Prepared? Informed? In This America, Why Bother?

When Hillary Clinton was introduced (as if she needed to be) to a packed room at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum on a recent evening, the room erupted in sustained applause at the mention of how many votes she received in the 2016 presidential election.

Much to my surprise, as I clapped, tears started forming in my eyes to the point where I had to wipe them at the corners. Clinton hadn’t even said a word yet.

But when she did, it proved to be an hour focused on foreign policy, mostly context and analysis on Ukraine and Vladimir Putin. Her easy command of historic dates, her nerd-level knowledge of global affairs, and her rich experience in that realm made for an informative, if sometimes sobering, evening.

There were no applause lines at the expense of others. No red, white and blue banners with her name on them in the audience. No one hero worshipping based on some puffed-up resume. No one padding crowd numbers to stroke her ego.

No need for any of that. She brings the goods, more than any presidential candidate in recent memory.

While I was quite intent on listening to her, a few times I admit I drifted to that place of incredulousness that we, the United States of America, instead chose to elect a grifter who convinced a whole swath of voters he wasn’t one of…