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If I were a disinterested observer living a safe distance from this country, I would find the current presidential campaign amusing. After all, who cannot look at corruption, deception, rejection and balderdash on such a grand scale, as anything other than a Monty Python skit? However, it is not and I am not amused.
The Democrats released a tape of Donald Trump talking about women in what Trump later characterized as, “locker room talk.” The Democrats and a few very liberal Republicans feigned outrage. The hypocrisy is amusing on several levels. Bill Clinton’s escapades come to mind, but disregarding Bill, how can a nation that bought more than 125 million copies of Fifty Shades of Grey pretend to be offended by any language? Moreover, the tape was more than 11 years old and recorded at a time when Trump was a Democrat. Isn’t that what we have come to expect from Democrats? (OK, I made that up.)
The content of Hillary Clinton’s secret speeches to Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and others were released. In a speech to a Brazilian bank, Hillary said, “My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders, sometime in the future with energy that is as green and sustainable as we can get it, powering growth and opportunity for every person in the hemisphere.” Is Hillary just pandering here, or does she actually support an American Union? It is hard to judge because she also told a housing trade group in 2013 that on certain issues, she has “a public and a private position.” “If everybody’s watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least, so, you need both a public and a private position.” (I did not make any of that up.)
Earlier in the week, we were treated to an episode billed as the “Vice-Presidential Debate.” The Tim Kaine clown appeared as a heckler and said nothing worth repeating. The moderator did not understand her role as a non-partisan presiding over the debate. Mike Pence was poised and well spoken, but could not be heard over the heckler. Monty Python could not have scripted it better. All Kaine could say is Donald Trump lost money in the 1990s and did not pay taxes. I hate to be the voice of reason, but it is the law. If you do not make money, you do not pay taxes. Sorry, Charlie!
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Kaine and Pence debate
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After the first presidential debate, I got a serious lesson in fat-shaming. Not that I really needed one because I know how to shame fat people. As a child, I learned a clever little poem that goes like this, “Fatty, fatty two by four can’t get through the bathroom door…” For some reason, they did not quote the poem on the news, but they should have. Instead, they paraded a bunch of fat people across the stage who are apparently ashamed of their weight, but prefer not to be told they are fat. I would suggest they learn this other little rhyme from my childhood. “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Anyway the whole fat-shaming episode was the result of Donald Trump calling Miss Universe fat back in the 1990s.
Apparently the entire event was staged. The Democratic presidential team had been talking to the former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, prior to the debate. Hillary Clinton planned to mention Machado during the debate and wanted Machado available for comment, specifically, to verify that she had been fat-shamed by Donald Trump. As it turned out, in addition to being fat-shamed, Machado had driven the getaway car for a murder committed by her boyfriend. She later threatened to kill the prosecutor involved in the murder case. I guess being a baby momma to a Mexican drug lord is a tough assignment, and maybe being fat shamed 20 years ago isn’t so bad. Machado has quit giving interviews about the incident since the truth came out.
Speaking of staged events, I recall being introduced to Khizr Khan at the Democratic National Convention. Khan, a Muslim, whose son died in the military service, stood on stage and defended the open immigration of Muslims and accused Trump of not having read the U. S. Constitution. Khan held a copy of the constitution in his hand and offered to loan it to Trump. The crowd went wild, but as it turns out, Khan is a lawyer in the business of helping Muslims get into the United States for a fee, so Trump’s proposal to slow the flow of Muslim immigrants would affect Khan financially. He was not a disinterested grieving parent as portrayed. I did wonder if he could show me in the Constitution where it says we have to admit every Muslim in the world to the United States. I think the Democrats got Khan-ed.
I am curious. Did anyone see the investigative report on the Clinton Foundation that aired on “60 Minutes”? No? Me either, but it would be interesting if they would only do an investigation. Investigative reporting, like the old gray mare, ain’t what it used to be.
One of the most amusing claims I have heard this election cycle came from Hillary Clinton when she said, “Donald Trump is unfit to serve as president.” It reminds me of the Spanish idiom roughly translated from Don Quixote, “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”
Until next time…
