I freely admit that I watched last week’s Republican debate for the same reason that much of America did: to witness the spectacle that is Donald Trump.  We were not disappointed.

But in the post debate kerfuffle over DT’s predictably offensive behavior, one rather incisive observation that he made has been completely overlooked.  That is a shame because, in context, it held the seminal truth about our twenty-first century “democracy,” and he deserves credit for acknowledging the elephant in the room.  No pun intended.

I can only paraphrase because the words came out in his signature fountain of incomplete thoughts and hyperbole; but I cling to the hope that it was intentional truth telling and not just his id on overdrive once again.

He said something about giving money to “all “of the candidates, as well as to the Clintons and to “everyone”…because he is a businessman and that is how business gets done.  I believe he even said that that was exactly the problem in Washington, and why he is running for president.

Lord, let it be so.

Wouldn’t it be something if Trump’s candidacy wasn’t merely the whim of a rich, selfish media junky but an intentional act of social sabotage intended to graphically demonstrate how money buys elections and, ultimately, policy on Capitol Hill?

Why have those remarks attracted absolutely no media attention?  

True, they could have been just more Trump-style free-association, spit-balling for the cameras; but plenty of other things he said, apparently with no more measured consideration, have generated endless discussion, follow-up interviews and analysis.

Is the media so completely in the tank for spectacle that they can’t see a story of potential substance when it bites them on the nose?

Trump’s made noises many, many times over the years about joining the presidential cattle call; but only now, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, with sixteen other contenders on his flanks, does he actually enter the ring.

I’m not suggesting for a moment that Trump doesn’t actually think he’d make a pretty damned grand president; but he is first and foremost about always coming out on top.  It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if, once the RNC finally shows him the door, he doesn’t come back with a claim that he did it all to shine a bright light on the role that money plays in bending democracy into the mold of oligarchy.

I, personally, would applaud the effort if he did.