Bloglander

If you're reading this, then you made it. Last night was the final presidential debate before the election. You should read our Election Issue (here's a taste), and then you should go vote November 8.

But in case you missed the final debate (and you missed a doozy) here is a sample. Donald Trump was asked to clear up his thoughts on Aleppo, the embattled Syrian city that has been a focal point in the conflict there. Trump incorrectly stated that Aleppo had fallen. Read what he said and tell us if you got anything out of it: (H/T Vox)

"Well, Aleppo is a disaster. It's a humanitarian nightmare. But it has fallen from any standpoint. I mean, what do you need, a signed document? Take a look at Aleppo. It is so sad when you see what's happened. And a lot of this is because of Hillary Clinton. Because what's happened is by fighting Assad, who turned out to be a lot tougher than she thought, and now she is going to say, 'Oh, he loves Assad.' He's just much tougher and much smarter than her and Obama. And everyone thought he was gone two years ago, three years ago. He aligned with Russia. He now also aligned with Iran, who we made very powerful. We gave them $150 billion back. We give them $1.7 billion in cash. I mean cash, bundles of cash as big as this stage. We gave them $1.7 billion. 

Now they have aligned, he has aligned with Russia and Iran. They don't want ISIS. But they have other things because we're backing, we're backing rebels. We don't know who the rebels are. We're giving them lots of money, lots of everything. We don't know who the rebels are. And when and if, and it's not going to happen because you have Russia and you have Iran now. But if they ever did overthrow Assad, you might end up as bad as Assad is, and he is a bad guy. 

But you may very well end up with worse than Assad. If she did nothing, we'd be in much better shape. And this is what has caused the great migration where she has taken in tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who probably in many cases, not probably, who are definitely in many cases ISIS-aligned. And we now have them in our country and wait until you see this is going to be the great Trojan horse. 

And wait until you see what happens in the coming years. Lots of luck, Hillary. Thanks for doing a great job."

There are more than a few incorrect statements in there. Assad was aligned with Russia and Iran before the Syrian civil war broke out, for example, not as a result of it. And refugees as a "Trojan Horse," as Trump says, doesn't hold either. Actually your chances of being killed by a refugee is 1 in 3.64 billion. But the larger point is Trump's response to a major policy question is basically ignorant drivel.

And now your morning briefing:

ON INLANDER.COM 

• The Trump Wall at Washington State University. WSU students were there. This is what they saw.

•  Here's what Halloween costumes Washingtonians are Googling more than any other states. 

IN OTHER NEWS: 

• Area law enforcement agencies have switched to a more detailed method of collecting crime stats. The changes will make it look like crime is rising and will make it difficult to make year-to-year comparisons. On the other hand, we'll get a more details, and hopefully more accurate peek into crime in Spokane. (Spokesman-Review) 

• Wells Fargo is now under criminal investigation for identity theft after allegations surfaced that the bank opened millions of accounts and credit cards for customers without their knowledge. The United States' third largest bank just lost it's good standing with the Better Business Bureau, perhaps the biggest company to ever lose that accreditation. (Reuters, CNBC)

• Although largely out of the spotlight of national media, Native Americans are killed by police at a higher rate than any other group. A must read. (In These Times)