287 thoughts on “GOP Debate Time!

  1. OK, so this is where the liveblog will be. For a moment, I thought the Santa Claus letter would be the location.

    (Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is that you please don't let any of these clowns get to the White House!)

      1. This problem will vanish in a couple of months, fortunately. Maybe sooner of some of these clowns tell the truth about what they'd do in the White House commit a gaffe…

  2. Not gonna lie, I'm not even watching the early debate, waiting for the main event. I'm going to be playing Picross in between reading comments and will be more active for the 8:30 event.

  3. This is funny–I just got an e-mail from someone I know is a Republican (perfectly nice person otherwise.) If he isn't watching, I have to wonder if anyone other than we are…

  4. Ricky "Don't google me!" Santorum is looking pastier than usual. Smokey suggested maybe he's using that treatment Thomas Barrow on, as my mom calls it, "Downtown Abbey," used and injecting himself with saline to inject the ghey away.

  5. "Go after the radicals who kill us all." -Lindsey Graham.

    If they kill us, won't we be dead? How can we go after them then? Wait! Zombie Jeebus Army, to arms!

  6. That's cute–the college student thinks this crowd has ideas about how to challenge ISIS ideologically. Gotta love optimistic kids…

  7. Lindsey: I can't believe I'm on stage with this peacenik.

    Frothy: Hasn't this dumbass heard of not playing into the enemy's hands?

  8. THE SURGE WORKED, DAMMIT! I MISS W!!! IT'S ALL OBAMA'S FAULT!!!!!

    Christ, I think Lindsey Graham might actually need some meds…

  9. "And now, having drawn the longest straw, Senator Graham will perform a Bach minuet on the pianoforte, in this, the first round of the talent portion of our program."

  10. Again with the line about how Obama has undermined our friends and empowered our foes, Hewitt?

    This fucker is based in SoCal. Too close for my taste…

  11. from 538:

    A March Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 34 percent of Republicans ranked Obama as an imminent threat, ahead of Putin (25 percent) and Assad (23 percent).

  12. Lindsey: Princess Buttercup would not like this.

    Sure–let's base American foreign policy on the preferences of a fictional character. Why the fuck not.

  13. OFFS, here we go with the "we need to maintain standards so no girls allowed in the military" line. If these assholes truly do not know that the military has made it clear that only women who DO meet the standards will be placed in combat situations they do NOT deserve to run for dog catcher, much less President…

  14. Nate Silver 7:45 PM

    To follow up on the question Harry answered before: Based on the formula we use in our Senate forecasts, Cruz’s strongly conservative views would cost the Republicans a net of about 5 percentage points relative to a more moderate, Mitt Romney-esque Republican. That’s a pretty big deal, but not so much that Cruz couldn’t overcome it if national conditions were really poor for Democrats.

    I can only hope so. About the 5% part, that is.

  15. Also from 538

    Hayley Munguia 7:48 PM

    The studies that Rick Santorum cited to defend reversing the policy that integrates women into elite combat units included one that found that 85 percent of those surveyed in U.S. Special Operations Command opposed letting women into their jobs — for reasons including, but not limited to, “I think PMS is terrible, possibly the worst. I cannot stand my wife for about a week out of the month for every month. I like that I can come to work and not have to deal with that.”

  16. And I love that this crowd is so concerned about properly vetting refugees, while giving zero fucks about doing the same for gun owners FFS…

    1. I had to go to the Social Security office this afternoon. There was an older couple, probably early 70s. While the husband ran out to their Hummer, the wife chatted with the security guard, asking for gun advice, because she "needed" to get a concealed carry gun to protect herself from the terrorists. (She whispered that like the way old people whisper cancer.) She noted that she wanted one with a safety so she wouldn't accidentally shoot herself, but that "more good people have guns. People with the concealed, they're all good guys." (Yes, actual quote.) Then her husband came back in and they, no lie, chatted about Fox News because of course they did.

      1. Sometimes I have too much empathy and think to myself, "Wow, these poor people. It must be terrible to live with so much fear and hate." But then I think, "Oh, fuck these idiots." Fear is a choice and some people seek out voices to confirm their fears and that's all they listen to. They're irrational and delusional and seek out other irrational, delusional voices that convince them that they're right.

        But, hey, at least she didn't say anything about "the blacks," although she has probably whispered those words once or twice in her life. Enjoy your Hummer, fuckwits. Thanks for destroying the earth, assholes.

        1. I'm sure she actually wanted to say "the blacks" or "those people" except the security guard and all but one of the staff at that office are black and/or Latino — but, come on, who is the elderly white woman really afraid is going to assault her here in the Poconos, a terrorist or any random non-white person? I look forward to the news report.

          btw, the Fox News story she and her husband talked about at length was how the jury was deadlocked in that case where "the police accidentally killed that guy in Baltimore".

  17. Fuck you, Huckabee: I'd be glad to have refugees from terror settle in my neighborhood.

    Don't you fucking DARE lecture me about being a Christian, either, you fucking hater…

  18. These people are genuinely uninformed fools, but I'm weeping tears of frustration thinking about the wildly uninformed foolish letters their sociopathic followers must be sending them.

  19. Since this circus is being held at the Venetian hotel, wouldn't it be awesome if everyone had to float around on gondolas the whole time?

  20. Six minutes now. Goosebumps, the hair is beginning to rise up on my neck and I'm getting this awful shaking sick feeling like I'm about to see some kind of horrible violent live capture cilp that will give me nightmares for weeks and I'm waiting for the announcer's voiceover: "A warning to our audience – the next segment contains some extremely disturbing footage and you may want to have children or the easily nauseated leave the room".

    1. I've often wondered, what does the S.E. stand for? Sickening Enema? Salty Eczema? Satan's Excrement? Tell me, Sippy Cupp! I must know!

  21. "As moderator, I'll discuss–I'll guide the discussion"

    Nice to know that Wolf Blitzer will be as overbearing tonight as he is on Sundays…

  22. I seriously laughed through Carson's moment of silence for the San Bernadino victims. I'm still laughing. (At him, not them, obviously.)

  23. Everyone of these d-bags is just "blah blah blah OBUMMER and HILLZ bad!" Come on, that's no fun! Attack each other, fuckwits! We tuned in for that shit.

  24. Wolf: Mr Trump, you recently suggested closing the internet. WTF?

    The Donald: I want to figure out how to beat ISIS on the internet.

  25. Holy crap, I just found this post. I've had such a shitty day. My work day isn't even over. Where can I tune in to this thing?

    ETA: never mind, just found it. Sorry, brain fried.

    Also, is that a game-show bell they're using? geez.

  26. For fuck's sake, Cruz, I really don't think "political correctness" (whatever the fuck that means in the first place) is the reason ISIS is a threat…

  27. You know, I can guarantee that when DAESH is a short footnoted paragraph in Volume IV of some hoary old 22nd Century scholar's Comprehensive History of the Early 21st Century, Anthropogenic CO2 driven Climate Change will still be front page news. In fact, I can forsee a time when it will be the only news.

  28. Regarding this whole "Political Correctness" hatefulness, I remember being in college in about '94 or so and being in an English class and the political correctness issue came up and one non-trad student (bless his heart) spoke up and said, "Isn't there too much political correctness today?" This was roughly one week after I had seen, at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, no less, an actor, in a Shakespeare play ("As You Like It"? "Twelfth Night?" I forget.) Anyhoo, the actor playing the fool went completely off-script and starting speaking in a horrible "Asian" accent that would have made Mickey Rooney blush, "Sorny! Mitsurbishi! Kirwasaki!"

    My original thought about political correctness was that it just meant, "Hey, let's maybe not be racist and homophobic and such!" I can't believe that phrase has lived for 20-plus years and is still used by the same right-wing assholes as before.

  29. Cruz: I'll build the wall and get Donald Trump to pay for it.

    Um, does Canadian Anchor Baby not know about The Donald's 4 business bankruptcies?

  30. I haven't listened to the whole thing, but it's interesting that Cruz keeps calling Rubio by his first name. I wonder what the strategy is on that – to sound condescending? dunno.

      1. Since I didn't listen to the whole thing I don't have any context, but he must be making that choice for strategic reasons, but what's the strategy – to sound like he and Rubio are best buds? It's just weird and he's so smarmy.

  31. Did Ben Carson just mention that an important government function was understaffed due to funding issues?

    And does he know whose party nomination he is trying to get?

    1. Maybe, maybe not. He did say he'd quit the party if Trump did.

      Head a great term for these self-aggrandizing presidential runs: vanity candidacies.

  32. Christie: we have to keep Americans safe so we can't trust any Syrian refugees, even widows and orphans. Besides, women can be terrorists too!

  33. This crowd actually believes that The Donald won't come up with a reason to go back on this pledge not to run as an independent?

    "They didn't treat me fairly! Fuck that–I'm back in the race!!!"

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