In looking at the 2016 presidential election, I keep wondering if we will actually see a triumph of idiocy in America. Just think about what is happening.
1. Hillary Clinton is still the leading candidate for the Democrat nomination. She is also under investigation by the FBI for violating a number of federal laws, particularly the one regarding handling of classified information. From the available public information, it certainly seems likely that she will be indicted for a crime, conviction of which would bar her from the presidency. In any normal time, the party would run from supporting her.
2. The only other Democrat in the race is Bernie Sanders whose goal seems to be coming up with ways to bankrupt the country quickly. He proposes spending nearly twenty trillion dollars and says he will raise taxes to pay for that. The problem is that raising taxes by that much will send the economy into a tailspin of a sort not seen since the Great Depression. Normally, people would laugh at his silly proposals.
3. The Republican front runner is Donald Trump. In just the last week Trump told us that he could shot people on Fifth Avenue in front of his home and his supporters would still vote for him. Then he ginned up a feud with Megyn Kelly of Fox News and refused to attend this week's debate because it would be unfair to him to let Kelly ask him questions. In any normal time, Trump's supporters would leave him after he basically calls them deranged and then runs from a confrontation with a scary woman asking questions.
4. The original Republican front runner is Jeb Bush. Bush is the son and brother of former presidents. His long time protégé, Marco Rubio is also in the race. Jeb raised enormous sums to fund his campaign. Bush, however, watched his campaign be destroyed by Donald Trump's relentless attack on him and his own inadequate and faltering response. So what does Jeb do? He spends all his campaign funds attacking Rubio rather than Trump. It's roughly the equivalent of Japan attacking the USA at Pearl Harbor and the USA responding by declaring war on Britain. In normal times, this would never happen.
5. Another Republican leader is Ted Cruz. Cruz was born in Canada to a mother who was an American citizen. As such, he was a citizen at birth and was therefore a "natural born citizen". Nevertheless, Donald Trump raises the claim that Cruz will be disqualified from the presidency and it becomes the topic of the campaign for weeks. I'd like to say that this would not happen in normal times, but it happened to Obama too with the story that he was born in Africa. Obama's mother too was an American citizen, so Obama was a "natural born citizen" in the same way even if he really was born in Africa. Both story lines are idiotic, but they got endless coverage.
6. Right now, it's clear that there are six or seven candidates in both parties who have zero chance of victory. They just look silly for continuing in the race. Does Martin O'Malley really think he has the chance to win? Does Rick Santorum expect to move ahead of ten other candidates in the next five days? It's lunacy.
The problem facing the USA is that we are electing a president. That is something that needs to be taken seriously. Instead, it looks like the inmates are running the asylum.
1. Hillary Clinton is still the leading candidate for the Democrat nomination. She is also under investigation by the FBI for violating a number of federal laws, particularly the one regarding handling of classified information. From the available public information, it certainly seems likely that she will be indicted for a crime, conviction of which would bar her from the presidency. In any normal time, the party would run from supporting her.
2. The only other Democrat in the race is Bernie Sanders whose goal seems to be coming up with ways to bankrupt the country quickly. He proposes spending nearly twenty trillion dollars and says he will raise taxes to pay for that. The problem is that raising taxes by that much will send the economy into a tailspin of a sort not seen since the Great Depression. Normally, people would laugh at his silly proposals.
3. The Republican front runner is Donald Trump. In just the last week Trump told us that he could shot people on Fifth Avenue in front of his home and his supporters would still vote for him. Then he ginned up a feud with Megyn Kelly of Fox News and refused to attend this week's debate because it would be unfair to him to let Kelly ask him questions. In any normal time, Trump's supporters would leave him after he basically calls them deranged and then runs from a confrontation with a scary woman asking questions.
4. The original Republican front runner is Jeb Bush. Bush is the son and brother of former presidents. His long time protégé, Marco Rubio is also in the race. Jeb raised enormous sums to fund his campaign. Bush, however, watched his campaign be destroyed by Donald Trump's relentless attack on him and his own inadequate and faltering response. So what does Jeb do? He spends all his campaign funds attacking Rubio rather than Trump. It's roughly the equivalent of Japan attacking the USA at Pearl Harbor and the USA responding by declaring war on Britain. In normal times, this would never happen.
5. Another Republican leader is Ted Cruz. Cruz was born in Canada to a mother who was an American citizen. As such, he was a citizen at birth and was therefore a "natural born citizen". Nevertheless, Donald Trump raises the claim that Cruz will be disqualified from the presidency and it becomes the topic of the campaign for weeks. I'd like to say that this would not happen in normal times, but it happened to Obama too with the story that he was born in Africa. Obama's mother too was an American citizen, so Obama was a "natural born citizen" in the same way even if he really was born in Africa. Both story lines are idiotic, but they got endless coverage.
6. Right now, it's clear that there are six or seven candidates in both parties who have zero chance of victory. They just look silly for continuing in the race. Does Martin O'Malley really think he has the chance to win? Does Rick Santorum expect to move ahead of ten other candidates in the next five days? It's lunacy.
The problem facing the USA is that we are electing a president. That is something that needs to be taken seriously. Instead, it looks like the inmates are running the asylum.
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