Nobody here at all watch the Republicans' debate last night? Noone anything to say on it?
I didnt see it either.
Didnt see the first Dem debate either. Mostly because it's deep into the night here by the time your debates start. Perhaps I'll look up a video still.
I read a bunch of reports
about the Republican debate though - even though most of them just recycle all the same three or four quotes. (Fox goes
into most detail.)
And blithely going lazily just on what I read, I have the following awards to give out..
-------------
The Creepy Gathering of Uniform-looking Old White Men Award:
The GOP Primary Candidates
The "Oops! What do you mean they just
did?" Award for Ignoring the Latest News:
Tommy Thompson
[For those who missed it: A majority of Iraq's parliament last week signed a proposed bill
that would require a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq and freeze current troop levels; "The bill would create a timeline for a gradual departure, much like what some Democratic lawmakers in the United States have demanded".]
The Courage To Refuse to Pander, Take a Principled Stand, and Confront the Party Base with an Uncomfortable Truth Award:
John McCain
Quote:"It's not about the terrorists, it's about us. It's about what kind of country we are. And a fact: The more physical pain you inflict on someone, the more they're going to tell you what they think you want to know."
[Giuliani went for the hypocritical self-contradiction: "I would tell the people who had to do the interrogation to use every method they could think of. Shouldn't be torture, but every method they can think of," [he] said, adding that that could include waterboarding." Because pushing someone's head under water until he almost suffocates, over and again, is, uh, not torture..]
The Most Blatant Disregard for Rule of Law Award:
Mitt Romney
Quote:[Answering the same question, Romney responded] "You said the person is going to be in Guantanamo. I'm glad they're at Guantanamo. I don't want them on our soil. I want them in Guantanamo where they don't get the access to lawyers they get when they're on our soil. I don't want them in our prisons. I want them there. Some people have said we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is, we ought to double Guantanamo," Romney said.
The Justification of Torture Award:
Duncan Hunter
Quote:[Answering the same question, Hunter responded] "Let me just say, this would take a one-minute conversation with the secretary of defense [..] I would say to SecDef, in terms of getting information that would save American lives even if it involves very high-pressure techniques, one sentence: 'Get the information.'"
The Boldest Outright Rejection of Conservative Orthodoxy Award:
Ron Paul
Quote:Rudy Giuliani took umbrage at a suggestion by Congressman Ron Paul that past U.S. foreign policy had fostered hatred of America leading up to 9/11. [But] Paul refused to [withdraw his comment], contending that terrorists "don't come here to attack us because we're rich and we're free. They come and they attack us because we're over there."
The Tough and Unwelcome Truths about Iraq Award:
Ron Paul
Quote:"Right now, we're building an embassy in Iraq that is bigger than the Vatican. We're building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting," Paul said in explaining his opposition to going to war in Iraq.
"They are delighted that we're over there because Usama bin Laden has said, 'I'm glad you're over on our sand because we can target you so much easier.'
The State of Denial about Iraq Award:
John McCain
Quote:"If we fail in Iraq we will see Iraq become a center for Al Qaeda, chaos, genocide in the region and they will follow us home," McCain said.
[
Become a center for Al Qaeda and chaos?]
The State of Denial about 2006 Award:
John McCain
Quote:"We didn't lose the 2006 election because of the war in Iraq. We lost it because we in the Republican Party came to Washington to change government, and government changed us," McCain said. "We let spending go out of control."
The Shamelessly Trying to Personally Appropriate the 9/11 Tragedy for Himself Award:
Rudy Giuliani (via his adviser Ed Goeas)
Quote:"The war on terrorism to Rudy is personal," Giuliani adviser and pollster Ed Goeas told CBSNews.com. "I think you saw in his reaction that this is more than just an intellectual debate, this is something that is personal to him."
[Unlike for, you know, the other candidates, for example, I assume..
]
The Runner-Up Refusing to Pander Award:
Rudy Giuliani
Quote:He told the Houston audience that he believes abortion is morally wrong and would counsel anyone who is considering the procedure not to follow through with it. But, he said, he refuses to impose his views on those who believe otherwise and so he leaves the decisions to those who must bear the consequences -- the women who have to make the choice.
The "Touche" Award for A-Propos Double Jab:
Tom Tancredo
Quote:Tancredo said he had heard so many conversions on the issues that "it's beginning to truly sound like a Baptist tent revival meeting here."'
"``I'm glad to see conversions [..] But I must tell you, I trust those conversions when they happen on the road to Damascus, not on the road to Des Moines'
The Rare Moment of Ironic Wit Award:
Rudy Giuliani
Quote:[C]alling out so-called conservatives for taking non-conservative positions, [..] Gilmore [..] referred to "Rudy McRomney," [but] Giuliani .. took the accusation in stride.
"[..] I think 'Rudy McRomney' wouldn't make a bad ticket, and I like the order," he said
The "Doh!" Rebuttal to Facile "Tax-Raiser" Spin Award:
Mike Huckabee
Quote:[C]alling out so-called conservatives [..] Gilmore cited [..] Huckabee's decision to raise taxes in Arkansas [..].
Huckabee [responded], "We raised gasoline taxes in my state to build a road program that we desperately needed. But 80 percent of the people of my state voted for it .. Do I apologize for going along with what 80 percent of the people of my state supported? No."
The Dangerous Gingrich Revolution Libertarian Award for Promising to Gut an Already Deficient State:
Rudy Giuliani
Quote:Giuliani said that as New York mayor ``I put controls on every one of the city agencies, which is what I would do in Washington.'' He promised to ``do Reagan like, across-the-board budget cuts, 5 to 20 percent.''
Giuliani said about 50 percent of federal employees are going to retire in the next 10 years and he pledged not to refill half of those positions.
The "Scientists? I know better than scientists" Award:
Tommy Thompson
Quote:Thompson [added] that embryonic stem cell research is a promising science, but adult stem cells appear to have the same characteristics as embryonic stem cells.
"Until this research is done, we do not have to destroy any more embryos. There is enough lines right now, and capable with this other research going on, that embryonic stem cells, along with adult stem cells, cord blood and amniotic fluid can continue," he said.
The Lonely Venture into Quality Journalism Award:
Bloomberg.com
.. for being the only one of the reports I read that didn't just repeat Giuliani's quotes from Hillary Clinton, but looked up the original context:
Quote:Giuliani, saying there is something ``really big at stake'' in the election, targeted New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Giuliani said Clinton agreed with the statement ``that the unfettered free market is the most disastrous thing in modern America'' and also said that taxes are needed because ``we have to take money from you in order to give it to the common good.'' [..]
In a 1996 C-Span interview, Clinton said she agreed with a quote she cited her book, ``It Takes a Village,'' that ``The unfettered free market has been the most radically disruptive force in American life in the last generation.'' Clinton also said in the interview ``that the market is the driving force behind our prosperity,'' ``but that it cannot be permitted just to run roughshod over people's lives as well.''
Her comment on taxes was made to an audience in San Francisco in 2004 and referred to repealing some of President George W. Bush's income tax cuts for the richest Americans, the Associated Press reported at the time.
And, finally, The Laudable Enthusiasm for Urging War within the Republican Party Award:
Ruben Navarrette on RealClearPolitics.com
Quote:It's all so Trumanesque. [..] Tough. Straight-talking. Less worried about being popular than being right.
Now here's Giuliani giving it to members of his own party with both fists and telling them they had better listen for their own survival [..].
Give 'em hell, Rudy.
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