In the third and final debate of this US Presidential election season, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's clear victory didn't turn out to be the biggest story:  Republican candidate and fascist demagogue Donald Trump refused to commit to accepting the results of next month's election.

During the debate on Wednesday night at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News asked Trump about his recent statements trashing the American electoral process before the election even happened, claiming that the contest is being "rigged" in the media and in polling places that aren't even set up yet.  Questioned directly as to whether he would accept the outcome, petulant Trump refused to commit:  "I will keep you in suspense," the Republican nominee said, claiming he'll make the decision on election night.

Although Hillary Clinton pretty much was winning at that point, it was a self-inflicted wound that at long last may have sunk the Trump candidacy.  Mrs. Clinton described Trump's coy answer as "horrifying", saying he was "talking down our democracy".

Over the past couple of weeks, commentator after commentator have been urging Trump to give up this line, calling it dangerous for American democracy, which has depended on the peaceful transition of power between administrations since the first President George Washington willingly left after two terms.  Others have shamed Trump, such as President Barack Obama himself who accused Trump of being a whiner and a sore loser.  After Trump refused to commit to accept the integrity of a US election while standing on the debate stage, it was his fellow Republicans who came down on him.

Arizona Senator Jeff Flake said it was "beyond the pale", while South Carolina's Lindsey Graham said Trump did "the country a great disservice" and if he lost, it would be because Trump "failed as a candidate".  A plethora of pundits acknowledged that failing to endorse American democracy was a potentially fatal blow for the Trump campaign, as stalwart conservative columnist Bill Kristol told Trump to "go jump in a lake".  Trump made liars out of his daughter Ivanka and his running mate Mike Pence, both of whom spent the hours before the debate insisting that Camp Trump would accept the results of the election.

Had Trump not displayed this complete lack of character, the headline coming out of the debate might have been that he didn't lose to Hillary Clinton as badly as he did in the two previous meetings.  Unlike his hyper belligerence of the first debate and the menacing stalking behavior of the second, Trump mostly got by without imploding.  Hillary Clinton got under his thin skin on several occasions and was reduced to Pee Wee Herman-like retorts, such as when Hillary accused him of being a "puppet" of Russian President Vladimir Putin; Trump replied, "No I'm not, you are!"  What, is he in the 5th grade?

While Hillary laid out policy ideas such as free college, defended women's reproductive freedom, and displayed a superior grasp on foreign policy, Trump was on the backfoot for 90 minutes.  Chiding him for the women who've come forward to accuse him of sexual abuse, Trump called them liars and replied, "Nobody has more respect for women than I do."  Minutes later, he referred to Mrs. Clinton as, "Such a nasty woman."

While Chris Wallace did a good job keeping the crown under control - no cheering or booing is allowed at US presidential debates - he allowed Trump to get away with a major lie that Wallace alone should have stopped in its tracks.  Hillary pointed out that Trump said that Saudi Arabia and Japan should get their own nuclear weapons instead of relying on the US for their defense - a major reversal of 50 years of US policy.  Trump denied it, even though he said the very thing on 2 June in an interview with none other than Fox News' Chris Wallace who allowed the obvious lie slide by.

Underlining the acrimony:  The two candidates did not shake hands in the beginning, and they didn't shake hands at the end.