This is why we miss Dan Rather at the CBS News desk.At a time when the media often fails to dig deep and ask the hard hitting questions all for the sake of ratings, at least we still can rely on Dan Rather to deliver an analysis that makes people think.After the debate on Sunday night, the legendary newsman delivered a damning criticism of the Republican nominee and warned Americans of the dire consequences of this election. I am not sure it is possible to truly put into words what we witnessed tonight,  Rather wrote.  This election has long since passed the stage of rationality and reason, the realm of the written page, and into the territory of the heart and spirit, where emotions swirl that we cannot fully distill into coherent sentences and paragraphs. But I will humbly try Rather launched into talking about the Roman Empire and the barbarism that eventually led to its downfall. The debate last night was like watching a fight to the death between gladiators at the Colosseum.  I had a sense we could, if we are not vigilant, fall into a similar downward spiral,  Rather noted.But Rather was pleased with how the moderators did their job, praising Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz for demanding specifics from both candidates.Trump, of course, whined about the tough questions and that resulted in a meltdown that lasted throughout the evening as Trump preferred personal smears instead of actually giving the American people an idea of what his policies are and how he will enact them. Dan Rather definitely noticed the differences between the two presidential contenders.Trump went on the offensive, as advertised, drilling down to an attack on Bill Clinton. It was a strategy that was all Trump. And HIllary Clinton responded with a volley of all the other insulting statements and lies by Trump over the course of the election season. As Trump preened, paced and swayed, Clinton s steely face spoke volumes. As Trump stood, looming over Clinton, threatening her with a special prosecutor and even imprisonment, the optics of the GOP nominee could be seen as either that of a schoolyard bully or a determined pugilist depending on your point of view. Clinton was better answering questions directly and better at laying out what she would like to do as President. Trump was more determined to levy personal attacks to put Clinton on defensive, especially in the early going.Clinton engaged mostly with the audience and moderators. Donald Trump addressed her directly with hand gestures and eye contact. When she spoke, he sometimes stood pacing, or passively, gripping his chair. When he spoke, he often tried to tar his opponent with guilt by association   calling into question Clinton s  friends  on taxes in particular and referring to Clinton s husband to avoid the glare of his own misconduct. It seems that Trump does everything he can to avoid personal culpability or responsibility. He argues that his faults are not so great because Clinton and her associates have done much worse   his words are not so dangerous because  locker room  talk has long been excused for men. Clinton called for an apology to the many Trump has spoken ill of. None was forthcoming. I can t see any of that moving the needle compared to the tsunami that has engulfed the race in the past few days.In conclusion, Rather talked about the need for all of us to be engaged if we want to end this national nightmare and get back to the business of dealing with our problems with reasonable solutions. We have serious problems facing our nation, and our world,  Rather wrote.Our ship of state must be prepared to navigate the perilous shoals of our complicated world   and yet I feel tonight as if we have been hijacked into an alternate universe. This national nightmare will end one way or another and we will awaken to the same world from which we have been so disengaged. That is our challenge and it is a challenge from which none of us can opt out.Here s the full post via Facebook.Donald Trump must be stopped before our country turns into a barbaric nation that is primed to fall like Rome did. Hate, ignorance, violence, and fear will not make America great again. It will be our end. And that can only be prevented by the American people on November 8th by making sure Trump nevers sees the inside of the White House.Featured Image: Larry Busacca/Getty Images