I wanted to give everyone a clean slate for comments for the Debates tonight. The first one starts at 6:00 and will have Sen. Lindsey Graham, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Sen. Rick Santorum, and Gov. George Pataki.
The second debate is, obviously, the big one. It will be a lengthy one as well. The eleven people on stage will be: Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Gov. Scott Walker, Gov. Jeb Bush, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rand Paul, and Gov. John Kasich.
If you do not have cable, you can access a Live Stream at CNN.com, or the CNNgo website.
As for the debates, all I can say is, it should be interesting. It could be a breakout night for some of the candidates. I hope everyone gets a fair shot to answer the questions, and that the questions are fair questions. That is to say, that they are substantive questions about issues that affect this country.
This is your Double Debate Open Thread!
September 16, 2015 at 6:07 pm |
shall I start singing “Charlie Brown” when trump is asked a question?
September 16, 2015 at 6:13 pm |
LOL – absolutely!
September 16, 2015 at 6:16 pm |
http://soopermexican.com/2015/09/16/obama-invites-muslim-kid-to-show-him-ticking-clock-device-white-house-immediately-goes-into-lockdown/
sooper mexican on the wh invitation to clock maker
September 16, 2015 at 7:19 pm |
This has been quite the debate between the four men in the first debate. Besides all of the Trump questions in the beginning, they are discussing SUBSTANTIVE questions. It is actually informative. It is giving a real insight into who each of these men are, and for what they stand.
September 16, 2015 at 7:25 pm |
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/16/live-updates-jindal-santorum-graham-pataki-in-gop-undercard-debate/
live update on debates
September 16, 2015 at 7:34 pm |
Thanks for that. It has been a good debate – except for all the Trump questions. Other than that, it has been really good.
It will be interesting to see how the next one goes!
September 16, 2015 at 7:38 pm |
Graham is telling Jindal everything the republicans CAN’T do ,then way CAN they do and why are the collecting salary paid by us?
September 16, 2015 at 7:39 pm |
what can they do
September 16, 2015 at 8:09 pm |
No kidding – I thought Jindal was SPOT ON in his assessment, especially abt the Corker Amendment and what it meant for the Iran deal. But yeah, I thought Graham’s answer was WEAK, and showed how weak the Reps have been. As I said yesterday, how is it that the Dems continue to control both houses when they are in the minority?? Because the Reps allow them to do so…
September 16, 2015 at 7:54 pm |
the Pundits are saying how well Graham did. Did I miss something? I thought Jindal was much better
Reply
September 16, 2015 at 8:10 pm |
Yeah, Graham had some good moments, and he has a good sense of humor. But both Suzy and I concur with you – Jindal won this debate. He was on FIRE, especially at the end. What a smart man.
September 16, 2015 at 8:19 pm |
I have to say, Chris Christie made a very powerful opening statement.
First question to Fiorina abt – big surprise – Trump.
September 16, 2015 at 9:07 pm |
Carley is impressive
September 16, 2015 at 9:11 pm |
Yes, she really is. I am more impressed by her every time I see her. But I am sick of Tapper ONLY asking her questions related to TRUMP. Ugh. And Tapper refused to let her respond to an attack on her personally.
But yes – she is something!
September 16, 2015 at 9:18 pm |
This isn’t a debate. This is an attempt by Tapper to get these people at each other’s throats. I’m watching a Castle rerun and just popping in during commercials.
Did see Tapper ask Carly about Trump’s remarks about her face. I thought her answer was short and very good. I also thought it had nothing to do with anything except another attempt by Tapper to start a fight.
If everyone was outraged by Megyn Kelly they should be going ballistic over Tapper’s behavior. Disgusting.
September 16, 2015 at 9:22 pm |
No kidding, Marge. CNN is doing a TERRIBLE job. Tapper ignores Fiorina even when she has been attacked, Dana just cut her off when she clarified that it was NOT just Trump who focused on illegal immigration.
And yes – that question to Fiorina – once again, all based on TRUMP – was clearly to try and stir things up. Her response, and the audience’s response, spoke VOLUMES.
Yeah – this has been terribly managed by Jake and Dana.
September 16, 2015 at 9:16 pm |
I am sick to death of almost EVERY question being abt Trump. Sick of it.
September 16, 2015 at 9:22 pm |
maybe it my age (21) but the candidates keep bringing up Reagan, my favorite republican was IKE. that man was impressive. We need a republican like that right now
September 16, 2015 at 9:27 pm |
What I liked about Reagan was he talked about the greatness of America. Trump talks about the greatness of Trump.
I liked Ike too. My father who served under Patten hated Eisenhower and never referred to him except as “that bald-headed bastard.” My mother liked to wear an “I Like Ike” button just to get his goat. It worked too.
September 16, 2015 at 10:08 pm |
why is every body but trump given time limits. He has been allowed to interrupt everyone.
September 16, 2015 at 10:37 pm |
NO KIDDING! I didn’t see your comment before I commented below, but yeah – he has interrupted EVERYONE, and acts as if he is ALLOWING other people to talk. WOW. I dislike him even more now than I did before.
Judging from friends at Facebook, I am not the only one. People are not happy with him at all, and hope that his performance wakes up some of his supporters.
Meanwhile, they are LOVING Carly. Me, too!
September 16, 2015 at 10:09 pm |
Trump lied abt Fiorina’s record, and it is a shame Tapper didn’t give her time to fully rebut him. But here is an article that does just that: http://journal.ijreview.com/2015/09/247859-dont-listen-trump-heres-truth-carly-fiorinas-business-record/
And can I just say how mad Trump and Christie made me when they treated her like “the little woman”?? Jackalopes.
September 16, 2015 at 10:41 pm |
3 hours of this? Much too long.
September 16, 2015 at 10:45 pm |
Trump tweeted out the same thing. Ahahahaha! See, politics makes strange bedfellows! 😀
September 16, 2015 at 10:48 pm |
At long last something I can agree with Trump about. Although he wasn’t on the stage I might not think 3 hours was too long.
September 16, 2015 at 10:54 pm |
ROTFLMAO – yeah, it wouldn’t seem like three hrs if Trump wasn’t on the stage, or if most of the questions weren’t abt some idiotic thing Trump said…
September 16, 2015 at 10:52 pm |
I had a meeting this evening. Can someone tell me if these people have discussed ISIS? Vaccines? Really?
September 16, 2015 at 10:57 pm |
Yes, they did earlier, mcnorman. As I noted above, too many of the questions have been Trump related in one way or the other. It has been exhausting. 🙂
September 16, 2015 at 10:59 pm |
Oh, I didn’t miss much. I do like Tapper running this.
September 16, 2015 at 11:00 pm |
Well, I have to say for most of it, Tapper has been, um, not very good. This, the end, is the best he has been all night.
September 16, 2015 at 11:05 pm |
Really? I guess I hit a highlight moment. I really don’t want to watch this from beginning to end. It’s toooooo long.
September 16, 2015 at 11:10 pm |
LOL, mcnorman – you did indeed. And yes, it is pretty long. There were some good moments, though. I think Walker, Fiorina, Cruz, and Rubio did well tonight. Christie, Carson, Bush, and Huckabee did okay, too. Trump was Trump.
🙂
September 16, 2015 at 11:00 pm |
Bedtime for me. See ya’ll tomorrow.
September 16, 2015 at 11:05 pm |
night
September 16, 2015 at 11:07 pm |
Yeah, late for me, too. Sleep well!
September 17, 2015 at 7:29 am |
Okay new day and here’s how I saw things – not how they were, just how I saw them. Let’s see if we saw things in the same way. Should make for interesting conversation.
Winner = Fiorina
Loser= Jake Tapper He should audition for referee for a mud wrestling contest. Dana Bash and Hugh Hewlett didn’t even make it as 2nd bananas. Is there a fifth banana designation?
I thought Fiorina gained more ground and I thought that Ben Carson lost some.
I thought she “won” the final statement contest and unlike at the FOX debate Carson did not. Scott Walker and Chris Christie did well in their closings too IMO.
Kasich cannot seem to construct a sentence without the word “I” in it. And he’s boring.
For the rest, even the loathsome Trump, I thought they held ground.
Holding ground was quite a feat for Walker since he got only 7 minutes of time compared to Trump’s 17. In fact Walker got the least time of anyone. That sucks.
One of the major complaints against the FOX debate was that the time given to candidates wasn’t equal. CNN did no better.
September 17, 2015 at 7:54 am |
Excellent overview, Marge. I agree with your assessment – Fiorina definitely won this one. How Trump supporters can continue to see that kind of behavior from Trump and still support him is BEYOND me, especially since some of the people I know who have turned to him I had considered intelligent, reasonable people who deplored ad hominem attacks. That, lying, and bragging, seem to be his forte.
CNN was TERRIBLE. Absolutely terrible. More on all of this later, but yes, you nailed it!
September 17, 2015 at 7:30 am |
Trump’s attempt to be charming was IMO even more gruesome that his usual bluster. He should know that you cannot unring a bell and therefore his insult to Fiorina isn’t going to go away.
September 17, 2015 at 7:56 am |
No kidding – EWWWWWW. He just grosses me out, and that gets worse every time.
And his refusal to apologize because, as he claims, he is NEVER WRONG, is just like Obama. Even refusing to give an apology to Jeb’s wife was so telling..
Here’s the link: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/12/donald-trump-i-would-apologize-if-im-ever-wrong/
September 17, 2015 at 8:34 am |
#GOPDebate Tweets of the Night (PLUS my quick analysis) By William A. Jacobson
http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/09/gopdebate-tweets-of-the-night/
Loved the Fiorina line: “women are not a special interest group”.
September 17, 2015 at 9:55 am |
What a fantastic read, Marge! Thanks for this. And I agree abt Fiorina’s line – we are NOT a special interest group. We are the MAJORITY.
Yep – some of those Tweets were excellent!
September 17, 2015 at 8:58 am |
Morning Joe blasts CNN for Trump obsession
September 17, 2015 at 9:56 am |
I was not one bit surprised to see that the Bombastic Trump got most of the time last night. It was exhausting. His lack of substance combined with his incessant personal attacks on people is wearing very, very thin.
Meanwhile, Fiorina, Rubio, and some of the others showed what serious, sober leaders look like…
September 17, 2015 at 10:01 am |
I would very much like to hear what Carly would do with the VA. Congress gave the VA a new program called Choice. A vet can see anyone on the outside who works with the VA within 30 days. It is a mess. First of all, TriWest was awarded that contract. TriWest lost a huge contract a few years ago doing this same type of work. They were accused of losing millions of dollars. Why were they awarded another go around? They are the mother may I of this Choice care. Anytime a vet needs something, they must have an auth from that physician. Before, the VA used to auth (use RNs) several visits in anticipation of whatever the solution needed to be.
Second, the vets clamoring for faster care didn’t get them anything but later care. An intermediary from Triwest will call an office and set up an appointment for the vet (because? are vets stupid? IMO they aren’t and can make their own appointments) without having all of the pertinent information that they need to make that visit fruitful. It is a first visit only because that is all that they authorize. So, if you have a skin tumor, that first visit is a “look at that thing” visit. A “mother may I” request must be made to TriWest in order to do a biopsy. That is more paperwork and time lost. TriWest will give an answer within a specified time after they have received the paperwork from the physician. When that comes back, depending on what that biopsy turned out to be another request for a visit is scheduled like surgery but more mother may I paperwork requests must be made through this third party.
If the vets thought the VA was bad before, they really do not understand what is happening. Every “mother may I” requests takes an inordinate amount of time. It is another delay. It is a delay made by a third party (just like HMOs). Congress should be made to eat from the trough that they create. Do any of these vet supporters actually understand the pig stye that Congress created? I am dumbfounded by all of this. A physician must accept less than a Medicare rate pay. They have to do more paperwork than straight Medicare patients require. With physicians already turning away Medicare patients, why in the world would a VA patient take precedent in the era of factory mentality healthcare? The vets are getting screwed. No one on that stage has pointed fingers with what is wrong.
I did catch a snippet of Carly on immigration…why so silent? Is it because at HP they were also a company clamoring for more of those J visas?
I like that the outsiders are doing well, but I wonder what will they actually bring to the table? Carly packs a heck of a wollup with her economy of words, but is that all that we can expect? I’ll give Trump this, he has forced everyone to step it up. No more keeping certain issues at bay.
And thanks for letting me rant.
September 17, 2015 at 10:10 am |
It sounds like TriWest is scarcely better than what Vets have now. It is obscene that more is not being done for them, and that the “solutions” are just as bad as the problems.
Fiorina spoke abt the 14th Amendment, since she was asked abt the whole Anchor Baby thing.
You can go here at Carly’s site, type a question, like abt Immigration, and get Carly’s response via video: https://www.carlyforpresident.com/answers/
There are a number of responses on Immigration, from Illegal Immigration, to Sanctuary Cities, and more.
September 17, 2015 at 11:13 am |
Great.
I think that our vets have always deserved better. If you only knew and saw what I witness firsthand daily, it would make your blood boil. I would like to hear just one person say, throwing money at the problem is not the solution…it is time to clean house. I don’t think anyone will do that. I’ve watched Latin American politics and when they have said something similar there is always a horrible consequence for the person who said it.
September 17, 2015 at 11:23 am |
Funny that you mentioned Latin American politics since Marco Rubio spoke out abt the VA at the last debate: http://www.whatthefolly.com/2015/08/14/transcript-marco-rubios-remarks-on-god-and-veterans-at-the-fox-news-republican-presidential-debate-on-aug-6-2015/
I agree completely – our vets DO deserve more. And I have no doubt that my blood pressure would shoot through the roof if what you see is anything like the horror stories we have been hearing.
Bless you for being there for them, mcnorman. I imagine you are a ray of sunshine for out vets!