I watched the entire Repub debate tonight with some Dem friends. My brain has turned to mush. As far as wordplay goes, kudos go to Mike Huckabee. The topic was foreign policy. He recalled Ronald Reagan's words: "Trust but Verify." Obama, said Huckabee, says "Trust but Vilify," referring to Pres. Obama's comments today equating Republicans with the Iranian mullahs. Clever, especially for a guy who always puts The Word ahead of words.
What else stood out?
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio owed $100,000 in student loans four years ago. I guess he was trying to say that he's just a regular guy whose parents came over from Cuba and he had to take out beaucoup student loans to get the law degree that helped him win a Senate seat that pays a couple hundred thousand Gs annually plus all of the Koch Brothers money he can rake in with both hands. Rubio and I share an alma mater in the University of Florida. On the one hand, I'm happy to hear that at least one Republican candidate speaks openly of his college credentials -- he also has a law degree from University of Miami. On the other hand -- if Rubio gets elected, UF is bound to name something after him. Hope it's not the English Dept.
Speaking of Florida, did Jeb! really leave Florida better off than he found it? He said that his nickname was "Veto Corleone." Is that true? I'm asking you, Florida Dems. And I'm wondering if Jeb! is really Southern shorthand for J.E.B. Stuart, the hero of the Confederacy. Memories run deep in the South.
Continued on Aug. 9...
Donald Trump said that the big problem we have in the U.S. is being politically correct. For the Repubs, political correctness mean a whole host of things they detest: Powerful women, LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriage, higher education, etc. For example, when Donald Trump wants to slam women and such as Fox's Megyn Kelly and says something about her menstrual cycles and people *(even Repubs) get upset, he accuses them of being "politically correct." It follows that being politically incorrect is the norm, which allows anyone to criticize uppity women. The same rules go for people of color, a term which, in itself, is politically correct, as it avoids those terms that many would love to use, including the "N" word, and various racist epithets for African-Americans, Latinos/Latinas, Arab-Americans and others. Republicans are most adept at criticizing campus liberals (eggheads, elitists) who continue to advocate for a liberal arts education for everyone. Republican Gov. Scott of Florida has famously (or infamously, depending on your POV) calling liberal arts majors a waste of time. Union-buster Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin brags about not having a college degree, a trait obvious to all of us with half-a-brain such as this liberal arts major.
I must return to Mike Huckabee for just a moment, As is the case with most preachers, Huckabee has a way with words. In regards to abortion, Huckabee said that "The Supreme Court is not the Supreme Being" and advocates for protection of fetuses by invoking the 5th and 14 amendments, the Tea Party's favorite amendments besides the 2nd.
Dr. Ben Carson also had some good lines. I was surprised to learn that Carson once directed pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center. Seems as if he could do less harm by being president. Carson wants to get rid of the IRS and institute a new taxation system based on tithing, which he called "God's fair system." He called Hillary Clinton "the epitome of the secular progressive movement." He also likes to throw around "politically correct."
Gov. Kasich of Ohio proved to be the evening's beacon of sanity. He said that he and his fellow Republicans should do everything they can to counter the Democrats' continual harping on these supposed Republican traits: The party of and for the rich; the party that suppresses women and minorities; the party of the past.
Good luck with that.
We'll let Sen. Marco Rubio have the last quote. Referring to himself and the other fine specimens on stage, he said: "God has blessed the Republican Party with all of these candidates. The Democrats can't even find one."
Say Amen.
Sing hallelujah.
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