The other day the viewers were invited to the core of the Trump's lair. Mrs. Trump guided Greta van Susteren through a nightmarish nouveau riche decor, reminded one of "Liberace on speed". The chorus of siblings followed, a living proof that the apple falls close to the tree, indeed. This virtual first family-in- waiting is frightening. Maybe for reasons of real estate overkill, they speak in bricks rather than in words. They look alike and they share Donald Trump's lack of nuance, understatement or humor. Mrs. Trump looks like some real estate agent, trying to remember where the doors lead to. If this family nightmare were to invade the White House, Jefferson's ghost will run for the nearest exit.
There is worse. Candidate Trump is talking loud (which could be overlooked), but also dangerous and gross. His grasp of world affairs is nil, while his contradicting remedies for energy, trade, banking regulation, climate change, social/moral issues pile up. The Republicans, and the right in general, look like adoring the golden calf while preferring to ignore the more cautious views in their midst.
On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders continues on his Marcuse-type campaign, which resonates with the Millennials (speaks for their IQ). Mrs. Clinton has good ideas, a great record but she is an uneven campaigner. She is bogged by a serial fault-line which stretches from her former years as First Lady to her current e-mail mess. She is unable to come clear on personal issues and in not doing so, she only makes them worse. She is obliged to wage a campaign on two fronts and both Trump and Sanders smell vulnerability.
America is doing better than almost any other country in the world. President Obama, the anti-Trump by definition, was, unfortunately, unable to foresee that his country had left the drawing-room for the kitchen table. His PBS talk does not resonate anymore because a new audience feels alienated and has ended up legitimatizing the Trump-look, food, ties...and Kardashians trash. After the cameras were allowed in Trump Tower, the question was immediately raised if Mrs. Clinton would be equally open for a house tour of her private domain. I doubt if she will consider because she is obviously adverse to the current exhibitionistic wave.
More important than the personae is the future of this country's soul. The presidentials have already marginalized art, culture and history. Trump builds walls, reverses non-proliferation, goes for protectionism, and one can go on... Past policies are not set in stone, indeed, but Western societies are also built on history, precedent, moral principles. Trump disregards the fabric of society in the same way as Sanders rejects it. Both have it on the cheap, because too little was achieved in reconnecting with the Americans. Kennedy did it seriously (with some help). Reagan did it fluently (with some flair). Obama spent his real capital by ignoring the growing alienation of too many who felt morally unattended. He has the better intentions but often comes over as too distant to measure all that went astray, while Trump, who never gave a dime for the underdog, became its recourse. It is too ironic to be true. America will be great again...on shallow ground.
Mrs. Clinton remains the better alternative. The question is no longer one about desirability or not. We find ourselves in a minefield. Despite the negatives, she looks like the only person currently in the race who could remedy ailments at home and improve and continue Obama's policies abroad. America deserves to be respected rather than to be seen as a "remake" of times we choose to forget.
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