James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal’s Best of the Web reviewed the critics and found them wanting:

In a preview of the forthcoming “presidential debate,” Hillary and Trump participated in a forum on veterans affairs moderated by Matt Lauer. From the attacks on Lauer by his news colleagues, you’d have thought that despite the fact that he interrupted Trump far more often than he did Hillary, he was trying to help him. Nothing could be further from the truth. She performed poorly, and the reactions by her media enablers indicate they know that and are trying to muzzle the debate moderators.

Is Chait really so caught up in his own political bias that he honestly mistakes his opinion for a fact? Probably yes. This isn’t the first time we’ve noticed anti-Trump commentators making that mistake. But they should be careful what they wish for. If the moderators and Mrs. Clinton tag-team Trump, fair-minded viewers will see that it’s an unfair fight. And Trump is ferocious enough that he could still win.” Kurt Schlichter tweeted, “The intensity of media hate toward Matt Lauer can only mean that Hillary embarrassed herself and Trump didn't.”

It’s not that her team is unaware of her failings. The bright Hollywood actor James Woods, who notified to no avail the FBI of the 9/11 hijackers practice run, observed a pearl shaped device in her ear, which he suggests, was a means to transmit answers to her. He reminded us of a Clinton email released by Wikileaks from Huma Abedin: “Did u take your earpiece or do I need to get it?”

Truepundit:

This unit is considered a “micro” earbud which contains all the technology but is a fraction of the size with a very high price tag. In fact, most of the units this size, approximately 3mm or comparable to a small pearl stud earring, are normally issued to law enforcement or corporate security teams, sources said. At a size that small, the earbud is designed to sit inside the opening of the ear canal, almost invisible to anyone. However, the unit does move and shift along with its wearer and at times can slightly pop out of the canal and require a quick readjustment, experts said. Ironically, the revelation that Clinton was wearing such a unit might have only been recognized because of astute NYPD officers attached to her security detail who are accustomed to seeing the stealth apparatus at stage shows, conventions and security personnel of VIPs and international dignitaries at the United nations and elsewhere in the five boroughs. Likewise, NYPD detectives employ a parallel technology to communicate during undercover Ops. Based on experts familiar with the technology, the stealth earpiece operates on a bandwidth from 300 Hz to 4KHz. Many such units are powered by SONY. The range of the unit can be unlimited depending on how the back end is set up. Technically, you could receive cues from 100 feet away or from someone sitting in Washington D.C. while you sat in New York City, experts said. The set up and range is flexible based on need and use. The unit does not require Bluetooth to operate via short distances but long range operations would require Bluetooth, which is easily configured.

That wag Thomas Lipscomb urged Trump to sweep the debate room to find out where the transmitter is located and the frequency.

“Then powerup a tone generator and bomb her frequency with high frequency warble tones so painful she has to pull it out in public. Should be hilarious. She may even start another coughing fit.”

As for her coughing fits, her imperiousness has warned reporters to lay off her health issues:

“The Clinton campaign warns media to lay off covering her health issues, such as her four-minute coughing attack at a public appearance, and her concussion, which incapacitated her for weeks, and which she told the FBI had caused her to forget the answers to many of their questions.”

Can’t have any journalism going on, can we?

It reminds me of another arrogant Democrat’s orders. Nancy Pelosi told Paul Ryan to forbid the GOP from using any of the hacked DNC information against Dem candidates in the campaign. James D suggested how Ryan should respond:

You and your party had no problem leaking sealed divorce records to help Obama win his Senate race in 2004. You had no problem using an illegally-made recording to savagely attack Mitt Romney in 2012. You had no problem using the IRS to attack conservative groups for the last several years. You had no problem with a bogus, politically motivated prosecution ruining the life of Ted Stevens. So, you know what, Nancy? You called the game, you made the rules, and we are going to play by them. The DNC information is public, and we will use it as we see fit, and I hope you and your venal, traitorous, sociopathic pals at the DNC choke on it. God bless America.

In any event, Lester Holt, the first designated debate moderator, is not someone Clinton has to worry about. “Threadkiller” and “Buccaneer Morgan” did some simple research about his record.

He attacked Trump for suggesting her emails on her private server had been hacked. (They were hacked by “hostile foreign actors.”) Transcript:

HOLT: You also made the claim that her e-mail, personal e-mail server had been hacked. TRUMP: Her server was easily hacked by foreign governments. HOLT: Suggesting that as president -- TRUMP: You don't know that it hasn't been -- HOLT: Wait a minute. Suggesting that she would be compromised as president. What evidence do you have? TRUMP: First of all, she shouldn't have had a personal server, okay? She shouldn't have had it, it's illegal. What she did is illegal. Now she might not be judged that way because we have a rigged system, but what she did is illegal. She shouldn't have had a personal server. HOLT: But is there any evidence it was hacked other than routine phishing? TRUMP: I think I read that, and I heard it, and somebody also gave me that information. HOLT: Where? TRUMP: I will report back to you. I will give it to you. HOLT: You said it with such certainty yesterday. TRUMP: I don't know if certainty. Probably she was hacked. You know what, you can be hacked and not know but it she probably was hacked. The fact is she should not have had a personal server.

Another moderator, Martha Raddatz, is as ill-informed and partisan as Holt. Expect nothing fairer from other debate moderators, Elaine Quijano and Chris Wallace and Anderson Cooper. Why the Republicans ever agree to moderated debates is beyond my ken. Just pick a topic and a timekeeper and keep the lefty newsreaders out of it.

The race is tightening. No less an analyst than Michael Barone notes that Trump is rising and Hillary is not. Byron York observes that Hillary’s experience is not the advantage her supporters had hoped it would be.

Of course, Clinton has significant advantages of her own. But for Democrats hoping Clinton will land a knockout blow in the upcoming debate, Wednesday night was a cautionary moment. It showed that Trump has some serious strengths of his own, and that in what could be the most asymmetrical matchup ever, Clinton's experience might not be the advantage her supporters hope it will be.

For those who thought that they might avoid the choice of Hillary or Trump by voting for the Libertarian or Green candidates, it might give them pause to know that Gary Johnson admitted this week that he didn’t know what “Aleppo” was, and Jill Stein was charged with criminal vandalism. As Iowahawk tweeted:

Clinton: nobody died in Libya Trump: Ima fire all the generals Johnson: what's Aleppo Stein:

Even NeverTrumps Mark Levin and Norman Podhoretz have seen the light and are supporting Trump. Podhoretz’s explanation should carry a great deal of weight:

I think the Iran deal is one of the most catastrophic actions that any American president has ever taken. That’s how seriously I regard it. It paves the way for Iran to get a nuclear weapon,” he said. “If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, I think that we would be in great danger of seeing an outbreak of a nuclear exchange between Iran and Israel. So that alone would be enough to turn me against the Obama administration and virtually everyone who took part in it, and certainly Hillary Clinton. It overshadows everything from my point of view.

Like the pseudonymous author of this article in the Claremont Review, they see no other rational choice.

In the meantime Julian Assange warns that more Hillary emails will soon be revealed -- never hacked, Lester Holt, to the contrary. And the outrageous illegal transfer of billions of untraceable dollars to Iran is being documented along with the fact that another $100 billion will go to Iran once sanctions are lifted.

If that’s not enough, the scandals of the Clinton Foundation that Hillary plans to keep operating with Chelsea at the head will sooner or later be so evident than even the media lapdogs will not be able to hide it for much longer.