University of Miami GOP Debate 8:30 ET

[AuH20]

Ricky has always been a Ron Paul guy...

Ricky Vaughn ‏@Ricky_Vaughn99 32m32 minutes ago
Believe me, if coherence mattered in the GOP, Ron Paul would have won in 2012. Trump understands it is about theatrics.

 

[Aratus]

This one so far is the closest thing to a real debate they've had this cycle. Rand would be owning this.

i agree. lets all think of this point in time in 2o2o and
why staying in the contest a tad longer hands one
publicity. i'd like to see Doctor Rand Paul run in 2o2o!

 

[Aratus]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to AuH20 again.

 

[AuH20]

an impressive group...

 

[kpitcher]

I kinda miss crazy Trump in these debates. He better show up in the general election if he makes it that far. Crazy Trump will have Hillary hiding under the podium.

<sarcasm>
What's a loudmouth like trump compared to snipers that she had to run from her chopper to hide from? </sarcasm>

 

[BrooklynZoo]

Well, we do. I'm somewhere in the middle on this issue. Most people who hate cops either live in gated communites and have never dealt with the scum that police have to deal with, or they themselves are scum. Police powers need to be reigned in and law breaking officers need to be prosecuted, but without police this would be a very dangerous country.

lol Only someone who himself lives in an ivory tower would make such a statement. Modern police are the descendants of the Pinkertons. Their brand of enforcement is not aimed at protecting and serving anyone but the state itself. Were they solely dedicated to handling crimes against person, property or liberty, the common person wouldn't likely mind them at all. However, that is anything but reality. Most "crimes" are arbitrary nanny state invasions of personal liberty merely for the purpose of raising revenue to feed the beast which is the state. They make criminals out of people who just want their freedom. Overpaid metermaids is what they are, as proven by towns like Ferguson, MO which survive almost solely on fines and court costs. As if every other tax hasn't risen enough in the last 15 years.

While living in New Jersey, I was stopped dozens of times for things like "slowing" and harassed by cops who had nothing better to do than attempt to intimidate and threaten those who appear to have no recourse. I was fined thousands of dollars because I had no place to park but the street outside my home and that town does not allow parking 2-5 am and charges for $15 every night one is parked on any street. Why? Money, of course. If the fines were not paid within three weeks, my license would be suspended until a $100 restoration cost plus surcharges were paid. Once, I didn't go anywhere for three days and they towed my car from outside my house as an abandoned vehicle. Even the town prosecutor couldn't believe that one. I was threatened with arrest when a cop accused me of lying in my face that I had been outside a pool hall at 2 am for only two minutes instead of five while waiting for a friend to use the restroom. While NJ is one of the worst offenders in this manner, it's the future for all of us who don't have billionaire or state executive privilege. While shopping at a farmer's market in Huntington Beach, CA a vendor I purchased some food from reminded me that if asked, to say that the bag he put it in was paid for because by local law the cops would fine him if he didn't make customers pay for the bags. Yes, these are your officers of the law, hard at work. Never defend cops. They'll deserve respect when they stop persecuting the poor and defenseless and focus on the real criminals, who are often their own and their bosses.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

Trump finally said enough to make it clear. He is not a Likudnik like the rest of them. He is actually coming from the more moderate Israeli position. The neocons have been able to create this false perception in the US that the only "pro-Israel" position is to be a hardcore Likud Party lapdog. Not true. No wonder they hate Trump so much. He threatens to spill the beans in a way that no left-wing politician in the US has been willing to do for decades.

In fact, neocons conflate just about everything---Israel the country with the Likud, America the country with interventionist foreign policy, biblical support for Israel with supporting the likud/neocons (to co-opt the evangelical vote), non-interventionism with isolationism, making peace with Putin with fascism, engagement with Cuba with Leninism (note how Sanders was questioned about it in the last Democratic debate). etc.

Trump is indeed challenging this racket, including his cartoonish hyperbole about Islam and torture, which serves to ironically question belligerent neocon rhetoric by taking their narratives to their logical conclusion. Neocons might actually have more problems with Trump in office if he adopts points of their agenda, as he will plainly ruin the brand via his often extreme construction of the issues.

 

[Jan2017]

I thought McCain was on stage . . . but it was Kasich that mentioned the merits of "shock and awe"

Trump looked older - eight months of this getting to him - and he continues with the same vocabulary so maybe the IQ doesn't shine so bright under the stage lights
. . . deals, everything is about we need to make better deals, a casino vocabulary.
CNN's Jake Tapper asks him about the violence at his rallys.

Rubot had to talk through his own applause, and made sense while doing it, Trump just waited silently when Rubio applause lingered on,
but when they went to Cruz (in his next rebuttal) while the Florida audience was still clapping, and they zoom on him solo, Teddy had a very weird look - it is painful to even look at the guy sometimes -
and then, . . . he calls a timeout because "he can't hear"

 

[Chieppa1]

They all terrified me. Would be war criminals.

 

[Jan2017]

Rubio made it to his closing statement before mentioning his bartender father.
"Now the moment has arrived for our generation to do our part,"he said as he asked Florida voters to support him.

"Cruz poked at Trump in his closing statement, while listing the candidates' fathers occupations. Then he narrowed in on Hillary Clinton"
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/sfl-florida-republican-debate-live-updates-story.html

I think this is twice in a row that Teddy uses the closing statement to refer to a candidate . . . no chance for a 30 second rebuttal (?)
Rafael Jr.. you are such a snake-sly dog . . . I mean "wolf in sheep's clothing"


Ted Cruz delivered a parting shot at Donald Trump at the CNN debate

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas used his closing statement to take a sly jab at GOP frontrunner Donald Trump at the Thursday-night Republican presidential debate.
"What an incredible nation we have that the son of a bartender, and the son of a mailman, and the son of a dishwasher,
... and a successful businessman can all stand on this stage competing, and asking for your support."

He appeared barely able to hold back a smile after some in the crowd picked up on the slight and burst into laughter.

http://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-donald-trump-debate-businessman-2016-3

If Trump mic was still on, he would have broke the debate rules by interjecting . . .
"and one of you losers wasn't even born in the United States"
"your closet buddy is endorsing me, Lyin' Ted"


.

 

[SilentBull]

Cruz and Rubio did well. They made Trump look like the ignorant that he is. He just kept repeating the same crap because he has no real knowledge of the issues.

 

[Jan2017]

Cruz and Rubio did well. They made Trump look like the ignorant that he is. He just kept repeating the same crap because he has no real knowledge of the issues.

on Social Security, Rubot made him look bad
Trump will make the economy great again so there will be no need to change Social Security at all . . . it is what people want to believe.

Ted Cruz still infatuated with gross stuff - "Americans need made-in-China cheap diapers bought at Wal-Mart"

 

[CPUd]

Donald Trump: F

Where to begin.

I know a lot of people will give Trump credit for not mudslinging. They'll heap praise on him for not interrupting and not name-calling. How pitiful is it that it's come to this? You know what? I don't give points for debate performances that meet the minimum for civility. Trump may have played nice this time, but that's not the same as debate excellence, especially with the mean, rude behavior of previous face-offs so close in memory.

In fact, Trump's policy weaknesses were on display in this debate, since without the name-calling, all that was left was for him to explain his positions.

As it turns out, he only had two: negotiate better and make better deals. Wait, that's the same, so he only had one position. This fools no debate judge. It comes off as if Trump thinks negotiation, by itself, will solve the nation's problems, and that he is the only person who's ever thought of it. And if simply negotiating is enough, then why can't Trump tell us how he would negotiate, and for what? Cruz did. Rubio did. Kasich did. But not Trump.

Saying over and over that you'll do something is not persuasive in a debate.

How would Trump reverse Obama's policy with Cuba? A "better deal." How would Trump make China pay potentially economy-damaging tariffs? His high tariffs would only be used as a threat (I'm assuming for negotiations), and he offered no proof that this would work.

How would Trump solve the Israel-Palestinian dispute? "I'm a negotiator." Unfortunately for Trump, he then contradicted himself, saying that he would announce that he was "pro-Israel... I would like to at least have the other side think I am at least somewhat neutral to them" to get a deal done. Wait, what? These debates are televised, right?

Trump was incoherent in many of his answers. When asked how he'd save Social Security, since, as debate moderator Dana Bash pointed out, cutting waste and fraud won't be nearly enough to close a funding gap, Trump responded with nonsense answers about a stronger military, Japan, North Korea, and China. How this answered the problem of Social Security for seniors was beyond reason.

When asked what was wrong with Common Core state standards in education, he blamed Washington D.C. and said politicians weren't interested in taking care of our children. But it's states which developed the Common Core and manage their own curricula. Trump didn't seem to understand it.

When quizzed about why he called Vladimir Putin "strong," and also China's leaders "strong" when they put down the Tiananmen Square protests, Trump said "strong does not mean good." Since he often characterizes his own approach as strong, it was another outright contradiction.

Two even more frightening things came from Trump in the debate. Questioned by CNN's Jake Tapper about his earlier comment that "Islam hates the United States" he made the weak claim: "I mean a lot of them." This was rebutted by everyone else on stage.

And language matters. Tapper raised the question of whether Trump's rhetoric at his rallies inspires violence, such as the attack this week on a protester, who was punched in the face by a Trump supporter. Trump's very poor debate strategy was to lie and claim that protesters are some, "bad dudes, swinging, doing damage to people..."

You are failing at a debate when you bring on the bull.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/11/opinions/debate-coach-gop-miami-graham/index.html