Here's my view on the US presidential election this year. I accept that there are major differences between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on concrete issues. For instance, Clinton does not plan to erect a great wall along the Mexican border, and she does not dismiss global warming as a hoax "created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive". These differences, and others, are important. Still, I think the most important issue of all for US voters to consider this fall is that of whether Donald Trump's temperament and moral character make him fit for presidency. And the answer is a clear and overwhelming no.
Much has been said about Donald Trump's performance during Monday's presidential debate with Clinton. It was repugnant, of course. Yet, as Adam Gopnik pointed out in The New Yorker, "The problem with Trump isn't his debating skills". His performance in Monday's debate...
- wasn’t a question of preparation. It was that the things he actually believes are themselves repellent even when coherently presented. This was not a bad performance. This is a bad man.
Trump may claim that his temperament is suitable for presidency, but even when he does so, as he did on Monday, the way he delivers this message becomes such a clear demonstration of its negation that it hardly requires a response:
A key question that every US voter ought to ask herself is this: Should a man as utterly devoid of compassion, decency and self-control as Donald Trump be put in charge of the world's biggest nuclear arsenal? Watch Stanley Kubrick's 1964 classic Dr Strangelove, and consider whether it would be a good idea to gamble the future survival of the human race on Trump's ability to handle conversations like this one:
