A little less than 400 days ago, a political pot was put on the U.S. stove.
The ingredients were such that no one really knew what the name of this dish was.
As time went by the pot went from a very slow simmer to a light bubbly simmer. Still, the dish had no label and continued to perk on the stove. It was then that some of the ingredients became known.
There was a dash of Trump and a dash of Clinton. As time went by and some political seasoning added, the political pot went from simmer to a light bubbly almost boil.
Recently, the two main ingredients tried to overpower each other and the temperature of the pot rose and the ingredients began to boil keeping in mind that this recipe had never been heard of, let alone seen, before. Who knew what the flavour might be.
Watching over the pot were the chefs stirring the pot. They were better known as pollsters. They watched with interest and, like chefs in a kitchen, tasted the pot contents from time to time to get a feel for the flavour. Each added his or her own seasoning to the pot and tried to predict what the ingredients would taste like once the cooking cycle ended. Few succeeded.
To better understand this, let’s look at the ingredients. There is a dash of Clinton and a dash of Trump intermixed with other political variables. This is what might be termed as a political gumbo at best
A Dash of Clinton (an overview)
-Yale Law School Grad; practiced law
-Married Bill Clinton (president); became first lady
-Political experience; secretary of state
-Been referred to as nouveau riche; got rich how?
-real estate mogul; owns four or five known mansion properties
-tries to show a caring for America facade; speaks from a point of diplomacy
-an erudite politician (140 I.Q); much political experience
-family oriented; often referred to as matriarchal
A Dash of Trump: (an overview)
-Wharton Business School grad; graduated without making Dean’s List
-Married three times (two divorces); professes to love and care about all women
-Inherited family fortune; was involved with father in family business
-No political experience; no real political positions held until now
-Real estate mogul; has had six bankruptcies
-Obnoxious (attitude); super-narcissistic, ignorant, a bully, liar
-Pie in the sky statements; Mexican wall, Muslim banner, racist
On Nov. 8 the pot came to a full boil. The dish was done. Ironically, the Trump flavour came through. How it will taste is anyone’s guess as the old adage says,“the proof of the pudding.” As it were, is in the eating. Let’s see if Trump can put his mouth where his money is and not the reverse.
In retrospect, it tends to make one wonder as to why a country with approximately 400 million people could come up with these two personas to vie for president?
If I were an American, I would be hard pressed to vote for either one of them.
Ron Barillaro
Penticton
Editor's Note: Correction was made to the population of the U.S. as it was mistakenly written as 400 billion. The Western News apologizes for the error.