DEBATE THREE:
Finally, the series of three Presidential Debates plus one
Vice-Presidential Debate has concluded.
By most measures (well, except in Trumpworld’s alternative reality),
Hillary “won” all three contests with the Donald and the Kaine/Pence contest
was a tie. You may recall that I awarded
the VP debate to Pence. What negated
that single debate bright-spot for the Republican ticket was Pence’s insistence
that Trump did not say the things that he actually said and/or did not support
the positions that Trump actually supports.
In any case, all that is now behind us and the rest is the dash to the
finish line. Or is it?
Donald
Trump was better prepared for this contest than had been the case during the
last two meetings of these candidates – one clearly prepared to be the
President and the other who seems to be ill-equipped for prime time. I will leave you, dear reader, to determine
which is which. But, clearly, Donald has
improved his debate performance substantially since the first clash of the
candidates. However, given his awful
performance during debate #1, it’s hard to see how he could not be better
now. Hillary, to her credit, was again
prepared, level, and in command of her facts.
She presented herself as a competent, knowledgeable, reasonable, and
experienced candidate who was, in fact, ready to become the President of the
United States. Much of the discussion was a repeat of their often discussed
positions on the issues of the day – on taxes, the economy, Roe v. Wade and the
Supreme Court, to name a few. Trump, however, did make one statement that
surprised the debate moderator, Chris Wallace, and was so off-base that it
became the dominant story of debate #3.
Wallace asked Trump if he would “accept” the outcome of the election if
he did not win. Much to the surprise of
the moderator and, I suspect, the audience and the press assembled, Trump
refused to “accept” the outcome of Election Day, unless (as he said to a rally
the following day) he was the victor. A
shocking statement, given this nation’s 200+ year history of elections and the
peaceful transition of power that is the envy of much of the world.
Last
August, Donald began to say that the elections have been “rigged.” Such unfounded charges undermine the very
foundation of our democracy – the fairness and acceptance of our elections as
the way that our democracy selects its leaders, from the local town level all
the way to the Presidency. Whether it is
Nixon conceding to Kennedy in 1960 or Gore conceding to Bush in 2000, the loser
of the election has recognized the will of the people as expressed in the votes
on Election Day and pledges to work with the President-elect in the interests
of the nation. But, not Donald
Trump. Ever the master of conspiracies
and an alternate reality and always the “outsider” working to take down “the
establishment”, Trump constantly attacks “the system” and the media and the
election process as “rigged.” In Trumpworld,
all of the corrupt media have “ganged up” on him in a conspiracy to deny him
the Presidency.
In an
alternate Trump reality, if he wins, the outcome would be legitimate. But, if Hillary wins, that would be a result
of a nation-wide conspiracy between “the corrupt” media, millions of illegal
alien voters, millions of dead people voting (note that all of these dead and
alien folks vote for democrats only), and corrupt election officials,
Republicans not supporting his candidacy like the Bush family, Mitt Romney, John
Kasich, Paul Ryan, and others. And, that
would make a Hillary Clinton Presidency “illegitimate.” I suppose that Trump
can’t claim that Hillary was born somewhere in Africa or that she is a secret
Muslim (in spite of the shocking coincidence that "Methodist" also starts with an “M”), so he has to attack the
process as “rigged” which resulted in the
Donald being beaten by A WOMAN (OMG!).
And, if Hillary became President through subterfuge and a corrupt
conspiracy, why concede and legitimize a “rigged” outcome? Does Trump just go on vacation? Take a trip?
Go back to building? Or, is it
time for a “call to arms” and for the Great Trump Movement to launch? Is it time for those “2nd
Amendment people” to come away from marching around in the woods and to appear
in the streets? And, will those “arms”
be actual weaponry as has been recently suggested by some of Trump acolytes at
recent rallies? Are we edging closer to
the unthinkable national nightmare that some other nations experience after
elections? You may say that “it cannot
happen here.” Really? These behaviors
and comments would be merely amusing if Donald trump was some third or fourth party
whack-job out in space who missed his daily dose of Thorazine or Librium. But, he is the Republican candidate for the Presidency
on the eve of an election – one voting day away from the nuclear football.
Donald
Trump created chaos this past year.
First, in the Republican Party and then by encouraging violence at his
political rallies. Now, he is
undermining the very foundation of our democracy – the fairness of the electoral
process itself – in an attempt to de-legitimize and cripple a Clinton Presidency. If he succeeds, Demolition Donald will be
taking down the last, best hope of freedom-loving people around the globe – a tower
of hope and freedom that has been the envy of the world since the US
Constitution was adopted in 1789 - the American democratic process and the
peaceful transfer of power that takes place every 4 or 8 years. Should Trump succeed in that effort, may God
save us all, and the United States of America.
THE AL SMITH DINNER:
The Al Smith Dinner, an annual dinner event held in NYC to raise money
for disabled children in New York, was held the night after the last debate. Last night’s dinner raised some $6 million for
NY Catholic Charities. Al Smith serving as the Democratic Governor of New York
became the first Catholic nominated for the Presidency in 1928. Though he was
not elected that year, he did serve four terms as Governor of New York. As the Democratic
Nominee, Al Smith took down another barrier – a Catholic running for the
Presidency. So, it was fitting – and consistent
with the comedic nature of comments at the annual Smith dinner – that both Presidential
candidates speak at the dinner. Donald Trump
spoke first and Hillary followed. In the
tradition of the dinner, both were to tell jokes and get the plutocratic crowd
to giggle. Hillary did a great job and,
to a degree, so did the Donald. Both got
some hearty laughs (though Rudy Giuliani was a stone-faced sphinx). But, if you were to ask how the evening went
for them both, the answer can be found in one observation. Late in his remarks, when Trump dropped his
comedy routine and lobbed some insults toward Hillary, something very rare occurred. Trump was loudly booed….. by a room full of
priests….. I leave it to you to draw
your own conclusions. Two weeks from
Tuesday… we are almost there.
