Why have our presidential debates turned into some kind of a joke? It seems as if they no longer serve their purpose, they have turned into some sort of reality TV show where there are two contestants left, and only one can remain on the island, albeit that island would be the White House. Is this the best we can do turning it into some sort of TV entertainment? Shouldn't our national discussion be better than this, more intelligent, and not reduced to 2 minutes at a time, or a tit-for-tat accusation contest between the two players? The American people want real leadership in this country, we need professionalism, and we need a team that can perform. We've already had all the speeches, now it's time to get it done.
As I've watched the presidential debates in October of 2012 I feel as if my intelligence was being insulted, along with the intelligence of much of the American people who stay up on the issues. A good many of us watch the news, follow the events, and read the newspaper. We know darn good and well when a candidate is feeding us malarkey, or belligerently pretending the other party is full of malarkey when in reality they are asking good questions. Perhaps the most troubling time during the debating season for the 2012 elections came when Joe Biden wouldn't stop laughing at his opponent's questions and comments during the October 11, 2012 vice presidential debates in Kentucky.
When Paul Ryan asked about the US Embassy attacked in Benghazi, Biden explained that they got bad intelligence, and insisted that they believed the attack was merely caused by an online video. Later the administration recanted that an initial statement after President Obama and Hillary Clinton stood and gave a speech at the White House to the press. If they really believed what they were saying, then we have quite a bit of miscommunication, bad intelligence, and poor leadership going on in our foreign-policy. If they purposely misled the American people, then of course they told a non-truth and indeed, the American people don't like being lied to, and therefore Paul Ryan's questions were perfectly legitimate.
Nevertheless, Joe Biden laughed that Paul Ryan as if he didn't know what he was talking about, but he surely did, and he was asking a question which had been on the minds of many Americans for the past couple of weeks prior to that debate. Instead Joe Biden was belligerent, interruptive, and talked over the question, and even laughed at Paul Ryan. He may as well have been laughing at all of us Americans, as if he thinks we are all stupid. The American people are not stupid, and we've had enough, we wanted him to be professional and answer the question, and have a national discussion on our foreign policy.
If you ask me, I would say that our presidential debates have become an insult to the intelligence of the American people, and therefore they are no longer needed, and if the Obama Administration cannot answer for its performance, and wishes to continually blame the other party, divert attention from the problem, or outright deny that there is a problem, then perhaps we don't need them anymore because they are out of touch with what Americans expect our leadership to be. The level of professionalism has gone to an all-time low. It's just unacceptable, and you heard it for me.