So this past summer I visited Gettysburg for the second time. It was a more in depth visit this time. The takeaway was that it was the turning point of the Civil War and it could have gone either way. It wasn't until the third day and Pickett's Charge was stopped and the Union won. It was the high watermark of the Confederacy and from then on it was a matter of grinding them down.
Last night was the first presidental debate between the two main candidates. It wasn't a decisive win for HIllary Clinton, but she did what she needed to do and got in one very good hit. There are two debates to go. They may not decide the outcome of the election. However, what she did told me she has the skills to land several more hits including the knockout blow. Now, we cannot understimate Herr Drumpf, he of tiny hands, expensive hair weave, and spray-on tan, but he can be defeated and the consequences of not doing could easily play out at best what happened in Italy with Berlusconni, or slighly worse in the Phillipines with Duterte, or even worse what has happened in Russia with Putin.
Now, you have to ask yourself why do I think Clinton is a better candidate? I'll let John Oliver explain. He does not gloss over her defects. All I'm going to say is that Oliver deserves an Emmy for best use of raisins as a metaphor.
Gettysburg-Debate connection: The battle of Gettysburg lasted 3 days; there are 3 debates. The consequences of that battle lives with us to this very day and the consequences of this election could equally last as long. I await Drumpf's Charge.