I know where I was last Monday night – in the den with my notebook and pen at the ready – watching Round 1 of the debate series starring “Lyin’ Hillary” and “Terrible Trump.”
For someone who only days before looked and acted as though she was at death’s door, Hillary Clinton came on like gangbusters, ready to rumble.
Whatever they gave her medicinally or nutritionally, she looked good, sounded good and acted – note, I said acted – as though she were slumming by even having to stand next to Donald Trump, much less throw questions at him and challenge everything he’s ever said or done. She did a pretty good job, except for one thing. She was over-rehearsed, right down to her mugging for the camera.
This was a Clinton we’d not seen before. She constantly was smugly smiling, laughing and shrugging her shoulders. Her intent was to portray Donald Trump as laughable and not worthy of being next to her competing for the presidency.
She emphasized that intent by repeatedly calling him names – remember “in your own reality” and “crazy”? “Racist” was a word heard too often to even be taken seriously and then, of course, his alleged negative attitudes toward women and the birther issue.
Hillary Clinton played a role that night. She dressed for the part in a red power suit, her hair and makeup just-so, and the script she was trained to spout came out of her mouth like a recording, which in a way it was.
I’ve heard speculation she might have had prompting on what to say, but, regardless, she was the perfect example of a trained seal. She got cues either from moderator Lester Holt’s softball questions or as a response to what Donald Trump said, and she responded as she was trained.
The biggest problem was that too many critical issues were not mentioned. There was nothing about immigration, Benghazi, the Middle East chaos, ISIS, her e-mails, her congressional non-testimony, the Clinton Foundation nor about her short speeches to businesses, which had her raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Trump was targeted for his business dealings and wealth. He was ridiculed for having inherited money from his father. (One wonders what will happen to the Clinton fortune when they pass. Will Chelsea be overlooked?)
Trump was criticized for using that money to build his own fortune as though that was illegal and immoral. In fact, it’s how fortunes are built: seed money, savvy and hard work.
Trump was hammered for not releasing his tax returns. He is undergoing an IRS audit, and his lawyers advised him not to release the returns until the audit is complete. Smart man. He listens to his lawyers.
But then the accusation was made that perhaps he paid no taxes.
Trump suckered into that taunt and said, if that were the case, it would mean he was smart. Hillary and the media nailed him on that, but I suspect that every one of them, indeed everyone who files a return, takes advantage of legal deductions. Nothing is wrong with that! If you can reduce your taxes, or perhaps eliminate them, it is legal.
I remember the incident with Bill Clinton’s tax returns when it was learned that in Arkansas, the Clintons were taking charitable deductions for the value of Bill’s old underwear – $2 each, by the way. He got a lot of heat about that from the media then, but they conveniently forget that today.
In this, his first debate, Donald Trump played it cool and didn’t get upset or angry. He countered the accusations and even the 41 interruptions by Lester Holt, who, by the way, only interrupted Hillary seven times.
While he could have forced the direction of the debate by raising the issues Americans are concerned about – the economy, taxes, immigration, jobs, trade, national security, terrorism, strengthening our military, the Supreme Court and, yes, her 33,000 missing e-mails – but he didn’t.
But there are two more debates, and regardless of who “won” the first, Donald Trump showed he is qualified to be on that podium and that he can be presidential.
More importantly, he showed that he doesn’t depend on “training” to handle himself well against a politician who has been in the public eye for decades and who, despite having held prestigious titles, has virtually nothing to show as an accomplishment, other than time served.
Need I add that there are many who look at Hillary Clinton’s record as secretary of state and feel she should be serving hard time, wearing prison orange, behind bars. But Hillary keeps skating.
In a recent WND commentary, I wrote about a wonderful T-shirt I found in Arizona. It said: “Breaking News: I Don’t Care.”
I bought it! I couldn’t resist! It’s how I feel about news coverage of the presidential campaign. It’s all turned into show business, and media ignore the importance of the outcome of the election.
It was perfect, especially because I spent so many years in TV news and on conservative talk radio. I’ve seen what goes on in front of and behind the microphones.
But there’s a background, too. I grew up in a political home. My parents were always active in politics from local to national. My mom was elected state committeewoman, worked on several state senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns and many others. She also singlehandedly was responsible for having our county use voting machines for the first time.
Bottom line, those “smoke-filled rooms” were in my house, with political dealings argued across our dining room table.
I learned a lot from that as I watched my FDR Democrat parents battling the system. My father finally gave up and stopped voting entirely.
I also learned that I didn’t support their politics. After I moved, I changed my registration. I’ve never regretted it, but as I watch how the Clintons, the Democrats and too many Republicans abuse the system for personal benefit, I’m at the point where “I don’t care” – about media, news coverage and political parties.
But I do care about my country and our future, and Hillary Clinton must not be president.
Oh. And I bought a second T-shirt. It says, “I Love My Country. It’s My Government I Can’t Stand.”
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