Let's not forget we still have two flawed candidates

I immediately knew the image of Trump with his fists raised, brilliantly shot from below by Doug Mills of The New York Times, would make the Dems' job a lot tougher. A master showman, Trump knew, even with a bloody ear, that he needed to pause and play to the crowd.

The phone conversation between Trump and Biden may have humbled two men who have been so in their egos they cannot see the forest from the aging trees. Then again, that may have lasted five minutes, just long enough for them to both get back to business: wiping the other off the face of the earth, politically speaking of course.

What concerns me most is that we are whitewashing Trump's long and growing list of moral and criminal lapses and the serious conversation about replacing Biden with a Harris or Newsom. Guys, guys, look at me: you don't get a pass because of this assassination attempt. It was terrifying and Trump should get our sympathy, but that doesn't mean he should get our vote.

I urge all my fellow Americans to remain clear-eyed, and in the case of Trump, read behind the gauzy message of making our country great and (as I heard today from the convention), "wealthy again".

Perhaps a reminder or several is in order: Trump would make women's and possibly all of our lives that much harder, and there is a solid chance his next Supreme Court pick could send us farther down a Handmaid's rabbit hole. Biden would more than likely continue to stumble in the race for the presidency. He may still be riding a bike but most Americans don't trust him with the car keys.

If Trump's revised speech really is a kinder, softer version of the all out nuclear assault he was planning, that is a step forward, but it is not a panacea. Trump is still Trump, Biden still Biden. That is, well, unless we are all being schnookered and a la "What's My Line" (Google it, kids) the "real" Trump comes out and it's Biden and vice-versa. (Cue the music to "Identical Cousins" - cue that as well.)