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De Omnibus Dubitandum - Lux Veritas

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

First GOP Debate for Election 2024 and What's Being Said

By Rich Kozlovich 

Okay, for transparency's sake, I almost never watch these "gong show" debates, including this one. The last debate I watched in full was the New City mayoral debate which included Weiner and DeBlasio, and believe it or not, Weiner was the sanest of the all, except DeBlasio won.  Why?  He won by answering every question and saying nothing.  

However, I do read all the commentaries afterward, and it's a bit amazing how so many people can see the same thing and come away with such different views.  And whether I agree or disagree with them, I really do have to congratulate them for their fortitude.

As far as I can tell, there wasn't one question regarding the fraudulent election of 2020, why?  The answer to that question is in my view the shibboleth for a conservative candidate.  And as far as I can tell, there was  only one question about these banana republic indictments, and that was:

“If former President Trump is convicted in a court of law, would you still support him as your party’s choice? Please raise your hand if you would?”  

Four candidates immediately raised their hands, DeSantis and Pence hesitated, and Hutchinson refused.  Vivek Ramaswamy made big points with that audience, saying “President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st century. It’s a fact." Which makes one wonder why he's running against Trump if he believes that.  During the debate both Pence and Christie were booed.  

I've searched out and gathered as much information as I can, linking those articles for my benefit as well as that of my readers. Invariably I find a pattern emerges from such a collective effort, and I get a clear vision of what actually transpired. 

Andrea Widburg thought the questions were shallow, and compared it to a  junior high school debate , complete with the cool kids asking stupid questions and the geeks fighting on the stage", and was even less impressed with Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

I've decided Monica Showalter, who is a consistently conservative writer, must be among the kindest people in the world.  She loved it all, "intelligent, lively, not too destructively argumentative, and well-controlled in content. Bret Baier and Martha McCallum at Fox News did a terrific job".  Really?  That must be why Bret Baier had to tell the audience to stop booing Christie. 

Newt Gingrich thought everyone was wonderful, the candidates and the moderators.  Of course this is the same guy who sat down with Nancy Pelosi and touted all this climate change nonsense, later claiming that was the biggest mistake in his life.  Really?  If he believed it, why was it a mistake?  If he didn't believe it, why did he promote it?  If you look up integrity in the dictionary, Newt's picture won't be beside the definition.  He has zero credibility with me.  

Jack Hellner claimed, and I think this is all one needs to take away from this dog and pony show, no one matched the man who wasn't there, Donald Trump. He does go on to say:

Republicans should first stop giving in to the media and other Democrats by calling limits on abortion a "ban" on abortion. Six-, 13-, 15-, or 20-week limits on abortions are not bans any more than moving pornographic books out of children’s sections in libraries is a "ban."  It appears that many people are giving Nikki Haley high marks for the debate because she appeared moderate and reasonable and willing to work with Democrats.

Hellner wasn't impressed. He felt Haley is a Vichy Republican, weak on abortion and will break under leftist pressure. No guts, no brains.  Chris Christie fails in logic, history, values, and integrity, and continues to look like a fool, which I predicted.  He's a class act, only it's all low class.  

Many found Vivek Ramaswamy impressive with his views on climate and social dysfunction.  DeSantis came off well, but Pence has nothing to offer different than Trump, and that he's not Trump. All the while trying to take credit for what Trump initiated, and it seems Carlson Tucker's claim he's "creepy" may be coming to the fore.  

One of the problems with Republicans who claim to be conservative is they seem to have problem defining conservatism.  With the exception of Vivek, they all took a position big government has its place if only "it's done right".  That was Ted Kennedy, and Bernie Sanders position.  Which shouldn't surprise us, since even DeSantis has been waffling on this kind of thinking willing to be more "moderate".    

Haley was a shrill harridan, and for a former UN Ambassador, it appears she's a clueless globalist militarist, kind of like John Bolton.  As for Christie, it's clear he has the Ick Factor down pat.  Hutchinson wants Trump in prison, and Burgum did passingly well, but who cares?

On global warming, only Ramaswamy got it right.  Haley is as slippery as an eel.  She hedged on climate change, weak on abortion and has claimed, we have to humanize abortion, and stop demonizing it.  In a recent interview she states:

I mean, Ainsley, that’s the answer from my heart,”........ You know, I am surrounded by blessings, and God has blessed me with an amazing husband and two wonderful children. But having said that, I think it’s really important that all of us remember everybody has a personal story. So while I’m unapologetically pro-life, I don’t judge anyone for being pro-choice. I think that we have to humanize this issue. We’ve got to stop demonizing this issue.

What kind of answer is that?  It's simple, it isn't an answer, it's a logical fallacy evasion.  Like DeBlasio, she talks a lot and says nothing, so let me help her.  Calling the murder of the innocent unborn murder isn't demonization, it's the truth.   She wants to humanize this issue? Fine, then call it what it is: Infanticide!

Clearly, she's not a conservative, and you have to wonder why these GOP political hacks are so cripplingly desirous of playing this game of appeasement to the left.  Do they really think anyone on the left is going to vote for them? Maybe they do it because they're gutless losers?  Yet, one commentator thought Haley came off as classy and presidential, and would be a great VP for Trump.  Given her backstabbing history, just how cognitively dissonant is that?  

Tim Scott did very well, and his "disdain for Wokedom" is very real, but he's not going anywhere.   Pence again offers nothing, except to say he's not Trump, yet attempting to take credit for what Trump initiated.  And he thinks that's really gonna work?  Sure, with MSNBC. It seems Carlson Tucker's claim he's "creepy" may be coming to the fore.  And again, Christie now owns the Ick Factor, and his "rule of law rants" ring hollow given he's famous for his bridge closure to get back at a political rival.  

There's been some resentment that Larry Elder wasn't allowed in on the debate, and while I've always felt he was a good man with a good mind, the fact is he simply didn't have sufficient support to qualify.  
 
But that brings up what I think is an important point.  
 
Why is it a well know writer and thinker like Larry Elder, who's widely respected, wasn't able to get sufficient support to be in on the debate, and yet a virtual unknown, Vivek Ramaswamy, come out of nowhere, soar in the polls and met the qualifications to be on that stage?

Based on how they all attacked him, he's the one they're all really afraid of, even implying the rest of the candidates are bought and paid for.  He didn't win any friends, but that may be the pot calling the kettle black, and their fear may not be justified.

His presentation at the debate was impressive, and he's adept at saying all the things conservatives want to hear:  End the war, secure the order, drain the swamp, even vowing to release Jeffery Epstein’s client list if he's elected, and he's been saying all this stuff all over the media.  Why hasn't he been banned or blocked?  Given how everyone else is censored when spouting anything the establishment doesn't like, you must wonder why he isn't censored?     

This video is profound.  A video by a man who says he's not a financial analysis, nor an investigative reporter, yet found all this publicly available information in a few hours.    He notes that all these media outlets are in fact mouthpieces of the establishment, so why aren't they censoring Vivek?  How can someone be anti-establishment when they’re being supported by the establishment media?

His business expertise must be seriously questioned, including where he got the money for his campaign.  According to the video, his company has never been profitable and never produced a single product.  So, why did Blackrock, Vanguard and State Street investment companies, all ESG promoting firms, the most powerful cartel in history pour millions into a company that lost a billion dollars making Vivek very rich.  In fact it's been claimed he made a billion dollars by tricking investors pushing an Alzheimer drug that didn’t work.

He says he’s going after the teacher's unions, yet the California teachers union was one of the investors in this losing company.  Why?   His connection with Soros and the covid mandates are truly troubling, and this business about being named a young global leader by the WEF didn't bother him for two years as he used that to generate investment money,  then claimed he never agreed to that and sued WEF and got them to remove him from the list and sent him a letter of apology, all in three months. 

He claims he will challenge China, and yet he has business ties to China.  He's even open to pardoning Biden family for all these crimes they've committed, claiming they're nothing more than 'politically motivated persecution'.  Amazing!  He claims to be anti-establishment but is he really, or is he a mole for the establishment?

There's talk he isn't a "natural born" citizen as required by the Constitution, but those who say this use the "three legged" stool argument.  Either the father is an American citizen, or the mother is an American citizen when born in the USA.  But the Constitution doesn't define what a natural born citizen is, and the Supreme Court has declared anyone born in the United States is a natural born citizen, irrespective of the citizenship of their parents.   

So, as far as I can tell, by law, this argument against Ramaswamy isn't going to go anywhere, but neither is he.  He soared after the debate, but now I think as more information comes out about him, his numbers have dropped to less than double digits, and DeSantis is now in the double digits.  the others have come up also, but no one really cares.  

It would appear the real winner of those on the stage turned out to be DeSantis, not Ramaswamy, and while Trump dropped six points, he's still 38 points ahead of DeSantis, and after the "mug shot seen around the world" appeared, contributions to Trump's campaign soared.  Trump drew  200 million,....that's ...200 million viewers in his Trucker Carlson interview, and Steve Bannon claims the The Old Republican Party ended in Milwaukee that night.   

Final real conclusion?  In spite of all the blather from the talking heads like Sununu, here and here, Sen. Cassidy insisting Trump should drop out of the race, Al Sharpton's keen understanding of history, and Karl Rove's whine:  Trump won!

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