woooo-ok-clinton

 

“Whoooo OK,” said Clinton <with a fun little shimmy> when Trump’s rambling came to an abrupt end.

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I wasn’t going to comment on the first presidential debate but it was so bizarre I couldn’t stop myself. When Clinton went “whooooo, ok” it summarized exactly what I felt.

Trump gave some answers where I would not even now where I would start to address. I am fairly sure she wasn’t sure where to start. He sometimes offered a word salad of opinions, semi truths, rambling nothings and likeable fantasy.

 

To me … this was the 1st interview in a 3 interview process for the biggest job in the world.

 

Well.

 

I have to admit. Watching last night I was not sure they were interviewing for the same job.

 

Heck.

I am not even sure Trump knew it was an interview.

 

While I could comment on a variety of absurd things to happen and words said … in the end … I was just stunned by the lack of preparedness by Trump.

It created an odd dynamic where one used logic, experience and reasonableness was being measured against semi-logic, obvious lack of experience and unreasonable, unapologetic, fantasy.

hillary-at-debate-brush-off-trump

Was Clinton dismissive & smug and maybe even a little condescending to her opponent? Yup. And I would have been too. I will compete with anyone but I want to compete as a peer and on substance. If you cannot grasp the substance then do not waste my time nor the people watching.

 

Personally, I felt like she believed Trump was cheating all of America, even his own voters, by his lack of preparedness <that even they deserved better>.

 

I do not fool myself into believing Clinton “beat” Trump with his own supporters.

 

In fact.

 

I had to dig down into maybe page 4 of the comments under a debate review article to find what I was looking for … a recap of a Trump supporter which reflects what a certain % saw watching the debate.

Do I agree with it? well, yes, parts of it.

 

Do I believe it justifies the “Trump interview for the job” ? No. But. It is certainly what a % of America saw and felt:

 

What people saw was a better prepared and more ambitious Clinton: an A student who memorized her part, but did not have an independent thought. They witnessed a debate between a private man (an outsider) and a political operator; a businessman who is prepared to admit that business can be dirty, and a politician who thinks that she is holy (even if she has committed war crimes in Libya) and has never made a mistake; a debate between a man who means what he says (even if he is wrong), and a woman who uses language as a means to an end; a woman who mouths liberal slogans, and does the opposite.

 

They saw a arrogant woman, a political aristocrat, who thinks that she deserves to be the president.

 

 

 

He was unprepared and clearly showed his lack of understanding for the complexity of the job.

 

trump-welcome-to-the-circus-debateTo me … the debate was, for the most part, a stripped Trump showing us a blatant lack of knowledge and an aggravating casual approach to the biggest moment of the campaign.

 

I imagine that if your expectations were that he actually show up … he met them.

 

Past that he was useless other than his statements that America has problems that need to be solved <we all know that> and that he has some problems he needs to solve <he may not know that>.

 

Ok.

That was harsh.

 

What I meant to say is that he has an inability to coalesce the random logical bits of his thinking into some semblance of a real thought. Shit. I could sell his thinking to the American public better than he can <imagine if he said, when asked about how to keep jobs in America, he said: I would lower business taxes to make it more lucrative to stay, I would reduce regulations to make it easier to stay and raise import taxes on those who do elect to leave to make it less appealing to leave.” Those are all Trump points but actually offered in a meaningful way>.

 

And, by the way, even with all of his unpreparedness I do believe there is a large cohort of potential voters who will stand by him.

 

And I just had a debate with regard to why this morning.

 

Someone told me that it is a reflection of the ‘dumbing down of America’ <not grasping what it takes to be a president>. I do not agree. I believe we are just as dumb … and as smart … as we have always been <although now we have the web to share it all with everyone>.

 

As I have stated before … I believe being an expert and the importance of being experienced has been dumbed down. I have said it before and I will say it again … when you believe you can do a job as well as anyone else then even the guy at the corner of the bar becomes a possible candidate for even the most complex leadership position.

And a large swath of America may not actually believe that … but they feel it strong enough to jump on board the Trump train.

 

As a corollary to that … those who DO believe that … well … will find Clinton’s competence & qualification irrelevant … and of no meaningful value.

 

If no one is an expert anyone can be an expert.

 

All I know is that words do matter and a solid rational approach is at the core of any presidency. I may want change. And you may want change.  But change management is best led by a calm hand, some steady logic and more than some vague “eliminate bad” without suggesting what the actual good would be that replaces it.

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Understanding that “politics is the art of the possible” is not an invitation to subordinate principles to expediency, but a reflection of the moral wisdom that the highest principle in government is to make things better.”

Michael Josephson

 

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Written by Bruce