The Debates of January 14, 2016
Did you look at the Republican debates for entertainment or to find out who was really best suited to be the presidential candidate for that party? I know this sounds like a strange question, but I have found some people find these debates very entertaining, due in no small measure to the replies by Mr. Donald Trump. Somebody said something which I think is very true, they stated that the replies of all the politicians were scripted, but Trump said what he believed. Well I am not so sure about that, but I do think he believed a lot more of what he said than many others on the stage. I did notice one thing however and that was there really didn’t need to be an earlier debate with only three people since if they could have been added to the main debate and only have been ten again, unless Rand Paul would have wanted back on. A criteria was called for by the party which stated you had to meet certain goals, before being allowed in the big debate and it turned out when Dr. Paul did, the party told him the poll that showed this came out after the deadline. Give me a break!
A lot of things are said during these debated which I classify as dumb, insensitive and outright lies, but isn’t that the problem with politics? How many times do we have to hear from people currently serving in the Senate or House about how we don’t have enough money in the Social Security System when these same people are taking money from it? Just the other day 150 billion dollars was voted to be taken from the fund and moved to the disability fund. Some of the same people screaming about how short of money Social Security is were the ones taking money from it. This is one of the reasons the American public is so fed up with politicians, they criticize actions and hope others don’t realize they were part of the problem. When things like this come out while they are on stage they just stand there with stupid smiles on their collective faces.
Sometimes things are said which show how dense some of them actually are. In an exchange between Trump and Bush, Trump talked about how China was taking advantage of us in trade and how they wanted Boeing to build plants in China before they would buy planes from them. Bush stated there was a Boeing plant near where Trump landed his plane which was not the point of what Trump said. Trump repeated himself and again said the Chinese wanted Boeing to build plants in China before they would buy planes from them and Bush then said something about there being a plant near them. Sometimes you have to wonder if these people are for real. One thing I find annoying is the fact if one of these people say something and are corrected by another candidate they just keep it up. Ted Cruz said he wanted to tax business with a 16% flat tax. Somehow Marco Rubio said that was a VAT tax. VAT is value added tax and is used in Europe. Cruz replied no it is a flat tax and Rubio went on to say Cruz’s VAT tax wouldn’t work. Many politicians seem to think if they say something often enough we will believe it, gosh I hope this isn’t true.
When asked what he would do as regards the fight in the Middle East and Syria, again Governor Christie said we need a no fly zone over Syria completely ignoring the fact Russia is already in the air over that country. Last time he said things like he would shoot down any planes violating it. He must know since the Russian Air Force is already in the sky above Syria this would be a foolish measure so how can anyone believe he really means it? If he does we might as well just nuke all our enemies and get it over with because this kind of action would certainly start World War III. Does he think he can win over the American public with foolish talk? Apparently he does.
Everyone in the Republican Party is beginning to admit that Trump is for real. Trump has managed to get onto television for free far more than those with the money for ads. There is no doubt he knows more about business and getting things rolling again in the business world, but his ideas scare a lot of people. I think the establishment would rather have someone else leading the pack, but they are stuck with the Donald for now and maybe until Election Day. There are probably a lot of lobbyists and politicians worried about him being elected since they don’t know if he will play the game or not. I am sure there are also people in the State Department who think he will ruin some of our long time alliances and are not happy with the thought of new ones he might make. Then there are those in the covert community who may think he would disapprove about the way they do things.
Here is something I do not understand, why would Cruz put down all New Yorkers by using terms the Republican Party deems as hateful, such as liberal, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage and focus around money and the media when New Yorkers account for the second highest donations to Republican presidential candidates. Manhattan donors contributed $2.9 million dollars to Republicans. If you know a statement can do you no good and might even hurt you when you are running for office, why even say it?
This is a minor point, but don’t you get tired of hearing each candidate saying when they become president, when we know most of them don’t have a chance? Carly Fiorina bragged about how she worked her way up to 5th or 6th. I hate to tell her, but that is an awful long way from number one in both supporters and debate stage position. CNN did a fact check when she said this administration didn’t bother to check Facebook or Twitter to find out who was pledging allegiance to jihadists. It turned out they do and this was only common sense. There should be plenty of ammunition for both parties without resorting to false statements. Not only that, but the candidates must realize every time they espouse a so-called fact it will be checked, so stating things which are not true is not smart.
Yes I guess we do have to call the debates entertaining, but they are kind of sad since they show what some of the candidates will stoop to saying just to get elected.
