Last night was the final opportunity for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to convince me that I should punch their names on the ballot this November. I remain unconvinced. While I will be voting this year, I will not be throwing my lot in with either the Democratic or the Republican candidate. By way of explanation, here are my thoughts from the final (thank you, Lord!) presidential debate of 2016:
1) Neither candidate really said anything interesting. In fact, they both used recycled lines over and over again. Yeah, we know Trump has yet to release his tax records. Yeah, Trump, we know that ICE has endorsed you. Tell us something new, please.
2) Hillary, we don't believe you. Everything you say is clearly calculated and carefully scripted. Your smile is faker than Donald Trump's tan! We know these things. You're a Washington elitist. You are the epitome of a stuck-up, rich old white woman.
3) Trump, we don't really believe you either. You're a rich white guy who has actually supported Hillary in past campaigns. You have special interests, too. You were one of Hillary's special interests!
4) Why won't they answer questions? Why!? Asked about Roe v. Wade, Trump wouldn't answer directly. Ask about partial birth abortion, Hillary dodged and used euphemisms. You guys are fakes, and we all know it.
5) Has anyone noticed that Hillary has never denied anything discovered by Wikileaks? Not once have I heard Hillary say that the allegations are false or that the emails are faked. She blamed Russia, for Pete's sake! She accused Putin of trying to manipulate our election, apparently, it seems, by showing what Hillary is really about. Is that your defense, Hillary? Really?! I guess the American people owe Russia a debt of gratitude.
6) Trump's hair is as bad as Hillary's smile.
7) When the first question is, "...where do you want to see the court take this country?," we're all in trouble. Both candidates clearly believe that the Supreme Court is a political tool to advance their own agendas. Both candidates openly promised to choose judges based on how they would vote on certain issues. When that is acceptable, America is broken. It's all a game, folks, but we knew that. Neither candidate, you'll note, cared to answer the second part of the question (about whether the Constitution is a "living document") very clearly, if at all.
8) Just when Trump could stir up some dirt on Hillary, Hillary would throw some back in his face. This came through clearly when he quoted her comments about open borders and open trade, to which she replied that Donald (it just sounds so weird when she says it!) had sent millions of jobs to other countries. Both are dirty. The hard thing is telling who is dirtier. Clinton seems to be edging him out right now.
9) No, Hillary, we have not had fair elections. Hillary took great pains to paint Trump as a crybaby conspiracy theorist who thinks that his every failure is a result of things being rigged against him. I'l grant that, but we all have our doubts about the fairness of elections in our age. Voter fraud has been a major issue in the last two elections. In fact, the number of dead people voting has never been higher! We Americans don't think Hillary would be above that. Does the name Bernie Sanders ring a bell? Yeah, there's actually proof now that you guys rigged that against him, so...yeah, I have no confidence in the reliability of the general election. Hillary has probably already won.
10) Nothing is going to change. As my lovely wife and I watched the debate, I turned to her and said exactly those words. They were discussing the economy, making promises that they know they won't and can't keep, and that was all I could think. Campaign promises are a dime a dozen, on a good day. Neither candidate will bring qualitative change to our economy or political landscape. The rich will still manipulate the system and lobbyists will still determine policy. If you're looking for a Savior, he/she wasn't on that stage. If you're looking for four more years of corrupt government, you're in luck!
Truth is, I don't want either Trump or Hillary to save me. I mean that in both the spiritual and economic sense. I don't want any politician controlling the financial or social future of this nation. The best quote of the night by far was when Trump, discussing ISIS, said, "If she did nothing, we'd be in much better shape." My friends, that's a universal truth. Anything the government does costs exorbitant amounts of money, produces little to nothing, and enslaves the constituency. If a politician's time in office is less than noteworthy, we all win. In fact, we should go back to the days when Congress was convened briefly a few times a year to discuss current business. Politics should not be a job! Progress and change are overrated.
So, after three debates, it appears that I am left a cynic.
#jimharbaughforpresident
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