Last night, at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton certainly got a grilling. She got peppered, both by moderator Matt Laurer of NBC News, and by the audience, with questions bringing to light her judgement. She was hammered not only in regards to her e-mail scandal, but also in regards to her vote to support the Iraq War and her decisions as Secretary of State, with the underlying question at hand being whether we as a nation can trust Mrs. Clinton to use our armed forces for legitimate reasons.
But, let’s face it. The real main event of the night was the half-hour where Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump took the stage. And, boy, did he deliver (as far as entertainment/scare factor is concerned).
During his portion of the forum, the Donald proceeded to heap much praise upon Russian President Vladimir Putin, referring to him as a great leader. He talked about how he would convene with generals to formulate a plan to defeat ISIS, despite having previously said that he himself had a plan to take down the terror group that he didn’t want to make public (revealing, perhaps, that he has no such plan). To add the cherry on top, he repeated his past statements about how the US should’ve “taken the oil” during the war in Iraq.
Quite an entertaining half hour as far as Mr. Trump is concerned. Also a very frightening one.
Your last two sentences sum up our collective experience watching it together perfectly…entertaining, yet terrifying. But how entertaining can it really be when there is a very real possibility that our future lay in this man’s hands? I wonder how much a psychological need to protect our sanity plays into our description of Trump’s speeches as “entertainment.” It’s similar to when a person is so frustrated or overwhelmed by a situation that they end up laughing rather than crying. It’s a bit maniacal…but living in the reality that we do now, I completely understand the reaction. Hopefully we will find ourselves sitting in our living room together again, collectively breathing a sigh of relief come November.