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ALPERN AT LARGE - You know, if there wasn’t so much at stake, this whole “floating island of garbage” thing would be funny—because everything is being taken out of context, and every and all rational minds throughout the political spectrum know it.
Whoever thought it was a good idea to bring Tony “Puerto Rico is a floating island of garbage” Hinchcliffe to the big Trump rally at Madison Square Garden really should be fired from any and all political rally-planning in the future.
Whoever thought it was a good idea to allow Joe “Trump supporters are garbage” Biden to launch into a tirade during the Final Argument Speech of the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris also needs to be read the riot act.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris still waxes poetic on the suburban lawns of her very humble childhood neighborhood.
Was “Kill Tony” (Tony Hinchcliffe) a poor choice for the rally? Yes.
Did any of the Trump supporters stalk away from Madison Square Garden in umbrage over Hinchcliffe’s insulting of any and all groups there…like he usually does? No.
I personally couldn’t care less about Hinchcliffe, but I’m guessing that he’s kind of like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog—he takes a piece out of everyone, so everyone better watch their heinies when Hinchcliffe starts his riffs.
Did those opposing Trump drop their jaws in offense and fury at Hinchcliffe’s Puerto Rico and Latino-focused insults if they knew what Hinchcliffe’s all about? Probably not, but they (like most of us) more likely than not thought it was gauche and ill-timed.
Then along came Vice-President Kamala Harris’s big speech, and suddenly Joe Biden shows up ripping on Trump’s supporters, claiming THEY are garbage.
Did Biden speak impulsively and judiciously? No.
Did Biden think that much of America would be upset with what he said about Trump supporters? No.
But the bigger questions are manifold, and in no particular order:
1) Why does Biden keep coming out of the basement or the beach to interrupt Harris’s political efforts?
2) Is Biden still mentally fit to be President?
3) Who’s running the nation?
4) Do Biden and Harris privately (or not so privately) hate each other?
5) Do Biden and other major Democratic figures (such as former President Barack Obama or former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) hate each other, or at the very least bitterly resent what each other has done during this election cycle?
6) Why the heck does Trump keep making stupid statements and moves during critical speeches and appearances?
7) Why the heck does Harris keep making stupid statements and moves during critical speeches and appearances?
8) Why the heck does Biden keep making stupid statements and moves during critical speeches and appearances?
9) Why the heck does Obama or any other major Democratic Party leader keep telling black men, white men, black women, white women, etc. how they should speak, vote, and act?
10) How will this nation move forward after November 5th?
Probably it’s just best if we just let the political spinners do their spinning, while the rest of us limit our own spinning to physical fitness classes at the Gym.
Hinchcliffe did a stupid joke, and a whole lotta others, which is his schtick.
Trump isn’t out to “get any ethnic group”.
Biden and Trump and Harris all have amazingly quick predilections to putting their feet in their mouths.
And with this campaign ending its crazy-long course, the bigger crazy is yet to come… with whatever happens AFTER the election.
Because after November 5th, it will really be garbage time.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
