5,
November 2015 The Republican Debate
Following
their disastrous defeat in the 2008 election, Republicans did a great deal of
soul searching and came to the conclusion that they should start talking to the
American people rather than serve as an echo chamber to their own base which
merely reinforces their own cherished, misguided beliefs. The recent Republican
debate failed to achieve this objective but used every opportunity to trash
each other and Obama’s policies without offering any specifics or alternatives.
Frustrated
by their collective weak performance they lashed out at the CNBC moderators for
failing to offer them softball questions. A pouting Trump got his way following
the successful boycott of Telemundo pitting himself against Latino voters. The
candidates were frothing at the mouth when asked to explain how they might
simultaneously slash taxes and the federal deficit; deport 10 million people
overnight; or cut the tax code from 70,000 pages to three. To make it more interesting for future viewers,
the real answers could be provided with a screen caption in real time.
Passionate
familiarity with the issues, not anger and bombast should be an essential human
quality for those seeking the presidency. A president who has the nuclear codes
given to emotional responses and a superficial knowledge of the important
issues would be an unmitigated disaster. We witnessed what happened on George
Bush’s watch – an endless war in Afghanistan chaos in Iraq, a staggering
federal deficit and a monumental bank crisis.
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