Yeah, I sat in front of the television for two hours Wednesday night and watched eight GOP hopefuls talk over each other. Because ... well ... I was curious. I wanted to see what transpired. In case you were lucky enough to have had something better to do, and missed it, here are a baker's dozen worth of bullet points:
1. It wasn't the utter crazy clown show that Democrats expected, or perhaps just hoped for. No low point of utter cringing horror, at least not one that stood out against a background of standard Republican ideological bilge. The absence of one Donald J. Trump no doubt was a factor there.
2. Unless you count the moment no hands going up when the group was asked if anybody believed climate change is real, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis demanded they "debate" the matter instead. That moment might linger in history.
3. Thirty eight year old wackjob/businessman Vivek Ramaswamy promptly pronounced "climate change is a hoax,” and claimed, vis a vis nothing, that "more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.” In general, Ramaswamy was an incandescent spotlight of batshittery, confidently airing a variety of specious theories and crazed policy proposals, and was probably the big winner of the night, if drawing attention to yourself, your destructive hopes and fierce, misplaced self-regard can be considered winning. 4. Mike Pence was the other winner. Yes, he invoked his personal lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and promised to put Him in the driver's seat of the White House, without ever explaining where the Prince of Peace was when Pence was curled in the lap of Donald Trump, nodding along with his every enormity. But Pence did radiate a certain strength, perhaps just a lack of shrillness that was a welcome change of pace. He also said he was "incredibly proud of the Trump-Pence administration" except, one assumes, the part trying to overthrow the American democratic system.
5. "Our country is in decline" were the first words out of DeSantis' twisted mouth — now there's a winning political strategy — and in general the creepy Florida governor further buffed his brand as a man so awkward and uncomfortable in his own skin he can't even execute a smile. Not to mention being an idiot who promised to send the military to invade Mexico "on Day One."And blowing the anti-Semite dog whistle, "George Soros." Twice. In closing, each candidate was asked to explain, in 45 seconds, how he would inspire a weary nation, and when it was DeSantis' turn he just stood there, staring into the camera, until prompted a second time to speak. The other candidates had to actually say something to make sentient viewers cringe. DeSantis just had to be on camera, blinking and smirking and bobbing his head.
6. Pence said, "Joe Biden has weakened this country at home and abroad," which is rich coming from Donald Trump's second banana.
7. Fox moderators Martha Maccallum and Bret Baier barely kept control over the night. They made Megyn Kelly seem like Walter Cronkite.
8. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said, "Is climate change real? Yes it is," but failed to weigh in on the question of whether the sky is blue.
9. Someone should tell these Republicans that the reason a woman needs the right to an abortion up to the time of birth is if the baby she is carrying is dead, or has such massive deformities that it will die shortly after birth. Nobody has an abortion in the eighth month because they're afraid their child will grow up to be Ron DeSantis, though that seems a valid reason.
10. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was the only one to speak forcefully about Donald Trump. "Someone's got to stop normalizing this conduct," he said. The crowd booed.
11. While the candidates railed against China as the central enemy of the United States, one of the sponsors of the broadcast was TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform.
12. Other than China, public school teachers' unions are the central dark force undermining life in the United States. South Carolina Tim Scott promised to "break the backs of the teachers' unions," echoing Ramaswamy. Christie called them "the biggest threat to our country."
13. Donald Trump will crush them all.
10. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was the only one to speak forcefully about Donald Trump. "Someone's got to stop normalizing this conduct," he said. The crowd booed.
11. While the candidates railed against China as the central enemy of the United States, one of the sponsors of the broadcast was TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform.
12. Other than China, public school teachers' unions are the central dark force undermining life in the United States. South Carolina Tim Scott promised to "break the backs of the teachers' unions," echoing Ramaswamy. Christie called them "the biggest threat to our country."
13. Donald Trump will crush them all.
Ramaswamy is a true nutcase tech bro, just like his equally insane tech bro buddy Musk.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget that earlier this week, he told a writer for the Atlantic Magazine that 9/11 was a government sponsored job, promptly claimed & lied he was misquoted, the writer then produced an audio tape of him saying that crap!
As for DeSatan, he has less charisma than Jeb Bush! He is Trilby to his wife being Svengali. I guess, even though he's a Harvard trained lawyer, he doesn't know that sending the US military into Mexico would be an act of war against Mexico, akin to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
I just wonder how all of them fit into that tiny clown car they got out of!
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts. I lasted about 10 minutes before the nausea set in.
ReplyDeleteyeah, I lasted only a little longer. I felt a little sorry for Bergum. The moderators seemed to have forgotten he was there.
DeleteThanks for watching and writing the results in a succinct and entertaining way (I am sure watch it was neither).
ReplyDeleteI watched it intermittently, so possibly missed any semblance of actual debate. My random thoughts: DeSantis has zero stage presence and doomed himself with his first sentence. Ramaswamy was apparently there for comic relief. He's adopted TFG's second favorite term ... hoax. He's very energetic but as loony as they come. Haley seems the most sane and rational but that won't endear her to the all powerful Base. Christie and Pence are throwback la to the old GOP, which the Base spurned years ago. The other two were just holding up the ends. Trump will be the (convicted) nominee and Biden will win a second term.
ReplyDeleteHaley has never been sane, she actually believes the Re Thug Licons will nominate a women whose actual name is Nimrata!
DeleteThe same goes for Ramaswamy, who also has Indian heritage. He actually has some support from the really stupid MAGAts, but even they really don't want him, they still still want Velveeta Voldemort, no matter how many indictments & convictions he gets!
I should add that Ramaswamy also wants to raise the voting age to 25, even though the 26th Amendment made it 18 & there's zero possibility of changing that. He obviously fails to understand the US Constitution!
ReplyDeleteHe also would pardon T**** from all federal crimes & then have him as his mentor if he improbably became president. The abject stupidity of that alone should disqualify him from anything other than shoveling shit in a slaughter house!
I forgot my grandfather's crack that applies to Ramaswamy: "If you put his ideas into the head of a dog, the dog would go crazy"
DeleteThank you for your service, Neil. I didn't make it past desantis' half shouted claim that we are a nation in decline. I think you and the talking pundit league missed the biggest news of the night. Asa Hutchinson's promise to put an end to smash and grab robberies can only mean one thing, He's Batman.
ReplyDeleteThank God there's a sane Democrat on the other side. I would immediately book my ticket to Canada were these plus Mr. Former plus let's say Robert Kennedy Jr. as a token Democrat the only picks available for President of the United States. What fools they think us! Rightfully, I guess.
ReplyDeletejohn
RFK Jr. , More objectionable than his uncle who left a women to die in his sunken car while he retreated to his hotel.
DeleteHaley or Pence might be able to beat Biden which is why I'm happy Trump will get the nomination. Enough of the nation knows Trump for what he is and won't vote for him.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with him running is that after he loses we'll have have to go through all the shenanigans again. Worse yet, there might be some major issues at the polls caused by his lemmings.
I listened via streaming... To the whole goddamn thing. Nikki and Vivek won the evening and set forth a real distinct difference. Christie died on his own sword. Desantis didn't turn the downward spiral around. Pence did enough to hang in. All others need to go away and consolidate the field.
ReplyDeleteSo in the GOPs America, teachers and librarians are the greatest enemy of freedom?
ReplyDeleteJoseph Goebbels was right: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,” he noted, “people will eventually come to believe it.”
Thank you for your service in watching something I could not muster interest and energy in watching. I figured there would be plenty of commentary but especially appreciate your pithy summary. What a bunch of wankers.
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments exactly
DeleteThank you for your service.
ReplyDeleteThank you for subjecting yourself to this mishegaas so I didn't have to.
ReplyDeleteThe least admirable collection of Dildoe's since the first Klan meeting...
ReplyDeleteI watched it, wasn’t very impressed. Ramaswamy tried too hard and became obnoxious, Christie made some good points; Haley as well. Pence has sincerity and does seem to be a man of integrity.
ReplyDeleteSome people have the skills to impress in a debate; others, not so much. I guess it was somewhat entertaining, but no clear front-runner emerged IMO.
SandyK
Thank you for submitting yourself to this torture, Mr. S, so that the rest of us didn't have to do so. I watched PBS instead, which dealt with the killer hurricanes of the past and how climate change is making these storms much worse. Some of these jamokes needed to shut their pie holes and watch...I'm sure it was also on in Milwaukee
ReplyDeletePence is unelectable...Biden would clean his clock. Insantis is unlikeable and would also lose to Handsome Joe. The thought of a 2020 rematch in '24 makes me want to puke. It will be much worse this time around, with far more Gee-Oh-Pee cheatery, and probably more violence. But Orange Julius will get his fat ass handed to him on a platter again. Just for the record, I said the same thing in 2016. That contest now seems like it happened a century ago
I opted to watch two gay, working-class white men restore devastated homes in a Detroit community, then sell them at affordable prices. I won.
ReplyDeleteI watched an old Remington Steele. It was nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil for a terrific summary of an evening we could not bare to watch; your remarks about each participant were humorous and right on point. Yours was better than what I read today in the NYTimes or Politico or a few others I read regularly. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteThe final sentence of item 9 made me laugh so loud I scared my cat. Thanks, Neil!
ReplyDelete