Official January 7th Debate Thread

[Politico]

I'm so surprised how cordial it has remained between Romney and Paul - they never really go after each other. A great mystery.

I think it's fairly clear that Paul sees Romney as the best of the bad candidates (other than himself).  Plus, malleability makes him more open to the libertarian wing's influence than the socons would be.

This. And would anybody be truly shocked if Romney chose Rand Paul, the only Tea Party candidate of 2010 to win a US Senate seat, as his running mate?

That actually makes a fair amount of sense.

Rand Paul has the Paul brand name without the controversial aspects of his father's career (and obviously youth compared to his father). It helps that he has a southern accent and Tea Party backing, too.

[Sam Spade]

Okay, now I'm ing pissed. What was the last time a teen killed himself for being Catholic or Methodist? Mitt Romney should be forced to watch a tape of a teenage boy being teased or beaten. Better yet, Newt Gingrich should be forced to live minimum-wage and as a gay man in southern Georgia and then say that "CATLIKZZZ HAV IT HRD!!!!111"

Each and every one of them should be thrown into the mobs of the truly oppressed.

If a teen kills himself because he was teased over something, his life wasn't probably going to last very long to begin with.

If he gets beaten up for saying that's he gay, maybe he'll learn to stay quiet the next time.  Or at least find some other similar abnormals to defend him.

If that's not sarcasm I would freely hunt you down.

It is no secret where I live.  Facts are facts, whether you like them or not.

[Politico]

If the voters cannot understand this, they deserve "Obamanomics," from here to eternity.

Yeah, I would add that they deserve a "new normal" of 8% official unemployment and 15-20% underemployment. But isn't that really what we mean when we say, "Obamanomics," anyway?

[Politico]

Okay, now I'm ing pissed. What was the last time a teen killed himself for being Catholic or Methodist? Mitt Romney should be forced to watch a tape of a teenage boy being teased or beaten. Better yet, Newt Gingrich should be forced to live minimum-wage and as a gay man in southern Georgia and then say that "CATLIKZZZ HAV IT HRD!!!!111"

Each and every one of them should be thrown into the mobs of the truly oppressed.

If a teen kills himself because he was teased over something, his life wasn't probably going to last very long to begin with.

If he gets beaten up for saying that's he gay, maybe he'll learn to stay quiet the next time.  Or at least find some other similar abnormals to defend him.

If that's not sarcasm I would freely hunt you down.

It is no secret where I live.  Facts are facts, whether you like them or not.

Ouch. Don't ya think you're being just a tad harsh, my man? "Similar abnormals" is going to hurt some folks...

[Torie]

In my entire life, nobody has been inclined to beat me up for my little proclivities Sam. I guess living in an upper middle class world insulates me, plus being 6" 2" in height perhaps.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Moderators were right to ask about military experience... just wished they called out Five DeferMITT too

[Politico]

Moderators were right to ask about military experience... just wished they called out Five DeferMITT too

Actually, Mitt had a high lotto number when his ministerial and student deferments ran out in 1969. He would have served had he received a low number. I wonder if Gingrich married his high school math teacher to avoid Vietnam.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Running on going BACK to Iraq? Good luck with that.

Wow, he wants us to blow another $1 trillion on invading Iraq? At least the others (excluding Paul) would have us blow $1 trillion on invading a new country.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Romney talking about how he wants to create regulations that help business seems a bit out of step with the direction of public opinion, at least in the GOP. Whatever he meant by it, it sounds too much like corporatism.

[Eraserhead]

Was this as much of a bore as all of the write-ups about it are making it seem?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Was this as much of a bore as all of the write-ups about it are making it seem?

The only thing notable about it it seems is that Perry called for re-invading Iraq and everyone on the web is now having a good laugh at his expense.

[Eraserhead]

Was this as much of a bore as all of the write-ups about it are making it seem?

The only thing notable about it it seems is that Perry called for re-invading Iraq and everyone on the web is now having a good laugh at his expense.

Could you hear laughs in the audience or anything?

[Brandon H]

I'm so surprised how cordial it has remained between Romney and Paul - they never really go after each other. A great mystery.

I think it's fairly clear that Paul sees Romney as the best of the bad candidates (other than himself).  Plus, malleability makes him more open to the libertarian wing's influence than the socons would be.

This. And would anybody be truly shocked if Romney chose Rand Paul, the only Tea Party candidate of 2010 to win a US Senate seat, as his running mate?

I agree completely. For Romney to beat Obama, he needs the Paul vote. Rand Paul as his running mate won't get all of them, but it's the best chance he has to get them.

[Marston]

Watched the debate. It wasn't a game-changer in any sense of the word. Santorum and Paul had their little fight and the only person Romney really engaged was Huntsman on China.

[anvi]

Can someone translate what Hunstman just said?

Just like he said after it was "he doesn't understand the situation." However when I initially heard it I thought he butchered the last word (said something like "qingsheng" instead of qingkuang 情况） so someone gimme a link so I can hear it again.

Huntsman said "qingxing," which is the way you say 情况 in the south (Guangdong and Hong Kong, and maybe some in Taiwan use this term too).  Since Huntsman learned how to speak Chinese in Taiwan, it's not surprising he prefers southern vocabulary.  He said the sentence just right.

[argentarius]

The problem with Mitt picking Rand as his VP is that Rand disagrees with him on a lot of things. Although I think it's fair to say that Mitt would drop the whole national security thing if it gave him a better chance of being elected.

[Iosif]

Mitt won't pick Rand Paul as his VP. To think he would is delusional.

[angus]

Can someone translate what Hunstman just said?

Just like he said after it was "he doesn't understand the situation." However when I initially heard it I thought he butchered the last word (said something like "qingsheng" instead of qingkuang 情况） so someone gimme a link so I can hear it again.

Huntsman said "qingxing," which is the way you say 情况 in the south (Guangdong and Hong Kong, and maybe some in Taiwan use this term too).  Since Huntsman learned how to speak Chinese in Taiwan, it's not surprising he prefers southern vocabulary.  He said the sentence just right.

I was only in China twice, and the last time was two years ago, so my mandarin's a little rusty, but I thought he said, "You're a goddamned liar, Mitt.  I heard you order the spring roll platter and now that the waiter has brought it, you're claiming that you ordered the Mao Po Dou Fu." 

Anyway, I can't believe that none of youse are gonna bug the chinaman about this, seeing as how we have been doing his homework for the past five years.  I'm assuming his English is better than the guy's who writes the tests he has to take. 

More importantly, I found out that the slow-talking woman's name is Dianne Sawyer. 

Apparently they're debating again this morning.  It's beginning just now on NBC.  Check it out. 

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I was surprised by how awful George was here.  He wouldn't let go of the Griswold thing.  And not a single question about education - I think there was only one of those way back in the early debates.

[Sam Spade]

Okay, now I'm ing pissed. What was the last time a teen killed himself for being Catholic or Methodist? Mitt Romney should be forced to watch a tape of a teenage boy being teased or beaten. Better yet, Newt Gingrich should be forced to live minimum-wage and as a gay man in southern Georgia and then say that "CATLIKZZZ HAV IT HRD!!!!111"

Each and every one of them should be thrown into the mobs of the truly oppressed.

If a teen kills himself because he was teased over something, his life wasn't probably going to last very long to begin with.

If he gets beaten up for saying that's he gay, maybe he'll learn to stay quiet the next time.  Or at least find some other similar abnormals to defend him.

If that's not sarcasm I would freely hunt you down.

It is no secret where I live.  Facts are facts, whether you like them or not.

Ouch. Don't ya think you're being just a tad harsh, my man? "Similar abnormals" is going to hurt some folks...

If people are hurt by me reminding them of facts, so be it.  I can't help you there.

[anvi]

To imply that gay kids ought to be beaten up for saying they are gay, or that they feel they have to suppress their identity under threat of violence, or to call them "abnormal," are judgments, not facts. 

[TheGlobalizer]

To imply that gay kids ought to be beaten up for saying they are gay, or that they feel they have to suppress their identity under threat of violence, or to call them "abnormal," are judgments, not facts. 

FWIW, I don't see where he said "ought".  I agree with what he's saying - if you're a different, it's usually a good idea not to broadcast it.  Whether those external conditions are good or bad things is another matter.  (Bad, obviously, at least IMO.)