America and the Great Debate - Part Two

Well, the big event, the Great Debate is over and, not surprisingly, it accomplished nothing. Neither participant was engaging. Donald looked pompous and angry and Hillary looked pompous and angry. Neither one got into any sort of detail and nothing was learned. Lester Holt was a bit of a dud as moderator and the whole thing was a big yawn.

I really had intended to writ a whole lot about what was billed as a mega-event, but why bother? Those for Trump still will vote for him and Hillary still has her die-hard supporters. When can we get passed these debates about who can be more presidential and actually get to some substance.

We have some big problems in this Country and I am getting a bit annoyed that this whole silly election has degenerated into a personality contest between two very unappealing personalities.

Oh well, this nonsense will be over soon.

American Insanity

Hi there, friends and neighbors, and let me welcome you to the show that never ends, America in this weird year of madness. I have been around a long time and been through a lot of extreme weirdness, but nothing like this.

We recently had a guy in NY and NJ who seemed determined to show his anger at America by blowing up dumpsters. The man's own father had told the FBI that his son was a radicalized lunatic and they had decided that he wasn't. Turns out Papa was right which makes me ask, 'Why are we paying all those over trained and highly paid profilers?' The shootout scenario that led to his capture makes no sense, but we have seen that before. To this day, no one has explained the equally bizarre San Bernardino shootout, but, I guess we are supposed to just sit back and believe everything we're told, so. okay, let's move on.

We have a guy shot in Tulsa and are told that he had his hands up. If that were so, this would be a heinous police shooting. However, video shows that while he did have his hands up, he kept walking toward his car and started to reach into that car for something. By the time I was 10, I would have known better. But, still we have protests of racist police brutality. Let everyone investigate and find out just what happened before spouting off, like Hillary did.

Then we have a cop shooting someone in North Carolina and citizens are doing the usual thing, They are protesting something that they know no details about by throwing rocks at cops, setting fires in the street and looting Walmart. I am fairly sure the Walmart manager did not shoot the guy, so why loot Walmart. Again, let investigations proceed. I know that police sometimes act badly, but get the facts before you act like idiots.

In politics, The GOP elephant, as represented by The Donald, is trumpeting and the Democratic donkey, that would be Hillary, is braying and I am beginning to wax Shakespearean when thinking a pox on both their houses. It is really a question of who is less disgusting. I will vote Trump for 2 reasons. 1. I loathe the Clintons and 2. Trump seems to be surrounding himself with some bright, sane people and I am sure that they, not he, will really be running things. However, we must get through the debates. Debates should be reasonable, rational discourses by competent people representing opposing sides of an argument. A Fox News commentator slipped yesterday and said. 'this ought to be quite a spectacle.' That's all this will be a show, where everyone sits around and hopes the 2 start screaming insults at each other. The debate is on TV opposite Monday Night Football  and may well be a better show. It might even get better ratings. But it will not advance our political dialogue or help voters reach a better informed decision, which is supposedly its purpose. Maybe we are about to admit that we, as a Nation, just want a good show.

Ah well, I have to go and I leave you with the words of PT Barnum. "No one has ever gone broke by underestimating the intelligence of the American public." I'll even throw in these words from Bob Dylan's song, Idiot Wind. "We're all idiots. It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves." Bye for now. Have fun watching Trump and Clinton hurl abuse at each other.

The Debates, Part 2, or the Continuing Search for a Marginally Competent President

I really find politics terminally boring, but today I have to write about the debates again. This morning, I turned on the news, never a great idea, and was greeted with Donald Trump ranting about how strange this years elections are. He seemed amazed that Carson keeps claiming he once stabbed someone while authorities keep saying 'no, he didn't.' In other words, a Presidential candidate is being defensive about the commission of a felony. Normally, the commission of said felony would be the issue, but Ben is upset because others say he didn't do it. Let's be clear. The felonious act isn't the problem, the false claim of guilt is. This is totally upside down.

 

The even stranger thing is that 'The Donald' is acting as the voice of reason. Why is this buffoon even running? And how, in the name of all that is Holy, is he near the top of the polls. This is a man who is most famous for yelling 'you're fired' on his idiotic TV show. This supposed business genius has, here and there, gone bankrupt, yet we are to trust him with the management of the country. I can just imagine him in a high level conference with Vladimir Putin. Imagine the reaction when he screams, 'Vlad, you're a loser. You're fired.' Putin is not known for his sense of humor and Russia does still have a nuclear arsenal.

 

Then we have the rest of the pact. Jeb Bush has turned on his former protégé and dear friend Marco Rubio in hopes of grabbing enough points to save his failing campaign. Mike Huckabee is whining that he doesn't get enough time in the debates which is true and not surprising, given his miniscule poll numbers. Then we have Ted Cruze who seemingly is loathed by other politicians who are forced to work with him. He is polling fairly well, probably because voters remember his stirring reading of Green Eggs and Ham during a Senate Filibuster.

 

On the Democratic side, things are even stranger. Bernie Sanders is still polling well and still refuses to go after his opponent, leading me to believe that the American public just likes him because he looks like a kindly Grandpa. And in Ms. Clinton we have a candidate who quite possibly will have to campaign while occasionally making court appearances to defend herself against multiple felony charges.

 

People, there has to be a better way to pick the man or woman who will, at least in theory, be the most powerful person on Earth. Either that or we just admit the whole thing is a dog and pony show and that we are run by a few corporate heads. The latter is the truth but, we are a Nation that clings to past illusions like Linus clings to his security blanket in the old Peanuts comic strip. Oh well, at least I got that out of my system. Next time, I'll write about something of interest. I'll try to leave politics alone for a while. Promise.                                                                            

The Presidential Debates, or the Great American Follies

 We are currently being overwhelmed by political debates, or so we are told. Let us be clear about something. Two people, taking opposing sides, in a formal discussion of an issue, is a debate. What we are getting is a bulk rate press conference. Get a bunch of candidates, most of whom have less chance than Homer Simpson of being elected President, put them at the mercy of some network reporter, and let them have at it. That seems the plan.                                  

In such a format, there is no time for anyone to say anything of substance, not that anyone of the group was going to do that. All you wind up with is a bunch of sound bites and a lot of sniping and grandstanding. The moderator has little chance of maintaining control and they generally seem to have little interest in getting down to matters that really concern the potential voters. Instead, they pick up on small points that can be inflated into controversy and seem to goad the participants into getting down to personal attacks. No one comes out looking good and usually the person with the biggest mouth is considered the winner. Thus we have the specter of Donald Trump continuing his reality TV show in the White House. At least the show would be guaranteed a four year run.    

On the Democratic side, well, why are they even wasting their time? Does anyone in their right mind really believe that Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed Socialist, can beat Hillary Clinton? The Democratic Party might well win the election if they just announced that since Hillary was a done deal, they were going to forego the debates. Maybe they could fill the time that has been allotted those debates still scheduled by agreeing to air episodes of the Flintstones. It would be a lot more entertaining and just as informative.                                                                      

The debates are not something that we have to have. The Constitution (does anyone still remember that document?) does not demand them and not every election has seen them. The first I remember was between Kennedy and Nixon and it was fascinating. Both men were knowledgeable. neither engaged in personal sniping, and important issues were discussed in some detail. Now we have twelve on a stage and not a one of them is able to present a coherent discussion of any issue. America, is this really the best we can do?