I Watched Both the Democratic & Republican Debates.....Why Didn't You?

Hitler detailed his master plan quite explicitly in Mein Kampf. The few people that read it never imagined he would actually be able to put his plan into action. It is for that reason I watched ten of the whitest men I have ever seen on one stage compare themselves to Reagan. You never know when a politician will actually do what they say they will do.

I will admit, I watch MSNBC. I feel guilty about it. It must be the same for the 40% of people that shop at Wal-Mart and feel guilty about it. I love Keith Olbermann though. I like to watch Tucker Carlson be an idiot (he called the Democratic plan to bring the troops home from Iraq "toothless"), Chris Matthews pretend to be a liberal, and Joe Scarborough call his pundits by their first and last name.

So imagine my joy when the first debates were on MSNBC. Finally, guilt free for three hours!

And of course, when you experience anything that is guilt free, I am now more terrified than ever. Mostly over the fact that the GOP candidates are more concerned with dealing with Iran while ignoring the domestic issues because, we have to cut taxes and build defense!

Do you know why Democrats always have to raise taxes? Because Republicans were out using the credit card. (This perspective was brought to you by my Dad.)

One of my biggest complaints about modern politics is that the GOP has convinced this country that the biggest issues facing the United States as we plow ahead into the 21st century is abortion and gay rights. And this from the party that thinks smaller government is better government. I do not solely blame this on the GOP though, the bigger share of blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of my fellow Americans. 51% of you are drinking the Kool-Aid.

Put down the Kool-Aid and read what you missed........

Let's start with the GOP and abortion. This was the most disturbing exchange.

Starting with you, Governor, would the day that Roe v. Wade is repealed be a good day for America.
Romney: Absolutely.
Moderator: Senator?
Brownback (?): It would be a glorious day of human liberty and freedom.
Moderator: Governor?
Gilmore (?): Yes, it was wrongly decided.
Moderator: Governor?
Huckabee (?): Most certainly.
Moderator: Congressman?
Hunter (?): Yes.
Moderator: Governor?
(Unknown): Yes.
Moderator: Senator?
A repeal.
Mayor?
Giuliani: It would be OK.....(I took out the Giuliani exchange here, tune to any 24 hour news network, they have it on a three minute loop)
......Moderator: Congressman?
Tancredo (?): After 40 million dead because we have aborted them in this country, I would say that that would be the greatest day in this country's history when that, in fact, is overturned. MSNBC

THE GREATEST DAY IN THIS COUNTRY'S HISTORY??????????????????????????

Are you kidding me?

Better than the day when the last American soldier finally makes it home from Iraq?
Better than the day when every single American has health coverage?
Better than the day when every single American has a roof over their head and food on their plate?
Better than the day every single child in American graduates from High School?
Better than the day unemployment is at 0.0%?

Can you honestly tell me that the day Roe v. Wade was overturned would be better than all of those days?

If you can, please email me at englishdeb@hotmail.com. I would love to hear from you.

Moving on to the real issue at hand:

Moderator: Would it be good for America to have Bill Clinton back living in the White House?
Romney: You have got to be kidding.
Moderator: No, I'm not. His wife's running, haven't you heard?
Romney: The only thing I can think of that'd be as bad as that would be to have the gang of three running the war on terror: Pelosi, Reid and Hillary Clinton.So I have to be honest with you, I think it'd be an awful thing for a lot of reasons. MSNBC

These must be a few reasons that Mitt was thinking about when he spewed forth his verbal diarrhea:

• In 1992, the deficit was $290 billion, a record dollar high. In 1999, we had a budget surplus of $124 billion -- the largest dollar surplus on record (even after adjusting for inflation) and the largest as a share of our economy since 1951. With the President's plan, we are now on track to eliminate the nation's publicly held debt by 2015.
• More than 20 Million New Jobs -- more than 92 percent (18.5 million) of the new jobs have been created in the private sector, the highest percentage in 50 years. This is the most jobs ever created under a single Administration -- and more new jobs than Presidents Reagan and Bush created during their three terms. Under President Clinton, the economy has added an average of 244,000 jobs per month, the highest of any President on record. This compares to 52,000 per month under President Bush and 167,000 per month under President Reagan.
• Fastest and Longest Real Wage Growth in Two Decades -- Since 1993, real wages have grown 6.5 percent - compared to declining 4.3 percent during the previous two administrations. In 1998, real wages were up 2.7 percent -- that's the fastest annual real wage growth in over 20 years.
• Unemployment Is the Lowest in 29 Years -- down from 7.5 percent in 1992 to 4.1 percent today -- staying below 5 percent for 29 months in a row.
• Highest Homeownership Rate in History -- In the third quarter 1999, the homeownership rate was 67.0 -- the highest ever recorded. PBS

And here we are, the better part of a decade later.

16 Million American families (two adults, two children) are living on less than $9,903 per year, which is at a 32 year high. (USA Today)

Our national debt is almost 9 trillion dollars. (US Treasury)

And so on.......

Yup, I can't think of anything else worse than Bill being back either Mitt.

From the other side, the support that I threw behind Dennis Kucinich a few months ago was reaffirmed by this exchange.

Williams: Congressman Kucinich, you were anti-war before the anti-war position started surging in the polls. The question is, why don't you think you have more traction politically in the United States?
Kucinich: I think tonight's debate is going to help change that, Brian, because I think when people understand not only that I opposed the war from the start, but I opposed the idea of using war as a matter of policy. I don't think it reflects America's greatness, and I also think that this process -- this isn't "American Idol" here. We're choosing a president. And we have to look at the audition that occurred that in 2003, when my good friends were called upon to make a decision and then made the wrong decision. Apologies aren't enough, because we've had 3,333 Americans die. Perhaps as many as over 650,000 innocent Iraqis die. People are looking for a president who has the wisdom to make the right choices about America's security and who also has the integrity to be able to take a stand that may be unpopular. And so, I think that when people see that this campaign comes from a place of the heart and wants to reconnect with the world, I think they'll be ready to support it. (MSNBC)

And while I do not share his optimism, he is still my candidate of choice. His best line of the night was:

"Furthermore, I don't think that it's sufficient to say that if we had the information at the beginning that we would have voted differently. That information was available to everyone. And, if you made the wrong choice, we're auditioning here for president of the United States. People have to see who had the judgment and the wisdom not to go to war in the first place, and I made the choice not to go to war." (MSNBC)

It was the perfect jab to Hillary's "I take responsibility for my vote. Obviously, I did as good a job I could at the time. It was a sincere vote based on the information available to me." (MSNBC)

The biggest complaint about the debate was the mainline candidates got the majority of mic time. I would have like to have heard more from Mr. Gravel. I was unaware that he was in the running and enjoyed the passion he brought to the debate. He has a unique plan for getting us out of Iraq:

Well, first off, understand that this war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis. Understand that. Now with respect to what's going on in the Congress, I'm really embarrassed.
So we passed -- and the media's in a frenzy right today with what has been passed. What has been passed? George Bush communicated over a year ago that he would not get out of Iraq until he left office. Do we not believe him?
We need to find another way. I really would like to sit down with Pelosi and with Reid, and I would hope the other senators would focus on, how do you get out? You pass the law, not a resolution, a law making it a felony to stay there. And I'll give you the text of it.
And if you're worried about filibuster, here's what you do tactically. They can pass it in the House. We've got the votes there.
We've got the votes there.
In the Senate, let them filibuster it. And let Reid call up every -- at 12:00 every day to have a cloture vote. And let the American people see clearly who's keeping the war going and who's not. And that's just the beginning of the tactic, if they're tough enough to do it. (MSNBC)

What I find even funnier is that on Hardball last night, one of the pundits said that the way the Democrats can get their Iraq funding bill through was to take these very same steps. I doubt they will.

When Hillary, Obama, and the rest of 'em were asked how many supported Kucinich's bill to impeach Dick Cheney, not one of them raised their hands.

So these candidates, who screamed and hollered that they would get us out of Iraq and hold this administration accountable aren't doing what they said they would do, nor does it appear they are even willing to support the steps that some candidates are willing to take.

What a surprise.

Like I said, you never know when they will actually do what they say they will do.

http://kucinich.us/