Dispatches from Vilnius

That was not the takeaway Trump loyalists wanted coming out of the debate.  Not only was he brutally fact checked on the spot, but three days later it still remains a viral meme .  It even spurred the premier "childless cat lady" herself to post on instagram that she is endorsing Kamala.  A move that drove over 400,000 visitors to vote.gov that night, encouraging young Swifties to register to vote!  A petulant Trump could only say she will " pay a price in the marketplace ." I wasn't planning to watch the debate but my dog woke me up at 4 in the morning and so I turned on CNN thinking I might catch the last half hour.  Turns out I caught the whole thing as it came on at 9 EDT.  Everyone was carrying the debate, even BBC and Lithuanian News.  An estimated 67 million Americans and countless foreign watchers. To say it was an awful night for Donald is a massive understatement.  The only thing stopping Republican leaders from asking him to step down is that the rep

For a moment I took a break from everything.  I ran the afternoon 10K race of the Vilnius Marathon.  I was standing with a contingent of NATO soldiers from some European country.  I couldn't make out the language.  They were all wearing light blue t-shirts that read "We Run This Together." There have been a lot of threats emanating from Moscow recently.  It felt good to have that spirit of solidarity even if NATO countries tend to go their own separate ways in regard to Russia.   Summer has lingered on.  It was over 30 degrees Celsius running along the cobblestone streets of Vilnius with the heat rising up from the pavement.  The only break was when we ran through Žverynas as the trees along Vytautas Street provided some shade.  The residential street is named after one of the Great Dukes of Lithuania who defended the Grand Duchy against the Teutonic knights at the Battle of Žalgiris in the early 15th century.  My throat was parched at the 3 km. mark.  Thankfully, there w

There is something exceedingly weird about this election.  For a man who should be extremely worried about the direction this campaign trail is turning, he seems remarkably calm.  It's not like he doesn't see the numbers .  He is constantly remarking on them, but utters the "fake news" mantra each and every time.  It's like he is holding an ace or two up his sleeve.   There have been a lot of warnings about voter roll purges.  Texas recently removed a million people from its voter rolls.  This affects the Senate race more so than the presidential race, where Trump is expected to win easily.  Ted Cruz is having a little more difficult time fending off his latest challenger Colin Allred.  Still, it is very disconcerting.  You could show up to the poll and find you are not listed on the voter roll and it is too late to register.  FTR, the voter registration deadline is October 7 in the Lone Star state.   The Supreme Court has upheld these voter roll purges, even if