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Andrew Dickens: Donald's sad little speech

Author
Andrew Dickens,
Publish Date
Sun, 24 Jul 2016, 12:43PM
Trump, gesticulating (Getty Images)
Trump, gesticulating (Getty Images)

Andrew Dickens: Donald's sad little speech

Author
Andrew Dickens,
Publish Date
Sun, 24 Jul 2016, 12:43PM

It was a long week. From Nice to Turkey and now to Munich. All the while I was getting to work before four o'clock in the morning to host Early Edition. I saw The Cure, which was a three-and-a-half hour marathon with four encores. It meant that by Friday only three hours of those 24 were spent sleeping. 

So, suitably tired, I decided on some light entertainment. What better than Donald Trump's nomination speech? It was bound to be either a horror story or a comedy. Maybe even both.

Armed with a glass of wine and a packet of Rosemary and Thyme crisps (which, by the way are the greatest crisps ever invented) I sat down to watch the Don.

An hour later, I was filled with despair. Despair, because it's a long wait until November. And through all that time we're going to have to put up with people like my colleague Leighton Smith crowing that this was the moment when America reclaimed itself and the speech was the most brilliant ever, while people like Jack Tame will be whimpering about the fear and darkness that Donald embodies and how this is the beginning of the end of all days. When of course it was neither.

So what on earth was it? Half an hour in, I too was wondering. At its heart, it was a long list of every fear the modern world dwells on. Every boogieman, every bad guy, every paranoia. Immigration, terorrism, law and order, financial decline and a side order of Hillary-hating.

For meaning, I went to Twitter and I loved the tweet that said the speech is like listening to talkback with no time checks or ads. Mostly it was merely a description of perceived problems. Any politician from any party could read out the same list.

But what we want from leaders are solutions. Donald often proffered solutions. He'd "fix it and fix it fast". What does that mean? New Zealand comedian Jeremy Elwood tweeted that he wished he was at the convention with a banner that he could wave every time Don said he'd "fix it". On the banner would be written "HOW?" in massive letters. It's a good question. There were few answers.

A friend of the show sent me an article from the Telegraph which points out that Trump’s speech was merely a law and order one.  We’ll stop you getting shot at home and we’ll hunt the terrorists down abroad and protect your jobs by building a wall around the country to stop Mexicans and cheap Chinese goods coming in.

That’s it in a nutshell.  A sad little speech that perfectly represents the sad state of affairs many Americans have found themselves in.

Stop the world. We want to get off

Hilary’s speech next week will be not much better. All she’ll have to say is vote for me, because I’m a woman and that would be a first.  Hardly a shining vision. 

Donald and Hilary are a symptom of an American malaise.  They’ve become something they despise.  Entitled moaners whingers who believe they deserve to be great but they've lost their mojo. They're shooting each other and ripping each other off and it's all somebody else's fault.

America. The land of the free where all men are created equal. The country that despises big government and authoritarianism but is running to the arms of two candidates who are offering exactly that.

Here’s the question America needs to ask itself, a question posed by the last really great president: "My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

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