Watch the Last Presidential Debate, Tonight Live! – 9 pm ET
Watch Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Debate
9 pm ET – Streaming Live from Las Vegas, Nevada
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Amidst roiling controversies on both sides of the aisle, the Candidates, and the nation, gear up for the final Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. By all accounts, it should be quite a show. Though sadly, Presidential Debates need to be more than spectacles for our amusement: they need to deal thoroughly with substantive issues challenging the nation, and affecting the American People.
However, that’s unlikely to happen tomorrow night. But spectacle and controversy will undoubtedly abound. Trump is still reeling from a sex scandal, of sorts, in which he was recorded on video making demeaning, and even threatening, comments about women, while Clinton is struggling with recent releases of campaign e-mails hacked by Wikileaks, which don’t portray her campaign in a favorable light. In fact, according to some, they seem to support claims that she’s a two-faced, self-serving hypocrite. Of course, interpretation varies widely on this matter.
Trump continues his “scorched earth policy,” demeaning Clinton and challenging her competence and integrity at every opportunity. And recognizing he’s trailing in the polls, he’s now claiming the election is rigged in favor of the Democrats, pointing fingers at the media and high ranking political officials. In response, President Obama has suggested the Republican Candidate should “quit his whining,” while high ranking Republicans, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, scoff at the accusation of a rigged election. To paraphrase President Obama today, if you can’t take responsibility for your own situation, you can’t handle this job (The Presidency.)
So, campaign hijinks continue unabated, and will likely explode upon that stage in Las Vegas, while all the while, in the real world, there’s no shortage of problems. There’s a final push underway to eradicate ISIS in the city of Mosul. Scientists tell us that the carbon dioxide content of our atmosphere that’s largely responsible for dangerous anthropogenic climate change has reached an irrevocable tipping point. And the American economic recovery remains marginal, while health care costs for the middle class continue to sky rocket, despite the Affordable Care Act.
And what about the question of foreign policy expertise? Though Hillary Clinton is clearly the winner, in terms of hours served in public office (Trump has accumulated exactly zero) including terms as U.S. Senator and Secretary of State, for many Americans questions still remain. Many feel she’s been deceptive regarding her handling of the tragic fall of the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi during a terrorist attack, despite numerous government inquiries, which cleared her obvious wrongdoing. And others make note of her particularly collegial and cozy relationship with Israel and certain European nations, which she may maintain, in their opinion, at the expense of the welfare of middle eastern nations, and the Palestinian people.
To be sure, the 2016 Presidential Election has turned into one of the greatest mud-slinging competitions of American History, and the American People, in the long run, will suffer for any short-term gains in tawdry entertainment they may get. But make no mistake, those who aren’t thoroughly disgusted by now, and there are many in that camp, will tune in by the millions to watch the fireworks.
Photo: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
This caricature of Hillary Clinton was adapted from a photo in the public domain from the East Asia and Pacific Media’s Flickr photostream. The body was adapted from a photo in the public domain from the U.S. Department of State’s Flickr photostream. This caricature of Donald Trump was adapted from Creative Commons licensed images from Max Goldberg’s flickr photostream.
