Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

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

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Books are my comfort food!

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Petty moves from a petty man.

This blog will pay for itself.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Come on, man.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / More SC Debate Open Thread

More SC Debate Open Thread

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Jeb Lund, at the Guardian liveblog:

Three times (so far) tonight the audience has lustfully booed the facts:

That the Bush administration lied to the country about an optional war in Iraq.

That he did not keep Americans safe, because over 3,000 people died on 9/11 on his watch.

That he ignored the warnings from the intelligence community.

These three statements were made by Donald Trump, and he might as well have doused the stage in kerosene and set it ablaze.

“Exciting” in politics is an extremely low bar to clear; the slightest side-eye is usually enough to send politicos and political journalists aflutter and especially a-Twitter.

This was far more than that. This was a man burning down a party from the inside.

Reader Interactions

253Comments

  2. 2.

    Trentrunner

    It’s not “burning down the party from the inside.”

    The GOP is not going to EVER let the Iraq debacle trouble its beautiful mind.

    Rubio blamed 9/11 on Clinton

    Carson blamed Iraq on Obama.

    Trump recommended that Barbara Bush run for President.

  11. 11.

    beltane

    In the thread below AL mentioned that tickets to this debate were issued by the SC Republican party. The audience is going to support Rubio or Bush no matter what. I don’t think they’re listening to the actual answers really.

  21. 21.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    I thought SC justices got secret service. I’m not saying this as a conspiracy theory, I’m just wondering why the resort staff found Scalia and not his security detail.

  22. 22.

    beltane

    Trump really has it in for Jeb and the whole Bush family. He deserves some kind of national service award for this.

  26. 26.

    PhoenixRising

    @Mai.naem.mobile: you know what this apparent Constitutional crisis in the making needs? A conspiracy theory.

    Because what they’re doing right in plain sight isn’t crazy enough.

  28. 28.

    Mandalay

    Trump still winning this despite his magnificent heresy.

    All the rest of them are insulting each other and rolling around in the dirt.

  29. 29.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mai.naem.mobile: Its already been floated at some of the gun sites in the comments that this is just too too convenient to happen now. That somehow every break seems to go to the President.

  30. 30.

    Corner Stone

    Immigration is such a poison pill for the Rs. They are going to eat shit and die over the browns.

  31. 31.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Clown car has now been overrun as a satirical trope for this.

    I don’t know what this is but clown car sounds tame and sensible compared to whatever this is.

  37. 37.

    redshirt

    So this is the first time I’ve ever seen any of these people speak, and I’m aghast that maybe one of these people (except, gulp, Jeb!) might be President.

    Are they always this terrible?

  53. 53.

    hueyplong

    In an earlier, more coarse time with different standards for party standard-bearers, we’d have called this cast of clowns window-lickers. The fact that this evening isn’t considered hair-on-fire shocking is itself a little breathtaking.

    As for Scalia, he was so in-your-face, what-are-you-going-to-do-about-my-unaccountability that it’s almost disrespectful not to dance on his grave. It would mean that the left failed to recognize the threat he posed and his accomplishments in that regard.

    So I guess I’ll raise a glass to him and say, “Fck you, I’m glad you’re dead and that the president gets to have another crack at Supreme Court appointing while black.”

  60. 60.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: He was arrested in Florida while driving a VW bug. If I’m remembering correctly he used a van when he did the kidnapping portions of his serial murders.

  72. 72.

    Steeplejack

    God, you people are sucking me back in. One of my DVR “channels” is going to be free in a couple of minutes, and the debate is calling me.

  80. 80.

    Davebo

    Chain link fencing. This debate needs some chain link fencing.

    And maybe a very attractive female with a large numbered card after each commercial break.

  82. 82.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    It really was clear for years that Republican politics was heading towards ending up as a cross between the Jerry Springer Show and WWE, but it’s still amazing to actually see it happen.

  84. 84.

    scottinnj

    All this nonsense aside it is kind of amazing the guy in the lead puts the blame for 9/11 on George Bush, defense social security and says Planned Parenthood does some good things.

  91. 91.

    mike in dc

    Trump is already pivoting towards the general. LOLZ. But he’s right. Cruz is a liar and Bush (W) was a huge failure.

  95. 95.

    Betty Cracker

    @Corner Stone: Just horrible. Every single one should lose his/her moderator card forever. They shouldn’t be allowed to moderate a middle school student council debate.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack

    Christ! Kasich on “growing the economy.” I wish these idiots had to hold some magical Indian talking stick that would burn the shit out of them when they lie. They’d all be wearing mitten bandages on their third-degree burns.

  99. 99.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Betty Cracker: It is! The knives are being thrown. Is Carson medicated, badly?

    Ben Jacobs Twitter:

    Bush: Screw Trump.
    Trump: Screw Jeb.
    Cruz: Screw Rubio.
    Rubio: Screw Cruz.
    Kasich: Can’t we all just get along?
    Carson: Go to my website.

    ^From the Guardian liveblog

  100. 100.

    Rocky

    Trump stepped in shit tonight. Blamed Bush for 9/11. Denigrated Justice Roberts. Defended Planned Parenthood. Trash talked the decision to liberate Iraq from Saddam’s tyranny.

    Huge mistakes!

  104. 104.

    Mandalay

    @scottinnj:

    the guy in the lead puts the blame for 9/11 on George Bush, defense social security and says Planned Parenthood does some good things

    Trump called himself a “common sense conservative” tonight. That might be a highly effective line against the Democrats.

    Trump has decided that he has the nomination in the bag against this bunch of losers, and he’s already tacking to the center.

  106. 106.

    Renie

    this audience is so packed with anti-trump people

    some of the stuff he says is funny but they won’t laugh

  109. 109.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    Jeb Lund:

    If you tried to footnote this thing, the job would be longer than the regular text of a David Foster Wallace book. People are just saying damn near anything that pops into their minds.

    Zurcher tweet, same source:

    Keeping track at home: Jeb vs Trump, Kasich vs. Bush, Cruz vs Rubio, Jeb vs Trump (again!), Cruz vs Trump, Carson vs. consciousness

  112. 112.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @efgoldman: the excitement is not only the demise of the pig fucker but it flips the balance of the court for the first time in 44 years (by the 44th President no less), and saves the CO2 reduction plan, that the pig fucker halted this very week.

  115. 115.

    mike in dc

    I think this is Trump’s worst debate performance, but he is just throwing live grenades out there.

  118. 118.

    sharl

    Hippo ‏@InternetHippo 26 minutes ago

    BEN CARSON’S WIFE: Are you coming home for dinner
    BEN CARSON: Go to ben carson dot com and read my plan to come home for dinner

  122. 122.

    Steeplejack

    Oh, Jeb! He just said that “63 percent of Americans can’t make a $500 car payment.” Really, Jeb? Most Americans probably have trouble with the $200 or $300 car payments they actually have, rather than the payment on the low-end Mercedes that you consider a rock-bottom ride.

  129. 129.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Carly Fiornia just Tweeted: “I watched a fully formed Republican party on stage, its mouth moving, its arms flailing, while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest what’s left of its brain.”

  130. 130.

    Steeplejack

    It’s just hitting me that this “speed round” questioning is totally bogus. They don’t have to divide the two hours into hectic 30- or 60-second niblets. It’s guaranteed to make the crazy word salad even crazier.

  136. 136.

    p.a.

    I’m sure the comments are even better than the debate, but it sounds like a wonderful shitshow.

    I haven’t had a celebratory drink over my goombah’s demise yet. what say ye? Bourbon, Scotch, or Rye?
    No grappa here to keep it ‘in the family’ as it were.

  139. 139.

    lgerard

    I say that for the next debate we honor the 2nd Amendment by arming the candidates with paintball guns to help them make their points

  143. 143.

    Keith P.

    How many more debates are there, anyway? The nastiness is starting to get distilled, but I doubt the GOP will do 20+ again.

  150. 150.

    Frankensteinbeck

    This will be an interesting test. My observation has been that Trump’s followers do not care what his policies and opinions are, as long as he doles out the hate speech. He is flying in the face of two of their most sacred hate cows here, though, Our Noble War Against Muslims and Evil Baby Butcherers.

  152. 152.

    Mandalay

    @mike in dc:

    I think this is Trump’s worst debate performance

    On the contrary, it’s his best. For a lot of the debate he stood aside while the rest of them tugged at each other’s hair and bra straps, and now he’s presenting himself as the reasonable side of conservatism.

    The rest of the pack had treated him with kid gloves for far too long, and now that they have finally grown some balls to fight back it’s probably too late.

  155. 155.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Kay: Me too!

    Lund again:

    Anybody who can tell you who won or what just happened or even remember the order of things is lying: this is a mess. It’s a glorious, totally engrossing, chaotic mess, but it’s still a mess.

    And 30 min ago from the liveblog (just for us!)

    “I think we’re fixin’ to lose the election to Hillary Clinton if we don’t stop this,” says John Kasich, Voice Of Reason.

  158. 158.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    David Corn @DavidCornDC

    I’m becoming partial to the theory that Trump is only running so he can attack Jeb Bush. #GOPDebate

    7:37 PM – 13 Feb 2016

    105 Retweets
    258 Favorites

  160. 160.

    amk

    luntz the mofo. you built this asshole.

    Seriously, this is insane.

    The GOP is destroying itself tonight, and they have no one to blame but themselves. #GOPDebate

  161. 161.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Philip Bump @pbump

    Let’s watch Trump in 2008 praising Pelosi and Hillary and saying W’s a liar and that impeaching him would be good.

    LOLUZ!

  164. 164.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    I was supposed to go out tonight. But this is so good, I need to watch Matthews go nutz in the post game.

  166. 166.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I debated against people like Rubio in high school. Every point written out on 3×5 cards and recited. Cruz is so much better at actual debate – otoh, he is more demented and evil.

  172. 172.

    Kay

    @amk:

    For the first time ever, a #GOPDebate audience booed more than they cheered.
    This isn’t just insane, this is suicidal. This is pathetic.

    Let that be so.

  178. 178.

    Princess

    Bill Kristol just tweeted:

    “Is the Republican Party really going to nominate someone who thinks Bush (and presumably Powell, Tenet et al) KNEW there weren’t WMD? No.”

    Guess it’s Trump for sure now.

  179. 179.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Anne Laurie: I thought about including the explanations, but figured you’d enjoy looking them up. If you want to see what they can and do do, just go to youtube and google them. There’s plenty of surveillance of them impacting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  180. 180.

    lgerard

    I would love to be a fly on the wall at the post debate discussion at RNC headquarters

    what can they say?

  181. 181.

    tybee

    that was a shit-show from beginning to end.

    one of those will come very close to being president.

    that makes me nervous.

  182. 182.

    Rocky

    Jeb looked like a real man defending the honor of his family against the Trump attacks. Trump sounded like Michael Moore circa 2003 tonight. Horrible optics!

  183. 183.

    Felonius Monk

    @Adam L Silverman:

    can we just issue these guys dueling pistols?

    I was thinking that earlier. Would not this be simpler and less painful for the view audience, if they just had a duel off. Last man standing is the nominee.

  184. 184.

    Kay

    @Princess:

    Glenn Beck ‏@glennbeck 26m26 minutes ago
    Who would sit down and proudly tell their children “these are the best of America.” Shameful. #GOPDebate
    340 retweets 806 likes

  186. 186.

    p.a.

    @Princess:

    Bill Kristol just tweeted:

    “Is the Republican Party really going to nominate someone who thinks Bush (and presumably Powell, Tenet et al) KNEW there weren’t WMD? No.”

    Guess it’s Trump for sure now.

    The GOP in thrall to an aluminum siding salesman who inherited a billion dollars.

  189. 189.

    Steeplejack

    @Rocky:

    Jeb doesn’t want you back, honey. You broke faith with the family. [Insert Godfather snippet I can’t remember.]

  192. 192.

    Renie

    can JEB? be anymore of a loser always talking about his family’s hurt feelings? must be his mommy telling him to say this stuff

    pathetic

  193. 193.

    seaboogie

    THIS IS GOD SPEAKING…..

    Hey – all my ‘botherers”, today Imma yank Scalia, and give you the GOP debate in SC. Quit invoking my damn name, you don’t have the first freaking clue.

    And Dems – you doubting Thomases, you – see above and tell me I don’t have a plan. Heh. Go get gay-married or something…

    CHILL THE FUCK OUT – I GOT THIS!

  195. 195.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Rocky:

    Jeb looked like a real man defending the honor of his family against the Trump attacks.

    NO ONE gives a shit about the honor of jeb?’s family.

  199. 199.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Kay: He does, he headlined Senator Cruz’s event the other night and introduced him. His schtick was that Senator Cruz is the last chance to save the country by electing a godly man anointed by god who understands the divine nature of the bible and the Constitution.

  202. 202.

    FlyingToaster

    I’m glad I didn’t watch; I don’t think I could stand the crazy. Reading about it is horrifying enough.

    Off to bed; WarriorGirl and I are escaping the freeze tomorrow. It’ll be about 0 when we reach Logan, and in the mid-50s when we get to sunny (or probably, cloudy) Ft. Myers. For her, a vacation with Grandma, for me, arguing with my mom as I have done since 1969, and being required to drive upteen million miles*.

    *In the Hub, I drive around a hundred miles a week; I generally end up driving a hundred miles every day down there. Urgh.

  207. 207.

    Scapegoat

    Open Thread?:

    Meet Billygoat

    7 lbs 5 oz, 20.5″
    3:44 pm, 2/13/16

    Mamagoat was AMAZING!!! Long labor (32.5 hrs) — terrible at first with wave after wave of contractions with no break. Then epidural. Smooth sailing after that,it just took time. When he was ready for his grand debut he hit the streets with three pushes — Mamagoat didn’t even break a sweat!

    I’m still high as a kite. Best experience of my life.

  212. 212.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Steeplejack:

    Oh, Jeb! He just said that “63 percent of Americans can’t make a $500 car payment.” Really, Jeb? Most Americans probably have trouble with the $200 or $300 car payments they actually have, rather than the payment on the low-end Mercedes that you consider a rock-bottom ride.

    For the record, my Mercedes in neither S-class nor AMG, so I’m still a man of the people.

    But seriously, who the fuck has a $500 car payment? That’s not smart.

  215. 215.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam L Silverman:

    As we were discussing in the previous thread, Dr. Carson appears to have a left side facial droop and he’s slurring his speech. He also can’t seem to maintain eye contact.

    Did he take the brown acid by mistake? Because there was a PA announcement about that.

  221. 221.

    seaboogie

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Is that the same bunny that attacked Jimmy Carter?

    Had to look that one up as I don’t remember it, but let me go a little Tommy on your ass:

    My family moved to Canada just after Carter was elected. We had lived in a small town in Wisconsin, and the marching band was a really big deal there. I was a part of it, and that was probably the thing that I missed the most after we left – because our band was amazing and we just killed in competitions. Our precision drill band played MN Vikings half-time shows.

    So I was sitting there in Toronto at the ripe old age of 14, lost and adrift – waiting for the striking teachers to get back to work so that I could start school in a big scary new place – while I watched my friends march down Pennsylvania Avenue during Jimmy Carter’s inaugural parade. Adolescence (and parental divorce) bites!

  223. 223.

    Renie

    Reince Priebus Verified account
    ‏@Reince
    Our well-qualified & experienced candidates continue to put forth serious solutions to restore prosperity & strength to America #GOPDebate

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA What debate was he watching?

  229. 229.

    seaboogie

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I know my Cheeseland.

    Heh. A while back I heard a fellow (here in CA where I live) telling some folks “when you bit into it, it squeeks”. And I was all “Dude, you are totally talking cheese curds, aren’t you?”. He was.

  231. 231.

    seaboogie

    @redshirt: Thanks for your support! WRT divorce and societal change, I’ll give that a think. I do remember feeling a deep sense of shame, because divorce was not the done thing back in that day. Now, we actually have a notion of “good divorce”, and a grim, acrimonious march to the grave after making an unwise match is no longer the default option. Oh – and we can have gay divorce now too – so YAY!

  234. 234.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Renie:

    He’s Baghdad Bob. He’s closed the epistemic loop of the Bush era Republican establishment tightly around himself tonight, and assumed the fetal position. Karma’s a bitch.

  240. 240.

    AnotherBruce

    @Rocky:Jesus, Trump really is a performer. He’s like a shock rocker from the early 70’s. Basically he’s Alice Cooper, complete with snakes.

  242. 242.

    Kropadope

    @Renie:

    @Reince
    Our well-qualified & experienced candidates continue to put forth serious solutions to restore prosperity & strength to America #GOPDebate

    Is Reince Priebus confused, does he think he’s the head of the DNC?

  246. 246.

    AnotherBruce

    @Omnes Omnibus: Niiiice. What a great week, I might have to start believing in smiling god. I have had more fun with my clothes on than this week, but not by much.

  247. 247.

    sm*t cl*de

    @lgerard:

    Carson quoting Stalin

    Nope, Carson repeating a long-debunked apocryphal statement fabricated by some anonymous John Bircher, attributed to Stalin, and circulated through e-mails ever since.

  251. 251.

    revenant johnny aquatard

    @scottinnj: Perhaps der Tumpenfuror is beginning the pivot for the general. He can afford to lose votes in SC to gain them in the general.

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