Trump v Clinton: An appalling choice

What a bleak, depressing thought. The US presidential race between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton.

Allister Heath, writing in "Trump v Clinton: America now faces 'a truly appalling choice" in The Telegraph, London (and reprinted in The Age newspaper) reflect on the 2 candidates and the current mood in America - not a rosy one by any stretch of the imagination.

"It is remarkable how a country that is so good at business, science, the arts and just about everything else can be so bad at politics. There are now 318 million Americans, including many of the world's most creative and brilliant people: the US electorate ought by rights to be spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing its president.

Yet from this immense talent pool, the American political system has managed to narrow the race down to two supremely flawed human beings, neither of whom remotely deserves to be in the White House.

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best ... they're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting."

On the one hand we have Hillary Clinton, a scandal-ridden, uninspiring candidate whose left-wing policies would destroy what is left of US exceptionalism; on the other is Donald Trump, a demagogue who specialises in whipping up hate and threatening cataclysmic trade wars.

Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton for leader of the free world?

This depressing choice comes at the worst possible time for the US: the country is bitterly divided, faith in the American Dream and US constitution are receding and many would like nothing better than to shut themselves off from the world. Meanwhile, the threat of terrorism remains as high as ever."

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