Chart-Toppers

Clarity

As I have said on many occasions over the years, both to my students and to others, these televised joint press conferences we subject our presidential candidates to are not really "debates." We call them that for reasons which are not entirely clear to me.
I suppose for some people it is a "debate" any time you have two or more people disagreeing with each other face to face, with someone controlling how much time anyone gets to speak.

The problem is that we are entirely at the mercy of the "moderators" when it comes to the content of the discussions, and the moderators are clearly more interested in creating "good television" than they are in stepping aside and letting the candidates actually, you know, tell us what they think about the issues.

That said, the main question to be answered this early in the process is pretty straightforward: Did you see a President up on that stage? After two debates, two clearly "presidential" contenders have distinguished themselves:

Carly Fiorina showed that she clearly belonged on the stage (and let's not forget that without considerable pressure to change its rules CNN would gleefully have excluded her again).

Poised, knowledgeable, and energetic in her answers, Fiorina would make a fine standard-bearer. She is conservative in all the right places, and would be able to tap in to voters disaffected with the GOP's recent weak-kneed performance on many key issues.

Marco Rubio was also poised, exuding the natural confidence that genuine leaders possess. His answers were sharp and specific, and displayed an impressive grasp of underlying issues. I think the GOP needs a candidate who can successfully bypass the mainstream media spinners and speak directly to the public. There is no one in this field better equipped to do that than Rubio.

Frankly, the folks who don't think Rubio is conservative enough need to have their heads examined. There is no more natural heir to Ronald Reagan's brand of conservatism (the debate was held at the Reagan Presidential Library) than Marco Rubio. I ought to know, as I was backing Reagan way back in '68. The party chose Nixon. If only they had listened to me...

Most of the rest of the candidates did reasonably well. I would prefer to see Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal replace someone for the next debate (Huckabee or Kasich, neither of whom registered much last night). I'm okay with Christie and Walker sticking around for awhile, to see if they can hit their strides. Ben Carson is a good man and an engaging personality, but I'm not getting the sense that he really wants to be president. Ted Cruz appears content to lay low, and hope for a Trump implosion. Donald Trump was, if possible, even worse in this debate than in the first one. He said nothing of real substance, and seemed bewildered whenever the topic turned to actual policy issues. Jeb Bush didn't help himself either, and I expect his support to continue to dwindle as voters realize there are other, better conservative options available. Rand Paul is certainly knowledgeable, but he's just wrong on key issues. The party is still a conservative party, and is unlikely to nominate an isolationist libertarian.

Media Bias Much?

Whenever a conservative politician opens her/his mouth in public these days, liberals/progressives in the mainstream media (but I repeat myself) rush to "fact check" everything they said. This is how such outlets pretend to "do" journalism nowadays.

Problem is, their "fact checking" is just tendentious political spin, and not even well-disguised spin at that. Typical examples include articles like this one and this one (Vox is known to be a hacktastic progressive website, but still) in which the authors pretend that their disagreements with the speaker on policy are actually factual errors by the speaker.

"Who would be dumb enough to fall for such obvious chicanery?"

Other than idiotic liberals/progressives, you mean?

Can't Catch a Break

So I was just walking through my local Hy-Vee, minding my own business, not bothering anyone, when BAM!

Halloween Carrot Cake! I gained two pounds just looking at this cover (and yes, I did buy the magazine). Thanks a lot, Food Network Magazine. Burn in hell...

Red Thursday

Speaking of burning in hell...

Behold the face of pure evil.

13-1 lifetime record against my beloved Kansas City Chiefs, so no...

Actually, Peyton is a fine player, and seems like a genuinely good guy. I'm just hoping the Chiefs prevail on Thursday Night Football this evening.

Until Next Time...

On this date 92 years ago, a man named Hiram King Williams was born in Mount Olive, Alabama. He struggled with alcoholism and addiction to pain medications his entire adult life, and died on New Year's Day in 1953, the year I was born, at just 29 years of age.

His life may have been tragically short, but Hank Williams certainly left his mark on American popular music. Today's send-off is a rare video from 1952 of Hank and his band performing "Cold, Cold Heart," one of his 11 No. 1 singles. Enjoy...