I know most people on this site are not supporters of President Obama, but I like these clips from a speech of his last week. He says the campaign rhetoric tarnishes the American brand. I happen to be travelling, and the few people who have mentioned US politics almost seem embarrassed for me because of the carnival nature of our election.

The sense that facts don’t matter, that they're not relevant. That what matters is how much attention you can generate.

I say this not because of some vague notion of "political correctness," which seems to be increasingly an excuse to just say offensive things or lie out loud.

But when our elected officials and our political campaign become entirely untethered to reason and facts and analysis, when it doesn’t matter what's true and what's not, that makes it all but impossible for us to make good decisions on behalf of future generations.

Full speech is here: http://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11323600...
Excerpt clips (84 seconds worth) are at the title link