Whew!

I forced myself to watch the Republican "debate." Am I glad it's over. I thought for a while I was actually watching a convention of warmongers. With the exception of Ron Paul, who drew some boos from time to time, these white guys are really bloodthirsty. They all insist that things are going well in Iraq. McCain insists repeatedly that we are "winning." Of course no one asks him what it is that we are winning. Usually when you win something you win something. What the something we are winning in Iraq is, is not at all clear. So far we aren't even winning the oil, and we certainly can't say we're winning hearts and minds. Fred Thompson says we should keep our troops there "until they complete their mission." But, again, no follow-up question like, for example, what is our mission? Except for Paul they all seem to agree that we just keep on doing what we are doing, whatever that is.

The ballyhooed claim that they would all go after Huckabee (because he is now the frontrunner in Iowa) didn't materialize. They were asked if they believed every word in the bible. This was kind of amusing as no one was willing to admit they believed every word in the bible even though they mostly claimed it was the revealed word of God. Even Huckabee, who boasted about his degree in theology, agreed that we shouldn't really "pluck out our eyeballs." Giuliani displayed what I thought was a remarkable familiarity with the bible but allowed as to how he didn't literally believe every word - he just consults it when he has troubles (I guess he must consult it often). Romney insisted it was the word of God but, like the others, mumbled something about allegory and such. The ridiculous format of these "debates" doesn't lend itself to any serious discussion of such things so we don't know just what parts of the bible they believe and what parts they question.

Romney, who proved once again not to have the courage of any conviction whatsoever refused to saw whether waterboarding was torture. He said it wasn't up to him to say what specific techniques the CIA or others should use. McCain took him to task for this, pointing out that waterboarding was torture, was against the Geneva Convention, was against U.S. law, and etc. But of course Anderson Cooper called for the next question before this got further out of hand. I always have the impression when McCain starts in on his obsession with winning in Iraq he doesn't care how many deaths occur or what price we might be paying - it's just win at any cost. This is doubly tragic, I think, because there is nothing we can win.

They don't like immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, but they don't have any very sensible plan for dealing with them. I can't remember whether it was Tankredo or Hunter who insisted they would build a double wall the whole 850 miles, and he would do it in six months! I guess the plan is to trap them between the walls long enough to figure out a final solution. I think it was Huckabee who pointed out they were all "God's children," so we shouldn't be too hard on them. Giuliani allowed as to how he let the children of illegals go to school to keep them off the streets. Someone else thought the children shouldn't be punished for the crimes of their parents but, again, this whole bit on immigration didn't go too far because it was time for the next question. In fact this format is perfect for making sure that no serious discussion of any single problem is possible.

With a couple of exceptions they all said they would promise that under their administration they would not raise taxes. One of them (I forget which one), who seemed to actually have some form of common sense, allowed as to how there could be an emergency and therefore he wouldn't absolutely promise. It was interesting that there were no direct questions about our trillion dollar plus national debt. Of course they worry about Social Security but aside from Thompson didn't seem to be enthusiastic about doing anything specific about it.

I think it is fair to say that we didn't learn anything about the candidates that we didn't already know. I think Giuliani mentioned 9/11 only once. But interestingly, no matter what problem was suggested Giuliani claimed to have solved it as Mayor of New York and implied he would do the same if he were President. To Anderson Cooper's credit he asked Giuliani if it was true that he used public money improperly. Rudy, being Rudy, didn't really answer it but said he always had a police escort and what the police did about travel wasn't up to him. Somehow I don't think Rudy is going to get away with this answer for long. No one asked Romney about his Mormonism. Ron Paul was the only one who wanted to bring the troops home. Of course he also wants to eliminate government and return us to the jungle of dog eat dog.

I'm sorry to say I think the whole think was a waste of time, mostly because the format is so ridiculous. If you really want one of these white adult extremist males to be your candidate I suggest you draw straws.

LKBIQ:
"Twilight, a timid fawn, went
glimmering by,
And Night, the dark-blue hunter,
followed fast."
George William Russell