Gagging!

Last night I prepared for the Republican debates by turning off the television and eating a very early dinner. The expected food fight at the kiddie table would have been bad for my digestion, and if I had tried to eat anything while watching the so called adults at their table I would have probably thrown food at my television!

Thanks to CNN's moderator, Jack Tapper, the first part of the “debate” at the adults table was a food fight of sorts. I suppose there was some justice in CNN's approach. I mean it did give candidates a very public stage on which to reply to Trump's insults, and it gave Trump the same stage to address the criticisms leveled at him. The only winners in that regard, however, were the candidates who refused to answer the Jerry Springeresque questions. I say that because in spite of the praise Ronald Reagan received for his broken record recitations of “[t]here he goes again,” even a fairly large number of Republicans eventually tire of “I know you are but what am I” arguments!

Okay, I have to admit it. Some of the bickering was good theater. I was amused by Carly Fiorina's lame attempts to explain laying off 30,000 workers at Hewlett Packard and her explanation for why she was forced to resign from her position as CEO of HP. Trumps attempts to defend his four bankruptcies were less amusing because he has said it all before, during the first debate. 

Speaking of Carly Fiorina, I have to say the pundits are doing it again; they are lauding her performance. I suppose if you are a factually challenged Republican you might be impressed with her. For the rest of us she merely confirmed the image we Californians formed of her as a vicious, privileged, Ayn Rand liar who does not care about anything but her self. The vicious lies she told about Planned Parenthood during this debate were beyond the pale even for the paranoid ignoramuses she is trying to exploit! But the religio-ramuses will still buy Carly's lies, and the ignoramus, Mike Huckabee, will still be there to reinforce those lies!

The rest of the Republican field is not much better. The only candidates who did not seem to be competing for the title of Jingoistic idiot of the night were Dr. Rand Paul and John Kasich; although I do have to add the caveat that the good doctor's misdiagnoses makes him mistakenly opposed to the treaty with Iran.  I suppose that is to be expected.  If he is to remain in the party of no to government, science and reason he has to oppose everything Obama does.  Unlike John Kasich or Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul is more concerned about winning the primary than he is about winning the general election.  I might add here that Ben Carson's performance inspired yawns, while Jeb Bush's spirited defense of his brother's failed foreign policy inspired laughter. Yeah Jeb - run on that; I dare you!  The rest of the candidates were a bit like the backdrop -  they were noticeably there but not very memorable.

The one thing all the Republican Candidates have in common is this absurd proclivity for pissing off women and Hispanics. Yes I know Jeb and some of the others have nice words for women and Hispanics, but the policies those candidates offer are still far too harmful and offensive to appeal to the majority of women or the majority of Hispanics.

Fortunately the gagging induced by Republican duplicity and absurdity has subsided now. I have my voice back, and you will hear from me again soon.