Let me preface this by saying, Republicans, please vote for Trump. Because Cruz is iffy. He’s weird, something’s wrong with him.

20:07 – Rubio thinks he is running against Obama. The poor puckered up fellow is so clueless.

20:08 – Bush is trying to crack a joke and fails, as usual.

20:12 – asking the perennially Peter-Pannish Rand Paul about his Daddy is a low blow.

20:15 – I’m still not entirely sure how Kasich’s last name is pronounced. Or what his first name is. That’s not a good sign re: his popularity.

20:18 – again with milking the ISIS thing? Will they ever speak of this country that they profess to love so much? Hello, wage stagnation over here! College debt! Underemployment! Enough with the freaking “carpet bomb the enemy” already.

20:27 – Christie looks like he is about to cry with big, slobbering, heaving sobs.

20:28 – Cruz is such a bully.

20:32 – yes, let’s discuss terrorism anxiety and pretend that economic anxiety does not exist. A great way to remain completely irrelevant, guys.

20:36 – Megyn Kelly is not letting Christie fib about San Bernardino. Good for her!

20:38 – Carson is trying to sub for Trump with a “political correctness is evil” spiel.

20:50 – of course, Cruz will be fine with people losing their health insurance. He’s a smug, rich, grubby sociopath.

21:01 – Fox News is beating up Rubio real bad on immigration.

21:07 – the spectacle of immigrants’ sons competing in which one of them hates immigrants more is disgraceful. Do none of them have any balls to defend their own positions they’ve espoused for years?

21:13 – at least, Bush managed to squeeze out something positive about immigrants.

21:32 – Rand Paul is a religious libertarian? What a joke he is. I especially love his “the abortions WE have.” Maybe the freak should stop having all these abortions if they bother him so much.

21:35 – Fox News must think Putin is beyond irrelevant if they give the quest about him to Carson.

21:43 – this debate is a joke. They are on to Bill Clinton’s sex life? Seriously? There is no greater problem in this country than Bill’s affair 20 fucking years ago? People who were born in that year are old enough to vote. Can we discuss their college bills and not Bill’s penis?

72 responses to “The Seven Lame Ducklings Debate”

  1. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    Rubio is a tongue-tied moron. Such a lightweight.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Attacking Obama only makes him look pouty and tantrumy.

      Like

      1. Stringer Bell Avatar
        Stringer Bell

        Seriously, nobody says so much gibberish with so much earnestness than this guy.

        Like

  2. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    “Rubio thinks he is running against Obama.”

    Probably because Hillary clearly campaigning to carry on Obama’s third term…

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Actually, the biggest criticisms Hillary is receiving are about her differences from Obama.

      By the way, who is the nice moderator beating down on Cruz?

      Like

  3. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    ‘They want to trigger an apocalyptic armageddon showdown so we will…give them an apocalyptic armageddon showdown by carpet bombing”.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      They keep repeating this same stuff in every debate. It’s like they have zero interest in what is happening in this country.

      It’s not surprising that the party is collapsing.

      Like

  4. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    “the perennially Peter-Pannish Rand Paul”

    Yes, but he and Debbie Wasserman Schultz have the same unique hair style, so their images are always entertaining.

    Like

  5. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    Trump’s holding a fundraiser, shown live on CNN. Surprisingly boring. He needs opponents to beat up on.

    Like

  6. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    Say what you want about Cruz’s personality, he’s the best debater on the stage tonight.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      That’s not a very impressive feat, though. 🙂

      Like

  7. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    Rubio doing PR for ISIS.

    Like

  8. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    “let’s discuss terrorism anxiety and pretend that economic anxiety does not exist”

    The candidates are simply addressing the questions actually being asked, instead of turning every answer into economic inequality like Bernie does in the Demo debates.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      It would be nice if they had something to say about the economy at some point. We all know they are scared of ISIS ,what’s the point of repeating it?

      Like

  9. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    ISIS controlled lands are not Mordor and HRC isn’t trying to get the Ring.

    Like

    1. Dreidel Avatar
      Dreidel

      Is this a reference to Bored of the Rings? I never read Tolkien.

      Like

  10. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    They literally found the least difficult Ferguson question ever. Rand why aren’t you answering this softball?

    Like

  11. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    It’s ridiculous to talk about repealing Obamacare — or any other big government program already in place! The best anyone can do to existing government programs in slow down their growth.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Yes, that’s what the people need: pass it, repeal it, pass it, repeal it. Fun!

      Like

  12. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    These idiots seem to think that Planned Parenthood and Foreign Aid are the biggest items in the budget.

    “How will you balance the budget?”
    “DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD! NEXT QUESTION!”

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Cruz health care reform is the dumbest thing I have heard on the subject.

      Like

      1. Stringer Bell Avatar
        Stringer Bell

        I stand with Rubio and wholeheartedly oppose Barack Hussein Obama’s official ‘Let ISIS into the country’ immigration policy.

        Like

    2. Shakti Avatar
      Shakti

      Discussion of Flint was surprisingly weak. Lead is incredibly bad for fetuses.

      Like

      1. Clarissa Avatar

        This is an incredible, shocking level of hypocrisy. How absolutely shameful.

        Like

  13. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    Puerto Rico is never going to vote to become a U.S. state — the island has a much better deal remaining an unincorporated U.S. territory.

    Like

  14. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    Kelly is quite confrontational: “Now that you’ve already proved that you can’t be trusted on this subject…” 🙂

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Kelly is doing great. She’s the best moderator of all debates on both sides.

      Like

      1. Dreidel Avatar
        Dreidel

        Which is why the Democratic candidates would never agree to a Fox News debate!

        Like

  15. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    “Let’s watch Rubio age.Also here’s raw material for all of the other PACs.”
    You are Cuban. Your parents got “blanket amnesty”.

    Like

    1. Dreidel Avatar
      Dreidel

      Cuban refugees are a special case of course, thanks to U.S. animosity toward Castro.

      Like

      1. Clarissa Avatar

        That’s one of the reasons why US Hispanics don’t like Cubans and don’t identify with them.

        Like

  16. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    Bush is really in this race to sell books on Kindle. Worst book tour ever

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Yes, as book tours go, this one is pretty expensive.

      Like

  17. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    Ahahah. “Let’s watch Cruz age and squirm.”
    Please visit my website.

    Like

  18. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    “Please visit my website.”

    So where is it? There’s no link associated with your on-line handle.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      A mysterious, elusive website. . .:-)

      Maybe it’s not a natural-born website.

      Like

    2. Shakti Avatar
      Shakti

      Whoops. I should put Cruz: Please visity website

      Like

      1. Shakti Avatar
        Shakti

        Darn Autocorrect.

        Like

  19. Barbara Avatar
    Barbara

    It’s John Kay-sich. I don’t have any idea of what he would be like as far as foreign affairs, but domestically, he would be like GW Bush (as you may recall, he is my governor).

    He only looks good on that stage because the others are so, so bad.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      He seems to pronounce the “ch” as in cackle, not as in chase, like I do.

      Like

      1. Barbara Avatar
        Barbara

        Yes, it is like “ick,” ironically appropriate.

        Like

        1. Clarissa Avatar

          That’s a great mnemonic device to remember. Thank you!

          Like

  20. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    Christie: I will be the Matlock of the federal government. I will be the prosecutor and the POTUS at the same time

    Like

  21. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    Off-topic, but has everyone noticed how the volume on commercials is always much louder than during the programs? Very annoying!

    Like

    1. Barbara Avatar
      Barbara

      Did you just start watching television? That has been true for as long as I remember.

      Like

      1. Clarissa Avatar

        I never noticed. I always put the TV on mute during commercials.

        Like

        1. Barbara Avatar
          Barbara

          Well you did not grow up here in the time before remotes. When I was a child, it must have been a developmental milestone of sorts, the moment you realized the commercial are louder and are able to comment on it.

          Like

          1. Clarissa Avatar

            Fascinating. You are a fount of interesting information today.

            Like

      2. Dreidel Avatar
        Dreidel

        “Did you just start watching television?”

        I was watching television before you were born, but changes in noise levels are much more jarring as you get older, because you have to set the minimum noise level a bit higher to understand conversation against background noise.

        Stick around a few decades, you’ll see what I mean. 🙂

        Like

        1. Shakti Avatar
          Shakti

          changes in noise levels are much more jarring as you get older, because you have to set the minimum noise level a bit higher to understand conversation against background noise

          A bit higher? Ha!

          I think they actually did jack up the volume level on certain commercials. It’s not just your ears.

          Like

          1. Dreidel Avatar
            Dreidel

            “The Commission adopted rules on December 13, 2011 that require commercials to have the same average volume as the programs they accompany” (from the link you provided).

            Those rules are definitely being violated.

            “A bit higher? Ha!”

            I think you misunderstood me. What I meant was, I personally have to set the volume on my television a little higher than I did forty years ago, because as you age your high-frequency hearing slowly decreases, and when it dips into the range of human conversation, words are harder to understand against background noise.

            So I have to set the volume higher for shows like “Law & Order,” which have a lot of background noise, than I do for political talk shows.

            The sudden increase in volume when a commercial starts is definitely more than a bit, no argument about that.

            Like

  22. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    The chair of Cruz’s campaign endorses him? Good to know.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Well, he might switch to Trump before the end of the debate. Everybody else has.

      Like

  23. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    The good doctor is making a lot of sense about Putin and the Balkans. You disagree, Clarissa?

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      The Baltics. If anybody thought this was an important issue, the question would have gone to less hopeless candidates.

      Like

      1. Dreidel Avatar
        Dreidel

        Sorry about the stupid name mix-up — but you didn’t answer my question: Do you disagree with anything Dr. Carson said about Putin?

        (Replying that what he said is irrelevant because he’ll never be President is dodging my question.)

        Like

        1. Clarissa Avatar

          It’s all completely outdated. The time to send weapons to Ukraine passed over a year ago. The situation is different now. What will help is to push France hard to stick to the sanctions. Putin needs to be shown that his presence in Syria is not wanted. And the comments he made today about Russia’s claims to even more of Ukraine’s territory need to be shut down.

          Carson’s speech would have made sense in the summer of 2015 but you can’t just get stuck in the past. New developments happen all the time.

          Like

          1. Dreidel Avatar
            Dreidel

            NATO exercises and a troop build-up in the Baltic states are still a good idea. Putin’s bullying isn’t welcome either in Syria or Eastern Europe. Obama’s never stood up to him anywhere.

            Like

            1. Clarissa Avatar

              Yes, I like the NATO exercises. The NATO leadership is doing a great job.

              Like

              1. Dreidel Avatar
                Dreidel

                NATO leadership depends on the United States. There hasn’t been any for the last eight years.

                Like

  24. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    21:43 – this debate is a joke. They are on to Bill Clinton’s sex life? Seriously? There is no greater problem in this country than Bill’s affair 20 fucking years ago? People who were born in that year are old enough to vote. Can we discuss their college bills and not Bill’s penis?

    The Starr Report is the best argument against government created porn.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      The Starr Report came out right after I moved to Canada. My relationship with my husband was collapsing, I was depressed, but reading that report was so entertaining that I felt relief. I will forever remember it fondly. 🙂

      Like

      1. Dreidel Avatar
        Dreidel

        As long as we’re reminiscing: The Lewinsky scandal broke the week after I retired from the Air Force — the first week in ages that I’d been home to watch daytime television on weekdays. It was also the week that Pope John-Paul became the first-ever Pope to visit Cuba, and it would have been a very boring news week without the scandal. 🙂

        The impeachment trial was also a very entertaining week, even if the melodrama had a disappointing ending.

        Like

        1. Clarissa Avatar

          Yes, I traveled to Cuba soon after that and they were all crazy for him. I don’t think Cubans cared much whether to adore the Pope or Che Guevara.

          One thing is for sure, though, being young is vastly overrated. I wouldn’t want to go back to that age.

          Like

  25. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    Today I learned that you cannot be a feminist if your husband did something bad.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      I really love it that this particular crowd of clueless men should be lecturing a woman on feminism.

      Clue-less.

      Like

  26. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    “Vote for me, my wife was near ground zero on 9/11.”

    Christie

    Like

  27. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    Why did they invite Paul and not Fiorina? It was all “Paul the Lesser’s greatest hits!”.

    Notes from the peanut gallery:
    “Go back to Jersey, shovel some snow and eat some pasta!”
    “Rubio’s face is red on one side and has a scratch on it. What’s up with his makeup?”
    ” [poor baby]” (said about Bush)
    “I like Kasich.”
    “Ok chant Hillary’s name one more time” (to Rubio)

    Like

    1. Dreidel Avatar
      Dreidel

      “Why did they invite Paul and not Fiorina?”

      Because they needed at least one person on the stage whose foreign policy views were to the left of Obama’s.

      Like

  28. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    “this debate is a joke.”

    I agree! The candidates should have been attacking Hillary, not each other.

    We’ll see who’s still standing, in both parties, after the Monday caucus.

    Like

  29. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    Tangentially:
    Maybe it’s the candidates or this year or me, but there’s a distinct lack of dreaming and an overall positive vision for the future coming out of the entire 2016 field.

    The Republican candidates claim they’re going to protect me the nightmare of Hillary Clinton dealing with ISIS and socialism. The Republican field is a nightmare to me, but I just notice the lack of even a positive conservative vision with any tangibility. I don’t have a sense of a conservative vision except oh, “This is a rerun of the 1980s.”

    The Democratic candidates claim they’re going to protect me from the Republicans. Sanders sort of has a positive vision but it feels like a throwback in every single way. Otherwise, why soundtrack your political ad with the melancholy Simon and Garfunkel song<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W773ZPJhcVw“>America (see the lyrics at the link)? Hillary Clinton is very much, “did you like the ’90s? Did you like Obama? If you elect me, you’ll get more of that!”

    2016: It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday LOL

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      I agree completely. I’m tempted to attribute this to the age of the leading candidates but then I see Rubio who is young yet as apocalyptic as the rest of them.

      Like

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A conservative literary critic and college professor