Liveblogging the Debate

~ Clarissa

20:01 – 10 candidates, many of whom nobody even knows, and not a single woman managed to squeeze in.

20:03 – the very first question was designed to give protagonism to Trump. Cute.

20:08 – to make Trump even more attractive, the host gives the floor to some obscure and hopeless doctor who can utter nothing but platitudes.

20:09 – pretty boy Rubio just conceded that Hillary Clinton is better qualified than any Republican candidate and proceeded to make weird noises about Amazon.

20:12 – Bush is trying hard not to look sleepy and not succeeding. A candidate who has to repeat “I’m my own man” so many times, brings to mind the lady who protests too much.

20:14 – once again, the hosts seem to work in unison with Trump. Did he bribe them? This looks rehearsed.

20:15 – Ted Cruz makes lizard – like head moves again. This guy is such a creep.

20:17 – Christie said he’s proud of his state’s horrible economy.

20:18 – Walker wriggled and avoided answering a question. What a coward.

20:19 – Huckabee is as crazy as usual. I wonder if these weirdos even realize how ridiculous the obsession of 10 men with abortion, an issue they are not equipped to understand in the physiological level, is.

20:21 – Rand Paul is the funniest. He just called himself “a leading voice” on something.

20:22 – some guy I’ve never seen is actually saying something reasonable.

Fox News is doing a great job. The questions are polemical and strong. Everything is well-organized.

20:26 – the hosts give Trump a chance to talk to Bush directly. They seem to want him to insult Bush. Trump didn’t bite.

20:29 – I haven’t actually seen Trump speak for years. And now that I see him at the debate, it’s obvious to me that he’s unwell. I don’t mean that as an insult. He gets very agitated by the end of each statement. And he’s not in full control of it. What we thought was a political position, turned out to be an illness.

And now Trump is the subject of the debate.

20:34 – somebody with the last name of Rubio really shouldn’t be dumping on immigrants.

20:36 – Walker flim-flams again. Is it like his thing these days?

20:37 – Ted Cruz declares support for a really horrifying and ridiculous law that I never even heard about.

20:39 – Rand Paul is yelling like he’s possessed. Christie openly says he’s being ridiculous. And he’s right. Rand Paul looks sulky and tantrumy. Does anybody even support this guy?

20:42 – Ted Cruz wants to defeat ISIS with the words “radical Islam.” I guess “abracadabra” has lost its potency as a magic word.

20:44 – Bush managed to squeeze out that the Iraq war was a mistake. It only took him 30 tries to arrive at a position on the issue.

20:46 – Walker reminds me so much of Putin. The same gestures, the same quiet, uninflected voice, the same incapacity to answer a direct question, the same lack of charisma. And, of course, the same war on women and unions.

20:48 – it’s funny how now everybody is “I’m against the war with Iraq! I was always against!” Why did we go to the stupid war if nobody supported it?

20:49 – Trump made a funny jab at Rand Paul.

20:51 – Walker said Hillary messes up everything she touches. It’s funny to hear him, of all people, to accuse people of messing things up.

20:55 – everybody is saying something weird and incomprehensible about the Common Core. What I found endlessly fascinating is how these candidates compete in expressing hatred of the federal government while auditioning for the job of said federal government’s leader.

21:01 – they are do terrified of Hillary. It’s pleasing to observe. For now, she has it made, so I understand their fear.

21:03 – the Ben Carson fellow talks about useful idiots, illustrating the power of projection.

21:06 – Walker’s plan for the economy is to sink a packet into repealing Obamacare? Lordy.

Ok, the rest has got to go under the fold.

21:09 – the host says the word “entitlements” with the same facial expression I say “Putin.” Huckabee is defending social security. Are his voters all elderly?

21:11 – Huckabee managed to bring prostitutes and pimps into his discussion of taxes. Old age is sad, indeed.

21:14 – I’m liking the way Trump pushed back on the bankruptcy question. Of course, people like him when the alternative is a flabby Bush or a monotonous Walker.

21:17 – everybody feels so sorry for Perry that he was given a little snippet of time.

21:19 – did Rand Paul just try to set up John Kerry by quoting a personal conversation with him??

Nobody is even mentioning Russia. Very disappointing.

21:27 – observe Bush’s body language. He’s screaming “I’m weak” in every gesture.

21:29 – Trump brought up Dubya. Good job!

21:33 – OK, what’s wrong with this Kasich fellow? Why is he so normal? Has he wandered onto the wrong stage?

I can’t liveblog Walker. Whenever he begins to speak, I doze off. AND WILL SOMEBODY FINALLY TALK ABOUT RUSSIA!!! It’s unbelievable that so much time is spent on blastocysts and none on fucking Russia.

21:40 – the fuck! The idiots can’t stay on point and talk about Russia. It’s all Iran this and Iran that. And now they move on to Syria! Stupid fucks! None of them can say anything about Russia.

21:43 – Walker somehow tried to link Putin to Hillary ‘ s emails. I knew he’d be the one to put me to sleep with this painfully boring subject.

21:46 – Rand Paul is militating against giving money to Israel. Does he have no plans at all to continue being a Republican politician?

21:51 – the viewers are such crazies. One is asking if the candidates have received word from God. Of course, the real scary thing is that quite a few of them think they are God.

21:53 – abortion again?? These guys haven’t gotten laid in years, it seems.

22:06 – “it’s over” Kelly yelped happily.

Published by Clarissa

65 thoughts on “Liveblogging the Debate”

    1. Huckabee: ‘Walker doesn’t hate women enough. Vote for me, I’m gonna take it it even further.’

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  3. That big, tall wall designed to keep mexicans out. With a door in it, to let them in.

    President Trump, please build that wall.

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  12. They’re not even pretending anyone other than Hillary has a chance. Lol.

    Kasich is way too reasonable and articulate.

    Roflmao Dr. Carson’s shade. “People are not stupid.” Wait Republican primary voters are smart.

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  15. Obama care: taking Medicare from Fox viewers.
    With my system the pimps and hookers will pay you!
    Trump is very open about bribing everyone. And using the bankruptcy laws.
    Trump: all billionaires have failed ventures! Lenders are not babies! I’m a leader!

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  16. I said a long time ago that the GOP brought the casting director for “The Addams Family” out of retirement to put this crew together. OK, maybe the guy from “The Munsters”, too. Was that on target or what?

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  18. Carly Fiorina looks like she sucks lemons.
    Walker keeps talking about yellow ribbons.
    Paul: St Reagan!
    Huckabee : Iran! Hostages! Guns to the head!

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  19. How does a businessman lose money on a casino in new jersey, with gambling banned in all its neighboring states? How the fuck do you lose money being the house?!!!

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  20. Men’s wearhouse.
    United colors of unemployed PoC against immigration.
    Cancer treatment.
    IFC.
    Fox news.
    Cable company sponsored since competition.
    ItaliaN deli chain

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  21. Bush: Stop playing 6 degrees of Planned Parenthood! I’m prolife! Education! Terry Schiavo!

    Rubio: The constitution protects blastocysts!

    Trump: I evolved. Like Ronnie! Shrub was a disaster! Medieval times are not PC

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  24. Last question was about Black Lives Matter.
    Commercials
    Straight Outta Compton?!
    Diesel cars
    Jos. A old man shorts.
    Carly Fiorina’s old company.

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  25. How outraged are these people with the very thought of Obama negotiating with Iran. Imagine how they’d feel if they knew Saint Ronnie actually sold them weapons.

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    1. I’d rather he sent his apologies to the educators of Wisconsin. The fellow bungles up everything he touches. Like hell do we want him butting into Ukraine.

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  27. Huckabee : the military is a Limp Bizkit song.
    Paul: I have a five year plan. I have office supplies!
    Can’t project power from bankruptcy court!

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  29. ‘Any word from God?’

    Thank you Chase Norton from facebook for this amazingly trollish last question.

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  31. Facebook question: What do the voices in your head say?
    Cruz: my daddy was an alcoholic.
    Kasich: Respect people!
    Walker: don’t you mean the Koch brothers?
    Rubio: We have so many candidates. Fuck the VA!
    Carson: People keep making race wars out of things. Also I’m a brain surgeon.

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  34. Kasich: I’m the governor of Ohio: a swing state.
    Christie: I ate lots of Breyer’s ice cream. I miss it.
    Paul: 5 year plan! Catheter user! Look at polls.
    Rubio: I’m Cuban. New American century.
    Cruz: Repeal the last 8 years! Jerusalem. I’m cuban.
    Carson: I’m a Brain Surgeon!!!!
    Huckabee : Hillary is a scandal donut!
    Walker: I’m having a midlife crisis. I busted unions!
    Bush: Washington is stopping utopia.
    Trump: Other countries are kicking our ass!

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    1. I was at the gym, so I had to miss it. But yes, everybody who did watch told me she made a fantastic impression, looking very poised and knowledgeable.

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    2. Carly Fiorina is smart in select ways. There’s no question she can speak; you can’t get to boardroom level without certain skills. You also don’t want stock in any company in which she is involved. Strategy is a challenge for her and she makes Mitt Romney look like a populist. However, her lack of charisma assures her of being a non-starter.

      Winning a debate against the yokels the GOP has assembled actually doesn’t take much. That simply reflects the lack of integrity in the party. I think you can make a fair case that were either Abe Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt able to revisit us, both would reject the party as it is today.

      I keep coming back to the theme that we would have a very different situation if people actually paid attention to what their representatives are doing and voted. In particularly, increased voting among minorities and the poor would change both government leadership and policies rather dramatically.

      Politicians spend a lot of time manipulating symbols and believing they are doing something by doing that. That’s Trump’s strength and why its so easy for him to make the others look absurd. He wants positive action, not symbolic inaction.

      I’ve been doing opinion surveys for almost 40 years. For good or ill, Trump can win this election if he runs as the GOP candidate. He may be able to win it as a third party candidate. My curiosity is how much of the House and Senate he can populate with his own people and how many major political parties will exist after this race is done.

      Hillary is still playing symbolic politics and that’s inadequate for this situation. She’s too caught up in the email mess and isn’t doing what she needs to move forward — and that’s to invent a new, “New Deal.”

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      1. In my state, people elected Rauner as governor but in the concurrent voting on actual issues, there was a large majority on every single issue that was contrary to Rauner ‘ s agenda. So yes, you are absolutely right, people are not even trying to figure out who actually represents their beliefs and needs. All of this endless talk about abortion yesterday is a distraction. We have actual slums in this country. The public education system is in tatters. We are losing our competitive edge on the world arena. Part-time employment is destroying the concept of a life-long career. There are still millions without medical insurance. And we spend 40 minutes debating who said what about abortion 20 years ago? For shame!

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        1. Probably my single biggest issues with Carly concfern H1B visas and privacy law. She’s been the poster child for putting Americans out of work and cutting wages and an advocate of the Trans Pacific trade agreement, part of which serves to weaken other countrries’ privacy laws. I’m guessing nothing about that arose durin the earlier debate.

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  36. Domestically, H1-B is associated with putting US workers out of jobs for forcing substantial cuts in pay. H1-B and outsourced workers get lower pay than the people they replace. Carly has been a long time advocate for expansion of this program.

    I suspect you and I have very different perspectives on the program.

    This link offers a good review of Carly’s failings: http://www.fightforvotes.com/carly-fiorina-considering-run-as-a-republican-for-president/

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    1. Of course, I’m for H1-B and I’m obviously for expansion of H1-B. It’s not true that immigrants are stealing the jobs of locals. I have not replaced anybody, believe me, because how many people are there who are as qualified to do my job? At my department, I have several colleagues who are recent immigrants and I can absolutely guarantee that there is nobody who was born here who can replace them. And the same goes for my husband.

      It would be fantastic if the H1-B program were expanded at the expense of the horrible, unfair and corruption-promoting green card lottery.

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      1. I understand what you are saying, but it is definitely not true in other job sectors, especially IT. Disney got a fantastic amount of flack because not only were they replacing local IT workers with H1-B workers, but they were asking the people they were laying off to train the replacements. Disney backed down. The electric utility in California is being investigated for similar practices.

        The great bulk of H1-B visas are job and lifestyle destroyers. The program has been much abused by CEOs who are pocketing the savings, Carly among them.

        I did a mercifully short stint with a company in the DC area most of whose employees are Chinese and Vietnamese nationals. Customer-facing positions are American; back office is Asian. They underpay and overwork the staff because they are used to that. An 80 hour work week doesn’t bother someone from China. New hires coming out of school (H1-B or not) are forced to match the H1-B staff in terms of lower pay and longer hours.

        So I’m not a fan of the program. There’s a place for it, but it should be much more limited than it is today. In IT, the notion that there are no US workers to do these jobs is simply a lie.

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        1. “I understand what you are saying, but it is definitely not true in other job sectors, especially IT.”

          • My husband is in IT.

          “The great bulk of H1-B visas are job and lifestyle destroyers.”

          • It breaks my heart to see a progressive and brilliant person like yourself repeating these anti-immigrant myths. 😦 😦 I’m sure you know that the belief that immigrants steal jobs and destroy the American dream has existed at every stage of this country’s existence. This is a country of immigrants, as we all know, and everybody’s ancestor must have surely heard that he or she steals jobs and exercises a negative influence.

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          1. These aren’t myths and they’re not anti-immigrant. They are the abuse of a government program by large corporations to reap larger bonuses for boards and CEOs. H1-B is tied into agism — the movement to make people over age 50 unemployed — also to reduce salary costs.

            I’m a great fan of one frequent criticism of Carly — if she can bring in workers to reduce salary costs, shareholders should be allowed to force the outsourcing of the CEO’s job as well, also to reduce salary costs. HP would have saved far more outsourcing Carly than it did importing workers — including the entire cost of the nonsensical Compaq acquisition.

            The problem may get a market solution before the government acts. A recent survey by BDO shows that most large corporate CFOs are now opposed to either importing workers or outsourcing IT jobs. If the money guy doesn’t want it, its not going to happen.

            http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/the-myth-of-americas-tech-talent-shortage/275319/

            http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/study-there-may-not-be-a-shortage-of-american-stem-graduates-after-all/2013/04/24/66099962-acea-11e2-a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html

            http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-h1-b-visas-dont-help-american-stem-graduates-letters-to-the-editor-1430507004

            http://search400.techtarget.com/news/826130/ITAAs-job-stats-doubted-questions-raised-about-H1-B-quotas

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            1. Let’s all fight for fair labor conditions. This is a noble and important goal. But “let’s keep immigrants out” is not a solution to anything. Immigration is a reality of today’s world, and it’s not going away. There is no fence on the border that will stop immigration flows, but that’s not a bad thing.

              I’ve traveled around in the US and there is so much empty space. Immigrants will not crowd anybody out. There’s space aplenty for all of us. And for every job we “take”, there are jobs, opportunities, and enrichment that we bring that is unparalleled. Societies that foster hatred against immigrants push themselves into a dead end. They refuse to solve the real problems they are facing by displacing the cause onto immigrants.

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              1. Look, you’re putting the discussion in terms of immigration policy and I’m looking at the welfare of people already here, immigrant or not. I don’t care whether someone is an immigrant; I care about whether they have a job and their quality of life. Current H1-B policy is being used to create problems, not solve them, in order that one small part of the population can take advantage of everyone else. Including the immigrants. Could the policy be structured differently? Yes. Could a different structure still promote immigration? Yes. Could it be done without job displacement? Yes.

                However, that’s a technical solution and folks like Walker don’t understand those. Very few of these politicians seem capable of any kind of subtle thinking.

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