Between A Rock and A Hard Place: The U.S. 2016 Presidential Elections

          The United States of America, a land built on principles emphasizing the importance of the individual and the power of the people. It is a nation that has stood as a beacon of freedom and liberty to the rest of the world ever since it broke free of British rule at the end of the Revolutionary War in 1778, and at the head of this esteemed nation is the position known famously as the President of the United States. This person is supposed to be an overall representative of the people of America and ensure, as the head of the Executive Branch of the government, serve the very citizens that voted him/her in to office to the very best of his/her ability. While no president is perfect, they often have at least some desirable traits that make them fit for office. However, unlike all elections that have come before, both of the primary political parties in the U.S., the Democrats and the Republicans, have failed to present the people with a candidate worthy of the presidency.
          On one hand, the most likely presidential candidate to win the Democratic primaries is Hillary Clinton, who, when she was discussed in class, was rightfully referred to as a "wash up from the Clinton presidency in the nineties." This statement refers to the presidency of her husband Bill Clinton, who served as the 42nd President of the U.S. from 1993 until 2001. After several failed attempts at the presidency and numerous scandals, Clinton is finally on the verge of at least having an actual shot at becoming president. One such major scandal that was uncovered was her illegal, private email server in which she illegally discussed classified information with colleagues. This actually led to the discovery of countless more scandals, including information pertaining to the infamous Benghazi incident in 2012. Someone as corrupt as Mrs. Clinton may have a place in politics, but in no way, shape, or form does she belong in the oval office.
           Meanwhile, over in the Republican party, the winner of the Republican primaries has been chosen, and it is none other than Donald Trump. As discussed in class, the man is nothing short of a clown. He revels in the spotlight as one gigantic joke. Every comedy show on television has at the very least, had several Donald Trump-centric comedic bits. Besides being the class clown of the presidential elections, his policies are absolutely absurd. His most prominent is to reinforce the U.S.-Mexico border with a gigantic wall, and on top of that, he plans to have Mexico pay for its construction. The wall aside, however, there are still many, many, many more proposals that he has made that are also ludicrous. Another such proposal that came from Trump was made in Bismarck, North Dakota. It was there he declared that, if made president, he would increase the amount of fossil fuel drilling and reduce the number of environmental regulations currently in place. To add to this, he also said that he would go back on the Paris climate change agreement. No one as hell-bent on disastrous policies as Donald Trump deserves to become the President of the United States, yet he is already one step closer by securing the Republican nomination.
          How is it that, in a country supposedly devoted to its citizens, people such as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have risen to become the primary candidates for the presidency? How is it, in the greatest country in the world, the beacon of Democracy and the importance of the individual, that the people of this great nation have no suitable choices of whom to lead them?