Democrats Debate (Anything But) Foreign Policy

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Clarissa

November 14, 2015

I will miss the first part of the debate but please leave comments if you are watching. I will update when I get to a TV.

P.S. OK, I’m in front of the TV. Bernie is making fun of Eisenhower, good for him. But where is the foreign policy debate? I swallowed my lettuce-wrapped burger whole to get to the debate, and what I get is a discussion of prescription plans? I feel grumpier than Bernie.

Conclusion: Bernie was clearly winning until the last 20 minutes when Hillary turned things around and won the end of the debate.

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33 responses to “Democrats Debate (Anything But) Foreign Policy”

Dreidel

November 14, 2015

Well, the debate’s off to a great start. The moderator asked Bernie Sanders for his thoughts on the Paris attacks, and Sanders immediately went into his standard stump speech about economic inequality, without attempting to make any connection to foreign policy.

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1. Clarissa
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  I can’t believe I missed it.
  
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  1. Dreidel
    
    November 14, 2015
    
    “where is the foreign policy debate?”
    
    It was only in the first portion of the debate, before the first commercial break. Hillary did well in that.
    
    She’d get my vote — for Secretary of Defense.
    
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    1. Clarissa
      
      November 14, 2015
      
      So I missed exactly the part I wanted to see.
      
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Stringer Bell

November 14, 2015

Agree with them or not, it’s so refreshing to see actual adults discussing things seriously.

Compare it to the republican clown car poo-flinging festival.

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1. Clarissa
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  Nobody is saying anything insane or telling any outlandish lies. That IS refreshing.
  
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NG

November 14, 2015

They’re definitely playing in Hilary’s sandbox. Sanders made his big play using his vote against the Iraq War vs. Hilary’s pro war vote but didn’t really score. I think that he is more comfortable with economic issues. Mallory seems sort of on the sidelines as if he’s angling for the vice-president’s job.

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1. Clarissa
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  Poor O’Malley is so marginalized that even the Walmart workers commercial that ran in the break addressed Hillary and Bernie but not him.
  
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  1. Dreidel
    
    November 14, 2015
    
    Well, at least O’Malley didn’t bring up his intention to put America on the metric system. (Perhaps he remembers how well that idea worked for Jimmy Carter.)
    
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    1. Clarissa
      
      November 14, 2015
      
      I would SO support that. I just bought a firewood stand that turned out to be minuscule because I don’t understand inches and imagined it as being much bigger.
      
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      1. Dreidel
        
        November 14, 2015
        
        Come on, American units of measurement are practical:
        
        A mile is the distance you can generally drive in ten minutes.
        An inch is the about length from the tip of your thumb to its first joint.
        A foot is just a couple inches longer than your real foot (at least mine).
        I am exactly six feet tall — a lot easier to remember than “1.83 meters.”
        
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        Jones
        
        November 15, 2015
        
        Because Dreidel probably doesn’t know this, I shall impart upon him the knowledge that American industrial measurements are in fact metric and have been for quite some time …
        
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_States
        
        For your further edification:
        
        “Shortly after the American Civil War, Congress authorized the use of the metric system in the Metric Act of 1866 and supplied each state with a set of standard metric weights and measures. In 1875, the United States solidified its commitment to the development of the internationally recognized metric system by becoming one of the original seventeen signatory nations to the Metre Convention or the Treaty of the Metre.”
        
        “Under the Mendenhall Order in 1893, metric standards, developed through international cooperation under the auspices of BIPM, were adopted as the fundamental standards for length and mass in the United States. The definitions of United States customary units, such as the foot and pound, have been based on metric units ever since.”
        
        Now if we could only get you lot to re-standardise all of those annoying Zeds out of such words as “authorized” … 🙂
        
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        Clarissa
        
        November 15, 2015
        
        “Now if we could only get you lot to re-standardise all of those annoying Zeds out of such words as “authorized””
        
        They throw me off, too, to be honest.
        
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        Dreidel
        
        November 15, 2015
        
        I’m not quite that unknowledgeable, Jones. Obviously, the U.S. has used an odd mixture of the metric system AND standard American measurements for decades. That’s even true in everyday life, where at the supermarket, you can buy soft drinks in either 12 oz. cans or 1 litter bottles. Soup cans are sold by the ounce. Beer is by the ounce in both cans and bottles. Hard liquor is sold in metric units such as 1.75 litter. Milk by the quart and gallon, etc. (You probably didn’t know that, did you? 🙂
        
        But for most personal measurements of length, height, and distance, Americans still use inches, feet, yards, and miles — and these measurements are convenient, for the reasons stated in my earlier post above.
        
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Stringer Bell

November 14, 2015

I think all three sound reasonable. They even agree with each other on certain things, which is such a mature thing to do in a debate.

Sanders: We need muslim countries in the middle east to pull their weight in the fight against ISIS. We can do it alone. We also need to overhaul the way defense budget money is spent. Only 10% to combat terrorism isn’t enough. Why the need to maintain so many nukes when we know that’s not how modern wars will be fought?

I dunno, man. To me, he sounds fine on foreign policy.

Looking forward to the next republican debate where I won’t be surprised if Trump smashes a folding chair in Carson’s face.

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1. Clarissa
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  O’Malley spoke very well on immigration. I’m impressed.
  
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2. matt
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  I laughed super hard at the trump vs carson image. Having three people makes it much easier for a reasonable debate.
  
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  1. Clarissa
    
    November 14, 2015
    
    At least, the Republican field is thinning out. The first two debates were way too crowded.
    
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Stringer Bell

November 14, 2015

Agree with Dreidel: Sanders moved too quickly to his stump speech in his opening arguments, especially since all three candidates were asked to talk about Paris attacks in their remarks.

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1. Clarissa
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  I didn’t like Sanders referring to campaign donation system as “corrupt.” Corruption is not a word that should be thrown around lightly. Bad does not equal corrupt.
  
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Dreidel

November 14, 2015

Hillary just accused Sanders of “impugning her integrity,” and now she’s shouting angrily. Looks like the poo-flinging has started…

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Stringer Bell

November 14, 2015

Clinton invoking 9/11 when pushed on her ties to wall street is just shameful.

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Stringer Bell

November 14, 2015

Sanders: It is not a radical idea to say that someone who works 40 hours/week should not be living in poverty

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Dreidel

November 14, 2015

O’Malley just called Hillary “Annie Oakley” for her stance on gun control. 🙂

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1. Clarissa
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  This is about that horrible moment during her run against Obama back in 2008 when she lied about sniper fire and told that shameful story about her grandpa and a rifle. That was such a disaster.
  
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Stringer Bell

November 14, 2015

Probably the best debate moderators we’ve had so far.

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1. Dreidel
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  Yeah, Dickerson is doing a surprisingly good job of controlling the pace and keeping the candidates on topic.
  
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Stringer Bell

November 14, 2015

Was curious about the 92% support for background checks that Sanders (?) mentioned. Didn’t think it would be that high. Well, color me shocked. It’s insane that something that enjoys a consistent 90%+ support from the public isn’t a law in a democracy.

It’s an NYTimes/CBS poll, so it’s legit.

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1. Clarissa
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  It’s precisely one of those issues where voters want one thing and their stupid so-called representatives just won’t budge. That’s a great failure of democracy.
  
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Dreidel

November 14, 2015

Good debate for the Democrats — but on election day, the choice will be between yesterday and tomorrow.

Here’s some irony for you: Guess which side old people like me are voting for? 🙂

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1. Stringer Bell
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  Oh, I know for sure which side old people like you are voting for. No need to guess. 🙂
  
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  1. Anonymous
    
    November 14, 2015
    
    You know, Stringer Boy, even a broken clock isn’t right once a day if it has no hands. 🙂
    
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2. Clarissa
  
  November 14, 2015
  
  Let’s first see who is Republican candidate. For now there doesn’t seem to be a viable one at all. Rubio seems to be rejected for his position on immigration, and who else is there?
  
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