Saturday, October 31, 2015

You Call That a Debate?



I have tried to keep a cool demeanor about the televised GOP Debates, but Wednesday's "Tora!-Tora!-Tora!" attack by three partisan Democrats acting as moderators was too much for me.  I cannot sit idly by and watch every single Republican candidate get smeared and disrespected over and over again by those hacks.

I must admit that I didn't stay tuned to the debate for any more than about the first half-hour, and I knew where it was going after the first question posed to all of the people on the stage. In case you missed it, it was, "What is your biggest weakness?"

Why would anyone ask that question of ten people who have the courage and credentials to run for the highest office in the country and, arguably, the world?  We don't expect to hear, nor do we care what their weaknesses are. That is why presidents (excluding the present one) have strong people in advisory and cabinet positions. We want to know about the candidates' positions on issues, not their weaknesses.

My hope was that Governor John Kasich would field the question with a rejoinder that would put the questioner, Hillary sycophant Carl Quintanilla, in his place. I was mistaken, and I learned the next day that Kasich had appeared on Charlie Rose's show later and praised the moderators. How asinine!

Even Donald Trump fielded the question with less-than-robust criticism, and it wasn't until Ted Cruz spoke up and listed one of his strengths as his "greatest weakness" that I felt someone was finally protesting the bias that was about to be exhibited.

Cruz, of course, was also the candidate who eventually grew tired of the negative and contentious questions and yes, argumentative follow up remarks by the moderators, who tried to outgun the candidates on stage. He used some of his time to berate and chastise the three alleged moderators for their blatant disrespect, guilt by false innuendo, silly questions and lack of objectivity.

Some of the questions the candidates were asked included:
          "Are you a really a comic book villain?" (to Trump)
          "Can you do math?" (to Carson)
          "Why don't you resign?" (to Rubio)

Becky Quick lived up to her name when she took the "Candy Crowley Offensive" against Dr. Ben Carson over his tax plan, interrupting his answer and explanation and citing numbers that had questionable validity from some liberal think tank. It was in all likelihood the same one that declared the recession was over and we were in a recovery phase back in 2009. Yeah, how did that work out for us?

It was at that point that I decided to see how my Kansas City Royals were doing in their quest for the World Series title. The outcome was a heck of a lot better on that score.