Trumped: The End of Modern Civilization
Presidential debating without sound (Part 1/3)
I was sitting in an apartment in a leafy neighbourhood in Brooklyn on September 26th with six American liberal men. We watched the first presidential debate like it was the last quarter of the Super Bowl, fuelled by chips, beer and banter.
The opponents came onto the battle field. The chatter quietened. A collective thought instantly formed in our baffled brains, something akin to:
“Oh dear, what an utter Buffoon.”
It was embarrassing for my friends as Americans, as men, and for all of us as human beings.
Trump — the sexist, racist, and bigoted buffoon appeared to be upgrading his reality-TV show right before our very eyes. The only difference was that this was real life. Holy shit.
Facing off against Clinton — the highly distrusted first female presidential candidate in history, one couldn’t have dreamt up a more bizarre political duel. Both candidates vehemently disliked, it is clear that the choice for Americans is now between the lesser of two evils.
Yet still, more than 100 million watched the debate trumping that of the 1980 Reagan vs Carter standoff which had 80 million.
The morning after I went online. Every site had that same cop out — using the word — Clash — to describe the night’s affair. It was as if a single journalist was writing for every major news outlets. I don’t care that they clashed, just tell me who the hell won!
Thankfully Quartz (owned by The Atlantic), a publication that is consistently trustworthy, was the first place I learned that “Hilary Clinton won the first US presidential debate” and that one of her best lines was,
“I think Donald just criticised me for preparing for this debate. And Yes, I did.”
Of course one glance at the Twittersphere and the the disillusioned were touting #TRUMPWON:
Shocked is an understatement. So for the next round I decided to try something a little different. Taking a queue from Jonathan Mahler — I watched the second debate without sound. Yes it was shocking and painful.
I was tempted to do so for many reasons, chief amongst them:
1) A fascination by presidential body language ever since Clinton’s democratic endorsement in 2012 (more on that below);
2) It seemed like a kinda fun idea given the complete shit show that was unravelling before my eyes. I think Politico got it right calling it:
“The Ugliest debate in American history.”
3) An obsession with the never ending flow of social commentary and diarrhetic media frenzy. Not a politically charged person,
I found myself enthralled with how the media has fuelled and continues to propel all the malarkey — focussing on personalities over political platforms and positions.
So I’ll spare you words and instead unleash my favourite screen-grabs coupled with cheeky captions. I’ve scored each round based on who I think won (cognitive biases and all).
Round #1
Monday October 10th 2016 live @ 9pm EST — Clinton vs. Trump go Toe to Toe! We know this was possibly the first debate in history where the candidates did not shake hands to start. A great sign of what was in store..
Winner: Trump
Round #2
Winner: Clinton
Round #3
Very close call. Winner: Trump
Round #4
Taking the high ground. Winner: Clinton
Round #5
Trump surprisingly level headed on this one. Winner: Trump
Round #6
Hard to call. Winner after heavy non verbal bullying: Trump
Round #7
Winner: Clinton
Round #8
With Trump now holding strong at 4 wins and Clinton at 3 wins — let’s just call this one what it is..
…Phew, we’re now halfway through the debate.
If you haven’t had the time to scour the web like me (and have been doing much more productive things with your life) — here’s some of the hilarious, disturbing, powerful, ironic, shocking, weird and wonderful things that have surfaced on the web..
Janet Jackson had a wardrobe malfunction (oops wrong half time).
You’ve got to hand it to SNL for their incredible spoof of the first debate complete with a priceless Trump (Alec Baldwin). The better-than-stellar Clinton (Kate McKinnon) also kills it with her all to perfect trumped up trickle down whopper.
And then there’s just some wild stuff out there like this:
or this video game which someone was quick to move on:
Robert Dinero got really pissed off and said he wants to “Punch Trump in the Face” and Salma Hayek hit it spot on comparing Trump to a 1st grade bully..
A powerful Michelle Obama speaks out with mighty force against Trump and his intolerable comments.
And her hubby, fed up with being Mr. Nice guy goes straight for the 3-pointer swooshing it with his 7–11 jibe.
At the New Yorker Festival, Sarah Silverman explains that, “Trump is a mirror (of America)” and slams him saying that for more than thirty years he’s been a “loudmouth and a jackass.”
And of course this half time intermission has all been a tad lopsided, so there’s this one just out..
It just gets better — or worse.
Some argue that since Trump is at the podium he must be some sort of political genius. Bullshit — I find this theory very hard to swallow. My hunch is it comes down to the embarrassing state of American culture rather than the ingenuity of The Donald.
What is crazy though, is that it’s been over 16 years since Trump predicted his candidacy. And as much as I hate to admit it, he does possess a knack for exploiting the press to his benefit. Never behind the camera for the right reasons, the gig is now up — it’s the end of road.
As Trump’s campaign crumbles and the brand and value of his empire dissipates — we finally can wipe the smirk off the jerk.
The culprit though in all of this is the jacked up media — the endless clickbait, carefully selected imagery, humorous GIFs and punchy video clips. In some form or another, I’m having a media seizure. I feel shocked, tricked, and embarrassed. The worst part of it all, is I know it’s only the the tip of the iceberg.
This is not some news cycle that will fade away. It’s the New State of reality. Harambe fans are envious.
And as the scandalous baloney continues to flow, the only question left to ask ourselves is not who will win — but how much more of this can we take?
