Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktSo apparently there was another Republican debate last night and the candidates discusseed Security and Foreign Policy…again.
For those, like myself, who were too busy gauging their eyes out or refuse to watch another debate until jets fly across the screen again, here are a handful of articles discussing the debate:
The NY Times has a good summary of the goings on. And I enjoyed this live blogging of the debate from the WSJ. My personal favorite was Gingrich (who apparently is the new front runner) defending the Patriot Act by noting “All of us will be in danger for the rest of our lives.” Good times. I’ll be sure to pass that heart warming nugget on to my son if he ever decides to leave the womb.
Not surprisingly and hardly unique to Republican politicians, there were some factual inaccuracies made by the candidates.
Not to be outdone, the WaPo fact checker points out 15 statements that weren’t entirely consistent with reality.
What’s a debate if we can’t instantly declare winners and losers (anyone who watched the debate falls, I suspect, into the later category)CBS News takes a Little League approach and names virtually everyone a winner. Apparently Cain called Wolf Blitzer, Blitz, which is cute. And in breaking news Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul are apparently running for the Republican nomination.Cillizza sees Ron Paul as a loser in the debate mostly because the rest of the Republicans were hawkish and Ron Paul is decidedly not.
Last, but not least, no news on the baby front. We’ve tried every remedy known to man and if the baby is not here by Tuesday we’re headed to the hospital for induction. Thanks for all the well wishes and an early Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Filed under: Debates |
All Things in Moderation 
You mean next Tuesday? I don't know if I can wait that long. My daughter-in-laws birthday is the 26th, which frequently falls right on Thanksgiving, let's hope for that.And I'm one of the winners, I didn't watch the debate.Good luck ashot, and a word of advice, pay attention to every little detail, your son will want to know all of it later. Also, some women don't remember half of it themselves and will want to know again and again how brave and wonderful they were.
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Thanks, lmsinca. I don't think my wife, sister-in-law, or mother-in-law can wait that long either. Not sure if you have seen that commercial where the dad creates a google account for his daughter then sends emails to it with pictures and videos. I'm thinking of stealing that idea. I know my wife would appreciate even if my son wouldn't appreciate it until he's much older.
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That's a great idea. We didn't have those capabilities 30 to 40 years ago when our kids were born. But we kept a photo journal of the first five years, with little notes in them, for each of the kids. I still have them at my house and we break them out on birthdays and holidays. No matter how old they are they still get a kick out of them.BTW, generally an induction date spurs things along nicely, you'll see him within the next few days is my guess.
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ashot:Hope your son decides to arrive soon! Apparently, I was 10 days late and my mom hasn't let me forget about it since.Story of my life — I'm always late for something, even now …
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From Erza's post: "Paul’s base undoubtedly ate up every word. But, tonight’s debate was a case study in just how hard it will be for Paul to be a genuine contender for the nomination."Have the progressives/liberals here given any thought to voting for Paul (or Johnson) in the GOP primary? I wonder if a "peace vote" from the left could push him over the top. That would set up a a fun general. Ash — re: labor, my only word of advice to you would be to be an advocate for your wife to the extent possible. My wife was doing great until the charge nurse decided she shouldn't be out of bed. I didn't push back and should have. so she spent quite a few hours uncomfortable in bed instead of the two of us walking the halls.
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On Paul, I would think about that especially if Huntsman dropped out. I can't imagine voting for Paul in a primary where Huntsman is also an option. NoVa- Great advice on being an advocate. I know quite a bit about labor and delivery thanks to my medical malpractice days, so I won't be shy about speaking up. I won't be rude or demanding, but I won't be shy.
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"Ezra sees Ron Paul as a loser in the debate mostly because the rest of the Republicans were hawkish and Ron Paul is decidedly not."This is a link to a piece by Chris Cillizza, not Ezra Klein.
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And I still continue to be irritated by the exclusion of Gary Johnson from these debates.
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I caught about half of the debate. Gingrich gets the best takedown of the night. Ron Paul brings up Timothy McVeigh so regularly I think he's got an internal metronome. Gingrich line: McVeigh succeeded. Paul also again confused the quotation about liberty and security. I also wish that just once, those who quote Ben Franklin would use the entire quotation: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."The two adjectives are the most important part of the phrase. *Essential* liberty and *temporary* safety.Of course I give up some freedoms for security. I don't have to go through the full security line when getting on the bus or going into work (a DoD facility). We try to balance freedom vs. security and don't always get that correct. I'll give Michelle Bachmann an honorable mention. When Perry staked his claim to not send a penny of American tax dollars to Pakistan, she called him naive. That had to hurt. She actually had a nuanced grasp of our goals and policy. That coupled with a very favorable review of her biography in the Post today makes it a good week for her. There's no saying the lady can't rise again.BB
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jnc4p- Thanks for the Cillizz catch. I just fixed it. FB- Thanks for the perspective. Interesting note on Bachmann particularly in light of Gingrich coming back from the dead in the race. Perry, Cain, Trump, Bachmann and now Gingrinch have all taken their turn as Romney's main rival, I find it hard to believe that it won't change again.
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I thought it was by far the best debate in terms of management, questions, discussion. Much to my shock, Wolf did a good job, and it worked well having questions from AEI and Heritage folks.Many did well, with no clear winner(s) imo. But I never before realized what a complete foreign policy moron Ron Paul is. I know he was dense and dull, but he is downright frightening.The best single moment, imo, was when Paul was peevishly condemning the Patriot Act and said "Tim McVeigh was arrested," i.e., without the Patriot Act, to which Newt responded with the obvious, "Time McVeigh was successful."I don't know how Paul could have said something dumber.
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Ron Paul also thinks it is outrageous that we don't leave Israel to defend itself, since it has nukes and all. He sounds like he wants them to use nukes. He needs to be pulled gently by the arm off the stage and out of sight.
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I like Victor Davis Hanson's commentary as much as many lefties hate it. He has a real gift for capturing the point and crystallizing impressions that I at least, recognize, as in, yes, that's just the right way of saying what I was thinking. Here is his take on the debate and candidates, which I think is mostly right on.
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Occupy Minneapolis is occupying foreclosed homes…http://thinkprogress.org/special/2011/11/22/374284/occupy-minneapolis-occupies-second-foreclosed-home-as-housing-occupations-spread/
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Wouldn't Israel would be better off without our help? They shouldn't have to check in with DC for approval to do anything
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QB- I'm not familiar at all with Mr. Hason, but I liked that article, so thanks for the link. Is it just me or does the GOP race seem to be moving away from crazy pretty quickly?
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"Occupy Minneapolis is occupying foreclosed homes…"These people aren't very smart, but that was evident. It's time to just start arresting them and prosecuting them for whatever offenses they commit. Enough already.
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ashot, not sure exactly what you mean, but I thought last night's debate was strong and did credit to most of the candidates, but then I never thought the race was about crazy.VDH is an interesting case. I don't know how much of a conservative he really considers himself to be. In that sense he is a bit like Krauthammer, who 15 years ago wouldn't have been considered much of a conservative. But they have both been merciless in their critiques of Obama and current Dems.
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QB- I guess I just compare what I have read about last night to the fact that Donald Trump was once a front runner and it also appears to me that Bachmann has taken less radical positions as of late. Meanwhile, Perry is being marginalized in part because of some of his radical positions. Obviously I have a different perspective on what constitutes crazy, but hopefully you get my point.Is Gingrich's position on immigration going to hurt him with conservatives?
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I doubt that Newt's immigration position will hurt him nearly as much as the Newt haters say. His position isn't Perry's, nor is his rhetoric as reckless and dumb. I really don't see any of the candidates as saying less crazy things. I always thought that was a bogus smear of Bachmann.
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"Is it just me or does the GOP race seem to be moving away from crazy pretty quickly?"Is Cain officially on the outs? I'd put Gingrich in the crazy category too; he's a policy wonk / provocateur more than executive.
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bsimon:he's a policy wonk / provocateur more than executive.As the'08 election proved, not being an executive type is not much of a barrier to becoming president.
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qb:It's time to just start arresting them and prosecuting them for whatever offenses they commit. Enough already.Agreed. Why these people should be indulged is beyond me.
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"I doubt that Newt's immigration position will hurt him nearly as much as the Newt haters say."I agree. I did find one of the comments to the VDH article interesting. Not so much in the policy advocated by the poster (amnesty for people here 25 years or more, close the border now, make it easier to become a citizen) but for the idea that Mexicans should really be conservative voters. I've always thought that Mexicans have values more consistent with conservatives than liberals. The comment also noted that young immigrants are a potential tax revenue source to help make up for the baby boomers impending retirements.
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"Why these people should be indulged is beyond me."Certainly laws should be enforced. To me the actions of OWS are less interesting than their existence – like the TEA party.
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As the'08 election proved, not being an executive type is not much of a barrier to becoming president.This can't be said too often. Whenever anyone says there are no realistic GOP candidates, we should loudly laugh.
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Normally, I'm just a lurker on this blog, but I feel just a bit of an urge to highlight a few points.First, a special mention of the idiocy that was Ron Paul's foreign policy. The idea of leaving Israel to fend for itself in the middle east would be just as dangerous for every other nation in the middle east as it would be for Israel. Congressman Paul made the argument that Israel's nuclear firepower should be enough to defend them; however, this is ignoring some other basic facts about the region. Israel is one of four known nuclear weapons states who are not privy to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and therefore have no actual international oversight of their programs. I'm not about to make the naive argument that the treaty actually has any real effect, but the issue is more about the fact that deterrence plans such as the Samson Option exist and could easily hold a gun to the head of much of the Middle East and Europe. The fallout from an Iranian or Syrian assault (nuclear or non) on Israel could have catastrophic consequences not only for the Middle East but for any European countries which Israel felt were part of the problem. Current alleged Israeli missiles are believed capable of ICBM-level ranges (roughly 6800 km). The reason we have to show solidarity with Israel is not just that their existence is being threatened; their nuclear capabilities could cause massive bloodshed across most of Eurasia if left unchecked. And without international oversight, U.S. protection is best option for nuclear oversight in the area. Letting Iran or Syria develop a warhead would be stupid, but it would be equally dumb to leave a very paranoid country alone with a nuclear arsenal and itchy trigger finger.Secondly, I'd like to pose a question that has perplexed me throughout this primary process. There seems to be a great deal of anti-Huntsman sentiment at levels similar to if not greater than the anti-Romney sentiment. As a bit of background here, I'm a dual citizen of the US and UK and have only really lived in the US for my earliest years and the previous four attending college. Why do conservatives in the US seem to have such a hard time getting behind Huntsman? I can understand if GOP voters have issues with his military stances or the fact that he acknowledges climate change or evolution; but, economically, he falls in line with the best of this bunch. Why are conservatives so eager to beat on the guy?Third, why is everyone treating Newt as if he is some kind of conservative paragon? He came out with Pelosi of all people as in favor of a cap and trade system while acknowledging global warming. He flat out told the press in an interview that he believes any radical change from the right or left is bad for society. He came out saying that he has no issue with health care mandates if they are done by the states rather than the federal government. And he actually acknowledges that Hamas, rather than the whole of the Palestinian nation, is dangerous. Gingrich is just an older, more academic Romney in my eyes. Why is he being billed as the not-Romney?
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