Democrats didn’t debate; they crowned Hillary

LA JOLLA, California — The Democrat debate was a dull and boring staged performance with the main character, Hillary Clinton, and a few stage props, a statue here, a potted plant there.  This was not a “debate;” this was a plebiscite, designed and orchestrated by the DNC leaders to achieve three goals:  debunk the idea of a Clinton “coronation;” enhance the prestige and qualities of their preferred candidate,Hillary; and dissuade V.P. Biden from running against this formidable woman “who won the debate.”

It is clear from the questions and answers that the DNC ran interference with CNN. I even dare suspect that some questions were given or hinted to Hillary to produce the effect of brilliance and applause- provoking  sharp responses like a “NO” yelled even before the end of the question. Who knows what the Democrat leaders promised to the pathetic, some say pitiful, quartet of men, strategically placed two on each side of the prima donna? an ambassadorship in Gabon? a peace corps sinecure?  an assistant deputy under secretary of something? Nothing is worth the humiliation.

Even Bernie Sanders who, at least, campaigned and amassed a good number of sympathizers, sometimes even beating Hillary in the polls, did not challenge her, let alone attack her. On the contrary, he gave her the best boost with his stupid defense that “the people are fed up with the emails… they want to talk about the issues…,” forgetting that the email scandal is now the subject of a criminal investigation by the FBI under the “Espionage Act” (793 subsection F)” which, according to legal experts, is a very serious matter.

What “issues?”  There were no issues debated or even invoked. Nobody said anything about the 19 trillion dollars national debt, the abominable  tax code, Obamacare,  ISIS, the abandonment of the Middle-East to the Russians and Iranians, Benghazi, the Iranian nuke deal, the campaign of Palestinian stabbing and killing innocent Jews in Israel, women and children, and so many other pressing “issues.”

The word “Israel”  was used only once, sotto voce, without any follow up or context as if they wanted to avoid offending the large gathering of Democrats by appearing pro-Israel. Outside the debate,the spokesmen of the White House and the State Department were shamelessly “even-handed” with their cynical and blatantly unjust “moral equivalence” between the attackers and their victims who used their legitimate right to self-defense. Even when the State Department spokesman accused “both sides” of “terror,” not one Democrat elected official expressed indignation at this libelous attack on Israel, and that includes the Jewish senators and Congressmen,  many of whom voted, to their opprobrium, for the nuke deal with Iran that will endanger Israel’s survival.

All five debaters spoke about the bad situation today as if we had a Republican president for the last seven years,not Barack Obama, the most leftist of all American presidents, and they wanted to outdo him in distributing “free stuff” –Hillary even demanded free education and healthcare to illegal aliens; she spoke with a stentorian voice, a dominatrix sure of herself. Sanders’s list of free stuff was estimated by the experts to total 18 trillion dollars, in fact to double the national debt. No one dared ask the simple question: who is going to pay for it? Even if you confiscate the wealth of “the 1% ” you don’t make a dent in the huge debt. This was pure utopian socialism a la Saint-Simon and Fourier,  a flagrant demagoguery that may inflame the Democratic base but will be laughed at by the mainstream electorate in the general election.

The race card was not forgotten. They let a young black man ask the question: “Black lives matter or all lives matter?” It was, of course, in reference to  candidate O’Malley who abjectly apologized for saying that

“All lives matter.” Only one out of five, Candidate Webb, said that “all lives matter.” The other three men said “black lives matter,” and Hillary lost herself in a tirade of evasion that added more free stuff.

And the mysterious sphinx has not yet sung. Joe Biden is still thinking, despite the fact that recent polls show four Republican candidates beating Hillary, and Biden beating all of them . As for Obama, whose sympathies lie ostensibly with his V.P. , he nevertheless defended Hillary and her email scandals by saying that “she did not endanger national security,” and “she did not hide anything.” This intempestive pronouncement infuriated the FBI agents who are conducting the criminal  investigation against Hillary. It was rightfully seen as “prejudging” a legal matter which is sub judice, and the people at large see it as an act of intimidation that could derail justice. This is not the first time Obama commits such unconstitutional acts.

The truth is that Hillary Clinton rises or falls not because of her political abilities or policy standing on the issues, on which she has proven herself, but on her character– 62% of the American people believe she is a liar and untrustworthy– and on the results of the “Benghazi Congressional Committee” investigation and on the FBI decision to indict her or not.  No debate successes will change that.

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Yetiv is a freelance writer and lecturer who resides in La Jolla.  He may be contacted via isaac.yetiv@sdjewishworld.com