Posted on 08/08/2015 9:36:54 AM PDT by mongrel
Well, the first of approximately 9,774 Republican primary debates happened last night. I don’t plan on writing an analysis of each, but I think this one deserves acknowledgment because it was the first, and because it achieved the admirable feat of distracting from Jon Stewart’s last episode of The Daily Show. What delicious irony that his finale was undermined and outshone by a bunch of Republican politicians on Fox News. I’ve got nothing against the guy — he’s a liberal partisan hack who was perfectly adequate at reading jokes off of a teleprompter — but I just appreciated the dynamic.
I should note that I didn’t watch the earlier debate — it’s just not healthy or natural for any human being to consume five straight hours of political rhetoric in one sitting — so I won’t have much to say about the candidates who participated in it. I hear Carly Fiorina performed well, which I don’t doubt. She seems to be sharp and articulate, but she’s also a sharp and articulate former Sen. John McCain aid and Jesse Jackson fan, who has sharply and articulately endorsed embryonic stem cell research, the DREAM act granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, President Barack Obama’s stimulus, and the Wall Street bailout. She was likewise quite sharp and articulate when she called abortion a “decided issue,” and explained that she would have voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor, a radical pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice, because she doesn’t believe in imposing a pro-life litmus test on Supreme Court nominees.
So, yes, she is very good at arguing, but the problem is what she’s arguing for, and whether you can trust her to argue for the same thing from one day to the next. Also, there’s the matter of her business record, which includes being the CEO of Hewlett Packard, overseeing it for five years as the company fell apart and lost half of its value and thousands of its employees. She might have a plausible explanation for this unfortunate stain on her resume, but the fact remains that it was very successfully used against her when she was handily beaten during her failed bid for Senate in California.
He didn’t get a chance to say much in this debate, but when he did, particularly later on in the evening, he was fresh, coherent, sharp, witty, and insightful. When asked about race relations, he gave a downright profound answer — rare in politics, or anywhere else — saying that when he operates on a brain, he gets to see what really makes a person who they are. And this coming from a black man who grew up in the ghetto, rose out of poverty, and became one of the greatest surgeons to have ever lived. He struggled through racism and adversity that few can imagine, yet his message is not petty and vindictive like that of the biracial fellow currently occupying the White House. Carson has, instead, something powerful and unifying to say. After eight years of a Al Sharpton-esque charlatan deliberately stoking tensions and encouraging race riots, Carson’s message is all the more urgent.
And that speaks to why I really like the guy. Beyond the issues, beyond even his incredible and inspiring personal story, beyond his smart responses in a televised debate, I believe that Dr. Carson is a good man. I can’t really know for sure, but based on everything I’ve seen, including the fact that he’s been married to the same woman for 40 years, and the fact that he hasn’t flip flopped on every imaginable issue, and the fact that he’s the only guy in the field who’s literally saved the lives of countless people, especially children, I have arrived at the rather safe theory that Ben Carson is a man of character and integrity.
For some reason, we don’t talk about character and integrity when discussing our presidential picks. Maybe it’s because we just assume they’re all scumbags, but I think it’s more that we, as a culture, have grown quite shallow and childish in recent years. I’m sure this isn’t a new phenomenon, but it’s evident that most Americans vote entirely based on which man or woman repeats their own views back to them the loudest. We call this “voting on the issues,” but we forget that we’re not voting for some abstract, disembodied collection of opinions. We are voting for a human being. And all of those opinions are meaningless if the human being articulating them is, despite his ability to soothe you with the sound of your own ideas, actually a lying, cheating, conniving, degenerate phony.
I think we ought to start considering a person’s character as we contemplate making them the most powerful mortal creature in the known universe. If they have no character, then all of their words are guaranteed to lead to nothing but more tyranny and despair. It would take, at this point, an exceptionally virtuous person to inherit the vast powers of the modern presidency and not be morally destroyed by them. But if the person is already corrupt and comprised going in, we’re screwed. There’s no chance of anything good coming of it.
So, character. I like Dr. Carson because he has character. At the moment and subject to change, I think Ted Cruz is the best choice — he has integrity, the conservative bona fides, a command of the issues, and a great chance at winning — but I like having Carson on that stage.
2. I respect the fact that Fox challenged the candidates. You’ll never see MSNBC or CNN or any other outlet go after Democrats the way Fox interrogated these Republicans. But, in the end, I was disappointed in the broadcast. From my count, they brought up abortion once and the Planned Parenthood scandal once. On both occasions, the line of questioning went right to rape and incest. Once again, another election cycle where, apparently, the entire matter of protecting unborn life will revolve around the rarest of circumstances.
I want a candidate to be pro-life without exception, but if the media were honest (pause for laughter), we would spend much more time discussing the preponderance of cases, rather than harping exclusively on the hardest ones. And why did rape come up in the Planned Parenthood question at all? Planned Parenthood is selling baby parts, and rather than asking each presidential hopeful what they plan to do about it, Fox instead asks them about rape? Ridiculous.
3. OK, Trump. The man was a disaster and an embarrassment, but then that’s his charm. He’s really cornered the market on the whole “incoherent train wreck” shtick, so I suppose he played his part splendidly. And now the brave and bold and courageous Trump is running around crying that the debate moderators “behaved very badly” by asking him tough questions.
For the record, the questions weren’t that tough. They asked him whether he’d run third party if he doesn’t win the nomination, and he said he might. This was an unpopular answer not because it was elicited by some gotcha trick, but because a Trump third party run would absolutely guarantee a Hillary Clinton presidency. Given that Trump is a lifelong liberal who’s been bankrolling the Clintons for years, it has crossed my mind more than once that this whole thing is a Trojan Horse ploy to get Trump’s good friend, Hillary, elected. If Trump runs third party, that will absolutely confirm my suspicions.
I’m not against the idea of an independent party in principle. In fact, in principle I like it and I’ve strongly advocated for it in the past. But this time around there are some good potential choices on the Republican menu, and more importantly, I really don’t know if this country can survive four or eight years of Hillary Clinton. The fate of the nation hangs in the balance, and we can’t afford to make a game out of it. Trump has all but announced his intention to hand the presidency to Hillary Clinton if Republican voters don’t comply with his demands, essentially blackmailing us by threatening to put a tyrant in office if we don’t give him what he wants. If that isn’t enough to disqualify him in your book, then I have to assume you just don’t understand the gravity of the situation.
One must also wonder whether they want a president who pouts like a bullied little schoolboy whenever someone asks him a question he doesn’t like. Trump, a 70-year-old man, spent much of last in the midst of a Twitter temper tantrum, upset that Megyn Kelly asked him about his habit of calling women names like “fat pig, dog, and disgusting animal,” and telling them they “look pretty on their knees.” He got off a funny line about Rosie O’Donnell in response to this question, but when pressed, he practically broke into tears, before erupting into another rant about how he’s “politically incorrect.” Later, on Twitter, he called Kelly a bimbo.
Now, I couldn’t care less about political correctness, but actually, it is a problem that Trump says these things about women. Put aside the fact that Hillary Clinton could hang this around his neck and beat him silly with it. On a more fundamental level, a real man doesn’t talk to women, or to anyone, this way. We have reached a very sad moment in the history of the conservative movement when a desperate, vulgar, juvenile brat can be hailed by the “values voter” constituency as brave and courageous because he calls women fat pigs and tells them to get on their knees. And to label such things merely “politically incorrect” is infuriatingly absurd.
Rick Santorum was politically incorrect in the earlier debate when he compared the Supreme Court gay marriage decision to Dred Scott. Ted Cruz was politically incorrect when he defended his charge that the establishment leaders in his party are liars. Scott Walker was politically incorrect when he bravely stood by his pro-life convictions, making no exceptions for rape or incest. Mike Huckabee was politically incorrect when he came out against allowing “transgenders” to serve openly in the military, explaining that our military “isn’t a social experiment.” Rand Paul was politically incorrect when he aggressively defended the Bill of Rights. These were politically incorrect statements. They were also true, necessary, honest, and gutsy. They had substance and meaning. When we talk about wanting someone to be “politically incorrect,” this is what we should be referring to, not a puerile old man degrading women and calling an accomplished journalist a “bimbo” because she dared to make him feel uncomfortable.
That’s not the behavior of a politically incorrect man. That’s the behavior of a man with no character. And Trump has no character. None.
He’s also a man of no specifics, who continues to gain support despite having failed to ever actually answer any question he’s been asked. He declined to offer particulars on his immigration stance, while Marco Rubio put him to shame by giving an informed, competent, and meaty answer on the subject. Trump also ducked inquiries into his business record, defending the fact that he screwed over his lenders by pointing out that lenders are “not nice.” And because the world is insane and nothing makes sense anymore, this was an applause line.
Trump lied when asked why he’s given so much money to the Clintons, claiming he only donated hundreds of thousands of dollars over many years so that Hillary would go to his wedding. He doesn’t even bother telling believable lies, I guess because he counts on his supporters swooning over his revolutionary strategy of being openly dishonest about everything.
Trump boasted about being a man of no principles who bribes politicians, and puffed up his foreign policy credentials by declaring that he had the incredible “vision” to oppose the Iraq War a year after it started. He had no answer when asked about his previous liberal positions, and he couldn’t explain his own admission that he “identifies more with Democrats.” In a stunning moment, Trump — an alleged conservative at an allegedly Republican debate — defended his past support for government-run healthcare, extolling the virtues of Canada’s socialized medicine scheme. Trump is a big government liberal who thinks single payer healthcare “works well” — but, hey, at least he’s politically incorrect! And he’s rich! Sure, he inherited his wealth, but man is he funny when he insults fat women! Let’s make him president!
Because that’s what we want in a president, right? Hilarity and entertainment. We don’t want character, consistency, principles, or integrity. Totally boring, man. We just want to be amused, that’s all. Our civilization is on fire, and we want someone to play the fiddle and dance for us while it all burns to ash.
Trump is not an honest man, or a good one. He doesn’t have the courage to stand up against even the slightest challenge, and he has no discernible platform or plan. He lacks the ability to explain his conservative ideals, because they don’t exist, and he can’t give any specifics at all, because they don’t exist. Whatever his meager and inauthentic positive attributes — “politically incorrect,” not an establishment guy, expresses the “frustrations” of the American people, etc. — there are other candidates in the race who possess these same characteristics much more convincingly.
You want someone hated by establishment? Ted Cruz.
You want someone who isn’t a politician? Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina (her downsides notwithstanding).
You want a fresh face who can beat Hillary Clinton? Well, there’s everyone I just listed, plus Marco Rubio and Scott Walker.
You want a guy who isn’t afraid to get angry and take it to the opposition? Nobody’s done that better than Rand Paul.
You want politically incorrect? Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum.
I’m not endorsing all of these people or telling you to vote for them, I’m just letting you know that the anti-establishment, politically incorrect, non-politician, angry, frustrated, bold and combative bases are all thoroughly covered this time around. Trump’s services are not needed.
But, then, if you just want someone who will make a good show of it while our country collapses and our children’s futures are cannibalized in the chaos, I admit that nobody is better suited for the task than Donald Trump.
The smartest people in the room with all the knowledge are the ones that got us into this mess. I’d rather see evidence of capacity to overcome obstacles, the ability to be resolute in solving problems, and integrity as qualifications.
Carson’s not the best candidate of the three I named, but he’s better than Trump.
Cruz can. And Walker and Carson aren’t in Washington.
“And learn to show some respect to people who’ve been around a lot longer than you have.”
Like that’s gonna happen LOL.
the subject was integrity.
I take offense at any of them being singled out for lack of integrity.
taken as a group, the represent the depth of ability and even diversity in the party.
Churchill had consistent principles, even when he was drunk. Trump is an angry little boy who has shown no principled moorings throughout his life.
why should we listen to an ignorant man with poor judgement to boot?
An affable “ignoramus” with integrity or choose one of those dastardly “scumbags” that demonstrate understandings of the mechanics of foreign and domestic policies and how to make them a reality.
Choices choices.....
Posting common sense to Trump supporters is considered a slapping offense by some at FR.
That said, thanks for the post.
If you really believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
Trump's price tag is just higher. Do you really think Trump made all his money on the up and up? He did admit to taking advantage of tax laws to prevent himself from taking the financial hit of those businesses that failed. How is that "not being bought?"
Tax laws that you and I will never get to take advantage of either.
Trump is the kind of man for whom everything about him screams that he is for sale. Only he doesn’t need money, he just wants people that will feed his ego.
Look at his whole life and demeanor, it’s all about ego. That’s how he can quickly go from being a Hillary pal to a staunch conservative. If he takes office, he’ll find somebody or something else that will feed his addiction to praise. On the campaign trail, he gets it from conservatives. Inside the beltway, the parties and sycophants will get to him.
In his television show, he only tolerated yes-man. He didn’t surround himself with people that gave him meaningful feedback.
I like all 3. Maybe I’m just a pessimist but I’m at a point in my life where I don’t trust anyone in government much any more.
Pretty good assessment. I do think Trump handled Kelly ok, but was overall a train wreck.
Carley Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson...on the top tier...lower tier, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul. The rest are all intelligent and care for the nation, however, are perhaps owned by various lobbies plus, political correctness and same 'ol, same 'ol rhetoric gets more than a little tiresome. Most have had the chance to change things, Rand did but he stood practably alone....
It's going to be a long year.
Didn’t we just elect someone like that in 2008? Not me, but, the LIV in this country. Carson, however, is a man of integrity and very likeable.
Which is why I find myself hanging out here less and less each day.
I get the passion behind the Trump wave. What I don't get is the delusional excuse making for what is now obvious - that passion has been manipulated and misguided.
Once again, a hit piece on Trump which:
conveniently omits the backstory on Rosie the pig O’Odonnell’s own vicious attacks on Trump and his family which preceded Trump’s tweets about her.
Which conveniently omits the fact that the ‘woman on her knees’ tale originated with the woman herself, in a self-deprecating way, during the taping of a reality game show; who herself is quick to point out that The Donald said or did nothing which offended her.
Which conveniently omits the fact that Megyn and her co-hosts injected themselves into the debate* with an avalanche of snark, gotchas, and ‘have you stopped beating your wife’ - type attacks.
Which conveniently overlooks the multiple thousands of posts on Fox’ and Kelly’s Facebook pages expressing outrage over their egregious behavior as moderators*.
Which conveniently fails to point out the multiple national polls and articles stating Trump won the “debate”.
*The biggest fraud of all was calling this joint press conference a “debate” and the hosts “moderators”.
It’s disheartening that the only people willing to discuss the disastrous immigration policy pursued by the federal government are charlatans like Donald Trump, who have no reputation to lose.
Now if by “talk” you mean the media, they are only talking about it because they think the way Trump talks about it hurts Republicans. They want Trump’s idiotic comments to be the face of the Republican Party on illegal immigration.
The more this Trump mania goes on the more certain I am that Trump is a stalking horse for the Clintons just like Perot was in 1992. The Republican chances in 2016 were dicey enough given the electoral map. The RATS could nominate Atilla the Hun and he will win 240 electoral votes. If Trump goes third party the nation is screwed.
Without reading the article, I dare anyone to define the word “integrity” without Googling. I know, because it has been at the forefront of my life when dealing with others.
I agree completely with the difficulty in finding someone to trust. I just think it’s time to break down Trump aura. Charisma magazine even had a prophet declare Trump to be anointed by God to be a Trumpet for His people.
Cruz will get a bump from the debate and climb steadily. He isn’t going to be the type that jumps to the top overnight. He also isn’t the type that will flame out6 weeks later.
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