Paul was on the right track in connecting terrorism to American foreign policy, but it’s simplistic to say that’s the only connection, and that makes it easy to make him look silly.
4.
dslak
I liked Huckabee’s comments to Romney: “I supported the war before you did, and I supported the surge before you did.” Mittens got all ferklempt about that.
5.
dslak
Now they’re all being assholes and interrupting Paul. What the hell is the moderator doing?
Dude, you are looking at professional assholes, the best in the world.
These guys are the Kings of Assholia.
7.
D-Chance.
What debate… who the Hell is watching a damn debate during NFL playoffs?
8.
dslak
Huckabee just confused the historical function of the Declaration of Independence with that of the Constitution, then said that the most important thing is that the government recognize that our rights are derived from God. That sounds nice, in theory, but the consequences would be awfully unpleasant.
9.
dslak
who the Hell is watching a damn debate during NFL playoffs?
I’m in the UK, so even though I’d love to watch the Steelers, getting the necessary channels is prohibitively expensive. The Super Bowl is shown on Freeview however, so maybe I’ll get lucky.
10.
dslak
McCain asked: “Where do people come to get their healthcare.” By that argument, even Asian countries like India and Singapore have the best healthcare, and that can’t be right.
11.
Andrew
They’re all assholes. Romney looks like an especially smarmy asshole. Ron Paul is coming off a bit stupid. Giuliani is a child. Thompson looks like he needs a nap. Huckabee is a huge asshole but is coming off much better than the rest.
12.
Krista
Dude, you are looking at professional assholes, the best in the world.
Good lord, can you believe these lying cocksuckers?
Romney is a fucking liar. If what he says is true, why haven’t the Republicans done it (solved the heathcare crisis) while they owned the government lock, stock and barrel?
14.
dslak
Ron Paul just made my point about medical tourism. He is however using an argument that has the conclusion of going to the gold standard, but I can’t have everything, can I?
Dude, you are looking at professional assholes, the best in the world.
Keep firing, assholes!
I knew I was surrounded by assholes.
And props of course for working in a spaceballs reference, especially since the modern republican party is their equivalent.
18.
dslak
Romney says he supports healthcare mandates, but then argues that he doesn’t. If it were anyone else, I would say that he didn’t know what ‘mandate’ means. Since it’s Romney, I know it’s because Romney can hold two opposing positions simultaneously.
19.
Andrew
He is however using an argument that has the conclusion of going to the gold standard, but I can’t have everything, can I?
He had me up until the gold standard bit.
I’m still up for a seigniorage system plus an extremely progressive income tax that kicks in around the 75% percentile and a carbon tax. A girl can dream.
20.
dslak
McCain, one of the free-market pushers here, is suggesting that Americans be allowed to import drugs from Canada. That’s pretty damned ironic.
And if these people are upset about pharmaceutical companies overcharging Medicare for medications, why did they vote against allowing direct negotiations with those companies? Ass-holes.
Romney is a fucking liar. If what he says is true, why haven’t the Republicans done it (solved the heathcare crisis) while they owned the government lock, stock and barrel?
Unlike the prescription meds bill, where they opened the Treasury to their corporate masters, they ran out of time before tapping the insurance industry into the feeding trough.
I’m glad that the last gang of Republicans were fiscals conservatives, or we could have been fucked over mercilessly. It appears they did have mercy on us by failing to “solve” healthcare.
The clip of the night will likely be where Romney is lecturing Huckabee to the effect of:
Mitt: Don’t characterize my position.
Huckabee: Which one?
For my part, I’m enjoying the spectacle of the Republicans (other than Paul) tying the albatross of Bush’s foreign policy ever more firmly around their necks.
Good god, I could take the first six people I see in line at Safeway and ask them to solve the healthcare dilemma, and they’d to better than these sorry lying pissants.
Where are the questions that expose these fuckers?
Health care costs are too high because too many people get free care?
WHATHEFUCK? Surely that kind of mendacity and stupidity cannot go unchallenged?
24.
dslak
McCain just stole a page out of Huckabee’s playbook by calling illegal immigrants “God’s children.” Romney disagrees, because Mexicans bear the Mark of Cain (I may have heard him incorrectly).
25.
TheFountainHead
This Illegal Immigration issue is going to kill them.
26.
dslak
Giuliani just said that “We should stop illegal immigration at the border.” I was thinking we should stop it maybe somewhere around Kansas, but it does make more sense to stop it at the border.
27.
TheFountainHead
Omg, this whole immigration question has been a trainwreck….and the train is on fire and moving at a high rate of speed!
28.
dslak
Oh, yes. Now Romney and McCain are fighting over whether McCain’s plan is amnesty or not. Completely pointless semantic bickering, but it makes them look like asses, so I’m fine with it.
29.
Andrew
I think we need to develop some sort of repulsion barrier that stops illegal immigrants 2000 miles away from our border.
30.
Krista
If it were anyone else, I would say that he didn’t know what ‘mandate’ means.
I’m sure Larry Craig could explain it to him.
31.
TheFountainHead
Wow, Guilliani sounded reasonable for a second there….I think I need to stop drinking…
32.
dslak
If it were anyone else, I would say that he didn’t know what ‘mandate’ means.
I’m sure Larry Craig could explain it to him.
POTD!
33.
dslak
Guilliani sounded reasonable for a second there.
Yes, but he’s using the “this is a complex issue” defense, which will never fly with the current crop of Republican primary voters.
Personally, I think they should support the Bush Doctrine — we’ll slaughter them indiscriminately over there so we don’t have to stop illegal immigration at the border.
37.
dslak
Huckabee will solve the illegal immigration problem by making it clear to illegal immigrants that they’ll be deported if they don’t come forward. That’s a novel solution, since illegal immigrants aren’t deported now.
I am so glad I am not watching this, I somehow imagine I would wind up stupid if I did…
56.
dslak
Thompson: “We’re not a nation that regulates the profits or losses of our economy.”
Has this man no idea what the Federal Reserve does? What about the fact that the government bails out the airlines all the time? He might think we ought not to do those things, but it’s a bald-faced lie to say that we don’t.
57.
dslak
Huckabee says that we should “untax innovation.” What’s the running tax rate on innovation these days?
58.
TheFountainHead
Oh thank God! It’s over!
59.
TheFountainHead
Interesting that the Dems let their candidates walk out onto a stage already occupied by the Repubes.
60.
douglasfactors
Gotta say, having all ten candidates mingle on stage was kind of cool.
If by winning you mean bamboozling a few stupid people, then …. yes, winning.
62.
douglasfactors
Huckabee is winning this debate! Holy Smoke!!
If by winning you mean bamboozling a few stupid people, then …. yes, winning.
There are other definitions?
63.
dslak
Huckabee did come off as the most genuine candidate, in that he didn’t seem to be speaking from or searching for talking points. He was folksy and positive, even though he sometimes spouted lots of nonsense.
64.
TheFountainHead
If by winning you mean bamboozling the Republicans a few stupid people, then …. yes, winning.
Republican orthodoxy just hamstrings these guys. The Republican code says “amnesty is bad” — so we’ll just spend an hour bickering over what the meaning of “amnesty” might be.
btw myiq, stayin dry in your neck of the woods? I am seriously considering building an ark.
78.
dslak
Obama is sticking to his guns on invading Pakistan if they did not take care of bin Laden and were capable of doing so. Edwards tried to do the same thing, but was less elegant about it.
79.
TheFountainHead
Edwards just doesn’t have a good speaking style. His thoughts come out unorganized.
80.
myiq2xu
That’s why I ain’t sayin shit.
You said enough – I never saw a video that made me want to puke before. Or claw my eyes out
81.
dslak
I like how, when Richardson was speaking, they cut to a woman in the audience who seemed to be spaced out, because that’s exactly the kind of feeling he was giving me.
82.
myiq2xu
btw myiq, stayin dry in your neck of the woods? I am seriously considering building an ark.
btw myiq, stayin dry in your neck of the woods? I am seriously considering building an ark.
Ever seen Waterworld?
Yeah, it’s been that way here. Had the distinct pleasure of walking about 6 miles in it last night because I didn’t want to wait an hour for the next bus.
85.
myiq2xu
Edwards just doesn’t have a good speaking style.
Yes, good thing he didn’t become a trial lawyer.
Nice hair though.
86.
TheFountainHead
Yes, good thing he didn’t become a trial lawyer.
Shouldn’t have quit his day job.
87.
myiq2xu
Yeah, it’s been that way here. Had the distinct pleasure of walking about 6 miles in it last night because I didn’t want to wait an hour for the next bus.
Edwards just doesn’t have a good speaking style. His thoughts come out unorganized.
Maybe he is just realizing that this will be his second failed run for the presidency.
89.
dslak
Richardson is completely out of his element here. Obama and Clinton don’t look dumb on Pakistan because they don’t say much, but Richardson seems really naive about the role the Pakistani military plays in the government, and how Musharraf is 1) no longer in the military, and 2) not the reason the military wields so much power.
Yeah, it’s been that way here. Had the distinct pleasure of walking about 6 miles in it last night because I didn’t want to wait an hour for the next bus.
Up here you would be wading or swimming.
So I’ve heard, just glad I am not where that levee broke.
Edwards is kicking ass and taking names right here.
He’s not my favorite, but he is looking damn good.
121.
dslak
Damn, no kidding. He came out guns-a-blazing straight at Hillary.
It’s smart campaigning. She’s currently the more formidable opponent. If he really believes in what he says, Obama is also closer to his views than Clinton.
122.
TheFountainHead
Edwards is kicking ass and taking names right here.
He’s not my favorite, but he is looking damn good.
Yeah, but he’s looking like Obama’s attack dog doing it.
Shorter Hillary Clinton: You two can’t deliver on any of your promises. I won’t make any promises, so that voters won’t be disappointed.
Funny, and … true.
124.
myiq2xu
Why aren’t y’all watching football?
What are you guys, communists?
125.
dslak
The “has the Surge worked” question answered itself when the report mentions that there have been no political solutions, and that Patreus said those were necessary. It could have been phrased better.
Yeah, but he’s looking like Obama’s attack dog doing it.
Maybe, but it’s a smart move. He needs to shave points off her lead.
127.
myiq2xu
Halftime 21-7 Jags
128.
dslak
With Hillary out of the picture, there’s no longer an establishment candidate, and Edwards is hoping he can pick up the support of some of the establishment once she’s gone.
129.
Krista
Yeah, the ads are starting to get more pointed too — I noticed that Hillary’s definitely trying to use Obama’s talking points against him. I don’t necessarily have anything against her, but it really kind of reeked of desperation.
130.
dslak
Obama’s response to the Surge question was fantastic.
131.
TheFountainHead
Edwards is channeling Bill Clinton.
132.
dslak
Edwards did a good job of addressing the issue of doing what the military wants: “It’s the president’s job to make policy decisions.” Damn right. It’s time to stop deferring responsibility for fixing bad policy onto the military. It’s not their job.
With Hillary out of the picture, there’s no longer an establishment candidate, and Edwards is hoping he can pick up the support of some of the establishment once she’s gone.
Edwards is supposed to be the “anti-establishment” candidate thus his populist schtick. If he did that he would be signing his own campaign’s death warrant.
134.
dslak
If he did that he would be signing his own campaign’s death warrant.
He needs more support to win, and it has to come from somewhere. Basically, I think he’s toast no matter what, but I’m simply offering some plausible scenarios for success he might have in mind.
135.
null pointer exception
Whatever their flaws may be, this Democratic field looks a thousand times better than the sorry Republican field.
If he did that he would be signing his own campaign’s death warrant.
He needs more support to win, and it has to come from somewhere. Basically, I think he’s toast no matter what, but I’m simply offering some plausible scenarios for success he might have in mind.
True enough, then again maybe he does just hate hillary or he and Obama have something worked out.
No doubt about it, the GOP field looked like something out of South Park compared to the Dem field.
Like, that was the joke lineup, here’s the real one.
139.
dslak
It’s the endless yammering about the meaning of ‘amnesty’ that thoroughly established the GOP debate as a joke. You can’t have an effective debate if you’re paralyzed by a word.
140.
dslak
Richardson is deviating from Clinton’s script in saying that youth isn’t a detriment.
141.
Krista
The sad thing is, though — what percentage of citizens actually watch these debates and/or research the candidates’ positions and/or pay attention to anything beyond what they hear in passing on the radio or TV talk shows? That’s what scares me about Huckabee — he’s a religious nutbar, but I’ve been told that he comes across as very humble and likeable. How many voters are energetic enough to scratch the surface to see the soft, crazy centre of the Huckabee bar?
142.
dslak
Obama says that words can inspire change. Richardson compalins that “This is typical Washington bickering,” indicating that he didn’t pay attention to anything Obama said.
143.
wasabi gasp
The way Hillary responded to the likability question was super cute. I wanna do ‘er.
144.
sparky
where’d everybody go?
and no comments on Richardson’s Whizzer? oh well.
FWIW I think Edwards did the best here, going away. brave, too: if it were me, i’d never poke the Hillary the way he did unless i was wearing Kevlar.
I wouldn’t poke Hillary with a 20-foot pole, three meter-thick sheets of titanium alloy, and a phaser set to “Extreme Makeover”.
That woman gets mean when she gets angry. And the more it looks like the carefully crafted plans of the last 10+ years are going into the crapper, the meaner she looks. Look how many times she had to steer her expression back into general congeniality after Ed-ama (Or will it be Ob-ards?) slapped her with a zinger.
I feel sorry for her mid-level staffers after the next two weeks are finished. A) They’re going to be out of jobs soon afterwards. B) They have to deal with their own personal Chernobyl spewing out radioactive filth.
Yet another reason why I never was going to support the Clinton44 (Wo)Mandate.
146.
The Other Steve
Shorter Hillary Clinton: You two can’t deliver on any of your promises. I won’t make any promises, so that voters won’t be disappointed.
The Conservative party in UK used that as their campaign slogan like two years ago.
It didn’t work.
147.
The Other Steve
Tom Brady for President!
too bad he’s not old enough
148.
Robert Johnston
Tom Brady for President!
too bad he’s not old enough
After seven years of the President ignoring the Constitution and no one doing anything about it, who can tell anymore?
149.
Ninerdave
“Ronald Reagan” Rudy’s new 9/11
150.
Zuzu
I’m torn.
I have to get a Dem ballot to vote in the primary here in California, because I refuse to officially join a party.
Was planning to vote for Dodd, just to do my part to puncture the perceived “inevitability” candidate.
So much for that plan.
I am suspicious of Hillary, and suspect her people may have in some way undermined Kerry in ’04. Just a suspicion.
But I value competence and I do think she is the most competent and experienced of the remaining field. Though I like Obama, I just don’t think he has the substance, and neither does Edwards.
It looks like the California primary may now count for something. Do I want to help save Hillary because I think she’d be the best candidate, or do I want to send a message about my mistrust of her tactics?
What to do.
151.
Zuzu
I’m torn.
I have to get a Dem ballot to vote in the primary here in California, because I refuse to officially join a party.
Was planning to vote for Dodd, just to do my part to puncture the perceived “inevitability” candidate. Plus I like him.
So much for that plan.
I am suspicious of Hillary, and suspect her people may have in some way undermined Kerry in ’04. Just a suspicion.
But I value competence and I do think she is the most competent and experienced of the remaining field. Though I like Obama, I just don’t think he has the substance, and neither does Edwards.
It looks like the California primary may now count for something. Do I want to help save Hillary because I think she’d be the best candidate, or do I want to send a message about my mistrust of her tactics?
What to do.
152.
sparky
I give the H credit for fooling some of the people all of the time. what exactly is the basis of her experience? being first lady? lawyer for wal-mart? her own resume refutes every one of her arguments about change.
or maybe we’re thinking of the invade Iraq authorization that she STILL refuses to say was a mistake.
the only experience i see here is the GWB experience: never admit a mistake when you are King (or Queen).
153.
skip
Is Harold Stassen still dead?
154.
Zuzu
sparky –
I concede a lot on the disingenuity front, but I think it’s unfair to dismiss her experience while her husband was in the White House. The big criticism at the time was that she was TOO involved with policy issues, and while it might not be time easily classified on a resume, I don’t think anyone seriously thinks she was only hosting teas.
sparky –
I concede a lot on the disingenuity front, but I think it’s unfair to dismiss her experience while her husband was in the White House. The big criticism at the time was that she was TOO involved with policy issues, and while it might not be time easily classified on a resume, I don’t think anyone seriously thinks she was only hosting teas.
No she wasn’t just hosting teas, she was doing corkscrew landings with…sinbad.
Sorry she has NO experience, no more so than Obama. Her only influence the first go around was when she tried to saddle everyone with hillarycare and now that we see what version 2.0 is it’s nothing more than the gov’t forcing people who can’t afford health insurance to have insurance, just like we HAVE to have car insurance. Fuck that and her.
She’s a goldwater girl, only difference is the big business she helps is the one still lining her campaign coffers, the health insurance industry.
156.
Brachiator
I concede a lot on the disingenuity front, but I think it’s unfair to dismiss her experience while her husband was in the White House.
Being present is not the same thing as gaining experience. Should we be talking about Chelsea’s experience in the White House somehow qualifying her for public office? Does Monica Lewinsky somehow merit a cabinet post because of the time that she spent in the Oval Office (especially since she was there when Bill made some important phone calls)?
The idea that somehow Hillary Clinton was magically co-governor and co-president is fundamentally absurd.
The big criticism at the time was that she was TOO involved with policy issues, and while it might not be time easily classified on a resume, I don’t think anyone seriously thinks she was only hosting teas.
No one has any idea of what she was doing, or the quality of her contribution. Hillary talks a good game, but it’s not as if she has any memos, policy drafts or co-presidential papers that she is donating to her library to back up her claims.
Here’s the irony. I liked some of her statements during the debate, especially her nuanced discussion of how a pre-emptive strike against terrorists in Pakistan might unintentionally alarm India. It showed that she has been a quick study since being elected to the Senate, and perhaps even made good use of her White House years. But instead of linking this to good judgment, which is a more valid claim, she lost me when she kept making pointless and more exaggerated claims about her “35 years of experience” or her “lifetime of experience.” Her claim became even more spurious when Richardson could reel off the actual positions that he has held, and Hillary could only grasp more firmly onto her vague notion of “experience.”
I have a fundamental distrust of people who have never held themselves out for elective office, or even been an appointee to a meaningful position, who have never been in a position where they were personally accountable for their decisions, who have been more policy wonks than someone actually responsible for getting something done, and who then practically demand that citizens vote for them to be president. You also learn something when you stand for election and are defeated and have to stage a comeback, as Bill Clinton and others had to do.
I respect Hillary’s accomplishments in the Senate. I would vote for her over any Republican any day. But I do not accept that she has any special claim to competence or experience just because of time served.
157.
grumpy realist
Also, speaking as someone originally from New York, remember that the clown car politics we usually have going in our state (known as that permanent SNAFU up in Albany) means we’re desperate for anyone that looks half-competent. (There must be a motherlode of material buried up there that puts out stupid rays–no matter who we elect, get ’em up there and they suddenly go bats. Witness Eliot Spitzer’s meltdown this last year as Exhibito Uno.)
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ThymeZone
Um, I’m watcing and ….. is this an SNL skit?
Who are these morons?
TheFountainHead
The GOP’s greatest hits!
dslak
Paul was on the right track in connecting terrorism to American foreign policy, but it’s simplistic to say that’s the only connection, and that makes it easy to make him look silly.
dslak
I liked Huckabee’s comments to Romney: “I supported the war before you did, and I supported the surge before you did.” Mittens got all ferklempt about that.
dslak
Now they’re all being assholes and interrupting Paul. What the hell is the moderator doing?
ThymeZone
Dude, you are looking at professional assholes, the best in the world.
These guys are the Kings of Assholia.
D-Chance.
What debate… who the Hell is watching a damn debate during NFL playoffs?
dslak
Huckabee just confused the historical function of the Declaration of Independence with that of the Constitution, then said that the most important thing is that the government recognize that our rights are derived from God. That sounds nice, in theory, but the consequences would be awfully unpleasant.
dslak
I’m in the UK, so even though I’d love to watch the Steelers, getting the necessary channels is prohibitively expensive. The Super Bowl is shown on Freeview however, so maybe I’ll get lucky.
dslak
McCain asked: “Where do people come to get their healthcare.” By that argument, even Asian countries like India and Singapore have the best healthcare, and that can’t be right.
Andrew
They’re all assholes. Romney looks like an especially smarmy asshole. Ron Paul is coming off a bit stupid. Giuliani is a child. Thompson looks like he needs a nap. Huckabee is a huge asshole but is coming off much better than the rest.
Krista
Keep firing, assholes!
ThymeZone
Good lord, can you believe these lying cocksuckers?
Romney is a fucking liar. If what he says is true, why haven’t the Republicans done it (solved the heathcare crisis) while they owned the government lock, stock and barrel?
dslak
Ron Paul just made my point about medical tourism. He is however using an argument that has the conclusion of going to the gold standard, but I can’t have everything, can I?
ThymeZone
Tax breaks for healthcare?
These are people who are voted for by folks who see Jesus’ image in a mayonnaise jar, and think the earth is 6000 years old.
Somebody with a big hook needs to come out and jerk these motherfuckers off the stage and bring in another set of candidates.
TheFountainHead
Everytime Ron Paul makes the others cringe I do a shot…
Dreggas
I knew I was surrounded by assholes.
And props of course for working in a spaceballs reference, especially since the modern republican party is their equivalent.
dslak
Romney says he supports healthcare mandates, but then argues that he doesn’t. If it were anyone else, I would say that he didn’t know what ‘mandate’ means. Since it’s Romney, I know it’s because Romney can hold two opposing positions simultaneously.
Andrew
He had me up until the gold standard bit.
I’m still up for a seigniorage system plus an extremely progressive income tax that kicks in around the 75% percentile and a carbon tax. A girl can dream.
dslak
McCain, one of the free-market pushers here, is suggesting that Americans be allowed to import drugs from Canada. That’s pretty damned ironic.
And if these people are upset about pharmaceutical companies overcharging Medicare for medications, why did they vote against allowing direct negotiations with those companies? Ass-holes.
The Grand Panjandrum
Unlike the prescription meds bill, where they opened the Treasury to their corporate masters, they ran out of time before tapping the insurance industry into the feeding trough.
I’m glad that the last gang of Republicans were fiscals conservatives, or we could have been fucked over mercilessly. It appears they did have mercy on us by failing to “solve” healthcare.
Doug
The clip of the night will likely be where Romney is lecturing Huckabee to the effect of:
Mitt: Don’t characterize my position.
Huckabee: Which one?
For my part, I’m enjoying the spectacle of the Republicans (other than Paul) tying the albatross of Bush’s foreign policy ever more firmly around their necks.
ThymeZone
Good god, I could take the first six people I see in line at Safeway and ask them to solve the healthcare dilemma, and they’d to better than these sorry lying pissants.
Where are the questions that expose these fuckers?
Health care costs are too high because too many people get free care?
WHATHEFUCK? Surely that kind of mendacity and stupidity cannot go unchallenged?
dslak
McCain just stole a page out of Huckabee’s playbook by calling illegal immigrants “God’s children.” Romney disagrees, because Mexicans bear the Mark of Cain (I may have heard him incorrectly).
TheFountainHead
This Illegal Immigration issue is going to kill them.
dslak
Giuliani just said that “We should stop illegal immigration at the border.” I was thinking we should stop it maybe somewhere around Kansas, but it does make more sense to stop it at the border.
TheFountainHead
Omg, this whole immigration question has been a trainwreck….and the train is on fire and moving at a high rate of speed!
dslak
Oh, yes. Now Romney and McCain are fighting over whether McCain’s plan is amnesty or not. Completely pointless semantic bickering, but it makes them look like asses, so I’m fine with it.
Andrew
I think we need to develop some sort of repulsion barrier that stops illegal immigrants 2000 miles away from our border.
Krista
I’m sure Larry Craig could explain it to him.
TheFountainHead
Wow, Guilliani sounded reasonable for a second there….I think I need to stop drinking…
dslak
POTD!
dslak
Yes, but he’s using the “this is a complex issue” defense, which will never fly with the current crop of Republican primary voters.
ThymeZone
It’s the Taco Bell strategy: Make a run for the border.
Are these crazy fuckers going to send out buses and goon squads in the dead of night to round up and deport millions of people?
TheFountainHead
Thompson is looking more and more like Senator Palpatine to me.
demimondian
Personally, I think they should support the Bush Doctrine — we’ll slaughter them indiscriminately over there so we don’t have to stop illegal immigration at the border.
dslak
Huckabee will solve the illegal immigration problem by making it clear to illegal immigrants that they’ll be deported if they don’t come forward. That’s a novel solution, since illegal immigrants aren’t deported now.
TheFountainHead
Why not Oboma?
Yes…do tell…
ThymeZone
In a night of complete malapropisms and stupidities, that may rank as the best.
Amazing, just amazing, that a sentient being could utter such an absurdity.
ThymeZone
OMFG Mittney is making the Vote for Obama speech again!
What a goon!
TheFountainHead
Romney: Vote me over Obama, because I stand for change and Obama stands for….not…change?
TheFountainHead
Romney: Vote me over Obama, because I stand for change and Obama stands for….not…change?
TheFountainHead
Thompson: Obama is a LIB-UR-ALL!!!11 OH NOES!!111
dslak
Thompson: Vote me over Obama, because Obama is a liberal.
ThymeZone
Fred Flinstone: The change we need is to return to the principles this country was founded on.
So, I guess Habeus Corpus is back on the table?
dslak
Thompson is running for president in 1980.
TheFountainHead
GHoullianni: WAR WAR WAR WAR!
dslak
McCain makes a coherent case as to why he should be chosen over Obama. Not necessarily convincing, but certainly coherent.
ThymeZone
Rudy says Obama has “never run anything.”
I think he just got Obama another 500k votes in November.
People are so enraptured by the performance of all these guys who have run something. They’ve gotten us right where we are today.
demimondian
“Let me say, Mr. Romney, that we disagree about many things, but I do agree that you are the candidate of change.”
TheFountainHead
Huckabee is winning this debate! Holy Smoke!!
dslak
McCain: If we send our money overseas, bad people might get it.
Solution: Let’s stop buying stuff?!?
TheFountainHead
Watching Thompson stumble through this half-asleep has made it worth it.
Michael D.
Fred Thompson is REALLY sucking in this forum. I mean REALLY sucking.
Dreggas
I am so glad I am not watching this, I somehow imagine I would wind up stupid if I did…
dslak
Thompson: “We’re not a nation that regulates the profits or losses of our economy.”
Has this man no idea what the Federal Reserve does? What about the fact that the government bails out the airlines all the time? He might think we ought not to do those things, but it’s a bald-faced lie to say that we don’t.
dslak
Huckabee says that we should “untax innovation.” What’s the running tax rate on innovation these days?
TheFountainHead
Oh thank God! It’s over!
TheFountainHead
Interesting that the Dems let their candidates walk out onto a stage already occupied by the Repubes.
douglasfactors
Gotta say, having all ten candidates mingle on stage was kind of cool.
ThymeZone
If by winning you mean bamboozling a few stupid people, then …. yes, winning.
douglasfactors
There are other definitions?
dslak
Huckabee did come off as the most genuine candidate, in that he didn’t seem to be speaking from or searching for talking points. He was folksy and positive, even though he sometimes spouted lots of nonsense.
TheFountainHead
Dreggas
They’re scared shitless of Obama…
myiq2xu
Then they won’t need two girls, one cup
Doug
Republican orthodoxy just hamstrings these guys. The Republican code says “amnesty is bad” — so we’ll just spend an hour bickering over what the meaning of “amnesty” might be.
Dreggas
I promised I would behave myself…
myiq2xu
I didn’t promise shit
TheFountainHead
So, who’s taking odds that nothing of interest happens in the first 45 minutes of the Dem debate?
Johnny Pez
Yes.
SA2SQ
myiq2xu
Fixt
I’ll wager an almost new Henway
Dreggas
That’s why I ain’t sayin shit.
TheFountainHead
Good opening question for Hillary.
myiq2xu
They better have the buses wait at the border cuz they’ll be bringing most of them back.
ThymeZone
So, ABC News is smuggling nuclear material into the US without being caught?
No wonder we don’t try to catch Bin Laden, he doesn’t work for ABC News.
Jesus.
Dreggas
btw myiq, stayin dry in your neck of the woods? I am seriously considering building an ark.
dslak
Obama is sticking to his guns on invading Pakistan if they did not take care of bin Laden and were capable of doing so. Edwards tried to do the same thing, but was less elegant about it.
TheFountainHead
Edwards just doesn’t have a good speaking style. His thoughts come out unorganized.
myiq2xu
You said enough – I never saw a video that made me want to puke before. Or claw my eyes out
dslak
I like how, when Richardson was speaking, they cut to a woman in the audience who seemed to be spaced out, because that’s exactly the kind of feeling he was giving me.
myiq2xu
Ever seen Waterworld?
ThymeZone
Yes, good thing he didn’t become a trial lawyer.
Dreggas
Yeah, it’s been that way here. Had the distinct pleasure of walking about 6 miles in it last night because I didn’t want to wait an hour for the next bus.
myiq2xu
Nice hair though.
TheFountainHead
Shouldn’t have quit his day job.
myiq2xu
Up here you would be wading or swimming.
Dreggas
Maybe he is just realizing that this will be his second failed run for the presidency.
dslak
Richardson is completely out of his element here. Obama and Clinton don’t look dumb on Pakistan because they don’t say much, but Richardson seems really naive about the role the Pakistani military plays in the government, and how Musharraf is 1) no longer in the military, and 2) not the reason the military wields so much power.
Dreggas
So I’ve heard, just glad I am not where that levee broke.
Doug
They all look exhausted when they’re not talking.
myiq2xu
Jags up 21-7 @ 8:34 in the 2nd Qtr.
John Cole is chugging Laphroiag and cussing
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Hillary seems to be a little run down and her eyes look tired. She’s still more coherent than any of the Republicans, though.
TheFountainHead
Honestly, how could they not?
dslak
Jesus Christ. Richardson just claimed that terrorists already have nuclear weapons, and that he would negotiate with the Soviet Union.
Dreggas
Hard to look upbeat when you are down 12 pts in the polls in NH and realizing you are NOT inevitable.
Dreggas
He been sippin from old Thompson’s bottle again?
TheFountainHead
Ginson just threw Clinton a rope…
Dreggas
and just think this is the guy who’s been kissing hillary’s ass to be her running mate…
myiq2xu
That would be Old Grandad?
ThymeZone
Made so much money, didn’t need a day job.
TheFountainHead
Obama’s response was spot freakin’ on though, so basically she took Charlie’s rope and wrapped it around her neck…
Dreggas
Old Spice?
dslak
Now Hillary’s just attacking Obama, without making any points.
ThymeZone
Edwards is bitchslapping the Hildebeast.
TheFountainHead
Edwards is out to DESTROY Hillary!
myiq2xu
Ensure
dslak
Edwards is doing Obama’s dirty work, associating Hillary with the status quo.
dslak
Hillary angry! Hillary smash!
ThymeZone
HRC in meltdown. Oh shit, she looks bad.
TheFountainHead
Hillary is PISSED!
dslak
Shorter Hillary Clinton: You two can’t deliver on any of your promises. I won’t make any promises, so that voters won’t be disappointed.
TheFountainHead
Poor Richardson.
null pointer exception
Obama/Edwards will work out nicely.
Dreggas
Question now is will Hillary pull a Lieberman?
mitch
Damn, no kidding. He came out guns-a-blazing straight at Hillary.
dslak
What the hell is Richardson on about?
null pointer exception
It’s looking like Obama-Edwards vs. Clinton-Richardson
ThymeZone
They got what they wanted, they got Hillary pissed off.
I am surprised she took that bait and reacted the way she did.
Major points off.
ThymeZone
Edwards is kicking ass and taking names right here.
He’s not my favorite, but he is looking damn good.
dslak
It’s smart campaigning. She’s currently the more formidable opponent. If he really believes in what he says, Obama is also closer to his views than Clinton.
TheFountainHead
Yeah, but he’s looking like Obama’s attack dog doing it.
ThymeZone
Funny, and … true.
myiq2xu
Why aren’t y’all watching football?
What are you guys, communists?
dslak
The “has the Surge worked” question answered itself when the report mentions that there have been no political solutions, and that Patreus said those were necessary. It could have been phrased better.
ThymeZone
Maybe, but it’s a smart move. He needs to shave points off her lead.
myiq2xu
Halftime 21-7 Jags
dslak
With Hillary out of the picture, there’s no longer an establishment candidate, and Edwards is hoping he can pick up the support of some of the establishment once she’s gone.
Krista
Yeah, the ads are starting to get more pointed too — I noticed that Hillary’s definitely trying to use Obama’s talking points against him. I don’t necessarily have anything against her, but it really kind of reeked of desperation.
dslak
Obama’s response to the Surge question was fantastic.
TheFountainHead
Edwards is channeling Bill Clinton.
dslak
Edwards did a good job of addressing the issue of doing what the military wants: “It’s the president’s job to make policy decisions.” Damn right. It’s time to stop deferring responsibility for fixing bad policy onto the military. It’s not their job.
Dreggas
Edwards is supposed to be the “anti-establishment” candidate thus his populist schtick. If he did that he would be signing his own campaign’s death warrant.
dslak
He needs more support to win, and it has to come from somewhere. Basically, I think he’s toast no matter what, but I’m simply offering some plausible scenarios for success he might have in mind.
null pointer exception
Whatever their flaws may be, this Democratic field looks a thousand times better than the sorry Republican field.
P.S. Where’s Kucinich?
Dreggas
True enough, then again maybe he does just hate hillary or he and Obama have something worked out.
Dreggas
That’s why the repubs were the opening act.
ThymeZone
No doubt about it, the GOP field looked like something out of South Park compared to the Dem field.
Like, that was the joke lineup, here’s the real one.
dslak
It’s the endless yammering about the meaning of ‘amnesty’ that thoroughly established the GOP debate as a joke. You can’t have an effective debate if you’re paralyzed by a word.
dslak
Richardson is deviating from Clinton’s script in saying that youth isn’t a detriment.
Krista
The sad thing is, though — what percentage of citizens actually watch these debates and/or research the candidates’ positions and/or pay attention to anything beyond what they hear in passing on the radio or TV talk shows? That’s what scares me about Huckabee — he’s a religious nutbar, but I’ve been told that he comes across as very humble and likeable. How many voters are energetic enough to scratch the surface to see the soft, crazy centre of the Huckabee bar?
dslak
Obama says that words can inspire change. Richardson compalins that “This is typical Washington bickering,” indicating that he didn’t pay attention to anything Obama said.
wasabi gasp
The way Hillary responded to the likability question was super cute. I wanna do ‘er.
sparky
where’d everybody go?
and no comments on Richardson’s Whizzer? oh well.
FWIW I think Edwards did the best here, going away. brave, too: if it were me, i’d never poke the Hillary the way he did unless i was wearing Kevlar.
Off Colfax
I wouldn’t poke Hillary with a 20-foot pole, three meter-thick sheets of titanium alloy, and a phaser set to “Extreme Makeover”.
That woman gets mean when she gets angry. And the more it looks like the carefully crafted plans of the last 10+ years are going into the crapper, the meaner she looks. Look how many times she had to steer her expression back into general congeniality after Ed-ama (Or will it be Ob-ards?) slapped her with a zinger.
I feel sorry for her mid-level staffers after the next two weeks are finished. A) They’re going to be out of jobs soon afterwards. B) They have to deal with their own personal Chernobyl spewing out radioactive filth.
Yet another reason why I never was going to support the Clinton44 (Wo)Mandate.
The Other Steve
The Conservative party in UK used that as their campaign slogan like two years ago.
It didn’t work.
The Other Steve
Tom Brady for President!
too bad he’s not old enough
Robert Johnston
After seven years of the President ignoring the Constitution and no one doing anything about it, who can tell anymore?
Ninerdave
“Ronald Reagan” Rudy’s new 9/11
Zuzu
I’m torn.
I have to get a Dem ballot to vote in the primary here in California, because I refuse to officially join a party.
Was planning to vote for Dodd, just to do my part to puncture the perceived “inevitability” candidate.
So much for that plan.
I am suspicious of Hillary, and suspect her people may have in some way undermined Kerry in ’04. Just a suspicion.
But I value competence and I do think she is the most competent and experienced of the remaining field. Though I like Obama, I just don’t think he has the substance, and neither does Edwards.
It looks like the California primary may now count for something. Do I want to help save Hillary because I think she’d be the best candidate, or do I want to send a message about my mistrust of her tactics?
What to do.
Zuzu
I’m torn.
I have to get a Dem ballot to vote in the primary here in California, because I refuse to officially join a party.
Was planning to vote for Dodd, just to do my part to puncture the perceived “inevitability” candidate. Plus I like him.
So much for that plan.
I am suspicious of Hillary, and suspect her people may have in some way undermined Kerry in ’04. Just a suspicion.
But I value competence and I do think she is the most competent and experienced of the remaining field. Though I like Obama, I just don’t think he has the substance, and neither does Edwards.
It looks like the California primary may now count for something. Do I want to help save Hillary because I think she’d be the best candidate, or do I want to send a message about my mistrust of her tactics?
What to do.
sparky
I give the H credit for fooling some of the people all of the time. what exactly is the basis of her experience? being first lady? lawyer for wal-mart? her own resume refutes every one of her arguments about change.
or maybe we’re thinking of the invade Iraq authorization that she STILL refuses to say was a mistake.
the only experience i see here is the GWB experience: never admit a mistake when you are King (or Queen).
skip
Is Harold Stassen still dead?
Zuzu
sparky –
I concede a lot on the disingenuity front, but I think it’s unfair to dismiss her experience while her husband was in the White House. The big criticism at the time was that she was TOO involved with policy issues, and while it might not be time easily classified on a resume, I don’t think anyone seriously thinks she was only hosting teas.
Dreggas
No she wasn’t just hosting teas, she was doing corkscrew landings with…sinbad.
Sorry she has NO experience, no more so than Obama. Her only influence the first go around was when she tried to saddle everyone with hillarycare and now that we see what version 2.0 is it’s nothing more than the gov’t forcing people who can’t afford health insurance to have insurance, just like we HAVE to have car insurance. Fuck that and her.
She’s a goldwater girl, only difference is the big business she helps is the one still lining her campaign coffers, the health insurance industry.
Brachiator
Being present is not the same thing as gaining experience. Should we be talking about Chelsea’s experience in the White House somehow qualifying her for public office? Does Monica Lewinsky somehow merit a cabinet post because of the time that she spent in the Oval Office (especially since she was there when Bill made some important phone calls)?
The idea that somehow Hillary Clinton was magically co-governor and co-president is fundamentally absurd.
No one has any idea of what she was doing, or the quality of her contribution. Hillary talks a good game, but it’s not as if she has any memos, policy drafts or co-presidential papers that she is donating to her library to back up her claims.
Here’s the irony. I liked some of her statements during the debate, especially her nuanced discussion of how a pre-emptive strike against terrorists in Pakistan might unintentionally alarm India. It showed that she has been a quick study since being elected to the Senate, and perhaps even made good use of her White House years. But instead of linking this to good judgment, which is a more valid claim, she lost me when she kept making pointless and more exaggerated claims about her “35 years of experience” or her “lifetime of experience.” Her claim became even more spurious when Richardson could reel off the actual positions that he has held, and Hillary could only grasp more firmly onto her vague notion of “experience.”
I have a fundamental distrust of people who have never held themselves out for elective office, or even been an appointee to a meaningful position, who have never been in a position where they were personally accountable for their decisions, who have been more policy wonks than someone actually responsible for getting something done, and who then practically demand that citizens vote for them to be president. You also learn something when you stand for election and are defeated and have to stage a comeback, as Bill Clinton and others had to do.
I respect Hillary’s accomplishments in the Senate. I would vote for her over any Republican any day. But I do not accept that she has any special claim to competence or experience just because of time served.
grumpy realist
Also, speaking as someone originally from New York, remember that the clown car politics we usually have going in our state (known as that permanent SNAFU up in Albany) means we’re desperate for anyone that looks half-competent. (There must be a motherlode of material buried up there that puts out stupid rays–no matter who we elect, get ’em up there and they suddenly go bats. Witness Eliot Spitzer’s meltdown this last year as Exhibito Uno.)