Saturday, January 05, 2008

• America is the greatest country in the world. Our military is the strongest in the world. Islamo-fascism will kill us all. America! Fuck yeah! God Bless the USA.
  (I could stop here, and that would have effectively summarized the whole Republican debate...)
• Ron Paul is there! I feel sorry for Rep. Kucinich that he wasn't invited to the Democratic debate but this newcomer and fellow renegade got himself invited to the Republican debate. I guess winning the MySpace primary really did mean something for Paul.
• The question of "running on or running away from" Bush foreign policy.
• Rumsfeld gets a beating from all sides (Huckabee: don't let the politicians make the decisions).
• Radical Islam, Islamic jihad, and Islamo-fascism are buzzwords that are meant to strike fear (and hatred) in the hearts of the voters - and after repeating them enough like the candidates did tonight, the message does get through
• Giuliani: the Patriot Act and electronic surveillance is "very, very good" AND we should increase the size of the military immediately (smell that? ah the draft cards are burning)
• Some embrace the Bush Doctrine of pre-emption. Romney defends him, and McCain gives him credit for his oh-so-great leadership.
• McCain: "America is not safe, America is safer."
  
• Ron Paul: They "don't attack us because we're free and prosperous" but because we invade their country. I was surprised that the other candidates laughed at this and so vehemently opposed this reasoning.
• Fred Thompson: "We should only go in where we should and where we are able to." Uhhhh thanks for that brilliant insight. You really cleared up things for me.
• Huckabee (the candidate that has openly distanced himself from President Bush): He supports the President but his [Bush's] policy has problems. Then, Gov. Huckabee, do you support him because golly gee he's a nice guy?
• Huckabee: "I'm not running for George Bush's third term."
• Romney and Huckabee try to one up each other on the history lesson about Sayyid Qatb by pulling random dates out of their heads. Ok, so you're smarter than the current President. Congratulations.
• Asked about the constancy of their principles:
  
• McCain: I am a veteran.
• Romney: Family values. America is great. At the "heart of our strength is the family." Moms and dads (but don't even think about two mommies or two daddies!).
• Giuliani: Ronald Reagan. I laid out my 12 commitments. End illegal immigration. Appoint strict constructionist judges.
• [Charlie Gibson, the moderater, goes around and points out how each of them has waffled on issues...except Paul who just switched parties]
• Giuliani: But wait! Ronald Reagan!
• Huckabee: "...the simple answer for me is all the way back to the document that gave us birth. And it goes like this: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, these being life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That we are created equal." Really, Mike? Is that how the Declaration goes? Maybe you haven't distanced yourself from our current President enough...
• Thompson tries to one-up Huckabee with a lesson on the 9th and 10th Amendments. Really, guys, if you invested in our public schools a bit we wouldn't need you teaching us civics on TV.
• Healthcare - why can't we afford insurance for everybody?
• Private insurance is good, socialized medicine is bad.
  
• McCain: "problem isn't quality - it's inflation."
• Romney stands by his Massachusetts plan.
• Paul: don't print any more money!
  
• Thompson: never going to achieve total coverage
• Romney likes mandates...but only his kind
• Giuliani: Health Savings Accounts
• McCain attacks Big Pharma (and wants reimportation of drugs from Canada)
• Romney defends Big Pharma
• Illegal immigration
• We like legals, we swear we do.
• McCain: "God's children" and we need biometric documents to keep track of everyone
• How many times can you mention that you are painting this as a national security issue?
• Romney: id card of some sort
• Giuliani: Build a fence, build a technological fence. Tamperproof ID card. We "can't throw out 12 million people" so focus on those who have committed crimes.
• Y'all have to read and write and speak English good now, ya hear?
• Romney: get in line -- outside the country
• Giuliani: Ronald Reagan!
• Thompson defines amnesty as being rewarded for your illegal behavior in any way and advocates "enforcement by attrition."
• Huckabee: The "government didn't escort them over the border in the first place, so the government doesn't have to take them back."
• Paul: The tamperproof ID opens the door for a national ID card - bad idea.
• What don't you like about Barack Obama?
• Change is good, and Obama is an inspiring figure (they all agree on that).
• Romney: Washington is broken. I've lived the change.
  
• Thompson: He's adopted the position of every major liberal interest group (painting Obama as extreme left-wing).
• McCain: Dealing with radical Islamic extremists requires "a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience, and a lot of background."
• Giuliani: Obama wants a "precipitous withdrawal in Iraq."
• Huckabee: Welllll, the 2nd Amendment, sanctity of life, same-sex marriage
• Paul: Young people like us. But I don't like his welfare state. And c'mon, Obama's not going to talk about getting rid of the income tax. But I will! Free markets!
• Gas prices are high. Duh.
• Paul: Gold standard would have fixed everything.
• McCain: Alternative energy good, greenhouse gas bad.
• Thompson: Cleaner coal and tap into the oil reserves in the US (aka ANWR).
• Giuliani: We need to think about "energy independence on the scale of putting a man on the moon."
• Huckabee: It is possible to achieve energy independence in 10 years.
• Romney: No, it's not. But it's possible to be "on track" to get there. This is our "highest domestic economic priority."

• Nuclear terrorism/Osama bin Laden/national security
• Obama: We should go into western Pakistan without the agreement of the Pakistani government if necessary. Al Qaeda is stronger now than it has been at any point since 2001.
• Edwards: Go get Osama. We need to deal with nuclear nonproliferation in the long term. Musharraf is a radical, and we need to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
• Richardson: Diplomacy comes first in any foreign policy situation. We would ask Musharraf to step aside using "leverage" and a "high-level envoy." We act when we have real and actionable intelligence and the leader aka Musharraf is incapable.
• Clinton: We need more NATO troops training the Afghan army. We have to be careful not to inflame the Pakistan/India conflict. Musharraf must share the security responsibility of the nukes. This is the "forgotten front line of the war on terrorism."
• What if a nuclear weapon hits a US city?
• Edwards: Find out who's responsible and go after them. And stop them. But we must be strong and calm.
• Obama: This is our most significant foreign policy issue. We must rebuild the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
• Clinton: "There is no safe haven" for "state-less terrorists."
• Richardson: "Transnational challenges requires international cooperation."
• Concept of change.
• Clinton: We're all advocating for change.
• Edwards: Obama and I are "powerful voices for change." The "forces of status quo" are attacking us.
• Clinton: "Making change is not about what you believe; it's about results." "I'm running on 35 years of change."
• Richardson: I've been in "hostage negotiations that are a lot more civil than this." "Is experience kinda a leper?"
• Edwards: We have to "fight for the future of the middle class." Costco and AT&T are good corporations.
• Obama: The "American Dream is slipping away."
• Has the surge in Iraq worked?
• Clinton: It was designed to create time for the Iraqi government to fix itself, but there has been "no political action. They're not willing to do what they need to do."
• Richardson: There is "no military solution." There is "only a political solution."
• Obama: "Two years later, we're back where we started two years ago." We must be "as careful getting out as we were careless getting in."
• Edwards: The President must consult the uniformed advisors.
• Richardson: As Governor, I'm sick of flying flags at half-mast.
• Likeability.
• Clinton: "Well that hurts my feelings." [being called not really likeable]
• Obama: "You're likeable enough.
• Responding to Republican attack on Obama.
• Obama: I was watching football. But seriously, they'd do that to any Democrat.
• Is relative youth a detriment?
• Richardson. I'm the only one who has balanced a budget. I've lowered taxes, improved education, insured 12 million children. I'm the only one who has negotiated with foreign governments. "Both parties have been failures in dealing with energy policy." We need American people to sacrifice a bit. I'm glad Al Gore stayed out of the race. JFK JFK JFK!
• Edwards: I'm the son of a millworker. I don't take money from lobbyists or special interest PACs. I'll fight for the middle class. I'm the son of a millworker. Health insurance companies killed Natalie Sarkisyan. I'm the son of a millworker. Where is their voice in this democracy?
• Obama: Bet on the American people. They're ready for change. I prohibited lobbyists from buying meals from Congress... but there's something about standing up and sitting down that confuses you, Charlie Gibson.
• Clinton: "Reality break." I'm going to be the buzzkill for this session of warm-fuzzies and talk about how "words are not action" even though they are "beautifully presented and passionately felt." We need to "translate talk into action and feeling into reality."
• Clinton follows the footsteps of Gerald Cox and his favorite word tendentious and pulls out "excoriated" to describe what Edwards and Obama did to the special interests.
• Clinton: Bill Clinton rocked. "Change is hard, but change is possible."
• Edwards: "Entrenched interests are literally stealing our children's future."
• Obama: America is hungry, "hungry for something different." "Yes we can."
• Richardson: "You guys and the President get nothing done" and the burden is on us Governors. I'm sick of Washington bickering - we need bipartisanship.
• Edwards: It is the responsibility of the President to unite. I'm going to "fight FOR the American people" because "I have been in the trenches."
• Global warming and the carbon tax.
• Richardson: Carbon tax is a bad idea because it is not a mandate. Cap-and-trade is the way to go.
• Obama. Cap-and-trade, I agree. We must shield the consumer from the cost, though. Change your lightbulbs and insulate your homes, everybody!
• Clinton: The economy is slipping towards a recession. The energy issue will jumpstart economic efficiency.
• The fate of the Bush tax cuts
• Clinton: The middle class will get the "tax relief they deserve." Don't cut the taxes on the wealthy.
• Edwards: We have to help the homeless veterans and help people find jobs. The "trade and tax policy is bleeding American jobs." I would know - I'm the son of a millworker.
• Obama: We must close tax loopholes and offer specific tax relief immediately. It's a change.
• Richardson: We need a balanced budget and line item veto authority for the President. And I want to talk about education! We must improve schools, pay our teachers better, end NCLB, emphasize the arts, and fund science and math education.
• What do you wish you hadn't said in the debates so far? What would you take back if you could?
• Clinton: We're all great candidates, and the Democrats are in such contrast to the Republicans.
• Richardson: "I was asked who my favorite Supreme Court justice was, and I said, dead or alive? ...I should have stuck to the alive because I then said, "Whizzer" White, because I idolize John F. Kennedy and I figured if he appointed "Whizzer" White, this was a great Supreme Court justice. Well then I find out that "Whizzer" White was against Roe versus Wade, against civil rights. You know, so that's -- that wasn't a good one."
• Edwards: "I made the horrendous mistake of teasing Hillary about her jacket. And I want her to know I think you look terrific tonight."
• Obama: "Here's an area where I agree with Hillary." We need to be "ending the politics of fear."

Labels: 2008, debate, primaries