Game Of Thrones author George R.R. Martin—no stranger to the human race shooting itself in the collective foot with an elaborately described buffet of apathy, self-interest, and fear—has offered up some thoughts on the current American election cycle. (And before we all lose our minds, it’s worth noting that Martin is rumored to have finished a draft of The Winds Of Winter, briefly insulating him from the cries of A Song Of Ice And Fire fans slavering for fresh ink.) Writing from his home in New Mexico, Martin hopped onto his Livejournal account to pass on a few observations about the current political clime.
The author’s interest is mostly the campaign ads he’s been seeing, as his state becomes a contested battleground in the days leading up to November 8. Donald Trump’s ads, he notes, are standard attack ads, highlighting Hillary Clinton’s “crookedness” and using lots of unflattering, black and white photographs. Clinton’s, though, are “much more truthful,” eschewing shock tactics in favor of letting the candidates opponent speak for himself.
Reading the post, it’s pretty clear where Martin’s political sympathies lie; he doesn’t go so far as to place Trump directly on the Joffrey-Ramsay Scale Of Terrible, Petulant Despots, but he does say the candidate “has said the vilest things any presidential candidate has said since George Wallace.” He also warns of the dire threats awaiting America if Trump’s elected, managing to sound a tad like one of his own doomed Cassandras, warning about the threats beyond The Wall.