Alan, The Unhinged, Plays The Fool For The GOP, Again

What was this guy doing in the debates in the first place? Did he just start running?

Kunnich is left out of the Dems' debate and Keyes, the Unhinged, in invited to the GOP debate. Isn't having Keyes there, on the platform, embarrassing for the GOP candidates. He is one of the most hateful nut-cases I have ever seen and can always be counted on to say something so crazy that he can't help but make most of the news.

Hey, maybe that is the reason for his appearance at this late date! Nothing any of the other candidates could possibly say, no matter how, nutty, shocking or scandalous, could top the spewing from Keyes.

This was the last debate before the primaries. They invited Keyes to over-shadow anything stupid they might say.

JOHNSTON, IA - Alan Keyes made himself the story today, which is exactly why he shouldn't have been invited to the debate in the first place. The fact that Keyes will grab at least a portion of the headlines with his unhinged performance, in addition to the fact that no serious blows were landed in the debate, means today's event is unlikely to change a thing.

All the major candidates did well. Romney and Huckabee were both smooth, and Thompson turned in probably his best performance of the year. None of the candidates did anything to hurt themselves, though there were no signature moments (except Fred's quip about Mitt having become a pretty good actor) that will be remembered by the time the sun rises tomorrow.

Funny, I thought Thompson looked like the big old croaking Bull-frog that he is. He was hateful in refusing to answer a yes or no question, from a female questioner. It made him look like a bully and it made me mad. He doesn't seem to get that when he is rude to the press he is being rude to the people. They are asking questions for us. Maybe we should enlighten him.

But they were all overshadowed by Keyes, who continued his sideshow in the spin room after the debate, complaining about the way he was treated by the moderator. But this time he came up against a very hostile press corps. Asked whether he felt he had "marred" the debate, Keyes gave an indignant response about the ruling elites subverting the will of the people.

The day Keyes become the will of the people is the day the U.S.A. becomes just one huge open-air mental institution and should be put on lock-down.

Another reporter said, "don't you feel you were lucky to be invited to this debate in the first place?" Astonishingly, Keyes turned to the reporter and said, "is that a racial question?" It was strange to hear Keyes play the race card, and he dodged when asked about it.

Keyes playing the race card is about as strange as Dick Cheney playing the gay card...oh, that's right, he did that, did he not? Has Keyes ever acknowledged that he is black?

A bit later Mike Huckabee entered and did brief segment on CNN. Huckabee explained the context behind the NY Times Magazine story that has been at the top of the news all day, and said that he went over after the debate and apologized to Romney, telling him that he did not want Romney's faith to be an issue.

(Yeah, right, Mike. You may have gotten away with it, but you and I both know that you sunk Romney for good with that "Jesus is Satan's brother" bit. Geeze, preacher Mike, you seem a little sleazy for a holy man, but we in America should be geting used to that by now, eh?)

Huckabee also said he was pleased with the way the debate turned out because he had expected to see his blood all over the floor of the debate stage this afternoon, but left "without a bandaid." With only 22 days left until caucus day, that might be the biggest story of all.

Probably no Gooper on that stage wanted to go there with you, Mikey. You're more embarrassing than the Unhinged Keyes, himself. Crazy people can be overlooked to some degree by most people, but you claim to be sane.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Gooper Debate

October 10, 2007

The only debate news came after the debate: One Republican candidate openly declares a dictatorship

Clowns. It was the one word that instantly sprang to mind and then hovered over and throughout the debate. Clowns. Nothing but clowns.

Prior to their collective performance, The Politico's Roger Simon had written specifically of newcomer Fred Thompson: "All he has to do is not fall asleep. All he has to do is not throw up."

Good advice, and even better advice for the television audience, although I found both admonitions hard to comply with. It was two hours of the expected -- two hours of somniferous platitudes, banalities and imbecilities.

Having already cited Mr. Thompson, I'll start with him. "I think there is no reason to believe that we’re headed for a recession," he said, adding a few generalities that rounded out his view of our economic wonderland. Later, residing in an altogether different universe, he warned of our surefire and coming doom -- all the result, of course, of entitlements. Go figure.

(No reason other than common sense, I guess)

Mitt Romney was, as usual, pumped full of economic amphetamines and aswirl in euphoria, saying, to quote the coverage, "that if Republicans wanted to regain voters’ trust on the economy, they had to avoid doom and gloom." This line of reasoning is a real puzzler, akin to saying that if a physician wants to ensure a cancer patient's health, all he has to do is avoid mentioning the diagnosis. On the other hand, this was a Republican debate. Reason is an uninvited foreigner.

(Mitt Says there's no problem, therefore there isn't, or some such crappola as that. Can these Republicans get any any more stupid?)

Rudy was similarly giddy, knowing just how to apply that common-man touch. When asked about the obscene profits being made by private equity firms -- a subject that has gross inequality implications for millions of Americans -- his smallest of world views was, "Well, I mean, the market is a wonderful thing -- the sky’s the limit." There's nothing like thoughtful analysis.

(I may barf)

Such as John McCain's. Bucking the Mitt-Rudy feel-goodism and Fred's bi-polar fudging, he asserted that Social Security is going broke. Wrote the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Dean Baker, who was blogging live for the New York Times: "Mr. McCain is completely unaware of the Social Security projections.... According to the Congressional Budget Office it can pay all scheduled benefits through the year 2046 with no changes whatsoever."

(Much more of the Goopers and we will all be dead by then, anyway)

McCain "also said Medicare is going broke," wrote Baker, "but if he knows the projections at all, he knows that this is attributable to projections of rising health care costs." In short, the cure -- national health care -- is the one and only cure that naturally shall remain unmentioned and untouchable in any Republican forum.

(Why are Goopers so afraid of anything that might even the slightest smack of socialism? Perhaps, because they see it as the opposite of fascism, which they are all for.)

And of course there was the collective love of tax cuts. Always tax cuts. Calling their projections "utter nonsense," Baker said of the panel's participants: "It is fascinating ... how all the Republicans candidates feel the need to claim that we can get more revenue through tax cuts.... The most optimistic research shows that growth can offset 15 percent of the lost tax revenue and even this is a short-term effect." But there's that unwanted reasoning again.

The only worthwhile moment came from the lips of Ron Paul, who audaciously noted that only Congress can declare war. This, of course, did not sit well with Rudy, who can't seem to distinguish between "19 thugs," as Paul correctly called them, and nation-state threats.

But an even better and far more Republican-defining moment came later on MSNBC's Hardball (transcript). Interviewing forum-participant Duncan Hunter, Chris Matthews asked if he were president, would he seek congressional approval for any military strikes. He would, he said. Well, pursued Matthews, what if Congress denied such approval. Would Hunter proceed anyway with military action?

Hunter's reply: "I would."

(Wouldn't that be an impeachable offense? Or is there any such thing as impeachment anymore?)

Cut to commercial, which gave me time to pick myself up from the floor.

At least one Republican presidential candidate was willing to announce with no hesitation or qualifications that he would actually enhance George W. Bush's dictatorial war-making schemes -- that he would, from Day One in office, treat Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution as null and void.

(...and so the people would treat him as null and void!)

It was a brilliant question for Matthews to ask -- and a damn shame to witness a time-constrained failure of follow-up. Nevertheless the question should be put to each Republican candidate. The answers might indeed induce vomiting, but we sure wouldn't fall asleep.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Arianna Nails It

GOP Debate: A Competition to See Who Could Be the Biggest Neanderthal

READ MORE: U.S. Republican Party, Arianna Huffington

Last night on Anderson Cooper 360°, Anderson Cooper asked David Gergen, the Weekly Standard's Stephen Hayes, and me to pick our headline for the GOP debate.

A Competition to See Who Could Be the Biggest Neanderthal was mine.

The Republican Ten seemed to be competing over: Who would stay in Iraq the longest? Who would cut taxes the deepest? Who would be alright with firing gay Americans from their jobs? Who would jump the highest if Roe v. Wade was reversed? Who would build the biggest fence around America? Who would put an end to stem cell research the fastest? Who would reject evolution most passionately?

Stephen Hayes countered that it was a good night for Republicans if they were called Neanderthals by Arianna Huffington. But the problem for the Republican Party as it presented itself to the nation last night is not that it was at odds with my views, but that it is at odds with the views of the American people. By significant majorities, the American people believe in the science of evolution, don't want Roe overturned, don't want to turn back the clock on job discrimination laws, and do want to bring our troops home from Iraq.

Flashing back to the Reagan era is one thing; flashing back to the Dark Ages is quite another.

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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

GOP Candidates Need To Be Studied

Well, I see that St. Ronnie is again being invoked, this time by the most un-impressive bunch of losers since Moses was a pup.

After the last 6+ years, let alone the next endless months, I have seen all I want to of the GOP, for a very long time. Don't paticularly want to hear anymore from them either, but there is hardly anyway to avoid it.

They are still on the abortion rant; all the while, the rate of abortion has gone up under their control of both the W.H. and Congress.

While we are on the subject, here is what I don't get about their position. All of Christianity tells us that everyone is born in sin and yet they say abortion is the "killing of the innocent." How can you have it both ways?

They are, to a man, not pro-life. How can you be pro-life and support the death penalty and a war of aggression, based on cropped up evidence, during which hundreds of thousands have been killed and many, many babies will be born deformed because of Depleted Uranium that we used on the Iraqis in the first Gulf war and every military action since? Our soldiers, too, have been exposed.

These people are so full of it!

GOP debate focuses on Iraq war, abortion
By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
Fri May 4, 3:06 AM ET

Alone among 10 Republican presidential contenders, Rudy Giuliani said in campaign debate Thursday night "it would be OK" if the Supreme Court upholds a 1973 landmark abortion rights ruling. "It would be OK to repeal it. It would be OK also if a strict constructionist viewed it as precedent," said the former New York city mayor, who has a record of supporting abortion rights.

In a party that draws strength from anti-abortion voters, Giuliani's nine GOP rivals agreed that it would be a great day if the court overturns the landmark ruling.

"Glorious day of human liberty and freedom," enthused Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record) of Kansas.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney acknowledged he had changed his mind on the subject when he began to delve into the issue of cloning. He said his position had once effectively been "pro-choice."

But Giuliani, who said he personally hates abortion, hedged when asked about his current position.

"I think the Court has to make that decision and then the country can deal with it," he said. "... The states could then make their own decisions."

Alone among the top three contenders, Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) has a career-long record of opposition to abortion.

The 10 rivals showed their conservative credentials across 90 minutes of debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, each claiming to be a worthy heir to the political legacy of the late 40th president.

They stressed the importance of persisting in Iraq, called for lower taxes and a muscular defense and supported spending restraint.

"The first pork barrel, earmark bill that crosses my desk I'm going to veto it and I'm going to make the author famous," said McCain.

Romney jumped in at that, saying that as governor he had cast a veto "hundreds of times."

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson put his total at some 1,900 vetoes.

The field split on another issue, with Brownback, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo raising their hands when moderator Chris Matthews asked who did not believe in evolution.

Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean boldly said the debate "confirms that a Democrat will be elected in 2008. The Republican presidential contenders are only offering more of the same failed leadership and misplaced priorities that President Bush brought to the White House."

Giuliani, McCain and Romney were the first among 10 equals on the debate stage — the men with the most money and the best approval ratings in the polls more than eight months before the first 2008 national convention delegates are selected.

Other participants included former Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia; and Reps. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record) of California and Ron Paul (news, bio, voting record) of Texas.

They debated in the shadow of Reagan's Air Force One, the aircraft hanging suspended in the library's pavilion. The 40th president's widow, Nancy Reagan, sat in the front row next to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

One by one, the candidates invoked Ronald Reagan — he was mentioned 19 times.
The issue of abortion looms large in the 2008 presidential campaign in a party where a wide swath of political activists support the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

Both Romney and Giuliani must persuade conservative voters they are ready to embrace that view — or else persuade them to overlook the issue in picking a candidate for the White House.
In a debate that ranged broadly, most of the contenders said they opposed legislation making federal funds available for a wider range of embryonic stem cell research.

The technique necessarily involves the destruction of a human embryo, and is opposed by many anti-abortion conservatives as a result.

There are exceptions, though, including Reagan's widow, Nancy. Also, public opinion polls show overwhelming support for the research, which doctors say holds promise for treatment or even cures of numerous diseases.

Most of the contenders said they opposed expanded federal research.

McCain was the exception, saying unambiguously he supports expanded federal research into embryonic stem cells.

Thompson said there was "so much research" in the area that he couldn't give a yes or no answer.

Giuliani's response was open to interpretation. He said he supports it "as long as we're not creating life in order to destroy it," then added he would back funding for research along the lines of legislation pending in Congress.

The bill he cited does not expand research on embryonic stem cells, however, but deals with adult stem cells.

There was no dissent about the importance of the U.S. military mission in Iraq.

"We should never retreat in the face of terrorism," said Giuliani, adding, "terrible mistake."

Romney also said the United States must support the government of Nouri al-Maliki in its efforts to combat terrorism.

"I want to get our troops home as soon as we possibly can, but at the same time we don't want to get them out in such a precipitous way that we have to go back," he said, warning that too hasty a departure could lead to chaos in the region.

McCain said the war effort is now on the right track, although he said that until recently, the war had been "terribly mismanaged" by the Bush administration. "Terribly mismanaged," he repeated for emphasis.

The Iraq comments contrasted sharply with last week's debate among Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Then, eight presidential hopefuls called for an end to the military involvement that so far has claimed the lives of more than 3,300 U.S. troops.

Speaking of Iran, Giuliani said "they looked in Ronald Reagan's eyes and in two minutes they released the hostages." That was a reference to the U.S. hostages released from captivity on the day of Reagan's inauguration in 1981.

He didn't mention other hostages taken on Reagan's watch — those seized in Lebanon and kept for years.

Romney invoked Reagan in discussing abortion rights. "I changed my mind. I took the same course that Ronald Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush" did, he said.

Romney and McCain squared off over terrorist leader Osama bin Laden without directly addressing each other. Last week, the ex-governor said, "it's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person" and advocated a broader strategy to defeat Islamic jihadists. McCain had called the comment "naive."

Under questioning, Romney defended his comment, saying: "It's more than Osama bin Laden. But he is going to pay and he will die."

McCain shot back, saying bin Laden's responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans. "We will do whatever is necessary. We will track him down. We will catch him. We will bring him to justice and I'll follow him to the gates of hell," he said.


MSNBC and The Politico co-sponsored the debate.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.