed at me and asked, "Why do you want them to take your money?"  He wouldn't even let me get a word in edgewise to say, "It's not really my money - it's just a resource God gave me to utilize."  Some of these folks who hate paying taxes call themselves Christians, but even Jesus said to "Give Caesar what is Caesar's."

My thoughts on tapes of Melania talking about immigrant kids separated from parents and saying "Who gives a F__ about Christmas stuff and decorations?  Suffice it to say that I don't really criticize first ladies or kids (unless they're adults and part of the Administration like Ivanka and Junior)...  However, I'll say this: Republicans gave Michelle Obama a much harder time for less than this, and I absolutely know they'd roast her if she made that Christmas comment.

My thoughts on the Breonna Taylor case (young black woman killed in her home while police came with a "no knock warrant" to look for evidence on an ex-boyfriend) - LEO rammed her door in, her current boyfriend who has a gun permit fired shots because he didn't know who was invading the home, and officers returned fire which killed Breonna Taylor.  Only one cop was charged for wanton endangerment because some of his shots went into Taylor's NEIGHBOR'S apartment.  And then that same cop came back after the shooting while investigators were gathering evidence from the scene which is a procedural violation.  Turns out maybe Taylor's boyfriend didn't shoot the LEO; That LEO may have been hit with "friendly fire" from one of his partners.  You can read more about it here.  But no matter, I think it's a tragedy that Taylor was killed in her own apartment because the police were after her EX-boyfriend. This was reckless behavior on behalf of the police 6-7 months ago, and none were even tried for manslaughter.  This just reinforces my belief that there needs to be more reform on police practices - and thankfully the city of Louisville did come to a $12 Million wrongful death settlement with Taylor's family which includes a major police reform package "to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again," Mayor Fischer says.  #BLM

Last but not least, Trump has contracted Coronavirus and is being flown to Walter Reed Medical Center.  My initial reaction was: Not surprised, but at least he has the best medical care at his disposal and a large portion of the nation praying for him.  While I don't wish this virus on anybody, TBH I feel more empathy for the 205K who have died already (and of course their loved ones who are grieving)... the countless Essential Workers who make minimum wage and got sick and/or died because they couldn't afford to stay home... the Nurses and Doctors and Emergency responders who put themselves at risk to care for the sick... If anything, I hope and pray that this is a wake-up call for the people to take this virus seriously.  That people will "love their neighbor" and do all they can to contain this virus.  At the very least, wear a mask - it's not too much to ask.