Isolation Booth Debate

 Yesterday, I suggested that last night's debate might resemble scenes from a Marx Brothers movie. Turns out I chose the wrong comedy troupe for comparison: It was more like a Three Stooges short in which the director had lost all control and Moe continued to wreak violence on his partners long after the director called "Cut".

But it gave me an idea for the next two debates. If you're of the right age, you'll remember this (or if you're younger, you'll have seen it in the movie Quiz Show):

Those sorts of "isolation booths" were common on the quiz shows of the 1950s. On some of them, the contestant's mikes were not only cut when it wasn't their turn, the lights were turned off or turned down at that time as well.

I suggest that as a way to control the kind of disruptive behavior engaged in by President Trump last night. And I suggest making it automated: "Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to a question. At one minute and 45 seconds, they will be given a signal to begin wrapping up. At two minutes, the mike will cut off and the lights will dim." Why dim the lights? So the candidates cannot try to distract from their opponent's remarks with faces and gestures.

There should be no "open discussion." That merely turns into a shouting match, especially with this President. Instead, after each candidate has had his two minutes to answer a question, the opponent (who has been able to hear the answer) has 30 seconds to formulate a question (again with an automatic cut-off, so it can't be used as soapbox) and the other candidate gets 90 seconds to respond, automatically cut off as before.

Will either side, especially Trump, agree to such conditions? Probably not--but if the proposal is made and they refuse, it says a lot about how they view the debates, doesn't it?