I watched much of the second debate last night - much but not all. It is recorded should I decide to swallow hard and watch it in total. The part I did watch was sickening.
Let me preface by saying I remember my parents listening to the Kennedy/Nixon debates and I remember watching subsequent debates. In fact, until this year, I think I've seen some, if not all, Presidential debates since the Ford/Carter debates in the 70s. Nothing I've seen or read about had prepared me for this year's debates.
I saw one candidate for President of the United States of American threaten his opponent with jail should he win. Tinpot dictators in third-world countries do that - US Presidents do not. It goes against everything that we stand for. It's the reason people like Jimmy Carter have been sent to monitor foreign elections. But it happened here, in the US, last night. To me it was just one more example of the extreme unfitness of a candidate to become President. If you don't understand and believe in the basic tenants of the US, how on earth can you be President??
I wish Mr. Trump and all his supporters would stop saying his language was "locker room". It is not, I hope, the locker room talk of adult males. It sounds, to my mother of boys ears, as the possible locker room talk of pre-teens and early teenagers. Middle school locker room talk - maybe and that's probably slanderous to middle-school students. His language, from the mouth of a 59 year old white male was nothing less than noblesse oblige (entitlement of the rich - something he's done his entire life and gotten away with and which he expected to get away with then) that's come back to bite him. He's the embodiment of the "dirty old man".
Every four years I have high expectations for my country. In the past, I've expected the very best to be presented as candidates for President of the United States. Even when I've not agreed with the person, even when I've not voted for the person, I've been confident that their intentions were to be the best they could be and do the best for all citizens. This year I've harbored no such illusions. The entire Republican selection process was a farce. For the first time, to my knowledge, candidates for the nomination for POTUS actually talked about their genital size IN PUBLIC, ON STAGE!! It was, again, so middle-school - Mine is bigger than yours - EWWWW!! Having 17 candidates was a joke and enabled this farce to continue to where we find it today: a bully, a misogynist and a megalomaniac running for President.
I've voted for Republicans and Democrats. I've considered third party candidates (sorry Mr. Johnson but in this era a President MUST know about current events). But this year, in my mind, my choice has been clear for months. It became even more clear with last night's debate. My country is in danger and I can't allow, through my inaction, someone so totally unqualified to represent American ideals to become the more powerful person in the world.
