I’ve tried to be an upbeat, happy warrior about the election. I think I and most sane people pretty much know that Hillary Clinton will win the White House comfortably. I have gleefully awaited the debates. I didn’t know about this “commander in chief” forum until like the fucking day it happened. I said fucking all-right! This ought to be hilarious!
What I got was Matt Lauer ambushing Hillary Clinton on emails, her Iraq vote, and her support for the Iran deal, with maybe 5 minutes left in between that to stutter out her vision as leader of our armed forces.
Then I watched Donald Trump filibuster with COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT the entire time he was allotted and Lauer just let him fly. He answered none of the participant’s questions at all. He steadfastly refused to focus Trump.
I didn’t understand anything Trump said. What I did follow was mostly his usual loudmouthed braggadocio. But it’s been eating at me all day-how can a presidential candidate of a major party say so much yet say so little and still be a viable option?
Thankfully, Time magazine has a complete transcript that you can read here. Me, I’m just gonna lay out some of the stuff that would make Sarah Palin titter:
LAUER: What have you experienced in your personal life or your professional life that you believe prepares you to make the decisions that a commander-in-chief has to make?
TRUMP: Well, I’ve built a great company. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve dealt with foreign countries. I’ve done very well, as an example, tremendously well dealing with China and dealing with so many of the countries that are just ripping this country. They are just taking advantage of us like nobody’s ever seen before.
And I’ve had great experience dealing on an international basis. I look today and I see Russian planes circling our planes. They’re taunting us. I see in Iran, I see the boats taunting our ships, our destroyers, and I think…
Because no one else has traveled internationally or picked up a paper.
LAUER: Back in August, when you admitted that you regret some of the things you said, you also said this. “I can promise you this: I will always tell you the truth.”
TRUMP: It’s true.
LAUER: So let me read some of the things you’ve said. “I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me.” Was that the truth?
TRUMP: Well, the generals under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have not been successful. ISIS…
LAUER: Do you know more about ISIS than they do?
TRUMP: I think under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble. They have been reduced to a point where it’s embarrassing for our country. You have a force of 30,000 or so people. Nobody really knows. But probably 30,000 people. And I can just see the great — as an example- General George Patton spinning in his grave as ISIS we can’t beat.
Hillary Clinton is not the Vice-President. She isn’t even the Secretary of Defense.
LAUER: Yeah, you’ve said if we had MacArthur today or if we had Patton today, we would not have ISIS, that the rise of these military commanders that we have today, they come up the chain of command, and by the time they get to the top, they’re too politically correct. And we know that’s not a compliment coming from you. Have you lost faith in the military commanders?
TRUMP: I have great faith in the military. I have great faith in certain of the commanders, certainly. But I have no faith in Hillary Clinton or the leadership. You look at what’s happened. And, you know, when she comes in and starts saying, oh, I would have done this, I would have — she’s been there for 30 years. I mean, we need change, Matt. We have to have it, and we have to have it fast.
She’s been where for 30 years? On planet Earth?
(I seem to have buried the memory of the debate Hillary Clinton lost. I thought she had him dead to rights. But thanks to a very pliant media, Trump was allowed to peddle his CV for the job, despite having done not much but real estate deals…as far as we know.)