Where was Hulk Hogan, or Randy “Macho Man” Savage last night when the Republican Debate was held in Houston. Instead of Wolf Blitzer trying desperately to moderate the debate, I thought maybe it would have been more appropriate for Vince McMahon and Jesse “The Body” Ventura to tag team the questioning in their rehearsed and rigged back and forth style. The crowd that would normally show up at professional wrestling was surely there, booing, screaming, yelling, and laughing. The only thing missing from this blood lust pack were signs being held up exclaiming, “You Suck” or “You Da Man” for your candidate/combatant of the moment. The so-called debate on stage resembled the prewrestling match bombastic, fake interviews with the “pro” wrestlers pompously spewing their canned lines and preening to their fans who lustily booed , jeered, or cheered. The only question left to ask about the debate last night was the same question we used to ask about pro wrestling matches, “Are you kidding me?” We already in our heart of hearts knew the answer to this question when we asked in amazement, “Is this fake?” Of course most of us knew it was, and couldn’t believe when others didn’t know. Such was my feeling watching the Republican debate in Houston last night.
The so-called debate was complete with canned lines, interruptions, ill mannered interruptions, desperate and poorly-timed verbal thrusts, contradictions, and insults galore. The only thing missing was the WWF “chair over the head” cheap shot, or tossing of a candidate physically off the stage. If you came looking for a serious debate, and thought this was supposed to be a “real” not “fake” event, you left wanting the money back for your ticket. You came for substance? Ha! This was verbal wrestlemania at its lowest form, and made me pause and seriously ask, “Is this what we have come to in America in our campaign rhetoric?” ,Trump said anything he wanted , as Rubio and Cruz desperately tried to jump into the ring and tag team him , while verbally hitting each other. Meanwhile, Kasich tried to talk policy and rise above the fray, as did Carson, but found themselves in the wrong place. This was fake reality TV at its very best or worst depending on your perspective. It was like watching a WWF “Cage Match” that had no winner. The referees/moderators were dumbfounded and ineffective as the verbal pile driving efforts and sucker punches were thrown back and forth. With the audience calling and at the heroes and villains every moment, the spectacle continued for 2-1/2 hours. We waited breathlessly at the end to see who was left standing ; whose hand would be raised as the winner. As one who wanted serious discussion about the realities of America and the world, I saw no such hand rise in victory. There was a loser in this tussle, though. The loser was every citizen who was treated to farce parading as real policy discussion. “Was it fake, or was it real?” Those were the questions we asked sadly hoping that this was not our new reality. In that regard, we were down for the count in a knockout…..Gary Sutton
