Republican Debate Open Thread and Live Blog
Posted: November 22, 2011 Filed under: 2012 presidential campaign, U.S. Military, U.S. Politics | Tags: live blog, national security, open thread, Republican Debate 58 Comments
Look what vcame out of the clown car!
Can you believe there’s another Republican debate tonight? I’m going to listen to at least part of it, because I’m hope Newt Gingrich will melt down. I expect everyone will be trying to trip him up since he’s now the {shudder} frontrunner.
The debate will be on CNN from 8-10PM. CNN will probably be live streaming it. I’ll find the link ASAP. The topic tonight’s debate is national security. I wonder if Herman Cain will show up? Or perhaps he’ll have one of the boxes on his back so that his advisers can cue him?
With new trouble appearing in the Middle East and the Pentagon facing possible budget cuts, the Republican White House contenders are debating for the second time in as many weeks how they would do better than President Barack Obama in protecting and extending America’s national security.
Six weeks to the day before the first nominating contests in Iowa, the candidates were looking to use the pre-Thanksgiving holiday debate to build or — for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at the head of the pack — sustain momentum in the battle to pick a 2012 election challenger for Obama.
Businessman Herman Cain, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Reps. Ron Paul of Texas and Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania also were meeting in Tuesday night’s forum put together by CNN, the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.
With unemployment stubbornly high and the economy sluggish to recover from recession, the candidates also were likely to drive the foreign policy discussion back to pocketbook issues at home.
With this crazy crowd, you never know what could happen. I don’t want to miss any ghastly gaffes or monstrous meltdowns! If you’re listing/watching too, please join me in documenting the atrocities. You can feel free to bring up other topics as well. This is an open thread.
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Why do they have the singing of the national anthem? It makes the debate seem like a sporting event. I guess that’s what it is. The singer had a little problem with the high notes. I’m not sure if it’s a man or woman. I’m listening on my satellite radio.
Wolfie is the moderator. That should increase the laugh factor.
A lot of applause for Romney, and very little for Cain. Lukewarm applause for Gingrich,
Bachmann brags about all her family members who served in the military. She spends the rest of her introductiion wishing the troops a happy Thanksgiving.
Ed Meese asks the first question. I thought he was dead, but he works at the Heritage Foundation.
He asks about terrorism.
Gawd. First Kissinger isn’t dead. Now Meese. I’m going to have to do my homework on that undead celebrities site!
Newt draws a distinction between criminal law and terrorism. We need to use every tool in the box against terrorists–including taking away their constitutional rights and torturing them.
Ron Paul thinks the Patriot Act is destroying our freedom. Timothy McVey was prosecuted in court for terrorism. You never have to give up liberty for security. Quite a bit of applause.
Newt says McVey succeeded. We need to stop them before they kill people.
Ron Paul really read them the riot act on taking away civil rights. I was shocked when Santorum brought up the suspension of habeas corpus. Glad he’s got no shot at the nomination. Just afraid he’s looking to be VP.
Ron Paul says if we have a police state, maybe we could prevent crimes. But we’d lose what this country is all about.
Bachmann says Obama has outsourced interrogation of terrorists to the ACLU. They shouldn’t get Miranda warnings.
Huh? Help me here, but is she saying that Obama does not interrogate “terrorist”…Obama is just like Bush…only he pulls the trigger on those drone attacks with even more vigor.
That’s what she’s saying, but she’s insane.
Huntsman agrees with Paul. “We are a nation of values.”
Rick Perry would privatize the TSA. That would solve all the problems he says.
LOL
They tried that once. It didn’t work.
Santorum says profiling is the best policy for the TSA. We should be like Israel. He also wants privatization.
Mitt Romney had a vague answer about how we could get better technology and find ways to identify people who are low and high risk.
Ron Paul says, “What if they look like Timothy McVey.” Also he says it’s a careless use of words to say we’re in a “war on terror.” We need to protect the rule of law. Someone who is arrested is a SUSPECT. If Ron Paul were’re so anti-woman and pro-cruelty to the poor, old, and infirm, I’d like him.
Hermain Cain says some things that make no sense.
Maybe Cain is just worried about doctors who could be Muslims…The Bigotry of Herman Cain – Ta-Nehisi Coates – Politics – The Atlantic
I don’t understand the hole Ron Paul thing myself, if he is so against government involvement, how can he be so keen on government involvement in women’s health… It does sound like he is getting more air time than the last debate.
Herman Cain was trying to give racial profiling some new name as if that would take the ick out of it. He plays the race card at every opportunity then comes out and says it is OK to do that to the Muslims people. Not impressed with his renaming technique.
Cain gets Wolfie’s name wrong–calls him “Blitz.”
Cain was close to saying racial profiling like Santorum. I hated Michelle Bachmann’s answer calling for torture by the CIA. What is her problem?
What problem doesn’t she have?
True dat!
Dak and BB,
This little back and forth made me giggle…
Huntsman says we have a president who can’t lead and a congress that can’t get a budget passed. We can’t get anything done like that.
Pakistan is bad place that creates terrorists. We should use a lot more drones and ground forces. We don’t need all those troops in Afghanistan.
Mitt Romney is nothing but long-winded stuffed shirt.
I was having a hard time trying to figure out what he was saying, due to his over stated, yet nothing answers. Glad you noticed too, I was beginning to think he was speaking Mitt (ME< ME and ME).
BB your description of Mitt is funny, but I have to give the win for all times to Kaia Mursi from Wonkette:
How can anybody ever beat that?
These livebloggings of debates are the things I missed to most, we always had such a great time doing them. Now, I confined to checking Skydancing in the morning to see the type of fun you guys had with this horror show.
Hi MABlue!! We miss you too!
I must be delirious because I think Wolfie is doing a pretty good job of controlling things.
Geez, isn’t this the 100th GOP debate this year? Thanks for watching it for me BB…
There all just as crazy but low energy in some weird way.
I’m not watching–just listening on the radio. I don’t think I could stand to look at them and listen to them at the same time.
Oh, it’s the Israel attacks Iran would you help question. Yup. It’s the end times folks!
I guess Ron Paul doesn’t believe in the end times prophecy.
Someone in the audience asks if Herman Cain would support Israel attack Iran. LOL
Oh no, now he brings up the think about Iran being a mountainous region. But if he determined that Israel had a good plan he would help them.
who is the odd person sitting to the left of Calista?
oh,lord it’s wolfowitz … why do all the evil people that really belong in jail wind up at the American Heritage or Enterprise Institutes? Are they the last place where rogue public services can still get jobs?
Dak, you may be on to something…
Ron Paul basically says Cain’s answer is stupid. We would they want our help? Let them do it and suffer the consequences. Why should we commit to help a country we don’t even have a treaty with? They can take care of themselves. You can’t buy friendship. Everything to go down the tubes once we go bankrupt and have to bring all our troops home.
Herman Cain says more stuff that makes no sense.
he just shook his head 😆
CNN is live streaming the debate here.
http://www.cnn.com/
Thanks BB, we don’t have cable yet, so I’ll head over and check it out.
Paul Wolfowitz is asking a question. They’re dragging out all the neocons. Next up, Cheney?
amother one from the heritage foundation! Why don’t they just let the Koch brother stand up and tell them what he wants!
That would be a lot quicker.
Some one needs to tell mittens that the F-22 program was gone LONG time before the debt ceiling deal was struck.
I hate to tell Rick Perry this, but we already have a part-time Congress. They only work about three days a week and take a week vacation for every holiday.
Ron Paul says we need to cancel the war on drugs and we also need to cancel the entire welfare state.
I guess then RP is only half crazy — the war on drugs is stupid — a waste of money and of human life.
Yep, he’s half-crazy. Make women into slaves, but end war; end the war on drugs, but kill the safety net. And so on….
Let me say to all of you that are actually watching the debate – KUDOS. Those people (minus Huntsman) are truly divorced from reality. And Wolfy lets them get away with lie after lie after lie.
We are so f&^%d.
Hillary 2012
omigosh!!
Earlier this morning, our own Nando Di Fino critiqued Michele Bachmann’s appearance on last night’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon by saying that that the first half of her segment, when she discussed her family life and Thanksgiving, was much better than her second, where she attempted to make “stale, rehearsed political humor.” However, it now seems that her spot on the show was tainted from the very beginning thanks to a sly commentary from Fallon’s house band, The Roots. In case anyone watching the show was curious why Bachmann’s entrance music appeared to be a rocking ska song, the song’s title, “Lyin’ Ass Bitch,” might explain things.
Yes, it appears Questlove decided to make clear their feelings on the Minnesota Congresswoman to anyone who was both listening carefully and was a fan of the seminal band Fishbone. In case there’s any question of whether the choice was intentional, Questlove told his Twitter followers to pay attention
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/michele-bachmanns-entrance-music-on-jimmy-fallon-was-lyin-ass-bitch-song/
JenniferLeeUSA Jennifer Lee
@jimmyfallon @questlove All women have a right to run for president + not be called a B. #misogyny. bit.ly/sg6MGt @nameitchangeit
Yeah I saw that Dak, Bachmann may be a nut…like all the rest of the GOP candidates (except for maybe Huntsman) but she did not deserve that at all.
its the poltics of fear all over again NG is trying to scare the wingnut base into voting for him
looks like most of the others are going to follow the same game plan
I’m a namby-pamby, so I haven’t had the fortitude to watch any of the Republican debates. But this comment thread is downright fun! Best way I’ve ever come across to get an inkling what they’re up to, but without suffering. Thanks for your sacrifice to all you soldiers on the front lines!
oh me too — thanks for all your suffering.