It was the most-watched political event in the history of
television, but I didn’t watch the presidential debate last night. I was
traveling. But I probably wouldn’t have watched it anyway. I have only a peripheral
interest, since the constitutional republic of the United States of America is
not what these two candidates wish to preside over. One wants to rule over the
United Socialist States of America—a country and concept I do not agree to be
ruled by. One wants to rule over the National Dictatorship of America, which will
be great, and yuge, believe it—except
I don’t believe it.
Trump and Clinton first debate 2016 Image from here |
I learned one thing during this past eight years: don’t
listen to the speeches. I read, instead of watch or listen. With Obama, it has had to do with his tone. I
hear condescension, and disdain for me and people who believe as I do, because
we are a hindrance to him and his anti-constitutional intentions. And there are
the grating verbal tics—the ubiquitous ums
and uhs, the use of “folks” that
never sounds real, the use of a long a
when the indefinite article a comes
before a consonant, even though none of us talk that way normally, which means
it’s an affectation or a teleprompter-reading problem. So even the little
things grate. Listening is not only hard on me, it makes me harder on the
speaker than I would be without the additional auditory and visual input.
And last night we had two of the most grating voices America
could come up with. Hillary sounds like she is always yelling. She sounds
stiff, stilted, and annoyed—as if it is beneath her to condescend to do this
talking to the public that a campaign requires. The term harpy seems to have been created for such a voice. If she were
saying things that were valuable to our constitutional republic, the voice
would be something we would just have to be tolerant and forgiving of. But, in
her case, the voice comes with lies, deceptions, and power-mongering. I think
we’re justified in hating that voice.
Then comes the carnival barker voice of Donald Trump. Like a
used car salesman, he hides the details and just says, “Believe me,” when he
has provided nothing beyond is over-bloated personal opinion to go on. It is an
unseemly voice, often speaking unseemly and anti-constitutional things. Some
people find that voice entertaining on a reality TV show; it was unappealing to
me even when that is all it was.
So, I did not watch. But I will be looking at transcripts.
And I offer that as a better tool for judging how the debate went, if you care.
So that you can experience the debate without the talking
over one another, and without the tonal problems, here is the full transcript.
Here is a partial transcript interspersed with an NPR attempt
to fact check (so consider the source).
I am beyond believing any presidential choice this year can
get us out of tyranny, back up to northern hemisphere freedom. I am interested
in what I can do to make my community, my state, and then my nation a place of freedom,
prosperity, and civilization.
This debate offers me no option for my vote. But
if a future debate includes independent candidate Evan McMullin and, possibly, Libertarian candidate
Gary Johnson (who is not on my list to possibly get my vote, but who should be
in on the debate), I might be willing to tune in.
No comments:
Post a Comment