It was an ugly night. The kind of night that -- after it's over -- leaves you with the feeling that you've got to hit the shower. This morning, The New York Times published a page which fact checked statements from the debate. Not everything that Hillary Clinton said -- particularly about her emails -- was true.
But what was disturbing was the tsunami of lies which Donald Trump unleashed in the space of ninety minutes:
Trump said Clinton wants "amnesty for everybody, come on it, come on over." -- Not True.
He claimed,"Clinton was there for Obama's line in the sand" -- Not True
Trump said the United States signed a "peace treaty" to bring an end to the war in Syria. It was a ceasefire.
Trump said "growth is down to 1%" and the United States and that country has the highest taxes in the world. Absolutely false.
Trump said that Clinton wants to go to a single payer health care system -- as we have here. Again, absolutely false.
Trump said Clinton has never used the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism." That, too is a flat out lie.
You get the idea. I don't know if truth matters anymore in American elections. And, as Trump paced the stage, it was clear that he has the attention span of a five year old child.
Incredible.
Image: qz.com
9 comments:
I watched the town hall, Owen, and I was struck by how tiresome it is to listen to Trump after only a few minutes. I would say that this 'reality tv' star has had his day. Time to cancel his show.
At least he didn't lie about being underwater to Russian gangsters.
The proof is in those tax returns, rumley.
He's been in reruns for a long time, Lorne.
Owen, you keep being reasonable. The Trump phenomenon is not reasonable; it is stuck in high school level emotions. That's what is scary about this. A big chunk of American voters will enter the booth and vote with their gut dislike of the establishment and they don't care one whit about facts.
I understand what you're saying, Toby, and I agree with you. Trump is all about the triumph of the irrational. In the end, we have to hope that there are still more rational American voters than there are irrational ones.
We already know that Trump tells lies. So does Hillary. Who is worse probably depends on which team one is supporting.
However, what is more disgusting, and what should be even more disturbing than the serial Trump lies, is the apparent sabotage of the trust we have in the democratic process and the so called "free" press.
We found out from the second batch of Podesta emails that Wikileaks just released this morning that the Clinton campaign apparently has very cozy links with the U.S. media and had used their close relationships to apparently plant favorable stories with friendly journalists. One of the journalists/media was actually named: Maggie Haberman, formerly of Politico, and currently covering the Presidential election for the NY Times. There was also mention of media surrogates/pundits who presented themselves as neutral but had been enrolled by the Hillary campaign (CNN was mentioned but the surrogates were unnamed).
So far, at least, there is no suggestion that Trump/campaign is guilty of the same infraction (in fact there is evidence that even FOX news hates him).
I agree that the Clintons are making good use of their press contacts, Anon. And, as the run up to the Iraq War taught us, even the Grey Lady can be compromised. But that doesn't mean that Trump's content free universe is a better one than Clinton's.
Bottom line: the choice is not inspiring.
What's the "infraction" exactly? Elucidate.
Plus, there is no Santa Claus.
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