Monday 10 October 2016

Second Presidential Debate Or What in the Hell Did I Just Watch?

(Rick Wilking/Reuters)
Some observations on last night's second presidential debate.

Trump responds to audio recording of him bragging about forcing himself on married women by calling it "locker room talk". What locker rooms does he hang out in? San Quintin?

Trump compared avoiding venereal disease to his own personal Vietnam in the 70s. He cheated on his first wife with his second wife and his second wife with his third wife. If there is a moral high ground to be found here, it's in the woman who has honoured her marriage vows for over 40 years, not the guy whose current wife is literally the third model.

Trump says if he becomes president he will throw Hillary Clinton in jail. If Trump is trying to channel Reagan he's doing it wrong. Reagan may have propped up banana republics, but he sure as hell didn't turn his own country into one. Trump spokesperson Kellyanne Conway later said Trump's comment was just a "quip". If that's what passes for a clever comment in the Trump camp, they possess the collective wit of a bowl of dog food.

After ducking the chance to go first like a little kid on a high diving board, Trump has a plan for healthcare. It's called "something" and it involves removing borders to increase competition and eliminate monopolies. This might be the first fiscal-conservative statement Trump has ever made, because his solution to healthcare is free trade. The same economic policy that Trump says is destroying America will result in the "finest health care plan there is." I wished for more time, just to see how much irony he could shovel down the same hole.

For Muslims seeking inclusion under a Republican president, sorry, according to Trump, the bombings you had nothing to do with are still your fault. But you got a witty hashtag, #MuslimsReportStuff, and you are with nearly 70 per cent of Americans that aren't angry old white Christian dudes. Welcome.

Don't even get me started on the Syria question. Shoot down your running mate, partner with Russia, Assad, and possibly Iran? Sneak attacks at night? My god why didn't anyone think of that before? After two minutes of Trump talking foreign policy it's fairly clear that anyone who has watched a Tom Clancy movie adaptation or read a newspaper or a book has a better grasp on it than he does. Trump ended by saying Aleppo had already fallen. It's like a business bankruptcy, but instead of writing off bad debts, it's human beings.

The breakdown of lies told by candidates on this debate is 33 Trump : 5 Clinton. Last debate was 34 Trump : 4 Clinton. On this measure I will concur with Trump base and camp, he absolutely won both debates. No one lied more than him.

Trump is no conservative, he is an overindulged man child with the morals of an alley cat and a decades long history of racism and sexism. If this is the standard bearer, GOP, you've gone from the grand old party to the gross old party. Republicans, you need to fix this and you need to fix it now.



To anyone who reads this and cries Crooked Hillary, shut up. Shut your mouth and the shut the mouths of everyone you know who thinks like you. And, less abrasively, to folks who just have a general sense of unease about Hillary Clinton. The Republican party spared no expense and exhausted untold labour in launching what constituted an eight (to 30 year) inquisition into the actions of Hillary Clinton. The witch hunt came up empty. It's over. Hillary Clinton has been in public service for more than 30 years and over the course of those years she did compromised her ideals to find consensus? Absolutely. Because she was working with the same men who thought a government shut down would serve them well.