As with most iterations of the big game, it's going to be very difficult for Monday's debate to live up to the hype accorded it. Most of the buildup seems to be a way for the media to pre-emptively excuse themselves for awarding Gump the win so long as he doesn't shit his pants and blurt the n-word. The bar for Hillary, as always, is set much, much differently.
I have definitely not been a fan of the Clintons in general, or of HFC in particular, over the years. I found their propensity to "triangulate" off-putting, their willingness to suck up to the real holders of power and sell the workers down the river pathetic and disgusting. And their self-inflicted scandals, while overblown, just get fuckin'
tedious after a while.
All that said, the fact of the matter is that Bill Clinton's administration did lift a lot of people up. Hillary Clinton's law career did benefit some people who otherwise would have been ignored. The Clinton Foundation, even as it curries favor, sucks up to power, and accepts money from scummy regimes, does tangible, observable good for many people around the world. These things are indisputable.
On the other side, it is very difficult -- in fact, I have yet to see any record of it at all -- to show an instance where Drumpf used his own money to benefit another person, with himself completely out of the picture. Such an instance may, in fact, not exist as far as we can know or tell. His "foundation" has existed on
other people's money since at least 2009, and during that time its monies have been used to purchase everything from political favor to life-size paintings. This is not a good person, this is a man-child comporting himself as such, and defying everyone to confront his behavior. He's a grifter,
a con-artist, and he scarcely bothers to hide this obvious fact.
These things are important to keep in mind as context, heading into the debate. Drumpf has already well exceeded the usual amount of gamesmanship, first by whining that moderator Lester Holt's Democratic politics (SPOILER ALERT: Holt is actually a registered Republican, not that that will make Shithead admit he's fucking wrong again) will skew the debate, make it rigged, etc. But Drumpf's reported
lack of preparation should concern his supporters, not that it will, because they're morons. He is apparently convinced that since everyone
forgets everything they see on teevee an hour after they see it, he doesn't need to prepare. He's already as awesome as he needs to be.
In a rational world, this sort of thing would concern even the most casual observer, much less a hardcore supporter. This is not an ideological observation, but a practical one. You are auditioning for the most important, most high-profile job on the planet. Every decision made by the person in this position affects literally every other person on Earth in one way or another.
Even interviews for mundane, middle-management pud positions in palooka organizations are going to require, say, a ten-to-fifteen-minute presentation on customer service or some such. And unless you are a clueless, arrogant asshole, you're going to practice your pitch and tighten your game, time yourself on things. It's just how a responsible person gets ready for something important. Only in the movies do you strut in like a jerkoff and try to wing it.
Ordinarily you'd assume
good, that's a surefire path to a blowout. But he's trolled and worked the refs -- who, let's face it, aren't collectively very good at their jobs anyway -- for over a year, and defied expectations, and they seem institutionally inclined to cut him yet another break for some reason.
Ultimately, it's not about the media, it's about us, and what kind of country we want to be, and want to live in. We're about to find out, and Monday's debate is sure to be the (chronologically) final catalyst of this endless wankfest.
