JFK famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” This quote got me thinking. Maybe we should ask ourselves … is this the best we can do?

How, exactly, did we get here, with the two least likable and most ethically compromised candidates who ever walked the earth as our two parties’ “prohibitive favorites?” I’m going with: a failure of the system of democracy.

As I have grown up and learned more and more about the American system of democracy, I’ve learned quite a few things. One of those is that playing the game can get extremely messy, and this year’s election is messy and then some.

This race has been one that is without a doubt the most dramatic, messy, and reality TV-like elections to this date. Both candidates have very bold views and sketchy pasts. They sure aren’t shy or afraid to hold back either.

In simple words, it’s not easy to be a good citizen when both major parties seem to be offering different options that could lead to disaster for our country.

This election means much more to the eye than most people think. On one side, Hillary Clinton inspires distrust,  while Donald Trump inspires disgust, even among many Republicans. If Trump goes down in defeat, he could taint the whole Republican party, costing them the Senate now and future elections later.

Mr. Gergen, a government guru said it best, “It’s sad that I have to stand up here and give an assignment on each candidate’s policy, but there is no way you could tell by simply watching the debates.” These two individuals have turned the most serious job in the world into what looks like another episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

Even if Trump disappears from the political scene after defeat, his reckless, ugly, and childish words will live on in countless videos that can be used for years to come, to taint Republicans as the party that chose such a shallow, self-centered egomaniac as its candidate for President of the United States.

Some might argue that the Presidency will calm his words and make him more mature. I,however, find this extremely hard to believe considering he hasn’t grown up or matured in seventy years, let alone four.

Much has been made of Hillary’s “experience” in politics. But it has been an experience of having proved to be wrong, time and time again.

As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton carried out foreign policy decisions that led to major setbacks for American interests as far as the eye can see — whether in Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, North Korea, or China. This is the kind of “experience” we don’t need to see repeated in the White House.

In the end I guess it just boils down to the fact that one has to be an idiot to actually want to run for president. In the United States these days, running for President is mostly a game for the unafraid, the obsessed, or the laser focused. It’s not all bad but there’s so much bad that many good people are put off completely. Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton have become just that.