{"id":129565,"date":"2016-01-29T00:42:19","date_gmt":"2016-01-29T07:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/29\/the-republican-non-donald-debate.html"},"modified":"2016-02-08T17:27:55","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T00:27:55","slug":"the-republican-non-donald-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/29\/the-republican-non-donald-debate.html","title":{"rendered":"The Republican Non-Donald Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

My mom and I watched the GOP debate — or about twenty minutes of it — on the DVR this evening. That's about all I could take without chugging more gin than would be good for me.<\/p>\n

There wasn't a man up there that I can imagine being president. Well, I shouldn't go too far with that — Kasich managed to try to talk about bringing people together, in contrast to the OBAMA-HILLARY-ISIS!!!! hatefest that the other candidates (esp. Rubio and Cruz) were so focused on, and Bush discussed some stuff on foreign policy that made him sound like a hell of a lot more grown up and policy-savvy than everyone else's sound bites, and Paul managed to raise up some concerns (as he's done) on privacy issues that were worth hearing (and which drew applause).<\/p>\n

But, holy moley, the general tone was apocalyptic. LIttle kid Rubio had ISIS cut-throats lurking on everyone's front lawn; Carson's schtick seemed to be "Yeah, I don't know anything about being president, but that's my secret qualification"; Christie seemed to actually be running on his record rather than his rhetoric, but couldn't decide whether he was addressing the camera or the audience, and so came out a kind of crazy-shifty-eyed; and Ted Cruz alternated between being the world's smarmiest used car salesman and petulantly complaining that everyone was picking on him<\/i> just because he was the top-polling candidate on the stage.<\/p>\n

And everyone hated the Donald, and everyone thought that Obama was a horrifying traitor who is gleefully dismantling the military, and everything preached against Clinton for being even worse than Obama. And the casually tossed rhetorical-accusations-presented-as-truths were …<\/p>\n

… well, I didn't want to drink all<\/i> the gin. So we switched over to a recording of Shark Tank,<\/i> which was a million times more entertaining (and liberal (and rational (and realistic))).<\/p>\n

It did reconfirm to me that anyone who thinks there is no difference between the Dems and the Republicans, or that if Clinton gets the Dem nomination then one might as well not vote because she's as bad as anyone in the GOP, ought to have their head examined. Really. I'd vote for Clinton, Sanders, or Martin O'Malley (or Pat Paulsen, for that matter) before I'd let Cruz (in particular) get anywhere near the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

Yeesh.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/a>\u00a0\n<\/div>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My mom and I watched the GOP debate — or about twenty minutes of it — on the DVR this evening. That's about all I could take without chugging more gin than would be good for me. There wasn't a man up there that I can imagine being president. Well, I shouldn't go too far … Continue reading “The Republican Non-Donald Debate”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,532],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-elections-2016"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/160128230825-gop-debate-large-1695B15D.jpgimgmax=660.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51360,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/03\/why-has-ranting-about-the-yellow-peril-become-pass-in-the-gop.html","url_meta":{"origin":129565,"position":0},"title":"Why has ranting about the Yellow Peril become passé in the GOP?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 3-Jun-15 10:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I fully agree that China presents a much greater geopolitical challenge to the US than Iran or ISIS do. But the latter are all the GOP want to talk about. Why?1. ISIS\/Iran play up their anti-American sentiment, garnering headlines.2. Israel.3. Money.'When historians look back at this era in American history,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33729,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/05\/13\/marco-rubio-shows-a-remarkable-grasp-of-todays-burning-issues.html","url_meta":{"origin":129565,"position":1},"title":"Marco Rubio shows a remarkable grasp of today's burning issues","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 13-May-13 9:58pm","format":false,"excerpt":"By demanding that the Secretary of the Treasury fire (or ask for the resignation) of the IRS Commissioner. Who, a George Bush appointee, resigned last November. \u00a0Heads must roll! \u00a0Hire him back so we can fire him! Rubio Wants Resignation of Nonexistant IRS Commissioner \u00a0 Sen. Marco Rubio has sent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129579,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/30\/political-campaigning-is-always-long-on-rhetoric-but.html","url_meta":{"origin":129565,"position":2},"title":"Political campaigning is always long on rhetoric, but","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 30-Jan-16 11:19pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It sure seems this year -- especially (but not solely) on the GOP side of the race, that it's reached new heights. Perhaps because Republicans have been so used to just lambasting Obama, claiming whatever the heck they find sound bitey, but never having to actually formulate alternatives, that it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31418,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/19\/marco-rubio-demonstrates-his-scientific-ignorance.html","url_meta":{"origin":129565,"position":3},"title":"Marco Rubio demonstrates his scientific ignorance","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 19-Nov-12 9:36am","format":false,"excerpt":"And this is the guy being touted as fresh new blood for the GOP. (Emphasis below mine.)\u00a0GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?RUBIO: I\u2019m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129663,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/07\/lets-dispel-this-notion-that-marco-rubio-is-a-good-public-speaker.html","url_meta":{"origin":129565,"position":4},"title":""Let's dispel this notion that" Marco Rubio is a good public speaker","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 7-Feb-16 2:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Rubio's repetitive repetition at the GOP debate last night strikes me as a sign that this not a man who is comfortable with public speaking or debate, at least under the bright lights. He had X phrases he wanted to be sure he got out, and, by God, he was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131758,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/10\/09\/the-second-clintontrump-debatehot-off-the-dvr.html","url_meta":{"origin":129565,"position":5},"title":"The Second Clinton\/Trump Debate(Hot off the DVR","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 9-Oct-16 10:14pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Second Clinton\/Trump Debate(Hot off the DVR ...)In retrospect, I think Clinton won on points (on policy, on engagement with the audience, on articulation). Trump maybe net won in terms of not running across the stage and groping Clinton; he almost seemed normal, aside from his ability to put together\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/campaign-2016-debate5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/campaign-2016-debate5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/campaign-2016-debate5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129735,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129565\/revisions\/129735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}