By Sal Bommarito
The debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was anything but epic. It was a disastrous confrontation between two very unlikeable candidates. After great anticipation the moderator was bullied by the players and was unable to set aside his personal biases.
American voters got nothing from this debate. Clinton wasn’t asked by either the moderator or her opponent to explain her lies and deceptions relating to her personal email used for top-secret discussions, her disastrous decisions relating to Benghazi that resulted in the death of four Americans, her support of the Iran nuclear deal and her four-year stint as Secretary of State during which America’s reputation and influence were greatly diminished.
Similarly Donald Trump was allowed to dance around the doubts many voters have concerning his demeanor, temperance and business ethics. By interrupting the moderator and his opponent he proved that he has learned nothing from all the debates he participated in during the primaries. In a nutshell most minorities and women continue to despise the man.
The result is that voters who like one candidate and hate the other are still in the same place. Moreover some Americans are scratching their heads even harder trying to figure out why the greatest country in the world has these two people running for president.
There are many things I would change about the debate process. I will not go through all these things. Rather, allow me to offer up some questions that were not asked or were not fleshed out during the 90+ minute discussion. Most of the questions should be introduced. In the interests of brevity I have not prefaced my questions.
Hillary- Did you lie about the use of your personal emails to Congress and the American people? Did you or your campaign assistants destroy emails after Congress subpoenaed them?
Donald- How many dollars of personal taxes have you paid during the past five years? It is not illegal or inappropriate to discuss your taxes while an audit is being conducted. Also, how much have you given to charity during the same period? [Holt never asked the questions. He only asked whether Trump would reveal his tax returns.]
Hillary- Which countries and corporations donated money to the Clinton Foundation? Did any of these entities receive favors in exchange for their contributions?
Donald- What is the status of Trump University? What involvement did you have with the school? Did the students receive training as advertised in your marketing agreements? The ensuing law suits indicate that many students are very unhappy.
Hillary- Wasn’t the State Department responsible for ensuring the safety of the ambassador and three other Americans killed in Benghazi? Why wasn’t the embassy protected from an attack? Why did you attribute the attack to the infamous videos that were offensive to Muslims? Did you participate in the pr relating to the comments made by your underlings?
Donald- What is your net worth? How much revenue does the Trump organization generate each year? What profits did it earn? How much in taxes do your companies pay? [This is different than the taxes you pay personally.]
Hillary- What role will Bill Clinton play in your administration if you are elected president?
Donald- Give us the names of some of the people you are considering for you cabinet? Your selection of qualified personnel is critical given that you have not held a government position previously.
Hillary- Are you prepared to send in ground troops to defeat ISIS? If not how are you going to end ISIS’ domination of Syria and its terrorist activities?
Donald- Will you receive the endorsement of the Republican establishment if you are elected president? What will you do to gain the support Republican leaders to accomplish your agenda?
Hillary and Donald- How are you going to improve relations with Israel, Russia, China and the Gulf States?
Donald- What will you do to improve your relationships with African Americans and women? Polls show you are far behind with these groups.
My bottom line is that neither of the candidates deserves consideration to be president. Yet one will be president.
Hillary has already done enough damage domestically and internationally. It’s time to give someone else an opportunity to improve our country. I [very reluctantly] continue to support Trump.