If you watched the Republican Party's Primary Debate on the Fox News channel last Thursday night, you can probably write this article better than I. It is way too far ahead of any meaningful voting to be of real value except to the television news media for purposes of filling the endless hours on the air. We, as voters, get to see and be entertained by, those we might not otherwise be considering part of the candidate group. In the case of the Republicans, seventeen candidates were too many for a single "debate," so we were blessed with a pre-debate overflow of the ones not part of the select "10" -- those with the highest rankings in a group of probably meaningless polls.
The two-tier system gave the only woman -- or should I say "lady" -- in the group an opportunity to share her ideas before a national audience. Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard was just short of brilliant in her handling of her opportunity on the "early show." We had seen her earlier in a one-on-one interview and she has some very well developed positions on some major issues. It was definitely interesting comparing her open and informed style to the potential Democratic Party nominee, Hillary Clinton, who is frequently accused of not answering questions openly. A head-to-head, one-on-one encounter between the two of them would really add a spark to the political process, which without Donald Trump, would be really very dull.
There seems to be some disapproval of the manner in which the Fox News mediators handled their questioning of Trump. I, for one, felt the opening question was intended only to try to embarrass Trump in the way they asked the question about a commitment to the Republican nominee. By asking the question as they did, it was obvious that it was aimed at him because he is the only one of the 10 who has mentioned a possible third-party candidacy. It could have been phrased so he was the only one who did not raise his hand rather than being the only one who was expected to raise his hand based on previous comments.
There was also an instance where Megyn Kelly clashed with Mr. Trump and although Trump could have handled his comments in a more tasteful manner, Ms. Kelly was not a good representative of women in a position of power. Her mannerisms leave much to be desired on her program, The Kelly File. Her attempt to make herself more than a news commentator has caused us to skip her show.
As I mentioned previously, we need to look at Donald Trump as one called to expose the problems with our current government and the system that keeps it in place. Who better to know how it works than one who has successfully used it to his own advantage? My guess is Mr. Trump will find himself spending too much money on his current efforts and will "flame out like an overheated jet engine." It is unlikely he actually has a 10- billion dollar net worth. If he realistically has a two and one-half billion dollar net worth, a lot of it is in real estate and it would not be a wise businessman's decision to risk it on a position that clashes with the Koch Brother's choice -- whoever that might be.
One thing we are learning, the "class system" is still in effect in America and growing stronger all the time. We have a new way of defining our political system in the word of the day -- the "donor class." They are probably the power class of the one percent who know how to protect their own personal interests with well placed contributions to PACs (Political Action Committees) and directly to the candidates.
It is not news that well-placed contributions can provide access to places and people that simple middle-class Americans can't touch. The Clinton Foundation has been in the news lately because they have received large contributions from foreign interests. Whether this has in any way influenced our former Secretary of State, we may never know. However, the people doing the giving frequently are from countries with differing laws about gifts, legal benefits, etc. than those of us in the United States.
Thanks to Donald Trump, we are going to see some of the seamy, inter-governmental side of our government that is frequently hidden behind political correctness.
•••
Editor's note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. He is a native of Benton County. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Editorial on 08/12/2015