Politics
The President of Brain Farts
Libertarian Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson has had just about as many “brain farts” as one could imagine. His most infamous: when he failed to recognize that Aleppo is the capital of Syria and the point of major discussion for the battle against ISIS. Now, if a common everyday American was asked what they thought about the situation in Aleppo I would not be surprised if the most common response was, “what is Aleppo?” But as a presidential candidate albeit a Libertarian candidate there should be some knowledge base for what Aleppo is and the situation there. Gary Johnson and Donald Trump both seem to adhere to the idea that there does not need to be preparation done for debates or interviews. This is very unprecedented and frankly disturbing. If neither of these candidates can be bothered to prepare for a simple interview, how can their voters expect either of them to prepare for important meetings with foreign dignitaries or the like? But apparently, their voters don’t care.
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Speaking of foreign dignitaries, apparently Mr. Johnson does not know a single one of those either. His running mate tried to save Johnson’s obvious floundering by jumping to answer the question before the presidential candidate. The question was simple, “Name a foreign leader whom you look up to.” Now Angela Merkel, seems to be everyone’s favorite answer but Johnson’s lack of awareness of happenings outside of the United States become apparent again. While Libertarians are not known for their foreign policy, they are economically focused, so you would think that someone like German Chancellor Angela Merkel would register on Johnson’s limited foreign knowledge. Johnson makes me wonder if he takes himself seriously as a candidate, or is he just running to provide a more conservative option that is not Trump.
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Both of these candidates are contradictory to everything we have come to expect about politicians. The stereotype of the polished politician is going by the wayside in this election, especially due to Trump. The Republican party has had a strong association with the stuffy old rich men in suits that speak are overly polished. Instead, we now have a Republican candidate and a Libertarian candidate that are unprepared for their time on the stage and make a joke out of it. Or, as in Trump’s case, criticize their opponent for being prepared. In fact, the Republican party with the support of Fox News has determined that Hillary Clinton being a career politician with a lot of experience is a bad thing. It makes me wonder if the age of the idea of the traditional politician is coming to an end; or at least if the ideal presidential candidate is going to be judged by entertainment factor rather than their credentials and experience.
Trump's Biggest Target: Women
What does it mean to have a presidential nominee that is obviously sexist? Trump can hardly surprise me anymore with anything he says, but that being said, I am constantly offended and pissed about most things he does say. One of the most recent was his comments about “when you’re a star, they let you do anything” including apparently “grabbing (women) by the p***y.” This is an extremely vulgar thing to say, in fact it is supporting rape culture. When Trump was asked about this video during last night’s debate, he apologies in a way but then qualifies that apology by saying it was just “locker room talk”. But, I take issue with this as do numerous others. Firstly, its not like this video was taken secretly while Trump was joking around with his friends, this was an interview with Billy Bust from Access Hollywood. The purpose of an interview to share with the public what has been said. This defense of “locker room talk” is brushing aside women in a way that is just as demeaning as the content of what is said in the video. Calling this statement “locker rooms talk” is insinuating that women wouldn’t understand because they don’t belong in locker rooms. Its another case of old men claiming a “boys club” that we women apparently aren’t privy to.
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In response to this outrageous statement by Donald Trump, even professional athletes who aren’t known for their political involvement, couldn’t stay quite. They denounced the claim that this would be acceptable in any locker room situation. While objectifying women may be common locker room talk, bragging about being able to sexually assault a woman because you are famous is not. Trump has already said so many deplorable things that it is amazing to me that he is even still qualified to run for president. The scariest part is that while there are a lot of Republicans that are running away from their previous statement supporting Trump, there are still people who defend what he has said regarding women.
“And I moved on her very heavily... I moved on her like a b----, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married." – Donald Trump
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During this most recent debate, I was looking forward to hearing Hillary Clinton lay into Trump about his disgusting comments regarding women and I was frankly disappointed. She did bring it up in the beginning, but then Trump turned it around to the accusations about her husband. After that nasty exchange Hillary gave up on that line of rhetoric. While maybe I understand that she was worried about getting stuck in that corner, as a women herself I would have been much happier if she had continued her line of attack and really drilled home how inappropriate, dangerous, and offensive Trump is.