The Debate

The second presidential debate between Trump and Clinton aired last night. I didn’t watch it. Presidential debates are for voters who are undecided. I am definitely not undecided. I know who I want to vote for. More accurately, I know who I want to vote against. I don’t have a most liked candidate in this election – I have a least disliked. It’s like choosing between two foods where one food makes you wretch and the other makes you heave; choose your poison and bon appétit. It’s like choosing between an ogre and a troll. Which do you want to encounter? “Neither,” most would say. But if you must choose one or the other, which is your favorite miscreant?

I recently read an article in The Guardian titled: News is bad for you – and giving up reading it will make you happier. I believe that is true. I don’t know anyone who is happier because they read the news. And I know for sure that the news media – a conglomeration of news sources competing for the most eyeballs – tend to promote the “flashiest” news rather than the most important news.

Watching more debates will not make you a better informed voter. Watching more debates will make you a more angry voter, a more disgusted voter, a more what-have-we-done-to-deserve-this voter. I’ve seen a lot of elections, but until now, I’ve never seen an election that I wished could have no winners. It’s reminiscent of Henry Kissinger’s alleged quip about the Iran-Iraq war – that it’s a pity they both can’t lose. Or, as my amigo CyberDave has often observed, “We’re either screwed or we’re really screwed.”

So, on election day, go to your polling place and choose your villain. Or perhaps I should say, choose your favorite deplorable. And may God bless America.