Kaine's and Pence's rumble

No one expected Mohammad Ali to take out George Foreman in that fight in Zaire in 1974, but he did. It was Don King's first promoted fight. No one ever expected Donald Trump to win the Republican nomination for president in 2016, but he did. The first debate between Hillary and Trump did not go well. Hillary was over-scripted; Trump was under-prepared. But last night, the two candidates for vice president debated. It did not go well for Tim Kaine. He was seriously outgunned by his own determination not to have an actual debate, but to get in as many scripted hit lines as possible. He could not stop interrupting Pence, over and over again. He vacillated between looking like a deer in headlights and Howdy Doody, with a silly grin on his face.

But his interruptions were the key to his failure. When one cannot let the person with whom he is debating complete a sentence, it betrays fear and a lack of confidence in one's own position or cause. Kaine lost the debate, hands down. Not because everything he had to say was wrong, but because he was so afraid he might not get to utter every insult he had practiced. It was pathetic. Kaine's debate prep, like Hillary's, was based on the firm belief that the American people are stupid. Democrats have contempt for everyone outside the Beltway or their donor class. Did they really think that whoever tuned in tonight was not up on what each of the candidates has said in the past? It is a given that the people interested enough to watch a ninety-minute vice presidential debate are familiar with who said what, how their words and deeds have been reported, and what their positions in the past and present were and are. V.P. debate watchers are watching for substance and on alert for guile, glibness, and smarm. Kaine won on those points. Pence won on substance, calm, and authenticity. Pence certainly is better than Trump at explaining Trump's policies and does so without insulting anyone. Kaine explains Hillary's policies in a way such that even her supporters may realize they are unacceptable – her planned importation of 500K more refugees from the Middle East, for example. Most Americans do grasp the fact that the influx of hundreds of thousands of immigrants and refugees depresses wages and imposes huge costs for food stamps, SSI, refundable “tax credits” and other welfare state subsidies. The ones who do work take jobs Americans need, and the ones that don't work are a huge drain on our economy and social services and may be a threat to our security. Most sentient citizens know that the Iran deal is a catastrophe, that it has not stopped that country's fast track to being a nuclear power any more than Bill Clinton's "outreach" stopped North Korea from becoming a nuclear power. The mullahs brag about their victory on that score. We got skunked by Obama, Kerry, and Iran, operating in sync but at cross purposes from our own national security. Pence is right that Obama has made us weaker and more vulnerable. He is right that our military has been eviscerated under the current administration. The poverty level has risen under Obama, as have crime and the murder rate. The racial divide has been set back fifty years. Obama has done all this with Hillary's acquiescence and her help. They are on the same page when it comes to being pro-Black Lives Matter and all that that entails, and they are both anti-police and all that that entails. Civilized citizens of all races, creeds, and colors want a civilized society. Black Lives Matter, a Soros-funded group, is antithetical to peace and safety in the communities that need police protection the most. Hillary and Kaine are on the wrong side of peace and safety. They are on the wrong side when it comes to the importation of unvetted refugees from ISIS territories. ISIS is in 23 countries now; it is no longer a jayvee team. As for Trump's taxes, he did nothing illegal, nothing that the Clintons or the NYT or millions of other business have not done. Whether their loss was $900M or $50K, the law helps businesses stay in business. It's fair, and it works. The Hillary campaign's attempt to make Trump a heretic for using the same law she uses is, as is her habit, hypocritical in the extreme. Kaine tried to indict the Trump Foundation, knowing full well that the Clinton Foundation is the biggest scam ever perpetrated by an American politician. And Pence was correct: only 5.7% of Clinton funds go to charity. The millions they take in from domestic and foreign donors for access to wealth and influence fund their luxurious, very privileged lifestyle. Trump was a difficult candidate for many conservative Americans to accept as legitimate, but for the fact that many, many more millions of Americans have so enthusiastically gravitated to him. His rallies and speeches outdraw Hillary's by ten times. But what was initially a mystery has become clearer and clearer: there are many millions of Americans who are outraged at what has been done to their country over the last eight years. The Obama administration, of which Hillary was a part, has taken the whole race, class, and gender trope and its belief in imposed equality from the ridiculous to the absurd. Genderless bathrooms in schools, no voter ID, open borders, a proposed "adopt a refugee" plan, Common Core, leadership from behind, the refusal to utter the words "radical Islamic terrorism," the government assault on all religions except Islam, the planned destruction of capitalism using the AGW hoax as the tool. Many conservatives who watched the V.P. debate undoubtedly wished that Pence were the candidate for president because he is so much better informed on the world situation and the intricacies of the economy and is a much better speaker. But so were all the other people Trump ran against, and Trump won the nomination. He won because he does not speak like a polished politician, as Pence rightly remarked. People are sick to death of slick politicians. The Clintons are the slickest of all; they lie, cheat, steal, anything to gain more wealth and power. And they will not stop being who they are if elected. Trump is an outlier at a time when we clearly need an outlier. Someone needs to take this country in a new and different direction, one toward growth, stability, safety, and security. Hillary represents the further decline of America. What Trump represents is not entirely clear, but it will be a change, and change is good. And Don King supports Trump. It's a sign!