Writers from Mad Magazine, Cracked, Saturday Night Live and National Lampoon collectively could not have conceived of a more absurd fiasco than the 2016 presidential election.

In one corner we have the reality television clown. Donald Trump, a man with no political core and a history of being nothing but a con-man who is good at putting his name on things has become the favorite of white nationalists, white working class men (Trump at other time couldn’t give two sh**s about about them) and evangelical Christians who would otherwise be calling Trump an affront to Satan. He lies with impunity and there hasn’t been one policy position he’s put forward he’s reversed himself on at some point, only to pivot back in the other direction.

In the other corner we have the first presidential candidate who survived by the skin of her teeth, a federal indictment for actions related to her emails when she was Secretary of State. A woman who is driven so much by her own political self-interest that she has spent the last 35 years enduring her husband behaving like a horny college frat boy. All so she could be where she is now, which is on the cusp of the presidency. Her “career” is tracing paper thin with almost zero accomplishments, unless you want to count the deaths of Chris Stevens, Glen Doherty, Sean Smith, and Tyrone Woods as one of them.

These two are the most despised presidential candidates in history, yet here we are, having to deal with this freak show.

So now comes the start of the presidential debate seasons. It is supposed to be a time when candidates are to debate ideas and policies and to make a case for why they should be elected. In leading up to the debate Monday night, what do we have?

Two candidates trolling each other with guests they’ll have in the audience. 

Hillary (whether her team coordinated it is unknown) will have billionaire businessman and supporter Mark Cuban in the audience. Trump sees Cuban as an enemy because Cuban has not been one to be shy about calling Trump out and calling him a phony.

Trump, in his never end quest to one-up somebody’s stupidity has invited one time Bill Clinton pork pie, Gennifer Flowers to the debate. She even tweeted about it:

Hi Donald. You know I’m in your corner and will definitely be at the debate!…?

— Gennifer Flowers (@gennflowers) September 24, 2016

Have you ever seen anything so asinine? The United States political system is supposed to be a beacon for the rest of the world. Instead it looks more like two zoo animals throwing poo at each other behind a thick sheet of glass while the world watches.

The sooner this fiasco is over, the better.