Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

In my day, never was longer.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

White supremacy is terrorism.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / CNN Debate Open Thread

Reader Interactions

299Comments

  7. 7.

    ThresherK

    The tweeting is not the “against better judgment” part; the watching is.

    I don’t know if just reading this and a liveblog elsewhere may be not enough layers between myself and the source.

  22. 22.

    Central Planning

    Wolf – all have different approaches to keeping the country safe. Really? We’ll hear 9 different approaches?

  25. 25.

    Central Planning

    I need to stop posting here about the debate. There is too much stupidity there. This could easily be a 1000+ post thread.

  29. 29.

    raven

    I didn’t think the pukes were going to let Wolfie attack each other. Fat ass will jump Wolfie for this shit!

  34. 34.

    SFAW

    @Anoniminous:

    I’ve lost 50 IQ points and we’re barely started.

    You sure that’s not from reading comments from “Relax, I’m a Racist”? That might do it.

  53. 53.

    Mike J

    @dmsilev:

    Carly: “Steve Jobs handed me my corporate ass ten years ago. I still haven’t forgotten”

    That why Republicans hate Syrians?

  54. 54.

    Central Planning

    There was an letter to the editor this morning which stated he wasn’t angry, he was scared. People should be more scared of heart disease than muslims/democrats/liberal elites/Obama.

  56. 56.

    SFAW

    @Relax:

    “Racist” has become as apropos a political term as “fascist”.

    Perhaps, but you haven’t proved you’re a fascist yet (at least, not that I’ve seen), only that you’re a racist.

  59. 59.

    raven

    A 17-year-old student was struck and killed by a city service truck Tuesday morning as he was crossing a Highland Park street not far from his charter high school.

    The accident occurred after the Los Angeles Unified School District closed all campuses because of a threat sent to several school board members.

    The county coroner identified the student as Andres Perez of Montebello.

  63. 63.

    GregB

    Fuck, Rubio is a smug war mongering prick who talks about the days of yore like he’s a 90 year old from the Depression Era.

  64. 64.

    Central Planning

    A glass of wine should help make this tolerable. And by this, I don’t mean the company here.

  67. 67.

    Arm The Homeless

    Ok, which one of you deviants has been pilfering horses? I thought we agreed to cut that out at our last coffee klatch?

  69. 69.

    Central Planning

    @Elie:

    I’ve headed for a shot of vodka

    I guess we’re drinking buddies tonight. Not sure where you are, but if you can get your hands on some 1911 vodka, you’ll be doing pretty good.

  72. 72.

    Central Planning

    Does anyone really believe the government won’t collect all the data they want, especially if they are tracking terrorists?

  74. 74.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Baud:

    So, fellas! (Yeah!) Fellas! (Yeah!)
    Has your girlfriend got the mutt? (Hell yeah!)
    Tell ’em to shake it! (Shake it!) Shake it! (Shake it!)
    Shake that healthy mutt!

    I will show myself out now…

  76. 76.

    Mike J

    Gruniad on Kasich:

    The joint terrorism task force needs tools to break encryption, he says. “We have to give law enforcement the ability to listen,” he says.

    If Kasich can factor the products of huge primes in some sort of reasonable time, he should forget about polictics and go collect his Fields medal.

  79. 79.

    SFAW

    @Relax:

    Hey, if the shoe fits, Racist. Good to see you’re still denying it. You wingnuts are nothing if not unwilling to accept reality.

  85. 85.

    Central Planning

    @Baud:

    Prime numbers are a liberal plot!

    Are you still running for president? You should pledge to eliminate all prime numbers.

  89. 89.

    Betty Cracker

    I went out with a friend and had a lovely dinner. Just got home and started watching the shitshow. What an absurd spectacle. What a bunch of hysterical, brain dead ninnies.

  96. 96.

    Chyron HR

    Has Jeb! been declared President yet? #HammerTime #Hekeptussafe #Jeb’llfixit #killelderlyblackwomen

  102. 102.

    Mandalay

    Fiorina: sour, depressing, miserable, bitter and nasty.

    Why on earth would anyone vote for her?

  106. 106.

    amk

    Mrs. Betty Bowers ‏@BettyBowers 1m1 minute ago

    If Trump wants to close portions of the Internet to make us safer from angry, crazed zealots, his Twitter would be a good start. #GOPDebate

  107. 107.

    Central Planning

    @Baud:

    Did they name check Balloon Juice?

    There’s a case that could be made for shutting that section down.

  109. 109.

    Heliopause

    Trump and Kasich want to penetrate Isis. Going for the horny-straight-cis-male vote. Stunning.

  116. 116.

    amk

    Diane N. Sevenay ‏@Diane_7A 5m5 minutes ago

    “I’ll build a wall around the internet!” #GOPDebate

  117. 117.

    scav

    Our internet? Shit, Do we have to clear all printed information through Germany because of Movable Type? Or did that lapse when we went fully digital?

  118. 118.

    Mike J

    @seaboogie: Kasich already proved they take math really seriously. Now Fiorina wants you to look at what they did to that guy with a plus sign!

  119. 119.

    Mandalay

    Cruz was asked about killing innocent civilians with his policy of carpet bombing ISIS. Cruz ducked the question and ran the other way.

    The spineless fucker knows very well that a gazillion innocent people would be killed by his policy but he lacks have the guts to acknowledge it.

  125. 125.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Fascinates me that Christie uses his experience as a prosecutor to argue his strength a war chieftain and terr-rist killer. He does know who got bin Laden after Bush got out of the way.

    (I’m just looking at some tweets, I can’t watch these people live”

  127. 127.

    seaboogie

    @Heliopause:

    Trump and Kasich want to penetrate Isis. Going for the horny-straight-cis-male vote. Stunning.

    Can’t decide which of their gestures are weirder – Trump’s “short-fingered vulgarian” dainty/pouty index finger making his points, or Kasich’s karate chops.

  132. 132.

    Arm The Homeless

    Who doesn’t like a good Internet penetration?

    Maybe that’s exatly what Daesh needs, some good ole fashioned American, digital penetration.

  140. 140.

    Felonius Monk

    Star light, star bright,

    The first star I see tonight;

    I wish I may, I wish I might,

    Have a meteor hit The Venetian tonight.

  141. 141.

    Mandalay

    @Mandalay: …and now Trump ducks the issue of killing innocent civilians when going after ISIS.

    Eventually those chickens are going to come home to roost.

  143. 143.

    Mike J

    @Baud:

    I didn’t think Jeb could pull it off, but he’s really shining up there.

    Is he using liquid or paste shine?

  144. 144.

    beltane

    That wasn’t a hammer dropping, it was my dog farting. Old labs will do this from time to time.

  148. 148.

    Arm The Homeless

    Hey, John, can we fumigate the lolz troll? He’s getting a bit heated and I am afraid he is going to pee on the rug again

  150. 150.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Relax:

    Racist racist racist racist … That’s all your side has after eight failed years of trying to prevent Obama from being President

    I fixed that for you.

  156. 156.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Arm The Homeless: He made an unbelievably offensive comment a few minutes ago and now it’s gone. So fumigation may be in progress.

    @SFAW: That’s the comment I was referring to.

    ETA: OTOH, Trump, Cruz, and Carson are trying to outdo one another in bragging about killing children, so maybe offensiveness is relative.

  157. 157.

    Baud

    They bent the rules to let Rand on the stage, and now they are giving him a ton of time. Interesting.

  160. 160.

    Mandalay

    @Mandalay: …and Carson finally states the obvious – that the cost of bombing the shit out of ISIS is a lot of dead innocent people, but he believes that it is necessary. I don’t agree with him, but the man was straight talking.

    The pundits probably won’t acknowledge (or even realize) it, but Carson just shamed the cowardly duo of Trump and Cruz.

  168. 168.

    seaboogie

    The split screens with Trump and Jeb! or Rand et al are pretty damn entertaining. Trump is so middle-school bully with all of the faces that he pulls, and the others are like “you have to be fucking kidding me”. Jeb handled himself well in the sally a bit a ago.

  170. 170.

    SFAW

    @Mike J:

    watching a UW lecture on robotic decision making and control.

    I, for one, will NOT welcome our Robot Overlords, even if they DO learn how to make decisions.

  172. 172.

    dmsilev

    Did Carly Fiorina just endorse Hillary Clinton for President? A bold, unconventional strategy for the GOP primary.

  178. 178.

    SFAW

    @MomSense:

    I remembered that I have moose tracks ice cream in the freezer.

    I’ll be right over. You can’t be more than, what, 3 hours away?

  179. 179.

    dmsilev

    “When something didn’t work in New Jersey, people look at me. Because, chances are, it was my fault.”

  181. 181.

    mai naem mobile

    He got a bunch of glitter and glitter bombed himself. Also too I heard a joke about Cruz today – hes so far in the closet his name should be Tom. Another random thought – Julianne Margulies could play Carly in Game Changer Double Down if she uglies herself up some. Nathan Lane to play Ted Cruz.

  186. 186.

    Mandalay

    @dmsilev:

    Did Carly Fiorina just endorse Hillary Clinton for President?

    The Clinton camp are probably already building an ad around Fiorina’s vapid sound bite.

  192. 192.

    Felonius Monk

    I certainly hope that the stage doesn’t collapse under the weight of all the bullshit that’s being spread.

    ETA: OTOH, maybe that would help narrow the field.

  194. 194.

    Central Planning

    @Baud: I liked the live stream we had during one of the presidential debates. John, do one of those again.

    Damn, missed my chance to refill.

  195. 195.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Has Wolf brought up the 10,000+ (per Chris Hayes last night) bombs we’ve already dropped on ISIS?

  198. 198.

    Elie

    The whole thing is just buzz word salad — meaningless throwing around of terms and half baked ideas loaded with emotion and pseudo-structure. Rubio to my mind, still makes his word salad sound almost acceptable — he has the right tone and cadence — but his knowledge is superficial. Trump and Cruz are in their own fantasies. Kasich, Bush, trying to break in. The dynamics have not changed from the previous debate. No one has the cojones to take on Trump without fear. Jeb tries a little parry, but its just not strong enough. They leave Trump alone — again. It will be up to the primaries to take Trump out… nothing will happen to move him till then and depending on how the others manage the ground game, they still may have Trump as their nominee…

  201. 201.

    Mandalay

    Apart from Carson (who refuses to sink so low) they’ve all worked out that it’s easy to loftily sneer at the opinion offered by the previous speaker regardless of what it was, or whether it’s in line with their own views.

    What a worthless bunch of shits.

  207. 207.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    How absurd is GOP rhetoric on ISIS? Megan McArdle is mocking it.

    Megan McArdle ‏@ asymmetricinfo 6m6 minutes ago
    GOP plan for dealing with ISIS so far:
    1) Sap their energy
    2) Destroy their internet
    3) Take out their bad guys
    4) Precision carpet bombing

  209. 209.

    Mandalay

    @Elie:

    Rubio to my mind, still makes his word salad sound almost acceptable — he has the right tone and cadence — but his knowledge is superficial.

    Sarah Palin was asked to do word association for the candidates and she absolutely nailed Rubio: “scripted”.

  215. 215.

    Thoughtful Today

    …

    It’s weird reading Clinton supporters breathlessly following every phrase and expression at the _Republican_ debates.

    It’s almost like debates are … important.

  218. 218.

    divF

    The level of vitriol in this debate leaves something to be desired. I’m waiting to hear JEB call The Donald an “asslicking poseur”, or something equally emphatic.

  221. 221.

    FlyingToaster

    @Elie:

    depending on how the others manage the ground game

    Ground Game????? In Ioway, that’s been outsourced to the evangelicals. In New Hampshire, it doesn’t exist; each candidate has to visit the central diner in each town in order to have a prayer at their 18 votes.

    Going by Boston-area broadcast tv, they’re relying on air power, and nearly-extinct newspaper endorsements. I predict whoever wins NH will have under 25% of the vote.

  222. 222.

    MomSense

    That was weird. Trump said we should have spent the Iraq war billions on schools, roads, hospitals here. Audience applauds. Carly scolds Trumo for sounding just like Obama. Audience confused.

  226. 226.

    Baud

    @efgoldman: I’ve got no ulcer. We’ll have a good candidate on our side, whoever wins the nomination. When solutions are easy, there is no point in stressing.

  229. 229.

    burnspbesq

    @Leto:

    Cruz knows that carpet bombing is a war crime, right?

    You think it’s an accident that the United States is now the only country that hasn’t ratified the Rome Statute? Accountability for war crimes is for the little people.

  231. 231.

    misterpuff

    These clowns are tripping over their own dicks on the Middle East, er, except Jeb, forever defending his brother.

  232. 232.

    CaseyL

    I’m not watching – just reading the comments and Tweets for entertainment.

    My brother will be moving to Norway because he got a job there. I wonder if he could sponsor me in, should one of these pinheads gets elected.

  234. 234.

    Jager

    Trump just railed about the money spent and the chaos in the middle east, he sounded half assed reasonable and was immediately compared to Hillary by Carly. What a shit show.

  236. 236.

    Central Planning

    I’m going to Berlin in February. I should be wetting my pants because of all those immigrants Angela is taking in.

  239. 239.

    Central Planning

    @burnspbesq: My kids roll their eyes at me when I say I would TOTALLY go see 4’33” if the local orchestra played it.

    ETA – I would make them come too.

  240. 240.

    Betty Cracker

    I’m trying to decide whose voice is more annoying: Cruz or Paul. Cruz’s is horridly adenoidal, but Paul’s is so prissy.

  244. 244.

    Elie

    @Mandalay:

    Oh I agree that the “word salad” is just that… but he delivers it more smoothly than the others. Why oh why do these folks avoid Trump? He is a complete idiot that would be ripe for the taking but instead they focus on each other or Hillary/Obama. Trump talks about “our internet” and the ability to control the internet similar to how China does… and he gets away with it! Kasich tried to push back on the sense that anyone could “own” the net, but he didn’t spank Trump or laugh at him…

    This is going to end in the same place— Trump.

  245. 245.

    SFAW

    @MomSense:

    I’ll save you a spoon.

    I was going to get the cah warmed up, then noticed the lack of “ful” attached to that spoon.

    When I move up there (one of these days, I hope), I’ll try to make sure I save you some. Which brand do you prefer? Ben & Jerry?

  246. 246.

    divF

    From the Guardian liveblog.

    Blitzer and Cruz fight about who gets to speak. Blitzer wins? Cruz comes off as kind of jerky.

    Ya think ?
    (I’ve decided to just skip the primary material and monitor the blogs instead.)

  248. 248.

    rikyrah

    @Lee:

    There was nothing wrong with Detroit’s, but the right-wing is so determined to say that everything in Detroit is wrong.

    Plus, they had put in an Emergency Manager.

    I heard about this MONTHS AGO, and still, they haven’t switched back to Detroit.

  255. 255.

    Mandalay

    Fiorina is laying down preconditions before she will even speak to the leaders of Russia or Iran.

    What a total fucking amateur/idiot.

  257. 257.

    burnspbesq

    @Central Planning:

    Someday, if Mad ever parodies Gramophone, there will be a listeners’ guide to 4’33” that explains in detail the tempo choices made by various conductors.

  258. 258.

    Chyron HR

    @Thoughtful Today:

    We need more debates! Endless debates! Debates every day until you heathens worship messiah Bern just as fervently as I do!

    How can we miss you if you won’t fuck off?

  259. 259.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Chyron HR: and once again the shadowy and secretive Balloon Juice commentariat pretends it does not control the Democratic Party. As fucking if.

  261. 261.

    Amir Khalid

    Leaving aside for a moment the fascinating discussion of 4’33”:
    While there has been somewhat more substance in this Republican candidates’ debate than in the previous ones, I can’t say I’m any more confident than before that any of them is equipped to lead the foreign-policy line.

  262. 262.

    Thoughtful Today

    misterpuff: “Trump just called the ME a 5 Trillion Clusterfuck “

    MomSense: “Trump said we should have spent the Iraq war billions on schools, roads, hospitals here.”

    Too few realize how well calibrated Trump’s election strategy really is.

    Be clear: Those are GENERAL Election strategies, it simultaneously condemns Hillary for voting for the Iraq War while co-opting _Bernie’s_ issues of investing in free State College education, infrastructure, and health care.

    ^ Thing I’ve tried to explain to Clinton supporters as having more support among Republicans than they’ve ever been capable of understanding.

  264. 264.

    SFAW

    @MomSense:

    OK, I’m with you.

    But I gotta be up early to get my kid on the school bus, so I won’t have time to go up your way tonight. Even though the debate might go long enough.

  269. 269.

    Mandalay

    Rand Paul says nobody in the Middle East is doing anything about Syrian refugees….

    Millions fleeing Syria’s 4-year-old civil war have created an international refugee crisis, but no country has borne the brunt of their flight more than little Lebanon, where every fifth person now living in this country of 4.5 million has escaped from the war.

    That would be comparable to 64 million refugees from Mexico living in the United States.

    And Rubio is shitting his pants about the United States taking ten thousand refugees – about 1% of what Lebanon has done.

  270. 270.

    Thoughtful Today

    …

    Clinton supporter talking to Bernie supporter: “How can we miss you if you won’t fuck off?”

    Clinton supporter making.shit.up about what a Bernie supporter actually said.

    Clinton supporter ridiculing the notion of having a _debate_ … in a democratic society.

    Very … Trumpian.

  274. 274.

    Emma

    @Thoughtful Today: Bernie supporter to Clinton supporter: “If Hillary gets the nomination, I won’t bother to vote.”

    Bernie supporter spreading Republican talking points about Clinton.

    Etc., etc. Two (or more) can play that game.

    And before you explode, I’m neither a Clinton or a Sanders supporter. I am a Democratic nominee supporter and will crawl over broken glass to vote for whichever wins the nomination.

  275. 275.

    Arm The Homeless

    @Emma

    Fuggin-A!

    SCOTUS noms have turned me into a strategic voter. The Bernie fans I know completely agree. I guess we know the vector for the Puma v. 2.0

  276. 276.

    MomSense

    @SFAW:

    It’s all a blur now. They are on a loop of I’m so strong Obama Clinton so weak. Then all of a sudden they want to punch Russia in the nose or start a nuclear war.

  277. 277.

    Renie

    Did I miss something and President Obama is running for office? They all keep talking about him as if he is a candidate.

  279. 279.

    Renie

    Can someone explain how Christie has made American safe since 911? And even though it may not be p.c to say this but Carly is a bitch

  283. 283.

    Thoughtful Today

    And Emma, you _literally_ did what I was objecting to about Clinton supporters, inventing a quote and attributing it to a Bernie supporter.

    It’s sleazy, what I think of as, “Clintonian”.

    Don’t assume your … Clintonian … dishonesty and rudeness will play well in the General Election against Trump. It’ll likely backfire. Badly.

  286. 286.

    Emma

    @Thoughtful Today: Funny. That quote was said to me, directly, by a Sanders supporter — two bumper-stickers in the car and all.

    And one bit of advice about insulting someone. You need a certain finesse and rhythm to do it properly. You lack them wholly.

  287. 287.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Emma: FWIW common opinion around here is that TT is ratfucker, not a real Bernista.. May or may not be true. The unwillingness to directly respond, etc. comes into play. Anyway, your judgment – just bear it in mind.

  288. 288.

    Poptartacus

    Trump, trump trump TRUMPITY trump it’s lke a drumbeat across the land. He will crush the enemies of the faithful and make America great again

  289. 289.

    Thoughtful Today

    Emma, your quote appears attributable to me. It’s clearer to say:

    A Clinton supporter called me a “ratfucker” today.

  290. 290.

    cmorenc

    @Felonius Monk:

    Woe is America if any of these klowns gets with 10 blocks of the White House.

    It’s only the last block that you have to worry about. The other nine are so easy anyone can do it.

  291. 291.

    Thoughtful Today

    …

    “Does Hillary ever say anything as shallow and uninformed as what you’ve heard from the Republican candidates tonight?”

    Yes.

    Hillary claimed bank regulations were inconceivable because of 9/11.

    Hillary claimed free State College education was inconceivable because Trump’s children might take advantage of it. (After it was widely reported Trump’s kids all went to private Universities, she _repeated_ that sleazy talking point).

    And a Syrian no-fly zone? … It seemed like a massive failure to understand geopolitics. But, hey, I also recognize her vote for the Iraq War as leading to largely predicted chaos in the entire region and one of the (many) dominoes that led to Syria being invaded by Daesh.

  292. 292.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Thoughtful Today: Come on. Talk directly to me. Anyway, I merely mentioned a consensus. I didn’t call you anything.

    You support Bernie? Engage in debate and discussion. Not innuendo and bad faith. Moi, I think that Sanders is above your level of innuendo slinging, so I doubt that he would approve of you.

  293. 293.

    Thoughtful Today

    FTR: I’m using NoScript with a deleted whitelist, that means scripty benefits like the “Reply” button and instant-editing don’t work, but my [Back-button] does. And no, I don’t expect to turn scripts back on.

  294. 294.

    Thoughtful Today

    To be clear:

    Giuliani’s invocation of 9/11 was grossly repulsive. Hillary using 9/11 to champion deregulated banks was even more grotesque.

    Hillary condemning free State College’s because of the _lie_ that Trump’s kids might use it was particularly surreal as an educated polity would be more resilient to demagogues like Trump (but might also not fall for 9/11.bank.deregulation illogic).

    Militant knee-jerk responses by Hillary _did_ leave a trail of dead bodies that are _still_ piling up in Iraq and now Syria. Her failure to connect the dots in Syria, a long-time Russian ally, with her ‘no-fly’ advocacy, illustrated _consistently_ bad foreign policy judgement.

    Still, best Republican in the country, based on _policies_.

    Clear?

  295. 295.

    John Cole

    @redshirt:

    Like he reads anything here.

    Blow me. As to Raven’s concerns, I’m a non drinker. Other people drink and even talk about it. It doesn’t people bother me in the least. I don’t drink because I choose not to, and hearing people talk about it isn’t going to change that.

  297. 297.

    sukabi

    It’s unlikely that those responsible for changing the water supply to the river didn’t know, seems like they would have to test the water BEFORE making the switch, especially since the river was discontinued as a supply due to pollution.

    Since general motors stopped using the water in their facilities, the city and state were more than likely made aware at that time that there was a serious problem. I can’t imagine that GM wouldn’t have said something, or that the loss of revenue from a major facility bringing in it’s own water wasn’t questioned by someone in gov.

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