Excerpt: "The Republicans sure have the right symbol with the elephant. Republican debates are nothing but elephants in the room."
Bill Maher HBO promotional poster. (art: HBO)
Republican Debate Review
26 February 12
he Republicans sure have the right symbol with the elephant. Republican debates are nothing but elephants in the room.
The biggest of which must be: to someone out there who's hurting, they spend the whole two hours yammering away about earmarks and illegal immigrants and contraception and every other peripheral, wish-I-had-the-time-to-worry-about-it issue they can think of.
Then there is the elephant of how they all - with the sometime exception of Ron Paul - nod along to insane statements just because they don't want to ever look like they're to the left of anybody, on anything, especially the evilness of Barack Obama. So Wednesday night when Newt said the president of the United States had a history of practicing infanticide... yep, yep, yessir, that's what he does all right. Clubs infants like baby seals in his spare time. Ike played golf, Kennedy liked boating...
Ron Paul said foreign aid just helps our enemies. Which, I believe, would make Israel and Egypt our two biggest enemies. Yup, yup, hate foreign aid. A meaningless percentage of the budget, btw.
Newt said where government becomes the central provider of services, it's a move towards tyranny - yeah, except in all the countries where it isn't, like all of Scandanavia and much of Europe. Today a barium enema paid for by medicare, tomorrow Poland.
And isn't a highlight of every debate when Mitt Romney takes umbrage at being accused of the best thing he ever did in his life - Romneycare? Something he should be proud of? Last night he took out his dueling glove and declared that when he was governor, he made sure there was NO requirement from the church to provide morning after pills for rape victims. They will be punished with a baby, as Jesus would want. Mitt's attitude is always, "How dare you accuse me of helping people or being compassionate! Why, I'll have you know I'm every bit as much of a cold hearted bastard as any of these other pricks up here with me!"
"But Mitt, we have a picture of you giving money to a homeless person."
"I did NOT give a bum money! I was paying him to blow me!"
This Republican field over the last year has been such a comedy gold mine - which I have compacted into a stand-up special I'm doing Thursday night, February 23, called #CrazyStupidPolitics - it's free, and it's live-streamed on Yahoo! 10:30 Eastern (with a mindblowing announcement at the end). I apologize for the shameful plug, but I just want you to have a good laugh! Thank you Arianna, you're the best... and now back to our blog.
The biggest elephant in the room tonight for me was Satan. All day, TV news was talking about Satan because of Rick Santorum's dug-up (but, no doubt still accurate) comments about Satan from 2008. It just shows you how when someone is a nobody politically speaking - as Santorum was in 2008 - you can say any kind of crazy shit and it's not newsworthy. But when you are seeking the highest office in the land... in the world - it really worries me that you believe in demons and a personified creature named Satan.
People get mad at me for using the phrase "this stupid country", which I sometimes do - but, I'm sorry - Satan? In 2012? This elephant is not only in the room at the debates, but everywhere on TV today where people were talking about this and not breaking down in the middle and screaming, Wait a minute - We're modern people, surely we don't give any credence to this comic book character that was created in the bronze age!! It's barely worthy of a children's story, and people take it to the Oval Office - Bush did - and it affects their thinking and our lives. Why is Santorum so against contraception? Because there's a line in Genesis about not spilling your seed. A random brainfart from some desert dweller 3,000 years ago, before people knew about germs or atoms or round planets, and it gets written down and passed down and in 2012 people like Rick Santorum are still too R-word to see that, and that's why some woman in Akron, Ohio might not get birth control.
And as far as Rick's claim tonight that even though he holds these beliefs, he wouldn't legislate them? Bullshit - he said states absolutely had the right to outlaw contraception. That's the same thing - as an officer of the government, he should take the opposite position. Ron Paul would.
My favorite moment of the debate was the last question, when they all were asked to summarize themselves in one word: Ron Paul said "consistency," and you know what? I have no argument with that. It's true, and he's earned it.
The other ones however, I think I could find a more honest word. Mitt Romney said "resolute." I would have gone with "shapeshifter." Or perhaps "irresolute." Rick Santorum said "courage" , whereas I would have said "Bellevue." And Newt Gingrich said "cheerful." I was thinking "pus."
One other thing: in the overtime, I heard Ron Paul make the point to John King that his foreign policy was similar to Eisenhower's, how Ike avoided getting militarily involved in Vietnam or the Suez Canal and got out of Korea. Because he was a military man. Ron Paul served, also - the other three not so much. I know it will never become law, because it would require a constitutional amendment, but I don't think it would be such a bad thing if you had to have served in the military if you wanted to be president. Kennedy also avoided war where many would not have. After him, though, we got into the era of non-servers and draft-dodgers, and used the military like a toy. Ex-soldiers understand it's not. And the president is Commander-in-Chief - shouldn't you have served some time in an organization you're the head of?
I hope this was the last Republican debate. Well, I say that, but I'll need the material after I use up an hour of good jokes tomorrow night, so, fuck it, keep going.
Last bullshit call: In his closing statement, Rick Santorum said that in the race against the Evil One (no, not that Evil One, he was talking about Obama), the president would have the media in his pocket (yeah, except Fox News, lots of newspapers, all of radio... ), and way more money. Huh? Sheldon Adelson this week said he might give $100 million to Newt Gingrich! If he'd give that to Newt who has no chance, he might give more to Romney. And he's just one old cranky billionaire who hates Obama, there's a whole gaggle of them.
And Sheldon, if you want to blow money so bad, just walk into one of your hotels in Vegas and go to the Roulette table.
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Comments
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I do disagree with Mr. Maher on one point and that is Satan. Rick Santorum and many evangelical Christians are looking for a guy in red with cloven hoofs and a pitchfork. That is silly. A more sophisticated view of Satan is the tendancy of we humans to succumb to and even practice evil. Evil is real and exists in our world and always has.
Though a believer in a Jewish Rabbi from Nazareth in Palestine of 2,000 years ago, sort of amazing huh,I give Mr. Maher love and respect despite my faith prejudice and note he and my wife are both atheists. God gives us that choice. I respect that. Only it seems Mr. Santorum is trying to do a good imitation of Satan himself (i.e. false prophet) and he and his ilk do not respect that.
WELL SAID!
Probably wouldn't be a good idea, Bill - then Obama wound not be able to implement the Drone strike strategy of following up the 1st bombing with a second bombing of the rescuers of the 1st strike - and then striking the funeral!
http://www.salon.com/2012/02/05/u_s_drones_targeting_rescuers_and_mourners/singleton/
Also, Ron Paul is a hypocrite... SUPPOSEDLY all for no/little government 'CONSISTENTLY' -- **EXCEPT FOR WOMEN'S CONTROL OF THEIR OWN BODIES! =
ILLOGICAL INCONSISTENCY.
Yes, I can picture fasting Essenes scrounging magic mushrooms growing on camel dung to dull their pangs of hunger and then being transported to peyote never-never land to jot down a vision of eternal enigmas called the bible ...
Eric Hoffer's "True Believer" describes Rick Santorum far better than Rick himself could ever hope to with his one-word bio of "courage."
Stay the course, America. Our oasis is just over the next dune.
Trust me.
We hear this sometimes from returning veterans, but people do not pay enough attention.
Susie, really?
Just becasue you've been in the military doens't mean that you would be any more prone to be corrupt or "warlike" than say a Senator or Congressman who more than likely spent alot of time as a lobbyist for corporations pressing for thier intersts or pushing agendas of special interest groups. Obviously you don't know anyone in the military very well, veterans will be the FIRST ones to agree or disagree on an armed conflict and have alot more knowlege about it.
Colin Powell I think would've been an excellent canidate for president
Gneral Petreus is an excellent commander, he gets a bad grade becuase he doen't kiss ass to the bad guys and does what he's paid to do. Kill bad guys and he does it well.
Eisenhower had the CIA busy undermining democracies, setting us up for decades of revenge, most notably in Iran. JFK ran for pres to the RIGHT of Nixon on foreign policy (missile gap, etc.) .
And Clinton repealed Glass-Steagall for Wall St. Those guys acted more sane in public, but some of their policies were Newt-onian. Hopefully a liberated Obama can act like an actual liberal of a Democrat in his lame duck term. Could be educational.
As for these candidates, I think it's a reasonable observation to make that the "Unabomber"'s densely constructed, erudite "manifesto", published at the time of his capture in 1996, is more coherent, intellectually rigorous and credible in its conclusions, having been written by a deeply disturbed, violent recluse, than the simple-minded bilge pumped out every day by these hollowed-out, cynical panderers running for president (with the arguable exception of Ron Paul, whom I dislike intensely, but who at least shows a rational intellect).Taking the liberty of using "pander" as a noun, it's become the hard currency of far-right politics in general, and especially this traveling campaign circus. If there are any reasonable, intelligent Republicans left, they must be hiding in their basements, with a stash of canned goods and maybe a weapon, from the horde of extremists to whom these candidates are pandering, the ones paid to loudly applaud on cue the pernicious anti-American "idea" that GM should have been permitted to go bankrupt at the cost of a million jobs, or that contraception is "evil". Give 'em the hook.
Let's see. Dubya WAS in the Air National Guard. That's good, except he was basically AWOL after the government spent big bucks to make him a fighter pilot. Still...he knew how to wear that pilot's gear on the carrier...didn't he? What an ass!
But let's step back a moment, please."Evil" in the world does not exist. Terrible, mean people are certainly among us. History is full of murderous regimes. But "evil" is not of this world. It is from the fake, imaginary world of supernaturalism . It provides an easy explanation of good versus bad behavior. It makes for "teachable" moments in the religious school or catechism class. But this term is not based on reality and is meant as a scare tactic. The term strikes fear in otherwise rational men and women. It can certainly galvanize the masses to act as one...see Bush's "evil doers" routine pre-Iraq war. This irrational belief system that many hold(even some right here)-is is often intended for disingenuous purposes.
1) our unfortunate, and devastating to all concerned involvement in Vietnam, started during the Eisenhower administration, with "advisors."
2) it became significant, and inevitably defeating during Kennedy's short tenure as President.. and wanting to believe that Kennedy would have had the courage to just pull out on the side of right is romanticism: there is no real evidence that such is true.
3) Ron Paul may appeal to your sense that"libertarian" is a worthy idealist position: live and let live.as the philosophy of an amiable and honest man.
Not quite.
Unfortunately, while Ron Paul might (perhaps) act to legalize marijuana (a worthy aim) he would also abolish (as interfering with the liberty of entrepreneurs) the FDA, the CDC, EPA, OSHA,,, all hard won safety regulations in dangerous industries, Unions, the Obama health care bill, compulsory education, and even more probably the Emancipation Proclamation....all being really intrusive on the liberty of those who already either had had too much of it.
Other than his agreeable stance on weed, Paul appeals for the most part to people who simply are offended by the idea of having to pay taxes.
It is not for me to say where your considerable energy should be volunteered... but...a THIRD (or even FOURTH) party, perhaps?
NMB
I'm on record as a Ron Paul supporter, chiefly for his intelligent, courageous, and articulate positions on the misuse of the military in foreign affairs. He also has my support for his opposition to the PATRIOT Act and other related legislation that undermines the foundation of the American Revolution.
As a retired teacher, I agree with him that the Department of Education is a wasteful bureaucratic boondoggle. As a Sierra Club member, I would like to see him support environmental protection regulations more strongly. As a cancer patient (in remission), I would like to see him support the concept of Single Payer medical insurance. None of the "major party" candidates take all of these positions, so I'll probably wind up voting third party...again.
"This country doesn't need a third party.
What this country really needs is a second party."
I suspect that most people would not have much trouble in matching each of the following discriptors to the appropriate individual. My discriptions are as follows:
Dip Shit
Asshole
Corn Ball
Space Man
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Just because he warned us of the military industrial complex he did little to fight it. So do not make Ike a saint.
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