Two ghastly hours of infantile Obama-bashing and Clinton-cussing; a vile, vertiginous romp through the most exotic of right-wing fantasylands; and the shocking, unspeakable realization that the degenerate Donald Trump is probably the most presidentially capable among the whole squalid bunch.
That was my Thursday night. How was yours?
It was at times unbearable. By 9:15 Eastern I was praying for 11:00 p.m. Eastern. When 11:01 came and they were still at it, I turned it off; I turned off the wrenching spectacle out of a surfeit of wrench. The assault on one's consciousness, the rape of national dignity, the unprecedented degradation of the presidential chase itself — all were almost indescribably brutal.
The only honorable moment came in Trump's eloquent defense — in response to the immeasurably offensive Ted Cruz — of New Yorkers. Otherwise hateful untruths, distortions, slanders and fashionably partisan stupidity gushed from the stage in malevolent torrents.
No, Hillary Clinton is not under FBI investigation; yes, Christie did support the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor; no, presidents don't go to war over poor navigation; yes, astronomical tariffs have been proposed by The Donald; no, the answer to stopping mass shootings is not "simple"; yes, the mere mention of "New York values" will always amuse the tee-heeing rubes; and no the United States is not weak, it still has a monstrous military and a monstrous military budget to prove it.
And Ted, as you and even most non-Ivy League graduates know, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up; which is to say, it not's the Wall Street loan, it's the populist deception. Nonetheless, I wish you and your tee-heeing rubes well. The latter deserve to get your counterfeit brand of populist democracy good and hard, and by God, slithering mensch that you are, you're giving it to them. You hang in there, Ted … you know, just in case The Donald falters.
The spectacle, the abomination, that inexpressible thing and foulest of rhetorical hells I suffered last night was — forgive the redundancy — the lowest point of America's lowest presidential season yet, barring one side of 1860. National realities, global realities, virtually all realities were heaved into the black cauldron of Republican paranoia and other assorted malignities, from which an intolerable stench arises.
Preceding debates were somewhat entertaining in their debutante ways; this one, that one last night, was just sickening.
http://thedcbrief.tumblr.com/post/136881446140/the-queen-of-england-promises-to-take-back
Posted by: shsavage | January 15, 2016 at 07:36 AM
Last night I did the only honorable thing I could. I handed the television remote to my wife and so I missed it. I caught the um highlights later. Not watching republican debates could become addictive.
Posted by: Peter G | January 15, 2016 at 08:40 AM
I recorded the post-game Hardball and watched it this morning. The coarse, insulting, crude, stupid nature of the debate is what dominated my impression too. No surprise, Matthews and guests mostly avoided that and tried to talk up the political plays. If Trump is the best they have the GOP is already toast:
"In the aftermath of the 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Center, Donald Trump, a billionaire son of New York City, did not make a single charitable donation to any of the not-for-profit groups that provided aid to survivors, rescue workers, or the families of cops and firemen who died trying to save others, Internal Revenue Service records show."
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/donald-trump-empathy-gap-754693
"Should we be surprised that Donald Trump, a man who made national news for mocking someone with a disability, would vengefully withhold medical care for a sick infant? The answer is no, no we should not be surprised."
http://gawker.com/donald-trump-once-revoked-medical-care-for-a-sick-baby-1750695531
These aren't high quality sources, but they contain links. It's also worth remembering several Bill Clinton scandals originated in American and British tabloids.
Posted by: Bob | January 15, 2016 at 09:14 AM
You know the republicans have a horrible field of candidates when Donald Trump looks like the most presidential one in the whole sorry bunch. This freak show is even scarier than the one from 2012. The 2016 field has about 75% more meanness to go with their insanity and stupidity.
Posted by: Anne J | January 15, 2016 at 09:39 AM
Such highlights! I think my favorite poltroon has to be Don Trafficone, rumored to be the Governor of New Jersey. Who would have thought a year ago that the leading Republican candidate would have been such a man as makes Christie seem like a gentleman of refinement and taste.
Posted by: Peter G | January 15, 2016 at 09:41 AM
Poltroon? No way. He bravely threatened Obama directly saying, "We're going to kick your rear-end out of the White House." He must also plan to beat the living crap out of the Secret Service White House detail. What a moron.
Posted by: Bob | January 15, 2016 at 09:57 AM
I'll admit to feeling a little sorry for Jeb. Have you ever seen a more pathetic pol? His next ad should just be him giving the camera a pleading look over a soundtrack by Sarah McLachlan.
Posted by: Bob | January 15, 2016 at 10:03 AM
Those are already in the email inboxes of the plutocrats. "For just $10 million dollars you could help this poor heir to the Bush dinesty ...
Posted by: Eric | January 15, 2016 at 10:36 AM
I am laughing out loud at such an apt image!
Posted by: Anne J | January 15, 2016 at 11:36 AM
Pretty brave to promise to kick out a guy who's term limited and not running again.
Christie also called Obama a "petulant child" I believe. It's always, always, always projection with these dolts. Always.
Posted by: Turgidson | January 15, 2016 at 05:02 PM
I'm hoping the lout gets to issue threats from a cell.
Posted by: Bob | January 15, 2016 at 06:51 PM