“As yourselves your empires fall,
And every kingdom hath a grave.”
― William Habington
September 26th, 2016 will be remembered as the date of the worst political debate in American history; and as the night tens of millions of Americans questioned the validity of Democracy. At no point during the course of this debate did either of these candidates “come close to anything that could be considered a rational thought.” The entire country has now graduated to a level of absurdity and degradation the likes of which it’s never experienced before. I fumble for words capable of describing how embarrassed I feel, and how horrified I am for these two candidates and the great nation they seek to lead. People in other countries may have seen this debate. If they haven’t, they will.
Secretary Clinton’s well prepared political propaganda was so thinly veiled that a twelve year old should have been able to unravel it. Donald Trump, however, struggled to form sentences that included both subjects and predicates. I have no idea if his retorts to her mind-numbing homilies were true or false, in English or brilliantly obscured in code. For a candidate who promised America that he had the best words, this evening Donald Trump failed to string those magnificent particles of speech into complete sentences.
How did we get here?
What the hell happened?
While I will vote for Donald Trump in order to stop Hillary Clinton, I am half ashamed that I am forced to do so. What frightens me more is that the American People, tuning in for the first time in four years, oblivious to the dangers which threaten their liberty, prosperity and future, might think that something they heard tonight may have made sense.
Convention folks – tonight was your argument. The next time someone tells you that primaries are superior to conventions – just link them to the youtube account of this debate and ask, “really?”
Democrats. Republicans. We should all be ashamed of ourselves.
Libertarians – you couldn’t field a better candidate than these two? You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Green Party people – well, that’s too easy. You already are ashamed of yourselves.
To Republicans all across the great Commonwealth of Virginia, I beg you, please get out and vote for your Congressman or woman. To Republicans in the other 49 States, please vote for your Congressmen and Senators. We will need a strong Republican Congress for the next four years. This is the most important election, in my life time, for ensuring Republicans (any Republicans) maintain control of the United States Congress.
Tonight was an unmitigated disaster. I know we’re supposed to “Rah Rah” and cheer our nominee on; but how can we cheer what we witnessed this evening? How can we take what took place tonight and explain to others why the Republican Party is relevant in 2016. My advice is to get out there and volunteer for your local, state, and federal Republican representatives, to ensure that this country retains relatively conservative legislatures capable of dealing with the uncertain future before us.
Donald Trump – please tell me that this wasn’t the best you could do. Please tell me there is hope that in the next debate… my God… there’s going to be two more of these.
141 comments
“While I will vote for Donald Trump in order to stop Hillary, I am half ashamed that I am forced to do so.” Steven Tucker I know your pain…and agree with you. Except I am finished with being forced by others to do what I hate doing. I will you and Cruz stand in my place.
I’ve often felt that the Trump Supporter is that single biggest reason why Trump could lose in November. The vast majority of us will (or would have) reluctantly vote for Trump as the lesser of two evils, but Trump Supporters make the idea of voting for their guy, or even seeing their guy win, almost unbearable.
Steven, amen!
If I wanted to rake up the past about her I would have brought up Waco, Texas, the Bosnian invasion, and the basic holding of the Gonzalez child as a virtual hostage from Cuba. If I wanted to rake up nonsense about the Republican Party I would have brought up Nixon’s abolishing the gold standard, Agnew’s support of the Palestinian cause, their support of Afghan rebels doing battle against Soviet troops who then became the Taliban once Reagan shook hands with Gorbachev. Extremist Muslims in the Middle East used to support the Republican Party because the Dems had too many Jews and it was Harry Truman who recognized them. And anyone who complains about taxes? Don’t they just fail to balance their own budget? I could go on about both parties but it would feed into the mindset of the debate. Nothing about the future was really there except old worn out rhetoric.
Further, if I wanted to rake up the voters on losing jobs to overseas I would point to the fact they sent their children to college to avoid working in factories. Secondly, they voluntarily give money by the millions to pro athletes, people who don’t do any useful work for a living and just add to the brain drain of society.
If I wanted to throw insults to the moderator it would be for just giving two minutes to talk about race relations.
The military is highly respected by the black community but local police are not. Something differs between the two organizations. Soldiers have their pay increased when they go into battle. Police do not. The fellow back at the precinct gets more for sitting in front of a keyboard. police who are bilingual should be paid higher than those who know only English. White police who are Irish Catholic have ancestors who were indentured servants, playing the role of whipping boy and being considered as lower than a slave. Complications are big.
Segregation in the South differed than in the North. Work was segregated in the South but not in the North. Housing was segregated in the North but not in the South. Solutions have to differ in different parts of the country. And solutions are going to take time and be slow but with a steady aim. Integration is like a skill in electrical engineering. It is not learned overnight. And there are simply some who have more experience than others at it.
Steve, people should have known from the primary debates that Trump was not able to complete a sentence or follow through with a single thought!!! He demonstrated an amoral persona!! He then won the primary by 12,000,000 democrats being allowed to participate!! Then the GOP denied delegates to “vote their conscience” @convention!!! Now, we have this mumbling baffon as the republican candidate for president!!! He possesses NO qualifications!! We, rebublicans, do have a choice … write-in Ted Cruz!!! If enough people will do so, we could witness the most miraculous election in our history!!
If…You are right about how we got here, but far too many conservatives will vote for Trump in order to deny Hillary the White House. I’m not sure how you can blame us. I know Trump is awful, but I still believe that the choice is night and day. I suspect that most of the people who will refuse to vote for Trump will refuse, not because Trump is amoral, but because they despise Trump’s supporters and they don’t want to listen to four years of his supporters talking about how wise they were for supporting Trump.
I do not see what the writer is so upset about. Okay, it was not the Lincoln-Douglas Debate, but what is? It was over-hyped for 2 weeks. Now the pundits will analyze it for another week, or until some other issue knocks it off the TV. Trump did all right. He called her “Secretary Clinton”, not “Crooked Hillary. There were a few jabs he could have gotten in, like about her leaving the White House “flat broke” and now being worth $100 million, but he did get in some statistics about trade and he talked about issues like the Iranian deal and how we are taken advantage of on the world stage. All she did was spout a rehearsed mantra about another Democratic “Plan”.
She was terrible – she’s the worst Democrat nominated in my lifetime; and Trump could hardly complete a full sentence. The reason sentences are so important is that they express (communicate) complete ideas. Trump speaks in sentence fragments and therefore only expresses fragmented ideas. No one knows what the heck he’s trying to say.
A short study of the history of presidentual debates will cause you to rethink your premise. ???
If you are referring to the Vice Presidential Debate between Quayle and Gore, I will assure you that it was far more intellectually stimulating than the TMZ Debate held a few days ago. 🙂
How we got here is by choosing liberal progressives as the candidates for both parties… that is understandable for the Democrats. Republican primary voters ought to be ashamed though.
Hopefully we’ll learn a lesson, but I expect that Trump could still somehow win this thing and all the lessons we should have learned will be forgotten.
What lesson? Who’s teaching, You??
The only lesson I’m learning from the Brodie Butthurt Papers is that tabloid libertarianism plays well in the blogosphere.
You say you’re voting for him but don’t want him to win because you want Hillary to win to teach stupid Republicans that aren’t good enough or smart enough for you a lesson???
Even when you say something that makes sense and/or I agree with, I’ll probably vote against the messenger.
I most certainly do not want Hillary Clinton to win. I’m voting for Trump because he’s a better choice than Clinton or Johnson.
Do you want Donald Trump to win?
Absolutely.
And that is a tough row to hoe. And only because you see it as the best long term option that might not impinge upon your freedom and liberty, the pragmatic choice that is not immediate catastrophe.
This is the most conservative option.
Many agree, yet some disagree, claiming a higher principle, personal scrying, bitterness, and/or the good feelings that will come to them if they can say ‘I spake thusly.’
So would you agree that those folks are displaying less an understanding of conservatism and any claim to principle evaporates as they facilitate a Hillary win.
Is there room for fence-sitters this election, and how should they be dealt with?
For party members, I say supporr the party or get out. They are undermining through primary process. For your average Republican voter, I say, just do what you think is right.
My deepest disappointment and resentment is directed toward the devoid of critical thinking skills voters in the GOP primaries made Donald Trump the GOP nominee.
He is the absolutely least qualified person to be a GOP presidential nominee in the history of the Republican Party.
All the sycophants in the media like Sean Scamity, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingram and Rush Limbaugh who were jumped on the Trump bandwagon early have also earned my contempt.
They were desperate and see where the Lobotomy Nation is headed, unfortunately.
You go to war with the army you have — Trump was the best choice by far of the motley crew offered up by the establishments.
America agrees.
That sums it up. I wonder if they’re thinking the same thing:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Hillary+helpI%27ve+fallen+and+I+can%27t+get+up&view=detail&mid=3D53C7BF2CA757F2C0C53D53C7BF2CA757F2C0C5&FORM=VIRE
Clearly Plato, Obama, and yourselves prefer the anointed Philosopher-King route.
I’m happy with a Republic.
You may take a quarter, your deepest disappointment, resentment, and contempt, and still only have enough for a gum-ball
You are not happy with a Republic. You are most definitely a fan of democratic populism. That said, governments ought to earn the support of the people and when they do not, they need to be punished. Instead of starting a war and taking up arms against their government, Americans have decided to do something worse and far more frightening. They nominated Donald Trump, an act of hatred the political class won’t soon forget.
I am an aristocrat, I love liberty, I hate equality.
I am not happy with Republican_s_ — every one of our meetings/conventions/primaries are more democrat than Republican.
Perhaps Trump is a modern Jackson?
Trump is exactly like Andrew Jackson. Yes. Outstanding comparison. This is exactly why I opposed him so passionately in the primary.
I was thinking in terms of populism and anti-establishment, perhaps I should have said Jacksonian?
What a rancid rant.
The only candidate I think I despised more than Trump was Governor Chris Christie. That said, Trump has captured the attention of those who know practically nothing, but who do know enough to know that the government is screwing them.
Crispy Crème was another bombastic blowhard, but at least he has somewhat of a command of the issues facing the United States. At least he is somewhat conservative.
Trump is an ignoramus and a buffoon and he is a progressive like Hillary Rotten.
Moreover, both Trump and Rotten are pathological liars who are completely lacking in character and integrity.
That is quite true, but the question I’ve had to ask myself is, which one of these pathological liars are most likely to support a responsible Republican legislative agenda in Washington D.C. I have concluded that Donald Trump, orange and buffoonish as he might be, is clearly better than electing the Matriarch of one of the worlds most dangerous crime families.
I am so ashamed, I’m sorry, Trump is all my fault, and Republican-Americans prefer their nominees to be winners and natural Born Citizens
You should especially be ashamed of that semi-racist “not a natural born citizen” mess that you spew about Ted Cruz.
1) I’m not really.
2) You invoked ‘racist,’ you lose.
3) Cubanadian is a portmanteau illustrating his heritage and his origin outside the US.
4) The Constitution of the United States is the mess I spew.
5) Still have no documented answers about when/how Ted Cruz became a US Citizen — hearing none, in going to go with the Reagan amnesty.
6) Good news, if he wants, Trump can appoint Cruz to the Supreme Court as his citizenship issues are not a requirement for that post.
I don’t lose when you actually are being racist.
Ok, I’ll bite, how am I being racist?
Yes, you lose. The first one in the debate to charge racism is always the intellectual lightweight. Don’t do that. It makes you sound like a clueless Democrat. Arguing about Cruz’s eligibility has nothing to do with racism.
Which is why people making such argument emphasized his supposed foreign-ness by insisting on referring to him as Rafael. /sarc
That’s the heart of the eligibility argument…whether or not he is foreign or natural born. Nothing to do with racism. BTW…. I was initially persuaded that he IS eligible, after reading legal opinions from prominent jurists, though I admit to not being absolutely sure about it. I’ve been leaning on your side of the issue. I just don’t think racism has anything whatsoever to do with Cruz eligibility and there isn’t any need to bring that charge to the argument.
Halfway through the debate, this intelligent animal tried to kill himself. Understandable.
https://www.facebook.com/uniladmag/videos/2293361270686919/?pnref=story
A debate is a discussion or structured contest about an issue or a resolution. A formal debate
involves two sides: one supporting a resolution and one opposing it. Such a debate is bound by
rules previously agreed upon. Debates may be judged in order to declare a winning side.
There is NO moderator in a debate, there are NO questions directed by a third party to the participants, and there is certainly no concept of fact-checking. These events are nothing more then extended press conferences managed and largely controlled by the left-wing media which in this case is very slanted to support the Democratic candidate and has been for many, many presidential election cycles. To have a best debater you first have to actually have a debate!
It’s a little like calling the WWF a sporting event. The RNC needs to seriously reassess it’s media participation in this jimmied up effort by Democrats and it’s media enablers to use these baised efforts to control the media candidate spin cycle for a week or so. Of all the methods to communicate position policy and distinctions to the American voter this is far and away the most useless. For a debate to be a disaster you need frist actually have one.
I cannot understand why the Republican leadership accepts the news media as moderators. They have an obvious leftwing bias and are looking for any “gotcha” answer to create controversy and next day news. Even if the moderators were right wing news media the result would be the same. Get the news media out of the moderation business and let actual debate without interruption to occur. If there is a need to move on, so to speak, then let there be mini-debates within the overall debate focused on areas of interest to the public. This shouldn’t be that hard but somehow the RNC does this same stupidity year after year.
i always believed they are intimadated by the possibility of bad coverage from the press, apparently no one at the national party have grasped the fact it is going to be there anyway. Today’s Republican presidential candidate runs against three opponents, first, the opposing party Democrat, second the national print and electronic media, third, the nature of how the the electorical college count has been structured.
An average Republican candidate is just not going to beat these odds and espically one’s that work to avoid media coverage conflict like McCain and Romeny for example. They were toast right out of the box and continued to actually cooperate as the left wing moderators steam rolled them during these so called “debates”. Trump has gone a long way to breaking two of the three but I believe the electorical college is still a dicy call. Any of the other 15 candidates in this year’s Republican primary would have been blown out of the race by now which is difficult for many to accept. Reality often can be.
You are absouelty correct though the news media left and rifht wing need to be confined to race coverage not camapign mangement. The RNC could set new guidelines and the media and Democrats would accept. period. Espically if Trump captures the WH.
It is funny that you mention Romney and McCain. I remember my fellow Republicans telling me I was an idiot for thinking they would lose – and I did predict so before the primaries were finished. Suddenly, I became a sage.
As to the debates. You have to wonder if anyone has said to the RNC leadership that the process here is inherently biased by the moderators and a new process, sans moderators, is appropriate. We keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result – insane.
Needle was not moved much, but any movement will go to DJT I suspect. People could see a fighter – you may not like that, but he clearly is a scrapper. After what we have had in recent years, most folks know it’s time. ON TRADE; finally a national candidate has mentioned one of the most devastating things going on with our so-called “free trade” agreements – they ain’t. (I have written numerous articles on TBE on this.) America goods going into Mexico further than 80 miles have an 18% consumption tax assessed. Into most of Europe it is a 17% VAT tax; into China, consumption taxes.Try to start a business in all of these countries – or buy a home. We are a wide open country – and that is a good thing, but our so-called partners throw up roadblocks and taxes and combined with our 35% corporate tax rate just screws us from both directions. We need to have individual trade agreements that are actually reciprocal, not one way. That is “free trade.”
I agree, but being forced to vote on personality alone? That seems unfortunate to me.
This analysis seems reasonable to me.
“In Retrospect, Trump Played It Perfectly
Trump’s first and only goal for tonight was to act normal and show that he won’t fly off the handle no matter what she says. Boring and Presidential in front of 100mil viewers.
He’s playing the long game and his campaign was smart enough to understand that he couldn’t hit her hard during this first debate. He knew that he couldn’t come out of the gate attacking because A) she’s female and B) the rumored/more or less accepted health issues would garner sympathy for her and subconsciously sway undecided voters to her side and create a defensive feeling against Trump.
Instead, she played right into his hands by expecting he would come out hitting hard and below the belt, her team prepared some very nasty attacks for her to slam back with, all of which were hammered into her brain with 5 days of ‘studying’ which compelled her to rattle them all off even though Trump wasn’t attacking her.
This actually accomplished what most people would have previously thought was more or less IMPOSSIBLE, viewers feeling sympathy for the very infamous (and disliked by many) Trump!
Now by her own actions, she has unwittingly given him the GREEN LIGHT to hit back HARD with some really nasty stuff in the next debates. And no one will feel sorry for her, because she opened Pandora’s Box! This was the only way that it could be done gracefully, in a ‘Presidential’ way. hahaha
Now that he has checked that box, you can expect an El Grande Sized Can ‘O Whoop-Ass to be opened and poured onto her smug, arrogant little blonde face over the course of the next 2 debates. Especially if she comes at him with the shit she did tonight throwing shade as hard as she did. She just fucked with the King of all Trolls and it’s going to be brutal.
Also, Lester Holt was extremely unfair, which normally would suck for Trump, but given the transparency of Lester it also played right into Trump’s plan and undoubtedly produced even more sympathy for him.
Bottom line is, even though most Trump supporters that watched it felt like it was a loss, all of the polls are showing that people think he won the debate. And given his slow roll approach, starting from 0mph, he can only go even higher from here.
Whereas, she and the libs, feeling they won the night, have nowhere to go but DOWN! it will be especially demoralizing after watching Trump’s poll numbers continue to go up after their ‘win’ tonight too. LOL”
Lol indeed.
Michael Moore appeared frustrated on Twitter following the presidential debate, saying Trump “won,” and “we all lost.”The 62-year-old film maker warned “pro-Hillary gloaters” against celebrating over how Hillary Clinton did in the debate against the Republican presidential nominee and insisted nothing she did changed things.“Pro-Hillary gloaters doing end-zone dance again when still on 50-yd line,” Moore tweeted. “You must get it in your head Trump is gonna win and act accordingly!”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/09/27/michael-moore-says-trump-won-the-debate/#ixzz4LSevMcVU
A CNN/ORC poll taken after the debate found that 62% of voters who had watched the head-to-head thought that Mrs Clinton came out on top, with just 27% giving it to Mr Trump.
This is based on interviews with 521 registered voters chosen as part of a random national sample. But only 26% identified themselves as Republicans while 41% identified themselves as Democrats.
An informal CNBC poll on its website found that 61% of people thought that Mr Trump won while 39% went for Mrs Clinton, but as CNBC itself points out, the poll is not scientific..
This seems to be the pattern. The special scientific polls go for Clinton. The polls where people vote go for Trump. I would guess that the voting polls are less about the debate and more about how people are planning to vote in 6 weeks.
And CNN has a corporate agenda as does NBC, MSNBC, etc. Am not even sure the supposed scientific poll isn’t deliberately biased beyond what is noted above. Mr. Holt is a registered Republican in NYC – anybody think he is conservative?
I never saw it as a loss. Hillary was platitudes plus while Donald was substance plus. He was supposed to be a liar and Hillary demanded fact checking. It didn’t work.
Trump won on substance while not only addressing Hillary but having the debate hijacked by Holt. Hillary won on style although I have to admit that her smile reminded me of the Joker in the Batman comics. She also faced the least difficult questions, ones which skirted her email, pay for play and Clinton foundation problems (thanks to Holt). All in all, Trump showed that he was presidential and Hillary showed that she could standup to,the debate stress (would love to know what she was on – maybe the limitless pill?)
Are you being serious, or tongue in cheek?
A bit of both. Trump is a counterpuncher in situations like this. Hillary was aggressive as I expected using the woman card to her advantage. Trump can improve. Hillary topped out.
The moderators are going to favor Hillary. I thought Atrump handled it better than Romney but he will have to deal with the bias in every debate and that is unfortunate. If I were Priebus, I would address the obvious bias now.
“Donald Trump – please tell me that this wasn’t the best you could do. ” Unfortunatley for us, that is the best he can do, both on a debate stage and as the leader of the free world. Unfortunately, he could win based solely on being not Hillary, not for being a good choice, Then we are stuck with this guy represent US to the world, Hopefully, the country will get scared and vote Dems into congress to balance out the power Trump will misuse and abuse if elected.
You could interchange Trump and Dems with every nominee and party for the past several elections and reuse your paragraph above over and over again with equally dismal results.
Trump is going to win, drag along Congresswomen and Congressmen who don’t deserve it, govern better than the Bozo’s did for the last 16 years, and Make America Great Again.
If our Congress and elected officials weren’t stupid, self-serving, bought and paid for, we would never have gotten to this point in history where a Donald Trump is required.
simply interchanging words does not change history or the present. You have this thing about semantics while ignoring the important issues – why is that?
I was pointing out that your sentiment could have been applied in most every election changing around the nouns.
Please do try to keep up.
I can say that Bananas are yellow and then change that to dogs are purple but it does not make it true. Please do try to keep focused
Okayyyyyy
I’m not really upset with Trump. He is what he is, however, we really do have problems in this country that require more than mere platitudes. Intelligence shouldn’t be so looked down upon in Republican politics.
We all are what we are, (wait, isn’t that a platitude?)
From where I sit, I kinda think I’d rather be a Donald Trump, then a Hillary Clinton.
If you find intelligence in Republican politics, please flag it so that we can recognize and reward, and emulate.
There is more intelligence in this comment section than the Republicans sent to the National Convention and/or the SCC.
Plenty of smart, but awful Republicans in Congress. I know Trump isn’t an idiot – the guy must be smart – but he couldn’t put a sentence together last night. Most of my undecided friends are telling me, this morning, they are going to vote for Clinton. That’s what Trump’s performance gave us.
That won’t stick. If one debate changed their minds, a second debate can change them back.
Unless no one watches the second debate because the 1st debate was such a miserable train wreck.
Anyone else troubled by Trump’s position on the 2nd Amendment and by extension the entire Constitution :
http://reason.com/blog/2016/09/26/trump-and-clinton-declare-again-support
Yes…there’s no due process in that position. Needs to be fleshed out quickly or he loses all constitutionalists.
I’m sure the issue will be studied in great depth and at great length. In the mean time it’s not a stick that can be utilized before the election.
I thought they only existed in beef jerky commercials.
Due process is an implementation issue. At the sound-bite level, which is what a debate is all about, Trump’s position is absolutely correct. Terrorists on the watchlist shouldn’t be allowed to buy guns. Implementing a system that allows watchlist errors to be resolved quickly with due process is not trivial, but it can be done with the right leadership.
Good point Frank.
More troubled by Hillary.
He could lose the NRA with that kind of position.
Or he could win the election with that kind of position.
No matter what position he takes, you’ll praise it. Loyal, very loyal.
It’s how I roll.
It would help if he actually did something worthy of condemnation, at this rate I’ll have nothing until he tries to put Ted on the Supreme Court.
He specifically mentioned the need for an expedited process so that anyone who shouldn’t be on the list could get off it straightforwardly. If the Democrats have their way, once you are on the list there is no way to get off. Own a gun and you will have to do so illegally – not all that difficult really.
Wow. Just, wow.
I think the next step for gun owners under Hillary is to form a militia.
Interesting to see that Trump endorsed “No Fly, No Buy” on guns tonight.
Hope all of us can agree that’s a good idea.
No.
Why not?
No, stop, don’t.
Yes, remove another non-issue from discourse
It’s ridiculous One thing has nothing to do with the other. People who haven’t paid their parking tickets shouldn’t be prohibited from buying guns. Plus, so many people on the list have done nothing, so many errors.
Paying your parking tickets versus being on a terrorist watch list and not being able to buy guys . . . it’s a bit of a different bowl of skittles.
Glad to see Mr. Trump endorsed it tonight though.
Speaking of one having nothing to do with other……
Although call me crazy but wouldn’t it be expected (hoped?) that potential gun owners be responsible for their actions?
As Trump said, there has to be a rapid due process available to make sure that nobody is on the no buy list who is there by error. At this point, however, I can buy, swap and otherwise get a gun without the government being involved and I like it that way. This idea that guns in the hands of honest citizens have to over regulated is simply Hitlerian socialism as its finest. Frankly, if Hillary wins, I will form a local militia and all us gun owners will become legal again. These stupid leftists think they can steal my rights without an argument. Well, they can’t.
Toldya. 🙂
Agreed.
Imagine if Cruz had been debating Hillary. Sigh.
First we would have to imagine him eligible, and then we could imagine him winning, and then we could imagine him getting re-elected, and then unicorns would fart rainbows and skittles.
Not the point. The point is that Trump is an incoherent speaker illiterate in matters of politics and public policy. Not to mention that dusty old document called the Constitution. You should read it, the lend it to Trump. Did you notice this?:
http://reason.com/blog/2016/09/26/trump-and-clinton-declare-again-support
Who mopped the floor with every other candidate with record numbers.
If you haven’t noticed, our politics and public policy experts have kinda hosed the country over the past few terms.
No. The parties have.
Jeez, and the parties are made up of politics and public policy experts
Not if you and the other people I know are any indication.
The parties are made up of self-serving whores, to whom winning and keeping personal power is everything, and public service is nothing.
That’s how you get a Trump-Hillary contest for the most important job in the world.
Tom, do not discount the self-interest and shortsightedness of the Republican electorate. Do not discount the ignorance and disinterest of the average registered voter. Do not discount the decline in civic duty and awareness of Americans in general. There are a lot of reasons why we end up with Trump and Hillary.
If you are saying that political maggots appear when the flesh of the citizenry is rotting on the broken skeleton of a democratic republic, I agree.
While colorful in a goth way I guess, that does not make sense. Political maggots are involved at the earliest point of the process.
Please just kill yourself and put US out of your misery.
Lily, what a beautiful soliloquy and testament to the real nature of the Trump Supporter. Your attitude may not be far off when it comes to the real intent and desire of those supporting Trump, to purge society of those with whom they disagree.
Or that you have failed to make your case to the party and to the electorate.
Or that your continual smug superiority over those you clearly consider your intellectual and ‘principled’ lessers is not appreciated.
Or that your ineligible and lousy proposed candidates illustrate conservative and constitutional hypocrisy.
It’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it.
Americans, Conservatives, Republicans have no desire to trade out an elite, liberal establishment for an elite, conservative establishment.
Your contempt for the people, party, players, and process clearly demonstrate why you and yours are not suited, do not belong, and should be politically exiled from the GOP (assuming you’re involved in the party in any capacity — I wouldn’t want you ‘helping’ in my unit or district.)
Clearly the party of Johnson, Sarvis, Stern, and Ventura needs you and your ‘thousands’ now infesting the GOP.
Go, and don’t let the tent flap hit you on the way out.
1) I’m having a hard time grokking ‘self-serving whore.’ Is it redundant or for emphasis?
2) the political parties are made up of unpaid and unrewarded volunteers
3) I think you’re referring to the independent warlord office holders and the consulting class — they are the real deal whores.
Hillary fits, Trump is just making America great again.
I don’t know you. But, I suspect that it is you and your ilk to whom I am referring.
Nah, I’m more conservative than most of the writers and posters here. And my ilk is best of breed!
Conservatives don’t hide behind nom de plumes and calculate away principles for political gain.
Hip, savvy Conservatives prefer their privacy, anonymity, and mystique — I’m more of a rational coward.
I’m still waiting for political gain and I’ve still got more principles then you can shake a Cubanadian at.
Coward sounds about right.
I’ve certainly seen strains of “conservatism” in your comments and I won’t assume that because you ardently support Donald Trump that you are not conservative. Jerry Falwell’s “The Moral Majority” supported then Governor Ronald Reagan over Evangelical Sunday-School Teacher and President Jimmy Carter. Reagan’s divorce and previous liberalism didn’t dissuade them because their agenda was not specific to Reagan, but to a larger battle.
Yes “just Imagine” sums up the Cruz for president lingerers to a tee. A John Lennon (written in his coke binge days) and Yoko Ono (no discovered existing creative talent to date) co-produced song on a album of the same name produced by Phil Spector a convicted murderer.
If so, we’ll corner the market in the 10th or elsewhere in the commonwealth.
Still a better ticket than Trump and anyone.
No, not a better ticket because he did not and could not win the nomination — by definition Cruz would be a worse ticket, because he lost and that ticket would then have to had less votes.
You and everyone else get one vote.
Whoever gets the most votes wins.
Your vote is not worth any more because you’re special, or smarter, or better, than any other vote.
The system works because the will of the majority is respected by all of those in the voting compact.
But we’re always open to those that have the ‘principle’ of supporting because Trump will win the election.
Imagine that!
It is all about votes and Trump got the majority of them. The problem with Trump is that he makes people uncomfortable. He never seems to know what he’s talking about, speaks only in broad generalizations, talks more about himself than his policies, and seems to be leading more of a personality cult than a political revolution. That said, Americans are disgusted with the Federal Government and will do just about anything to stick it to the political class. Nothing would debase the political class more than electing Donald Trump as President – a perennial rent-seeker before whom the rent-collecters must now grovel. I must admit, there is something to be said for the kind of misery and grief Trump will cause for the majority of the bastards in our government. Other than that, I do not see much of an upside. To Trump’s advantage, however, he doesn’t need an upset when going head to head with the Queen of Downside, Secretary Hillary Clinton.
The same could be said about Cruz or Hillary or any of them.
But these are the choices we have now — no room for Bartleby or Miniver Cheevy.
AND I simply do not think that many of the Trump haters are good judges and forecasters of character and ethos based upon actions and other judgements.
I understand that these are the choices we have now and I have made decision to vote for Trump on that basis and that basis alone.
Lighten up Francis, these are battling sound bytes, not To Kill a Mockingbird.
Hillary had to not throw a rod, and Trump had to not harsh his mellow. Both accomplished their primary objectives.
The candidates reflect the electorate. Neither are gifted orators, neither are professional speechifiers (her payola opportunities being what they are.)
America will look and see that Trump don’t take crap and Hillary does.
I think that’s basically right. Neither lost ground tonight. Hillary was the better debater, but has a tougher position to defend. Trump isn’t made for this kind of thing, but outperformed his skill set. On the merits, Trump had the better end of things (as much as I disagree with his positions on trade, etc).
A disaster is still a disaster even if everyone expected a disaster. I agree that no one cares though. No votes lost or gained. Still, that’s the worst debate I’ve ever seen. My 6th grade debate club had a better roster of debaters.
It wasn’t a disaster, it was Trump controlling the battlefield.
Do you think these are actual debates in any way, shape, or form? Do you think the audience is looking for penetrating insight? The voter doesn’t have a frame of reference for most of the topics discussed.
They want the guy who is going to ‘git r done,’ open a can of whoopass when needed, and get the economy rolling again.
The twig boy stuff is no longer needed or desired.
That’s unbelievably depressing.
You got that right!
The wise people of Roanoke have it figured out. Trump 87.5% Clinton 11.8%
http://www.roanoke.com/news/columns_and_blogs/blogs/times_square/polls/clinton-vs-trump-who-won-the-presidential-debate/article_244870b5-2fe9-5287-8009-8909ec8d677b.html
We’ll never have another convention in Virginia even if we nominated Satan.
Sounds about right, and we probably will… 🙁
Everyone knows that the true Prince of Darkness commutes to the Obenshain Center from Leesburg.
You don’t much care for the man, do you?
He’s an effective conservative Chairman who refuses to sell out and compromise his integrity, which means he’s an equal opportunity threat to establishment and fellowship remnants.
Absolutely sucks the joy out of politics.
Some would argue that we already did.
We don’t have conventions, we can’t be trusted with them.
http://therightscoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ted-Cruz-miss-me-yet.jpg
Not just no, hellz no.
Oh so very much. Hell, I miss George W. Bush after tonight. Good grief! I miss George H.W. Bush after tonight.
George W. and George H.W. didn’t miss anyone on this board tonight; they were probably watching the debate with the Obamas.
George H. W. Bush has told us who he’s voting for.
Maybe look at the balance sheet from when he saved Kuwait.
Yes, birds of a feather.
That was merely a comparison.
Yes, they are quite comparable… and two are natural born citizens.
The Bush presidents were not good presidents, but they did a thousand times better than either Trump or Hillary in their debates.
I miss Ronald Reagan. The last of the America First presidents.
Oh, Dear Lord, No!