Town Hall Presidential Debate

Before last night’s second Presidential debate I was one of those who believed that Republican candidate Donald Trump should step aside and let Vice-Presidential candidate Mike Pence lead the Republican ticket. Like many others the sensational leaked videotape of Trump’s lurid and lewd remarks of over a decade ago convinced me that he had become unelectable. Also, Pence’s excellence performance in the Vice-Presidential debate earlier in the week had markedly elevated his status.

Before the debate Trump had already apologized for his remarks on the tape but the question was number one on the agenda of the so-called Town Hall type debate. Trump again apologized for the language on the tape and did not try to deny what he said. Still, I did not think he did a good job. In the first place he did not address the issue of whether the lewd remarks caught on the tape were an isolated incident or whether they represented a pattern of misogynistic and womanizing behavior on his part.

He claimed that it was “locker-room” talk but he did say on the tape that he did try to seduce a married woman who declined his advances. He also claimed that his “star” status allowed him to have his way with women even to the point of groping their private parts. That’s more than talk. The tape revealed him as a confirmed and proud “womanizer” who would use his wealth, power, and celebrity to have his way with weak, vulnerable, or ambitious women.

Nevertheless, he went forward and seemed to try to deflect the question by talking about the atrocities committed by ISIS in the Middle East. I think I know what he was trying to say here even though he did a bad job. I believe that he was trying to say that his admitted sexual misconduct was a minor sin compared to some of the atrocities perpetrated in the world today, especially against women in the Middle East and Africa by Moslem fanatics. That is certainly true but he did not do a good job of drawing the connection.

He could have said that Hillary Clinton’s support of the “Arab Spring” during her term as Secretary of State was a disaster for women in many parts of the world. In Egypt her policies allowed the Moslem Brotherhood to take over the country and launch a brutal persecution of Christians in which untold numbers of women were brutally raped and murdered. In Libya her support of the rebels led not only to the overthrow of Libya’s dictator but ultimately to the resulting chaos in which the loss of four American lives in the Embassy was only the tip of the iceberg. It is hard to say how many women have suffered as a result of our support of the rebels in Libya.  

In Syria today the Obama administration’s support of rebels has contributed to the warfare that has exiled millions. If Clinton can take credit for killing Osama bin Laden, she ought to share some of the blame for the expansion of ISIS into Syria. Trump raised a good point when he claimed that she didn’t even know who the rebels were that she blindly supported in Syria. By now it is clear that many of the rebels are using our arms to oppress, rape, and murder women.

I thought that Trump did a better job in defending himself when he compared his own behavior with that of Clinton’s husband. Why did Clinton and her well educated supporters believe that Bill Clinton was fit or qualified to be President of the USA despite his sexual predatory behavior when he was Governor of Arkansas? Why do the same people who excused Clinton’s private abuse of women as President, now demand that Trump exit the race?

Surprisingly, many commentators after the debate concluded that Trump had won the debate. Even hardcore liberals on CNN had to admit that Trump had given a strong performance. One even argued that his strong performance would keep him in the race, something that would ultimately benefit Clinton. Personally, I thought Clinton gave her standard “C” performance, and that Trump avoided disaster and improved his grade to C+.

Finally, I believe that they both could have made better use of the Town Hall format. The questions asked by the audience participants were largely inoffensive and easy to answer but neither candidate seemed willing to engage the people asking the questions. They all looked like simple, ordinary Americans. Sometimes, Clinton would walk over to face the questioner but rarely answered the question. These are the people who Trump claims to represent but he also showed little empathy or concern for them. Just imagine if he had said to the man wearing the red sweater, “I like your sweater.”

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"Sully" Review

We recently saw “Sully”  a film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood about the forced landing of US Airlines flight 1549 in the Hudson river on January 15, 2009. It is a thrilling and very moving film about the crew, the passengers, and the first responders whose combined efforts saved all 155 people on the flight. Tom Hanks plays the role of Captain Chesley Sullenberger (Sully) with the quiet calm and dignity that fits the pilot who became an overnight hero.  The rest of the cast is equally good. I especially liked the two flight attendants who rose to the occasion as they prepared the passengers for impact.

Actually, you might say that the film is a tribute to the competence of all those involved. At one point the Captain says that over his forty-year career he had transported over 1000000 passengers safely, but people now call him a hero because of one crash landing. At the end he says to his co-pilot, “We were just doing our job.”

In addition to the drama of the emergency landing on water and the subsequent rescue of the passengers from the almost frozen waters, the film centers around the drama of the subsequent inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) into the performance of the Captain and Co-Pilot on the flight. Apparently, computers indicated that the plane could have made it back safely to La Guardia airport, and that one engine was still functional.The investigation showed that the experienced and capable pilot was correct.

Some have complained that Director Eastwood went a little overboard in portraying the NTSB examiners as out to establish “pilot error” in the case of flight 1549. It is true that the NTSB examiners were portrayed as inquisitors or bad guys, but to my mind it seemed as if they were also just doing their job.

Speaking about doing one’s job, I was especially pleased with the depiction of the air traffic controllers trying to deal with the extremely stressful “Mayday” situation. It brought back memories of my first real job with the Federal Aviation Agency back in 1964. I had taken the Civil Service exam as a fall back in case I would not be able to land a teaching job. Not too long after I was surprised when a letter came asking me to interview for an entry level management analysis position at New York’s Idlewild airport. The name had yet to be changed to honor the assassinated President Kennedy.

Although I had no idea what a management analyst was or did, I was offered the position, and took it. I found myself in a small office on the airport grounds with a bureau chief and four senior analysts. I soon came to see that I was in the least significant part of the vast organization in charge of ensuring flight safety in the ever more crowded American skies. I believe that we were distrusted or regarded as nuisances by the people doing the job in the control towers and flight control centers.

I remember, on one occasion, visiting one of those centers on Long Island. Seeing air traffic controllers hunched over their primitive radar screens watching little white blips apparently approaching each other was an experience I have never forgotten. I found out that it was one of the most stressful jobs in the world. Most of the controllers were former Air Force pilots which perhaps explains the way they would talk with and bond with the pilots in the air. The job was so stressful that most were forced to take early retirement. Insurance companies believed that the controllers had such a short life expectancy and would not offer them life insurance. When one died on the job, all the other controllers in the country would chip in to provide funds for his widow.

These men, and they were all men in those days, were unsung heroes and Clint Eastwood did a good job in giving them recognition. Although I only stayed with the FAA for one year, I have never lost my respect for them and the job they did. I must confess that I sympathized with them when President Reagan fired the controllers when they attempted to strike.

However, I have no sympathy for anyone involved in the making of the films shown in the innumerable coming attractions we had to witness before the start of “Sully”. In particular, the violence and destruction depicted was graphic, offensive, and totally over the top. The weaponry employed by the so-called heroes of these films is incredible. How can Hollywood movie makers pretend to be for gun control when they employ so many assault weapons in their films? These films are not a reflection of the violence in our society, but a training ground for the potentially violent.  

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Debate Report Card

     

 

"Thank you"

Before Monday night’s debate I told my wife that I didn’t think that Trump had to win the debate. He just had to show that he could hold his own on the same stage with a candidate with much more political experience.  

It is hard to judge who won the debate since bias will always enter into one’s evaluation. This bias was certainly evident in watching the spin doctors and commentators offer their own analysis. From my viewpoint I do not believe that there was a clear winner. There was nothing like the first Obama/Romney debate four years ago when even the President’s advisors had to admit that he had taken a beating.

If I was grading the performance of both candidates, I would give both of them a “C”. I give Clinton a passing grade because she largely handled herself well and seemed knowledgeable in her responses. She made no major gaffes. Actually, I would have to say that Clinton was at the top of her game but, in my opinion, that is a high as she will go. She does not have an “A” game. Even one of the commentators at PBS had to sadly admit that Clinton did not inspire. She exhibited no passion, emotion, or vision. In the debates to come I don’t believe that she will be able to rise above the pedestrian politician we saw last night. 

On the other hand, Trump was full of fire, emotion, and a sense of purpose. I give him a “C” not just because of a couple of embarrassing answers, but because he missed a number of opportunities to drive his message home.

On taxes, he could have given a two-minute lesson on how lowering the corporate income tax will do more than just keep American companies home, and bring massive overseas earnings home. Lowering the corporate income tax has the potential to reduce the cost of goods to the American consumer. Corporations do not really pay taxes. All corporate expenses, including taxes, must be included in the cost of goods and services sold to the consumer. How could a company afford, for example, the huge cost of a Super Bowl ad if it didn’t pass the cost along to the consumer.

When it came to his own tax returns, Trump could have explained that it is not un-American to minimize your tax burden. He could have pointed to the well-to-do Massachusetts liberals who have chosen to migrate to next door New Hampshire where there is no state income tax. He could have pointed to six figure pension recipients who have left Connecticut to relocate to Florida where there is no state income tax.

More tellingly, he could have asked why there is a Clinton foundation, a Gates foundation, or a Buffett foundation. Why did these wealthy people choose to funnel massive sums into these foundations where they would be free of Federal Income and Estate taxes? Is it possible that these individuals thought they could achieve more than the Federal government could?

I also thought that Trump could have done a better job of wondering why Clinton thinks that there is so much that needs to be done to fix this country. President Obama has been in office for almost eight years. Why didn’t he accomplish all that Clinton and the Democrat platform now advocate? Sometimes, Clinton seems to be running against President Obama.

Trump could also have done a better job on foreign policy. His best line of the night was almost a throwaway. He noted that Clinton has experience but it is bad experience. He allowed himself to get sidetracked on his opposition to the Iraq war, and let Clinton largely off the hook on the disastrous results of the Arab Spring that has led to chaos in Libya, Syria, and Egypt. He even let her off the hook on Benghazi. Why did she participate in the Administration's YouTube video scam?

Finally, I think that both candidates missed the boat on the last question that went something like, “If you lose the election, will you support the President?” Why didn’t either have the wisdom to mention that there has always been room for a “loyal opposition” in America. I know that there are times when we must stand united behind the President but I would have liked a candidate to say that they would continue to fight for the cause they represent no matter what the result of the election.

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