Barry Soper: The Superbowl of politics begins

Hillary Clinton will debate Donald Trump today. Photo / AP

The United States is very much at the centre of our political attention at the moment.

For us we're watching the rise and fall of Helen Clark in her bid to become the world's top diplomat at the United Nations.

When she launched her bid for the Secretary General's job she was considered the front runner, now she's seen as an outside chance.

The next step is for the permanent five countries on the Security Council to finally declare their positions, to use their veto against those they don't like. Clark hopes to be the last person standing, the compromise candidate, or the most acceptable of what's on offer.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Photo / AP

And while that's being played out, the Super Bowl of politics is being held Stateside when the unpopular Hillary Clinton pits herself against the uncouth Donald Trump today in their first one on one television debate which is expected to be viewed by around a hundred million.

The Clinton camp, after threatening to have an obnoxious Trump rich list critic in the front row, saw the Republican candidate take to his dumb phone to tweet that he'd invite one of Bill Clinton former mistresses to take pride of place among his supporters. For a man who's not surprisingly struggling to muster up female support, you'd have to wonder what his reasoning was, although that's the case with most of what comes out of his mouth.

As if Bill Clinton's dalliances should impact on his wife. If anything she'd surely win brownie points for staying with him and eventually making the marriage work.

But these events in The States are of course sideshows to the barbarism going on in a country that the impotent suits on the United Nations Security Council have woefully failed to do anything about. The bombing by the al-Assad regime, backed by Russia, of Aleppo is the worst it's been in the five years of conflict there.

The ancient city is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, incredibly dating back to the third millennium BC. Around a quarter of a million people are thought to be currently trapped there, as the suits from the Unites States and Russia, argue over who's at fault for breaking a ceasefire, rather than re-imposing it.

Take a look at the images of the city, before and after, on Google and you'll appreciate just how awful life is for Aleppo's inhabitants who would have not too long ago held the same aspirations that we hold.

It certainly puts the aspirations of those currently vying for the two big jobs in the United States into some sort of perspective.