Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? Is the state of our current political system unable to provide any other choices? The debate on September 26, 2016, was a farce. Most attempts to gain real answers on the future of our country if we voted for either candidate were half-truths or flat out lies. That was when the actual questions were even answered. Trump says Clinton’s email debacle is hiding important information that citizens have a right to know. Clinton says that Trumps tax information should be revealed so that citizens can see where his interests truly lay. Both are correct, but neither will likely release this information before the election. I keep shaking my head and exclaiming that in the most powerful nation on the planet these CANNOT be the only viable options that we have as the future leader of the United States of America. Yet here we are, watching a debate that mainly comprised of attacks and mistruths. Would Secretary Hillary Clinton’s emails show her in an unflattering light? Probably. Would Donald Trump’s taxes show us that his fiscal interests lay in investments outside of the country? Probably. So, the mutually beneficial … destruction creates a standoff. This standoff to avoid political destruction assures that the truth the voters deserves to hear will not come to light. We must change the system that allows two candidates to be raised to the point that they can have a real chance as the leader of our Country when neither one will be held accountable once they reach the white house. As an American voter I am outraged that a debate that is supposed to be designed to inform me was more like a cross between House of Cards and a reality TV show.
The debate was supposed to cover America’s Direction, Achieving Prosperity, and Securing America. Each candidate had a chance to respond and offer counterpoints. Both candidates agree that jobs are needed and offer different perspectives on how to achieve this. The problem is not the paths that each lay out to do so but rather the fact that so much of what they said wasn’t the truth. I can sit here and type that I intend to do the laundry this afternoon but if my washer is broken I won’t be able to do so. The system is broken. This broken system in turn offers the voters candidates who will not release those emails or the tax information, will not in essence tell the voters the truth. We, as American citizens, are not able to require truth from our candidates and I believe that this is primarily due to the political system in place.
For example, Clinton claimed that Trump hasn’t paid taxes but a 1981 report by New Jersey gambling regulators shows that he did to gain a license he did show a few of his tax returns. Of the 5 years of returns turned in shows that he did pay federal taxes two of those years. When the subject of cyber terrorism, specifically about the Democratic National Committee (DNC) getting hacked, Trump stated “I don’t think anybody knows it was Russia.” who hacked the information. In fact, Donald Trump encouraged Russia to hack Hillarie’s emails. A fact which he reputed, though he has been documented in making the suggestion. Although Trump was correct when he said that Ford is moving their small cars division overseas, he is incorrect in stating that thousands of jobs are leaving Ohio and Michigan. Ford’s CEO has insisted that no jobs will be lost in the United States. There are so many inconsistencies, half-truths and blatant lies that were spoken in the debate that rather than go through each detail, I have included links from the following Pulitzer Prize winning website POLITIFACT website tracking specifics lies from each candidate.
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/hillary-clinton/
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
The information at the site reveals that Clinton was completely honest 23% of the time and Trump 4% of the time in the debate. Blatant lies were told by Hillary 2% of the time and by Trump 18%. This paints an absolutely horrifying picture of our political choices this election.
Worse still, a massive portion of the debate was spent not actually responding to the topic at hand.
Two candidates, neither one responding appropriately to the query presented and when they did often the responses were only lightly connected with the subject at hand. Again, I repeat…are these really our only choices? It was like watching two children in a sandbox tossing attacks, sometimes veiled and sometimes straightforward. Let me take this moment to clarify that this is my personal opinion and not the opinion of ModState. On behalf of the American people, I have a question. Do you believe that we, the American voters, have the right to know the truth from our candidates? If you do, then the least that we deserve is a gander at Trumps taxes and Hillary’s emails. We also deserve to hear coherent arguments based in pure truths as to how each intends to perform the duties as the President of the United States of America if we choose to elect them.
The fact of the matter is that Hillary making specific use of a private server and then deleting emails appears from my perspective as a method to skirt federal records laws in place to provide transparency. Trump refusing to offer specific information on how much of his fiscal empire invests in overseas projects appears from my perspective as brilliant from a business perspective but shitty as a potential leader of the country who is standing upon a platform seeking to create jobs and increase companies being built on United States soil. Einstein said that “You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.” You cannot set up a platform based upon building jobs through investment in the country but not be willing to prove that you are investing in that within your own business practices. Are we really meant to believe that he would gain the position as President and insist that the creation of jobs in the US be a necessity? Such a move would cost him more money and as he has stated, “that’s called business”. It is, unfortunately, more likely that he would use the position to further his own cause. Mr. Trump, investing in hotels outside the country is the same as investing in any manufacturing outside the country. (Insert rolling eyes emoji here) Mrs. Clinton, asking the American voters to trust you to lead the country when you cannot be trusted with the most utilized form of communication is not realistic.
More importantly, it is extremely unacceptable that as the citizens of the most powerful nation on this precious rock hurdling through space we permit a political establishment that offers up such poor choices for leader. The possibility of getting a viable candidate, such as Bernie Sanders, as a potential candidate must happen. This will not happen under the current system in place. Until it does happen our politicians will lie and do whatever they want to if it serves their interests. The system is broken and I urge all who read this unintentional diatribe to seek put the political officials who represent you. These cannot be our only choices to lead the future of the United States. It is time to change the status quo. It is my opinion that the flowing need to be changed to cleanse the system: the corporate funding of campaigns, a two party system that excludes viable candidates, an electoral system that inaccurately represent popular vote and lobbying used to hurt Americans while lining a small number of pockets These things cannot be permitted to continue. When a body of water becomes infested with bacteria, scum rises to the surface. Our system is corrupt. Just like that body of water and if not properly dealt with the options for presidential candidates that will continue to rise to the surface will be unviable (scum).