Like a Cowboys/Browns Superbowl, I am rooting for injuries.
So far, Rudy and Mitt are doing their best to alienate the six remaining Hispanic voters who might consider voting for a Republican.
*** Update ***
Thompson with a dig on Giuliani regarding Kerik while kicking Romney in the junk. We approve.
*** Update ***
8:25 PM, and the theme is still “BOO SCARY IMMIGRANTS!”
*** Update ***
The more I listen to Mitt Romney, the more I viscerally dislike him. He is just a snake.
*** Update ***
I switched to ABC to watch the Grinch.
*** Update ***
I turned it back on around 9:49, and once again, Mitt Romney is left explaining why he no longer believes whatever it was he said to get elected in Massachussetts.
*** Update ***
And yet another Republican debate, and I don’t agree with much of what he is saying, but Mike Huckabee is absolutely wiping the damned floor with everyone. He is an actual person. You get the feeling he believes what he is saying, which shouldn’t be so extraordinary, but with this bunch of phonies and frauds, it seems to be a characteristic limited to Huckabee, Ron Paul, and, occasionally, Fred Thompson.
*** Update ***
Reason’s take on the WWJD death Penalty question:
9:15: The death penalty: “What would Jesus do?” Huckabee soars with a lot of friffery about how hard it was to make the decision. (“Shorter Huckabee: I’ll kill people but I’ll cry about it.“)
The Other Andrew
I’m hoping for an impromptu question about Rudy using NYC funds to pay for trips with his then-mistress/future wife…
r€nato
just let us know if Ron Paul goes on any righteous rants.
Jake
Wow, Thompson showed up?
Did he demand a Standing O before he’d speak?
Ted
A snake who thinks he can buy the presidency. The sad part is it’s within the realm of possibility.
r€nato
And to think Bill Clinton gets derided as ‘Slick Willie’.
Mitt Romney is kind of what you’d get if Anthony Robbins were Mormon and decided to run for president.
scarshapedstar
Well, since Giuliani fucked himself in the process of fucking a hooker / indigent defendants, Romney’s in. This is awesome. You may think Hillary is a harpy, but she’s not slimy. And Rudy was the only asshole big enough to will really draw out the spite voters. The Dems having won both sides of the character battle, I offer my prediction:
Democrats take every state but Utah and win a supermajority in the Senate, helped along by at least 20 more GOP resignations, two of whom will be Senators.
scarshapedstar
Correction: I’m being told Rudy’s girlfriend may not have been a hooker.
Ted
Read his 5 sons’ campaign blog. Or rather, read TBogg’s weekly perusal of it on Sundays. It’s like they’re trying to be parody.
Rusty Shackleford
How do you think Giuliani did on his response to the billing story question?
John Cole
I switched to the Grinch.
cd6
Romney’s solution to inner city crime is to have more parents?
How, exactly, would he accomplish that?
jake
Now there’s a metaphor for something or other.
D-Chance.
Bah, I can’t take any more. Even during the first hour or so I had to keep switching channels to keep from throwing something at the tube. And not just over the candidates. The YouTube concept is crap. CNN’s presentation is crap. The crowd is crap. They want entertainment, not debate. What a waste of time.
cleek
that would be goddammed hilarious.
Atrios has a good prediction too: whoever wins the GOP nomination will be a total asshole.
i think he’ll be right – he usually is.
global yokel
Anybody who is taking the time to watch this sorry lot of Republicans debate each other on TV has too much time on their hands. Take up knitting or croquet or something, John….
demimondian
The only problem with Huckabee is that he’s a lunatic Christocrat whose support arises mostly from the Terri Schiavo and the rest of the Swedish Women’s Volleyball team.
Psycheout
There was a good exchange near the beginning where Romney said that Rudy ran a sanctuary city. Rudy said Romney had a sanctuary mansion. Zing! Because Romney had illegals working there. Ouch.
I was hoping they were going to brawl and take each other out. Oh well, didn’t happen.
A clip of Romney from 1996 (?) showed Romney in full support of abortion. Romney, unsuccessfully quipped that he didn’t recognize the young man in the video. No kidding Mitt, because you’re a chameleon.
Someone asked Ron Paul if he believed in the nutty conspiracy theories that his followers do, and Ron downplayed that these concerns were conspiracies while McCain visibly smirked. I was hoping the other candidates would discuss the CFR, the Bilderbergs, the Trilateral Commission and the illuminati, but nobody else was asked to comment. Oh well. That would have been fun.
Mostly not much happened. Ron Paul was mostly minimized. And there weren’t any fireworks about the revelation that Giuliani may well have used taxpayer funds to have fun with his mistress while mayor. I wonder if that story will grow legs….
The Brigadier General arguing for allowing gays to serve openly in the military was heckled by some. Although I don’t agree with the guy (who came out as a homosexual after retiring), I thought heckling him was disgraceful.
Those are my first impressions from the debate.
Psycheout
Oops, I forgot to say, “over to you, John.”
Sorry about that.
Psycheout
And I do agree with you, John, about how Huck looked and sounded during the debate. He sounded real and genuine. Pity, since he’s a tax and spend liberal who supports handouts for illegals and helped get a rapist out of jail who went on to murder a woman. Other than that, he’s pretty swell.
Huck might do really well in Iowa, and that might help him get taken more seriously in other states. We shall see.
qwerty42
McCain was pretty good on torture. really sounded po’d on the issue.
Psycheout
Since John was watching the Grinch, maybe I can help.
Rudy brushed it off, saying it wasn’t true and that he had nothing to do with the accounting and that it was certainly legit anyway. I think we’ll hear more about this. At least I hope so. It just adds to the questions about his character and his honesty.
Carpetbagger Report compiled a list of the shady people Giuliani has associated with. Are these the best people he can find? Hmmm.
Okay, back to you.
demimondian
Here’s my first question for Huckabee:
Psycheout
Romney totally avoided the torture question. I don’t know why he couldn’t just come out and say that waterboarding is like light tickling or something.
Instead he said that he would not let the enemy know what techniques we would use for interrogation. And he emphatically said he did not approve of torture, whatever he means by that.
Just hearing him twist and turn and evade and parse is darn near torture in itself. So I’m not sure he knows what torture really is. Just take a definite stand for once, Slick Willard.
Back to you.
Ari
http://www.youtube.com/republicandebate
The punchline writes itself: I only checked it and the questions adjacent, so I don’t know if other questions are also affected, but why is question 6 (Ron Paul’s re: conspiracy theories) the only one no longer available?
Teak111
Is Guiliani so bad? At least he’s a religious nutter or pro-life Jesus freak who thinks every word in the bible is true. Christ on a crutch the people asking the questions are more frightening then the candidates. The GOP is definitely a religious party. Hillary has a cold see U next tuesdayness to her and lacks the human qualities you see in Huckabee. Rudy also has a track record. I’ll vote democrat as a parched man drinks water, but Rudy v Clinton will be closer then you think.
Zifnab
Did you catch the post-debate analysis? That one little old lady on the end got asked which of the candidates she liked the best. Her response? John Edwards.
Pwned!
STEVEinSC
I had nearly despaired for this country, but McCain, for all his faults, speaks for me on the question of torture. I believe he opposes it in his soul and I honor him for it.
Cinderella Ferret
I was hoping the Grover Norquist (average citizen, eh?) question would end with him kneeling in front of a group of masked men with large knives. Oh well, we always have next year.
Or, maybe a headline tomorrow that Rudy suffered a shoulder separation when he tried to answer his cell phone while responding to a question.
You are right about Huckabee. Seems like a good old fashioned minister at a country church somewhere in Arkansas. Quite appropriate for the modern Republican party.
I have a theory that I haven’t quite put together yet. More homework to be done. But I would be curious to get your input. The Whigs self-destructed in 1856, and were succeeded by the Republican Party. Are we witnessing the the disintegration of the Republican Party as the do not seem to be able to shake the religious overtones? Are they pushing traditional Republicans away with their religious zealotry?
John S.
Nonsense.
I know Giuliani v. Clinton looks good on paper, but you need to think along the lines of 1972 Nixon v. McGovern – in reverse.
If Giuliani gets the nod, it will be open season on him. The man has as many actual scandals as Clinton has imaginary, and up to this point the media hasn’t really payed much attention to any of his indiscretions. That will all change if he is the republican candidate (the ads against him alone would be breathtaking). And in a one-on-one debate, he will come across as the authoritarian madman he truly is.
The competitiveness of such a matchup is pure fantasy.
John S.
Next you’re going to tell us that you looked into Putin’s eyes and saw what a good man he is.
DougJ
Romney’s solution to inner city crime is to have more parents?
How, exactly, would he accomplish that?
DougJ
Sorry, I hit submit too early.
He’s Mormon. Do you really have to ask how Mormons make sure kids have more parents?
STEVEinSC
Did you listen to him or were you too busy running your mouth?
Tsulagi
Sure didn’t care to watch it continuously, but from what I saw I’d go with that.
Seems McCain was the designated Ron Paul basher tonight. It’s like these guys take turns at each debate.
Other impressions, can Mitt ooze any more oilyness? Guy should be one of those late-night televangelists selling salvation in three easy payments.
McCain trying to rekindle his maverickiness on torture. Bitchslapped Romney on it. But if Romney didn’t have his magic underwear all bunched up, he could easily have counterattacked McCain using his own record. Stood by accepting and even helping Bush gut his anti-torture amendment, then later going completely ass up on MCA. When it counted, McCain led the charge to roll over and suppress any gag reflex in pleasuring Bush/Cheney.
Cinderella Ferret
Except when they “tickle” our men and women. Then we convict them of war crimes. You know, kind of like we did to the Germans and Japanese who waterboarded our Soldiers and Marines. Here a little case law United States v. Sawada et al, Trial Record, Volume I, p.55.18 March, 1946 and some scholarly writing on the subject.
demimondian
I think SteveInSC is right — McCain opposes torture in his soul.
Not in his government, in his soul.
Psycheout
LOL! I am so stealing that!
I’m Joseph Smith, and I approve of this message.
Jon H
” I believe he opposes it in his soul ”
It’d be really good if McCain spoke about this with someone who has influence, and some power, like say the senior Senator from his state.
The Other Steve
Ohh, I’m having some fun over at some other blog. Apparently they got asked the question about the confederate flag, and theres a bunch of asshats defending they’re flying it and saying people just don’t understand.
So I started calling it the Rebel Flag, and identifying it as a Symbol of Treason.
Channeling your inner wingnut is fun. :-)
Psycheout
On your update and the question about the death penalty. You left out Huck’s rib tickler. What would Jesus do? Huck replied that Jesus was too smart to ever run for political office.
And an oldie but a goodie, when asked about the space program and a mission to Mars, Huck cracked another one. He wasn’t sure about the mission, but he would support putting Hillary Clinton on the first rocket to Mars. Zing!
D-Chance.
DKos is saying the confed flag guy was doing some sandbagging. The V for Vendetta mask in the background, and the guy has already YouTubed admitting as much.
The gay brigadeer general was also a sandbagger, of sorts. Coop even had to admit afterwards he was tied with Hillary.
CNN, as usual, half-assed it. Not surprised. None of these cable networks seem to have a clue. Can we just have all this stuff on PBS where they don’t worry about jazzing it up for ratings while otherwise doing second-rate work like MSNBC, Fox, and CNN?
Dreggas
Fixed.
Psycheout
Apparently The Corner has pointed out that the General who asked about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is a member of Hillary Clinton’s Gay Steering Committee. How gay can you get?
Ambush! Nice of you to let us know, CNN.
Bruce Moomaw
When the Weekly Standard starts talking like Mencken about the GOP candidates, you know the party has problems.
Apparently Kevin Drum’s (or was it Yglesias’?) prediction about the results of a YouTube-question debate among the GOP candidates proved correct. According to “Richelieu”: “America got to see a vaguely threatening parade of gun fetishists, flat worlders, Mars Explorers, Confederate flag lovers and zombie-eyed Bible-wavers…The media will probably award a win to Mike Huckabee, the easy-listening music candidate — at home in any crowd, fluent in simpleton-speak, and the one man on the stage tonight who led the audience to roaring cheers by boasting that he had a special qualification to be president that none of the second-raters on the stage could match: A degree in Bible Studies from Ouachita Baptist University of Arkadelphia, Arkansas.”
Dreggas
The MSM will have a heyday with that one and while it is funny, the guy is still a citizen and should have every right to ask a question of the candidates.
Dreggas
My above comment being made, it is interesting how Hillary not only plants people at her own events but at everyone else’s as well.
ThymeZone
Ahem: 6000-year-old earth.
Andrew
Almost as gay as Rudy?
ThymeZone
Huckabee, on health care. See, sickness is avoidable. If more people avoided sickness, then health would be cheaper.
Give me a fucking break, you guys, and stop talking about this goddam idiot as if he’s somehow acceptable because he’s “likeable.” Rain Man was likeable. But the fellow played by Dustin Hoffman would not make a very good president, now, would he?
The Other Steve
D-Chance – Not really surprising. If you have sampled some of the 4,000+ videos submitted, about 99% of them came from Democrats or Ron Paul supporters.
I don’t think your typical Republican understands what youtube is.
The Other Steve
People seem to be saying, he’s the only one that sounds kind of nice. Even though he’s rather ignorant, and if anybody got a chance to see him this week on the Kenneth Copeland Ministries… he is a danger to our nation.
He’s the one to fear, because he sounds somewhat reasonable at times, but is even more radical than Bush.
Liberal Lurker
This is what we fans of SEC football call a meteor game. Like when FSU and Miami play: the best possible outcome is for a meteor to fall from the sky, reigning death and destruction on both teams.
Dreggas
the fact that he was on that 2 bit snake oil salesman’s show is enough to say he shouldn’t be president.
TenguPhule
Who are we comparing him against? The current occupant?
TenguPhule
McCain will suck donkey dick if it would get him votes, any qualms about torture were chucked out of his soul long ago.
TenguPhule
Uh, someone tell Psyche that this is Bush’s position on torture being plagerized by one of the candidates.
Tsulagi
That’s all it is. Seems like he may be a nice guy, but no way in hell would I vote for him.
As far as the Huckster’s solution for the health care crisis, I keep waiting for him or one of the other SoCon believers to propose the Christian Scientist approach. You know, healthcare delivered through prayer to Jesus. The Atlanta mayor thought prayer was the solution to solve their water crisis, why not medical care?
bago
MCA, where have you been?
zzyzx
Best. Reaction. Ever.:
zzyzx
Oops, hit submit too early. Anyway, who says that the Republican core is looking for religious tests for their candidates? Oh yes, the Republican core does…
cleek
Mr Magorium would make a fantastic president.
Gregory
How could you tell?
lysias
I weep for you, the walrus said, I deeply sympathize.
lysias
I weep for you, the walrus said, I deeply sympathize.
Julie
I’m a Pac-10 fan, but I heard that with my bad ear. ;)
(Do all the football metaphors make Ron Paul the Appalachian State in this scenario?)