Public Comment
5th Republican Debate
The prospect of any of the Republicans front runners becoming president is truly frightening. Have we learned nothing from the G.W. Bush/Cheney cabal who plunged the Middle East into utter chaos? Rand Paul was the stealth winner in last night’s shouting extravaganza. He reminded his macho protagonists that much of what they were advocating (carpet bombing ISIS) was in complete violation of the Geneva Convention (killing large numbers of innocent men, women and children is a war crime). He also admonished calls for building up the military which he said was already bloated. Dr. Ben Carson defended his call for massive bombing implying that a speedy death was better than death by ‘a thousand cuts’ and claimed that the deceased would be eternally grateful for their hasty demise much like his patients waking up after a brain operation. I fear the good doctor is rapidly descending into insanity.
The night was filled with superficial slogans and sound bites with the candidates shouting over one another and distilling complexities into one liners expressing satisfaction when the crowd roared its approval much like gladiators when they felled a roaring beast. A number promised to light up the desert sand until it glowed much like GW accomplished in his ‘shock and awe’ in 2003. The fear and hate-mongering makes Americans sound like a nation of bigots from a third rate banana republic – an American version of ISIL.
With plenty of testosterone flowing, the heavyweight from New Jersey wants a bigger fight; he promised to shoot down Russian planes in Syria and usher in World War 3. Not to be outdone, even arm waving John Kasich promised to punch Russia in the nose. Trump was filled with so much hot air he seemed to float away. However, in a rare unguarded moment he sensibly reflected that it would have been better had we invested the $4 trillion we squandered in orchestrating regime changes in rebuilding America’s infrastructure.
The debate would be a sure winner as the Best Comedy Series at next year's Emmy Awards.
