Is Your DVD Library Missing This?

Rev. C. L. Bryant's fabulous documentary, Runaway Slave, is now out on DVD.  If you haven't seen this film I urge you to order it and watch.

I went to the theater five times last summer and watched it.  I loved it.  My review is here.

The title refers to Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad in the 19th century;  Rev. Bryant contends that we need a "new Underground Railroad" to help lead blacks from the tyranny of enslavement by the United States government which is bent on keeping so many dependent on the government dole.

The documentary is a masterpiece of photography and symbolism as well as strong in its powerful message.  Yet even with the seriousness of the subject, in the end I was left optimistic and hopeful.

The trailer:



I've ordered my copy already because even though I almost know it by heart by now, I still want to watch it over and over again.

Fisking Kathleen Parker

I'm still hospital sitting and will bring you up to speed on all that later.  I brought my laptop with me today because it's easier to blog on it than on the iPad (at least for some posts).  Plus I wanted to work on a letter to the Nursing Director of WK to commend an angelic, wonderful nurse we had on seventh floor last week.

Now that that's done, let's take a moment to fisk Kathleen Parker.  It's a good thing I'm sitting in a hospital because I'm sputtering and hyperventilating as I'm reading her column. 

Let's take a look, shall we?  Her thesis seems to be that the Republican convention was too white.  She opens with the mind boggling question: "What if Barack Obama had been a Republican?"  Have I been hospital-bound too long?  Can anyone even fathom that concept?  I can't.  She contends that if he'd been Republican, i.e., if Republicans had a black nominee, then the delegates on the floor would have been black.  And she gets paid the big bucks for this.

To Parker, it's all about race.  She writes:

 Obama was elected not only because of his attractive eloquence but because we are fundamentally a good people who value fairness and equality. Electing Obama was part of our reward to ourselves. It allowed us to feel that we were this good and this big.

Choke, sputter, gag.  "part of our reward to ourselves"?  Is she kidding?   Is this satire?

More:

He was also a tantalizing candidate with a message of hope that felt like honey after eight bitter years of terrorism and war. He courted our better angels and articulated our best instincts. We were going to become a purple, post-racial nation, never again to be divided. Who wouldn’t fall in love with that?

His "message of hope that felt like honey" never came across to me.  His message from day one was of big government and socialist style programs.   Anyone who fell for his "purple, post-racial nation" bullshit was not listening past the scripted prose to examine the real man.

And by the way: Republicans are racist:

Republicans were certain that Obama was all style over substance, but their criticisms quickly were interpreted in some quarters as racial animus. Certainly some who call themselves Republicans also can be called racist. Anyone who spends time on the Internet is aware of the racist content of some political dialogue. It’s out there, and it’s ugly.

Then Parker asks "Where are the blacks?"   Kathleen Parker, meet just some of the blacks in the Republican party:

Let's start with Rev. C. L. Bryant:

Rev. Bryant gave a brilliant speech at FreePAC in July following on the heels of his brilliant documentary Runaway Slave.  Did you see Runaway Slave, Miss Parker?



Meet Mia B. Love.  Did you see her at the RNC convention?  Wonderful speech!



Meet Mason Weaver, author of It's Okay to Leave the Plantation.

 

Meet Marvin D. Rogers, author of Silence Makes the Loudest Sound, a revealing look at the racist history of the Democratic party.

 Marvin appeared in C. L. Bryant's Runaway Slave documentary and was one of the more powerful segments in the film.

Meet Star Parker, author, activist, and founder of CURE.  She speaks out on a regular circut of conservative appearances:



Meet Deneen Borelli, author and activist.  She spoke on Fox and Friends recently about her new book Blacklash.



Meet K. Carl Smith, a Frederick Douglass Republican:



Mrs. Parker, I'm sure you're familiar with Condoleezza Rice, Herman Cain, Allen West, Alveda King, David Webb, and others.

What about Stephen Broden, Sonja, Schmidt, Kevin Daniels, Jesse Lee Peterson, and Erik Rush.  You ever heard of them?

In Kathleen Parker's article, she does note that there are some minorities in the Republican party, she writes:

Appearances matter, and the GOP simply doesn’t look that friendly. Regardless of what is true, when an arena full of white people cheers jabs aimed at the first African American president, it feels wrong. This may not be a conscious recognition, but the subliminal is powerful. It was with a deep, inner sigh of relief that white Republicans heard Romney say that he had wanted Obama to succeed because he wanted America to succeed. Bless the speechwriters. 

I would suggest that Miss Parker and others get past the appearances and quit worrying so much about surface issues.  Nobody boo'd or jabbed Obama at the RNC because he was black.  It's because his policies are failures. It's not "subliminal" racist code.  His policies are failures.  They'd be failures if he was a white man.  It's not about race here.  Get over it

In all her search for racial code and dog whistles, she concludes with this, which I'm not even going to touch:

There they’ll learn that ecosystems thrive and are most productive when there is biodiversity. The same can be said of political parties. An all-white party will not long survive in a diverse environment.
The strongest and fittest are those who adapt, and that species for now goes by the name Democrat.

Take a look around you, Miss Parker.  The black conservatives are rising.

Film Review: Runaway Slave

When Runaway Slave comes to a theater near you, drop what you're doing and go see it.

Having heard Rev. C. L. Bryant speak before, I thought I had an idea what to expect but I underestimated the power of the documentary.  It's very powerful.

Visually, the movie has a gritty, urban, edgy feel to it that contrasts with rural rolling hills and scenic neighborhoods as narrator C. L. Bryant makes his way from one city to the next, crossing America, ultimately ending up in Washington, D.C., where he movingly stands at the Jefferson Memorial reading lines from the Declaration of Independence.  I have to say, I got a tear in my eye on that one.

Bryant drives across the country asking black individuals along the way "Are we free at last?  Are you free?"  He strides purposefully across the nation and listens inquisitively at both Tea Party rallies and NAACP rallies.  He asks black Americans what they are prevented from doing today because of their skin color.

The only person who wouldn't, or couldn't, answer that was Rev. Al Sharpton who refused to speak to Bryant in the documentary.

C. L. Bryant tells of his journey from liberalism to conservatism.  He was a chapter president of the NAACP in Garland, Texas at one time, a position he lost because of his pro-life stance.  He also lost the position of pastor of his church because of his conservatism.  But Bryant has brought his message to a much larger audience now with Runaway Slave and it's a message that everyone needs to see.

The thesis of the documentary is the enslavement of black society by big government.  Bryant tries to determine why 95% of the black community votes Democrat and why the nation is still so racially divided. People like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are described in interviews as "poverty pimps" because while they claim to represent the best interests of black America they are profiting from the continued degraded social status of blacks.

To support his thesis Bryant talks to many black leaders across America such as Alveda King who spoke strongly against Planned Parenthood and cited the high abortion rate in black society.  She noted the prevalence of Planned Parenthood in black communities and suggested they "target" black women.

I was particularly impressed with Marvin Rogers, author of Silence Makes the Loudest Sound.  Watch this clip:


Author Marvin D. Rogers Discusses his Highly Anticipated Book! from Marvin D. Rogers on Vimeo.


He really impressed me and I'm ordering his book today (there's no Kindle version).

Steve was impressed with Mason Weaver.  He wrote a book entitled It's OK to Leave the Plantation.  Watch this clip of Weaver speaking in 2009:



Bryant spoke with many other black leaders and the takeaway is that it is the Democratic party that has enslaved the black community to a life of poverty and entitlements.  You are not guaranteed success by the Constitution, you are guaranteed opportunity.  Nothing is handed to you.

Bryant also talks with well known black  leaders like Allen West, Herman Cain, and Thomas Sowell, but it was the lesser knowns like K. Carl Smith and Kevin Daniels that impressed me so much.

The movie opens July 27 in wider release; right now it's just in Bossier City.  The film website is here.  There you will find release locations and dates, all the interview participants, and video clips.

If you're anywhere close to Shreveport/Bossier, go to Regal Cinema on Shed Road and see this film.  We were pleasantly surprised to see C. L. Bryant himself striding to the front of the theater as the credits rolled.  We gave him a hearty round of applause and then he was swamped with people who wanted to shake his hand and speak with him.

The film is powerful, moving, articulate, and speaks to all of us.  It's one that I'll want to see more than once and if you get a chance to see it, drop everything you're doing and go.




Update:
Linked at The Dead Pelican - the one stop shop for ALL news Louisiana!
The film has been held over through July 19th at Regal on Shed Road in Bossier.
Buy tickets here.

Related Posts:
Andrew Breitbart Talks About His Legacy With CL Bryant
A New Underground Railroad
I Dare James Earl Jones to Watch "Runaway Slave"!
Trading One Form of Tyranny for Another

Time to Stick My Head in the Oven

Okay so we all saw Perry's big announcement today coming.  You can't hang around in last place in the polls for too long before you become a drain on the whole system.  I hate that Perry's bid played out the way that it did but what are you going to do?  Wasn't his time.

Perry had improved a great deal since those first debates but maybe it was too little too late.  I think also that too many people listened to Rick Perry and heard George W. Bush and they just aren't over Bush yet.  Although I still think history will redeem Bush in the end.  Somewhat.

So where to go from here?

Pundette has gone to Rick Santorum.   Stacy McCain has been with Rick Santorum since Herman Cain dropped out.  Legal Insurrection is still with Newt.

I don't know where I'm going right now.

To be honest, I just don't like any of them.  I don't.

How can the Republican establishment have farked this up so badly?  That's a rhetorical question - you don't have to answer it.  It's because they're the Republican establishment.  All this PR about "we really do have a strong field of candidates" is just crap.  I don't even want to begin listing my grievances with these candidates.  Not enough time and it's all been said. 

Is it too late to get Michele Bachmann back?

I suspect that the Democrats are more afraid of Newt than anyone else and you can call me a conspiracy theorist if you want to but I think that's in part what pulled Marianne Gingrich back into the limelight.   I don't think Team Obama wants to debate Newt.

And when in the hell did debating skills become a prerequisite for running for president, anyway?  Speaking skills are important but so is executive experience, intelligence, foreign policy knowledge and experience, business acumen, character, integrity, and honor.

Coming into this election I've always said that "a dust bunny could beat Obama," because WTF is he going to run on?  His record?  His job killing, debt hiking, food stamp raising, partisan, scandal ridden record?  Seriously? 

But here's the Republican establishment about to hand it right back to him.

I'm going to stick my head in the oven.  Maybe there's a beer in there.  And a match.



(Cross posted at Not One Red Cent!)

Live-Blogging The National Security Debate

We're about five minutes from kickoff. 

Tonight's debate is sponsored by CNN, the Heritage Foundation, and The American Enterprise Institute.

Debate prep here.

7:05:  Good grief.  War montage opening, dramatic music, and candidate profiles that look like Mission Impossible dossiers.  Live-streaming here.

7:10:   What in the world could they all be taking notes about before the debate even starts?  They're scribbling on their notepads.  Hmmmmm.

Oh good grief; personal intros.  Does anybody not know who these people are?  Can't we just get started?

Finally, first question.  But why oh why must Wolf Blitzer always clarify, rephrase, or parse the question?

The question is about the Patriot Act and Newt explains what we'll "all be in danger" for the rest of our lives.  Be scared.  He would not change the Patriot Act.  Newt:  "I've spent years studying this stuff."  He does make a nice distinction between criminal law where "you're on the defensive" and national security.

Ron Paul, of course, disagrees.  And now his 89 seconds are done.

7:20:  Newt:  I don't want a law that says after you take out an American city, we're going to come find you.  I want a law that says if you try to take out an American city, we're going to stop you.

Bachmann says we've turned national security over to the ACLU and warns against Miranda rights for terrorists.

Mitt gets a question about TSA patdowns.  He says "we can do better" and then decides to answer another question.  He makes a distinction between crime, war, and terror.  "We need tools when war is waged domestically," so that the president can defend the country.  "Yes we'll use the Constitution and criminal law for those who commit crimes," but we'll use a very different form of law for terrorists.

Wolf tosses the TSA question to Perry who wants to privatize it and "get rid of those unions."  He, too, agrees with the Patriot Act and suggests strengthening it.  Perry touts gathering military intelligence around the world and suggests we may be lacking in that these days.

Santorum explains why he supports profiling:  "We should find the bomber, not the bomb."

7:25:  Santorum explains now who he would profile.  Ron Paul is coming unglued.  "What if they look like Timothy McVeigh!?"  They're not terrorists, he says, "they're suspects!"  Lawsy.

Finally to Herman Cain.  Should Muslims get extra screening?  Cain, too, says we could do a whole lot better with TSA.  He also likes privatization.  Cain:  The terrorists want to kill all of us so we should kill them first.  That sound you hear is Ron Paul imploding.

Did Cain just call him Blitz?  Okay.  "Well, since we're on a Blitz debate....!"  Laughter.

Next question regards using an extended drone campaign in Pakistan.  Huntsman says "it must be done."  We don't need 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, he exclaims.

Bachmann would continue aid to Pakistan but "the Obama policy of keeping your fingers crossed" in Pakistan is not working.

Perry says Pakistan has showed us time after time that they can't be trusted.  He's not sending them a dime and the audience applauds.  "If you're not going to be an ally of the United States, don't expect a dime of our citizen's money..."

Bachmann calls this "highly naive...."We're not just writing blank checks," she says, "we're exchanging information."

Huntsman suggests the American people are tired of being in Afghanistan and Mitt challenges him:  Are you suggesting we just pull out next week?, he asks.  Mitt harkens back to what the commanders want.  "I stand with the commanders in this regard," so as to not risk what has been achieved so far.  "The mission is pretty straightforward," Mitt says. 

7:45:  Newt is confused.  He's trying to clarify the question.  He's getting applause on the line that killing bin Ladin in Pakistan drew Pakistan/American relations to a new low.  Once again, Newt stays above the fray.

Sam Adams break.

7:55:  We're to Israel now.  

Rick Perry reasserts the need for a no-fly zone over Syria.

Newt:  We could break the Iranian regime within a year by sabotaging their only refinery and other strategic moves.  Replace the regime without a war and before they get a nuclear weapon.

Bachmann:  Why are we talking about Israel having to make a strike against Iran?  Because Iran wants to eradicate Israel.  Obama has failed, she said.  For 2.5 years, Obama gave Iran the "luxury of time."

Question:  Can the US afford to continue foreign assitance for AIDS, malaria?

Cain:  It may be worthwhile to continue, it may not.  I'd like to see the results.

Ron Paul:  Aid is all worthless; it doesn't do any good.  You take money from poor people in this country and give it to rich people in poor countries.  "Nobody cares about the budget!  Nobody wants to cut anything!"  Endless wars!  OMG!  Panic!

Romney:  They're cutting a trillion dollars out of the defense budget!  We need to protect America and stop ObamaCare!

Paul:  They're not cutting anything out of anything!

Applause.

8:05:   Mitt runs through the list of what programs and weapons are getting cut.  He refocuses on "the failure on the part of the president to lead with strength."

Mitt promises that his first foreign trip will be to Israel.

Perry gets a question on the Super Committee and cuts.  "If you were president of the US, would you compromise with Democrats in Congress to avoid Washington gridlock?"

Perry says the Super Committee was a Super Failure and everyone expected that.  Obama didn't lead.  Perry passed budgets in Texas.  This president has been a failure.  Perry actually seems to be having a pretty good debate, and all that means really, is that he hasn't made a huge gaffe yet.

"If Leon Panetta is an honorable man, he should resign in protest!" (to defense cuts.)

Wolf pulls Perry back to the gridlock question.  Perry says you can work with people on both sides of the aisle, but in this particular case. Obama didn't lead.  Perry says if he had been president, we would never have been in that situation in the first place.

Everyone piles on Obama now. Santorum says all he does is campaign and "he's poisoned the well" in Congress.

Wonderful!  A question about entitlement reform!  Newt likes it.

Newt says entitlement reform could begin with his Social Security reform plan. He cites the Chilean plan.

To Bachmann:  What would you cut first?  She goes back to the Super Committee and drawing lines in the sand.  Sigh.

8:20:  Bachmann:  Our money will be used to grow China's military at the expense of our military.  That should give every American pause.

Interesting.

Border questions.  Perry fields this one.  "It's time for a 21st century Monroe Doctrine."  He explains the border is porous for terrorists working in and through Mexico.  Border security "is paramount" to the security of the "entire Western hemisphere!"  Working with Mexico is important as well as "boots on the ground."  He promises the border "will be shut down and secure" within 12 months of his inauguration. 

Ron Paul is for calling off the drug war.  Eliminate benefits for illegals, like education and free health care.  Paul says the war on drugs is a total failure and that sick people should have marijuana.  "The federal government is over riding state laws" on those matters.  Get rid of alcohol!  he says.

Don't come between me and Sam Adams, Dr. Paul.

Herman Cain:  Yes, an insecure border is a national security threat.  Terrorists have come into this country through Mexico.

Woah.  Cain says the number of people killed in Mexico last year equals the number of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.  Where did that come from?

Rick Perry makes the most intense faces sometimes.

Newt says if you've just come to this country and you have no ties here, you ought to go home.  If you've been here for years and have 3 children and belong to the local church, we're probably not going to separate you from your family.  Give people with engineering degrees, etc, a green card upon graduation!

Bachmann: sounds like amnesty to me!  "I don't agree that we should make 11 million workers who are here illegally, legal."

Newt:  I don't see any reason to punish someone who came here at 3 years of age and wants to serve in the military.

Bachmann:  "We need to move away from magnets...."

Romney is still here!

"Amnesty is a magnet," he says.  The right course is to welcome people legally.  Make an easier, more transparent system. 

Mitt:  "Secure the border, turn off the magnets...".

Newt:  I do not believe that the American people will oust people who have been here their whole lives from this country.  Paraphrase:  I don't believe that the party that says it's the party of the family is going to separate families.

Perry comes after Mitt on magnets.  Please don't bring up the lawn service again.

Perry wants to secure the border first and then put something in place that keeps families together and clean up the process.  Nothing happens until the border is secure, he says.  "Boots on the ground" again.  Drink.

Mitt:  "I'm not gonna draw lines here on who gets to stay and who has to go."  No amnesty.

Commercial break.  You know what that means.

8:50:  Next question is about Syria.  Wolf reframes the question and asks Cain if he'd support a no-fly zone over Syria. 

Nope, he says.

Somebody forgot to tell Cain this is a foreign policy debate; he's back to growing the economy again.

Perry deftly handles his position on the no-fly zone, I think.  It's a weird position, but he explains it well! 

He appears to have studied a bit on foreign policy.  "If we're serious about Iran, we have to be serious about Syria as well.  A no-fly zone is one of a multitude of options...".

How can Ron Paul be so clueless and isolationist!?  Sometimes he says the most naive things ever.

"Taliban doesn't mean they want to come and kill us.  It means they want to kill us over there."  Yes, he really said that.

Mitt:  Good answer.  America leads the free world and the free world follows America.

Mitt is not in favor of a no-fly zone.  Use sanctions and covert actions to obtain a regime change.  He refers to the Syrian Alawites.  I bet Herman Cain doesn't even know what that is.

Perry:  "Get serious about Syria", again.  Tongue twister deftly handled.  Easier to remember than three departments to cut.

Okay well they're wrapping this up.

Newt didn't get as much thunder as I anticipated; could have something to do with being the front runner now.  He's still the smartest person in the room.  Ron Paul got a lot more time than I thought he would/should.  Ditto Huntsman.  Cull the herd.  Perry was actually stronger than I've seen him but not exactly on fire.  Mitt Romney was steady and consistent as always.  He didn't hurt himself, I don't think.  Bachmann was strong.  I guess if there's a loser it's Cain but we expected that.

One more debate in the books.

I'm out.

On Debate Prep and Coffee Beans

So there's another foreign policy debate tonight.  This one is hosted by CNN, The Heritage Foundation and The American Enterprise Institute.  The timing of this one is interesting, I think, now with Newt in the lead.  He'll do well tonight which should solidify his presence at the top.  It likely won't help Cain's free fall any. 

Dashiell Bennett at The Atlantic Wire agrees this will likely be a good night for Newt:

Also, tonight's debate should play to one of Gingrich's strengths. The topic is national security, and no matter what you think of Gingrich's opinions on the matter, he's adamant about them and has been spouting on TV and in op-eds for decades. As the former Speaker of the House, he'll be the only one on the stage who can reasonably say he's played a role (such as it was) in matters of foreign policy. It will also make it harder to steer the conversations toward the stories that have dogged Gingrich the last few days, like his business dealings or his personal life. He just isn't going to make the kind of classic debate mistake that makes him stupid or uniformed. He is a history teacher, after all.

SIGIS will be live-blogging.  Why not?  I'm on holiday this week, I've been eating dark chocolate covered espresso beans for two days, the fridge is stocked chock full with Sam Adams Winter Lager, and I've got a head start on my Thanksgiving dinner prep.  Let's do it!

But first, do your debate prep.

The WSJ has six things to watch for in tonight's debate.  I'd add to the list:  Will Ron Paul get more than 89 seconds this time, and who is his time keeper?  Heh!  Seriously, expect the Super Committee Fail to be on everyone's mind and looming defense cuts (even though Rush Limbaugh insists nothing is getting cut).

Mark McKinnon at The Daily Beast has his predictions for each candidate.

Professor Jacobson is considering a live-blog tonight, too.

The Foundry frames tonight's debate:

Over the past weeks, Heritage has highlighted some of the central foreign policy and national security issues confronting America today: the threats to defense spending, a continually rising China, the war in Afghanistan and against terrorism, the failed attempt to “reset” relations with Russia, and the increasingly dangerous, hostile, and emboldened Iran. Each issue poses serious questions and choices for the man or woman who sits in the Oval Office.

Much more at the link.

And if you need something to get you fired up (besides dark chocolate covered espresso beans), read Donna Brazile's take:

Expect lots of bluster and loose talk at Tuesday's debate, the sort that brought us the Iraq war earlier this century while the search for Osama bin Laden was essentially called off. Then compare it to the pragmatic, effective approach of Obama and his list of accomplishments. It's clear who should be on the receiving end of the 3 a.m. phone call.

She just might need a good fisking before the day is out.

As for me, I'm ready to cull the heard a bit.  I'm sure Jon Huntsman knows a lot about foreign policy but franky, his chances of getting the nomination are nil.  Move along.

Live-blogging here at 8 p.m. ET, (7 p.m. SIGIS time). 

Allred Digs Up Ruston Doctor to Corroborate Bialek

So while I was at work today, only two blocks from my house Gloria Allred and Dr. Victor Zuckerman were here giving a statement at KTBS supposedly corroborating Sharon Bialek's claim against Herman Cain.

Zuckerman is a pediatrician in Ruston, La., a small college town which is home to Louisiana Tech University.  It's about 60 miles from here.

Zuckerman says he was with Bialek at a 1997 NRA convention in which Cain *gasp* actually spoke to Bialeck.  And now Cain seems to not remember her.  Zuckerman can't fathom this.  Because I'm sure he remembers every soul he's met over the past 15 years.  Don't you?

They talked about a new gospel album, Zuckerman says.

And now, all these years later, Zuckerman and Bialek are coming after Cain:

Zuckerman said Bialek told him about the incident in the car when she returned from Washington. "When she returned, she was upset. She said that something had happened and that Mr. Cain had touched her in an inappropriate manner," Zuckerman said. "She said she handled it and didn't want to talk about it any further. I respected her request and the issue was never brought up until recently."

So why is he coming forward now?

Ah, well.  The comments at KTBS are wicked:

Are you freakin kiddin me.The democrats found a guy in ruston that used to date the girl who says she was felt up by the man running for president,but didn't remember till 14 years later that it happened...The guy from ruston didn't see her get felt up but she told him about it so now he's a witness??????If i lived in ruston i'd be mad at this guy for even sayin he lived in ruston....What about her 1 toothed neighbor ??have they found him or her yet???I keep checkin on cnn but i must have missed it.....

If you can stand the tiny window, KTBS has a "one on one" with Allred and Zuckerman here.

So a semen stained dress couldn't bring down Bill Clinton but a 15 year old unreported memory and a doctor from Ruston can bring down Herman Cain?

Riiiiggghhhhtttt.

Added:  Professor Jacobson did a little research on Zuckerman.  Interesting.

Here's the Memeorandum thread.

Crash and Burn

I didn't watch the debate last night.  We had dinner plans and so I stuck with that.  I'm kind of glad, now.  We had a great time with friends last night and it looks like Rick Perry really tanked in the debate.  I've seen the painful clip.

I think Rick Perry should stay away from TV and Twitter today.  They're writing him off.  Even Drudge put up a headline:  Debate Death.  Ouch. 

So where to go from here? 

The media has piled on every front runner and weekly favorite as they ascend.  I think the harassment allegations against Cain have backfired against them.  It seems like Cain is gaining ground (and money) from that rather than losing support. 

It looks to me like this week's ascendant candidate is Newt, so start watching for folks to dig up his skeletons.  There are plenty of them. 

By the time the media gets finished trashing and sabotaging our candidates (and they sabotage themselves), all we'll be left with is Romney. 

Depressing. 

Sorting It Out

I have not sorted out this Cain harassment mess out yet. Shoes are dropping so fast I can barely catch my breath BUT if there's any truth to the fact that Perry's dirt diggers are behind this? 

Well.

It doesn't help Cain, certainly.

And it sure doesn't help Perry.

It helps the anti-Romneys, though.  It helps Newt.

And so, we're back to Newt.

But, like I said.  I haven't sorted it out yet.  Give me a moment.

The Cain Train Plows Ahead

Herman Cain's momentum continues.  In today's Rasmussen poll, Cain takes the lead over Obama by a narrow margin:  43% to 41%. 

Can he get elected?  Do we really want him to?  There are doubts about that 9-9-9 plan.

CNN reports in their poll that two-thirds of Republicans and independents are undecided.  Two-thirds?!  I believe it, actually.

I'm undecided.

I'm reluctant to completely write off Perry.  There's another debate tomorrow night; while Perry has already said (and demonstrated) that debates just aren't his thing, I'm still hoping he'll do something brilliant. 

Stacy McCain is seemingly on The Cain Train and Stacy has good instincts.  He's the one who first pointed out Rubio to me.  And, Stacy is off to Las Vegas to cover tomorrow's Republican debate. 

But, still...

I have concerns about Cain.  I like him.  I think he'd be great in a Cabinet position.  I'm just not completely on The Cain Train yet.

So many Republicans are undecided.  It just reaffirms what I wrote a couple of weeks ago.  Republicans and conservatives in general are not completely content with the field; we'd like an amalgamation of qualities to create the perfect candidate! 

Pundette pines for Mike Pence.

I'm still wishing Marco Rubio was ready.

Meanwhile, Obama ramps up his Anybody But Obama efforts by climbing back on his Canadian made bus for a non-political tour in which he bashes Republicans for killing his jobs bill in the Democratically controlled Senate.

So.  Who's your pick?  Are you on The Cain Train?

Live-Blogging the WaPo/Bloomberg Debate...Will the Electricity Go Off Again? (UPDATED!)

So I'll watch the Rangers on TV but listen to the debate.  Best of both worlds?  Last time I live-blogged a debate my power went off.  It was a sign from the political gods that I needed to back off.  I did.  The power came back on as soon as the debate was over.  True story.

And not that I want you to leave, but Legal Insurrection is also live-blogging.  I'm in and out over there, too.

As I hear it, Cain is going after Romney tonight.  And Romney is riding high, I guess, after the endorsement by Christie.  As Stacy says, RINOs run in herds.

So stay tuned.  As bitchy as my mood has been, live-blogging of this debate ought to be fun.

Opening:  Here's Charlie Rose setting things. up.  Standard rules.  I have the Rangers on the TV.  Scores posted here too.  Politics and baseball.  All American!   The live-stream on Bloomberg is weird.  Sort of off-sync.

Herman Cain gets first go with an explanation of his 9-9-9 plan.  The candidates are seated at a table this time.  Maybe that'll help Perry not look so blustery.  Perry announces some plan he "put out today" that nobody has heard of yet, it seems.

Romney taking the first shot at Obama.  No executive experience, etc.  Ugh.  I just can't get enthusiastic about Mitt.  He's so bland.

Perry is talking about opening up domestic energy production.  "We've got to have a president that is willing to stand up and pull back those regulations...".  Ah.  Perry says Mitt has had six years to lay out a plan so he, Perry, hasn't had as much time to lay out a plan.  Excuses.

Bachmann gets a question on Wall Street executives.  She pushes back to the federal government who pushed sub-prime loans and the community reinvestment act.  Barney Frank.  Why does Romney always look smug?

7:15:  Newt is here!   "Virtually every American has a reason to be angry."  He says some of the OWS are migrant activists and some are closely aligned with the Tea Party.  Fire Bernanke!  Fire Geithner!  he says.

I'll differ with Newt on the Tea Party comparison.  I don't remember any Tea Party protesters getting arrested for defecating on police cars.

Newt is blasting the media again for not coming after the Fed.

To Santorum:  What would you do RIGHT NOW to create jobs?  "...a pro-manufacturing jobs plan."  What IS that?

To Huntsman.  He says we need to regain our industrial base.  And now everyone is squabbling about who is the natural gas capital.  All that means to me is that we need to drill more.  Open exploration!

Back to Newt on Medicare:  Half of all Medicare spending is done in the last two years of life.  Heh- no wonder ObamaCare has death panels.

Newt points to the new recommendations on prostate testing and he even says "death panels".  Ooooooo.  He says Palin was "attacked unfairly."  Good for Newt.

To Bachmann:  Do you think that Americans are getting the most for their money in Medicare spending?

Bachmann - Medicare is going broke.  We have to deal with it.  "We asked Obama his plan", she says.  Obama "mumbled" and didn't answer.  Bachmann contends that Obama intends for Medicare to collapse so everyone will go into Obamacare.  Good response from her.

Why is Huntsman here?  What's the Rangers score? Rangers are up 1-0!   First inning.

7:25: Huntsman:  I thought 9-9-9 was the price of a pizza!  Much laughter.  Lame.

Cain wants to respond.  "9-9-9 will pass and it's not the price of a pizza."  He comes after Huntsman.  Good for Cain!  Good come back.

The question to Cain is who he goes to for political advice.  "The American people" he says, and he lists well know economists.  He says his 9-9-9 plan did not come off of a pizza box.  Rich Lowrie is his lead economist.

The question to Romney is what would he do differently to avoid a financial crisis.  He claims it's a hypothetical question yet says he would NOT call Geithner and ask him how the economy works.  "Clearly if you think the entire financial system is about to collapse you take steps to keep that from happening."  He says he is not interested in bailing out institutions.

"Would you or would you not be open to another Wall Street bailout?"  No direct answer.  The moderator is arguing with him.  Now two moderators are arguing with him.  Mitt says he would not keep Bernanke.  "I'm not even sure I'm the nominee yet!" he exclaims.  He uses Harvard and Columbia advisors.  Of course.

Charlie Rose:  "As far as you're concerned there is no institution too big to fail."  Romney says bailouts of individual institutions do not interest him.

Cain says he agrees with Romney on bailouts.  The money was discretionary and not done equitably.  "The administration was at fault," he says.    So he supports bailouts?  If done equitably?

Newt jumps in.  "We are not any better prepared today for a crisis of that scale..." because the same people are in charge.

Is Perry still there?

7:35:   Ron Paul:  "This whole system is all messed up."  Dude.

Commercial break.  Someone has gone to wake Perry up.

7:40:   Out come the Reagan video clips.  It's out of context on tax hikes.  And Perry gets the first lob.  Perry has read Reagan's diary.  Perry seems to know this is out of context but can't articulate it well.  He goes on to explain the problems in Washington.  He gets a little applause with his advocacy of a balanced budget amendment.

To Romney:  What if the super committee can't agree?  Doesn't that demand a compromise?  Romney says he can't tell by the clip what the rest of the context was.  The answer, says Romney, is "to cut federal spending" and to have a balanced budget amendment and to get our economy going again.  Get corporations investing in America again.

The third moderator pulls back to the video clip and cuts.  Don't cut defense, says Romney.  Don't raise taxes.  Don't take more money from the American people so government can spend it.  He puts the onus back on the super committee to get the economy going again.  Applause.  Rose is incredulous:  "Without ANY increase in revenue?"

Newt interrupts.  Classic.  "They adopt a truly stupid bill" in which they say they'll either shoot themselves in the head or cut off their right leg.  Wonderful!

Bachmann with her lone wolf in the wilderness speech.  As if she's the only one in Washington who thinks the federal government is off the rails.

I'm not sure that pointing out that she's a tax lawyer works much for Bachmann.  Charllie Rose:  "Cutting back on spending in your opinion will do it?"  Incredulous again.  He's so smug.

"That's ONE piece of the plan" she says.

Moderator to Cain:  she questions the 9-9-9 plan and cites Bloomberg's analysis.  Cain:  "The problem with that analysis is that it is incorrect."  Laughter.  It makes assumptions we did not make, he says.  "It expands the base," he explains.  His plan does not pivot on the existing tax code.  It's revenue neutral, he says.  "Why should all Americans pay more" she asks.  Hello?  WTF?  Why shouldn't all Americans pay taxes?

Bachmann:  "The 9-9-9 plan isn't a jobs plan, it's a tax plan."  She says it could lead to a VAT and it gives the feds a new revenue stream.  OMG.  "When you take the 9-9-9 plan and turn it upside-down, well, the devil is in the details."  Did she really go there?  Satan Jokes!

7:50:   Huntsman is back on.  Rangers are still 1-0.

I think the moderator is asking a question but she's talking waaayyyy tooooo long.

Perry eschews China questions and says "we need to get America workin' again!"  And sounds like he's been practicing.   Nice spiel.

Who in the hell is this David Cote with his video question?  He needs a speech class.

Someone lit Santorum on fire about repealing ObamaCare.  Where's that guy been?  Damn!  He came after Mitt on waivers and makes the valid point that no state will do that.  Romney says he'll "repeal ObamaCare on Day Two" with a reconciliation bill.

All of a sudden the whole table has had triple shots of espresso and are firing off on ObamaCare and repeals.

8:05:  My blog stats are so lame...why am I live-blogging this?  Only 13 people have looked at my blog in the past hour.

Nekkid people coming up.

Did that work?

8:10: And they're back.  Longest break evah.

This Bloomberg music is so freaking dramatic.  Like the end of the world.

Now the candidates question each other.  Oh boy.

Alphabetical order.

Bachmann first.  She calls Perry out for campaigning for Gore and increasing bond debt in Texas.  "How can we trust you to not go down the Obama way..." she asks.  Most people in Texas were Democrats, he says.  Reagan was, he says.  Point.

Perry defends by saying Texas has the second lowest debt per capita in the United States.  Point.

Cain is next.  To Romney:  Can you name all 159 points in your plan?  Cain is touting the simplicity of his 9-9-9 plan.  Romney tosses off a casual ha ha! and says simplicity is not always what is needed.   Glib.

His answer is not simple and Cain points that out.

Newt is next.  He asks Romney about his proposed capital gains tax cut for people under $250,000 which is "lower than Obama had."  Romney says middle class Americans have been most hurt by Obama.  Newt makes the point that people in that income bracket don't normally have capital gains in the first place, to speak of.

Huntsman.  Rangers up 1-0 still.  Top of the fourth.

8:20:   I dislike the way Ron Paul pronounced "Fed."  I can't even type it out phonetically.  It's bizarre.  Cain cautions Ron Paul about what he reads on the internet when Paul misquotes him.  Cain says he does not object to the Fed being audited.

Cain is killing them with this 9-9-9 thing!  Every answer is 9-9-9!

Romney gives a shout out for Christie in his ObamaCare answer - thanks for the endorsement buddy!  Romney says less than 1% of the kids in his state are uninsured as opposed to Perry where LOTS are uninsured in Texas.  Romney is standing by RomneyCare.  He tries to draw the distinction but I'm not sure he's doing it.

LOL - Charlie Rose calls on Santorum who points out that Romney comes before Santorum.  Romney:  "You'd think someone from PBS would know that!"  Laughter all around.

Oh god - Bachmann with her mother resume again.  Enough already.  Is there anyone on the planet who doesn't know about her foster kids?

8:25:   Now to Santorum.  S after R.  Is he asking a question?  To Cain:  Can we trust you, with your lack of experience, that you won't continue to give Washington a tool to take away our freedom?  And Santorum points out that Cain supported TARP.

Cain says he's going to ask Congress to use a 2/3 majority vote before they can raise the 9-9-9 tax.  The American people will hold their feet to the fire, and "I will be president," Cain says, and he won't sign anything that raises the 9-9-9 plan.

Another break.

Cain is doing quite well.  Santorum is spunkier than I've seen him.  Perry is not helping himself - no major errors, just not much of a presence.  Romney is just Romney, man...he's just glib and polished and I still don't feel any fire for him.

Dammit!  Rangers tied at 1-1.

8:35: To Perry on health care.  How are you different?  This from Charlie Rose.  All Perry can seem to say is "gettin' America back to work" to any question.  "Get this country back workin' again," is his answer to everything.

Dead in the water.

Perry pronounced Bobby Jindal's name "Jin-DAHL"; that may be correct but I've never heard Jindal say it that way in any of his ads or press conferences.  Jin-dle is how he says it.  I thought they were buds.  Wouldn't he know that?

Cain pronounces with "wif" - this bothers me.  Speech class.  Cain is looking to replace Bernanke "wif" someone he won't name yet.  No hints.

To Ron Paul - since we're talking about the Fed.  Cain liked Alan Greenspan, but Paul says he was "a disaster."

Greenspan was a bad answer for Cain.  I'm with Paul on that one.  God, did I just say I agree with Ron Paul?

"Bernanke compounds the problem," says Paul.

An audience question about opening up bank lending to small businesses.  The question is to Romney who says Obama is "well meaning but in over his head."  Disagree.  Not at all sure he is "well meaning."  Dude.

Socialism?  Really?

Bachmann - "The Dodd-Frank bill is the jobs and housing destruction act."  She's talked to bankers who are going broke and losing money.  Going under.  "We will see literally thousands of banks close their door."  She's the lone wolf again who proposed the bill to repeal Dodd-Frank.

To Cain again - "I agree - repeal Dodd-Frank and repeal the capital gains tax."

Shouldn't Newt chime in here somewhere?  He's good on this.

But no.  It's Ron Paul again.

A Solyndra question to Perry.  "Do you think there were inadequate safeguards there" or is this just "the risk we run"?  Perry says government has no place there; it's a states issue if they want to get involved in issues like this.  Moderator interrupts and argues with him.  Perry answers her adequately about what they do in Texas as far as oversight.  No fire, no gains, just adequate.

She argues again about oversight.  Perry:  "Every one of those projects had the Lt. governor and the speaker" involved in oversight.  Texas creates jobs.  Got it.  Texas creates jobs.  Repeat six times.

Oh lordy.  A George W. Bush video clip about more people in America owning homes than ever before.  The question to Newt is if the American dream about owning a home is dead.

Newt jabs at Obama's malaise in his speeches.  Good one.  Newt - people need to get back to work so they can AFFORD to buy houses.

You mean owning a house isn't a "right"?  The government doesn't have to buy me one?

This is a boring debate.  Herman Cain is the only reason to watch this thing.

Rangers 1-1; Detroit on first and third.

8:45:  Perry says people are in poverty because Obama is a job-killer.  He has "over taxed and over regulated" so that employers are laying off people.  Guess what he says?  "Get Americans workin' again."  We have to "replace Barack Obama."  Applause.

Santorum jumps in and says a big problem is the break up of the American family.  Santorum pleads for the strength of the American family and there's some random outburst in the audience.  Bachmann is disoriented because of the outburst.  Heckling.  Rose continues.  Awful.

They're trying to wrap this up.  It's degenerated into a mess.  Cain:  "I was po' before I was poor." ?  Seriously?

Ugh.  Terrible debate. 

The Rangers game is looking grim too.  Detroit is up 2-1.  I'm going over there now.

Thanks for hanging in.

Winner?  Cain.  No doubt.

Who is IT?

I'm in a funk about the Republican field.  I don't love any of 'em.

Chris Christie says he isn't running, to no one's great surprise.  I don't think I'd have loved him, either.  I don't care about his weight;  I think we disagree on some issues.  What I really want is to take parts of each of the candidates and make the perfect candidate.

Christie had not stepped out of the television lights today before the pundits were back to speculating on a Palin run.  Rick Perry seems to have peaked and burned so fast we hardly knew he was there.  And all the while Mittens is sitting comfortably in the lead:  a flip-flopper who says what he has to say and seems to have little conviction of anything.

A Palin entry won't change things for me.

Is this the best we can do?

One day last week, or maybe it was the week before, Rush Limbaugh suggested that Obama is going to lose so big in 2012 that Republicans ought to be putting up the most conservative candidate possible rather than some to-the-center "big tent" sort of person. 

A co-worker asked me last week, "Well, who's it going to be?!"

I have no idea.  My feelings about this election are about the same as the last one.  Anyone but Obama.  I would love to be able to enthusiastically get behind a candidate right now, but I can't.  I had a foot on the Perry train, but I've stepped back a little.

What's bothering me about Perry?  I'm not sure.  Maybe his poor debate performances.  He seems unprepared for the questions which I find troubling.  I was troubled by his in-state tuition position for illegals, and am still even after the reports that it amounts to so few students.  It's the principle for me.  Why should the illegal alien get preferential treatment over the impoverished student from another state who wants to come to Texas?  Oh, I've heard Perry's defense; it just doesn't convince me.

The tuition issue and the poor debate performances are enough to give me pause.  But there are other nagging things about Perry, too.  Nothing major; maybe he'll improve through the campaign, but with states now moving their primary dates up and up and up, we'll be voting before we know exactly who we're voting for.

Should Paul Ryan have run?  Maybe.  Would he have won?  Doubtful.

Should Rubio have run?  Too early?  Should he take a VP position if asked?  Should he waste his talents attending state funerals for four years?  Or eight?

Why doesn't Rick Santorum have more charisma?  But then again, Rick Santorum is almost too conservative for me, and that's going some.

Why do we expect charisma in our president, anyway?  Is that a prerequisite?

How can Herman Cain get the nomination with so little foreign policy experience or know how?  Oh, snap!  Experience is now a non-issue after Obama!  So can Cain get the nomination?  Do we want him to?  Is he IT?

I don't know.

I don't have answers to any of these questions yet, even after watching all the debates so far.

I hope things clear up.

Added (10/5/11):  Rubio says he will NOT be a VP candidate.

The Republican Debate (UPDATED and OUT)

I'm ready.

And we begin with Rick Perry touting his record in Texas.  He says 95% of all jobs he's created have been above minimum wage.

Romney's first question deals with his own jobs record.  It's dismal.  Romney is somehow trying to defend it and says he's created more jobs in Massachusetts than Obama has created in the entire nation.  He's got a tiny jab at "career politicians" in his response.  Romney touts his economic chops while jabbing career politicians.

Perry's rebuts with a criticism of Romney's jobs record; Romney's rebuttal of Perry's rebuttal explains the differences between Texas and his own state.

It's the Perry/Romney show.  They've both done their homework and come out firing.

7:15:  Herman Cain has the first laugh line with his 9-9-9 plan on taxes.  "If 10% is good enough for God, 9% should be good enough for the federal government!" 

And they're all firing at Perry.  Huntsman touts his own jobs record in Utah.  He also touts his "world" experience.  "I've lived overseas four times..." and can speak Chinese.

Bachmann's first spiel has to do with Obamacare killing jobs and her experience as a foster mom.  "Kids need jobs."

7:20:  Ron Paul.  Who does he sound like?  Some cartoon character but I can't put my finger on it.

Newt addresses Perry's book Fed Up!  He's not interested in plugging the book right now (though he wrote the forward).  He wants, instead, to talk about more serious issues.  Newt jabs Obama and says "he's so committed to class warfare" that he can't possibly be interested in forming jobs.  Applause.

Gotta love live TV; the clip of Romney they had cued up doesn't work.

The question is about Romneycare and the individual mandate.  Romney says, "I understand health care pretty darned well...." and promises an executive order on Day One to grant waivers from Obamacare.  He beats Perry to the punch who said in South Carolina that on day one he would issue an executive order repealing as much of ObamaCare as he could.

Perry's response is that Medicaid needs to be "block granted" back to the states and says the federal government needs to get out of the way.  This seems to be his answer to everything.  He's got to do better than that.  And Perry gets to deliver his Executive Order line on wiping out ObamaCare.

Moderators want to know why so many in TX are un-insured.  Perry doesn't exactly answer as best I can tell.  He dodges.

Why is Jon Huntsman orange?

7:30: Bachmann is dying to get into this.  "Obamacare took over 1/6th of the American economy" she says and insists than an executive order is pretty much meaningless.  "It will take a very strong leader," she says.  She is correct that if we fail to repeal Obamacare in 2012 "it will be with us forever."

Newt:  "I'm not interested in your effort to get Republicans fighting each other."  Amen.

Newt:  "Every person up here understands Obamacare is a disaster."  And he goes on to bash Obama other than other Republicans.  Point to Newt.  Amen! Newt says he will "repudiate every effort" by the media to pit Republicans against each other in order to protect Barack Obama.  AMEN!!!

7:35: Ron Paul is digging around in his pockets while Herman Cain goes on about HillaryCare, ObamaCare and RomneyCare.

Santorum.  Oh!  He's here?  Okay.  A welfare system question and do you care about poor people.  Hunh?

Perry:  "The best thing we can do in this country for those who need help is create an economy where those who work hard" can take care of themselves.

Oh joy.  Twitter questions.  To Romney a question about gas prices.  His response is to quit buying foreign oil.  "We've got to develop our oil, our gas...our clean coal...".  Yep we can have an impact, he says, but he won't promise $2.00 per gallon like Bachmann did.  "He keeps talkin' about green jobs.  Where are they?!"

Bachmann:  "Energy is one of the greatest opportunities for job creation we have!"

Huntsman says $2.00 predictions aren't realistic.  Ron Paul wipes his nose.

To Ron Paul:  Do you advocate getting rid of the minimum wage?  "Absolutely."  Ron Paul, "I'm a physician but you sure weren't gonna ask me a medical question."

"Medicare - isn't THAT a mandate?" he says.

Paul promises a gallon of gas for a silver dime (which is worth $3.50).

Rick Perry and Ron Paul go toe to toe now.  Perry mentions the letter Ron Paul wrote to Reagan telling him he was going to drop out of the Republican party because of what Reagan believed in.  Paul says he supported the message of Reagan but the consequence was "not all that great.  Huge deficits in the 80s."

7:50:   To Perry.  The Social Security question.  "Explain your view...".  Perry acknowledges that Social Security can't be changed now.  How to change it going forward is his focus.  "Men and women who are receiving those benefits today....or those nearing retirement...don't have anything to worry about."  But he insists still "it is a Ponzi scheme."  He's right - it's true.

Perry:  "Karl has been over the top for a long time in his remarks.  I'm not responsible for Karl anymore," in reference to Rove's comments on Perry's Social Security position.

To Romney, another Social Security question.  Romney agrees that the funding isn't working.  Romney jabs at Perry who had said "Social Security is a failure."  Romney says it isn't.  Romney insinuates that Perry wants to "abolish" Social Security.  I don't think that's what Perry said; he wants reform, not abolishment.

Perry:  "You cannot keep the status quo in place and call it anything else but a Ponzi scheme."

Herman Cain is sick of the "rhetoric" and offers a solution of personal retirement accounts: the Chilean system, he says.

Ron Paul is asked about Perry's record.  All this pitting one Republican against the other.  Bleh.  Paul discusses the HPV vaccine.  "This is not good medicne," he says.  "It is not good social policy."  Paul says he didn't even know that governors in Texas could pass legislation with executive orders and says as president he will NOT use executive orders "to pass laws."

Perry says he feels like "a pinata."  Welcome to front-runner status.

He says "we allowed for an opt-out" in the HPV program. 

Santorum is offended by the Gardisil program.  "Instead of an opt-out, how about an opt-in."

Romney almost defends Perry here, acknowledging that Perry's "heart was in the right place" and should have done it differently.  Says Obama "doesn't have a clue" how to fix this country.

On to the TSA:  Ron Paul call the TSA agents abusive and the airports a monstrosity.  He bashes FEMA.

8:05:   Herman Cain:  "Don't eliminate FEMA, let's FIX FEMA" and Homeland Security.  Cain says the federal government is "not good at micro-managing anything" and touts states rights.

Huntsman's hands aren't orange; why is his face?

"I just want to point out..." with his pale fingers...

To Perry:  Your state is a miserable failure in high school graduation rates.  Why did you cut education?

His response?  Texas has made great progress in the 10 years I've been governor and our graduation rate is 84%.  "We're makin' progress."  He says Texas has a unique situation by "sharing a border with Mexico."  So that's why they get in-state tuition for college?  Someone ask him that, please?

Race to the Top:  Newt likes charter schools.   He'd like a Pell grant for k-12 so everyone has choice.

8:10  For border security, Perry wants "boots on the ground...aviation assets in the air," and secure the border before you deal with immigration reform.  "It is NOT safe on that border," Perry says.

To Romney - "We got to have a fence."  And agents.  Romney says, yep, they can get a ladder, but we've left "the magnet on," i.e, incentives.  Like tuition breaks!  Romney opens the door.

"We can NOT give amnesty to illegals" says Romney.  We have too many waiting to get in legally, he says.

Oh come on.  Go back to Perry on that!  But no, to Newt - discussing Reagan's policy.  "We ought to control the border, have a legal guest worker program...." be tough on employers, make English the official language of government, and insist that they learn American History.  And we have to find a way to deal with those folks that have been here , some for 25 years.

Oh.  Santorum is still here.  He's the son of an Italian immigrant. 

Bachmann:  "In Mexico right now we're dealing with narco-terrorists."  I think all the Republicans agree that the border must be secured.  Either challenge Perry on the tuition question or move on.

Huntsman says Reagan felt immigration was "a human issue" and that we should look at it that way, then he attempts to channel Reagan and tell us what Reagan would say if he were here.

8:20:   Ron Paul says American a not about fences, barbed wire, machine guns, and ID cards.  A fence is "to keep us in!"  Paranoid much?

8:30:  Perry is for cap, cut and balance.  Something about cutting off the snake's head.   And now Bachmann channel's Reagan and says he would be for it too. 

Romney:  "We have an absence of leadership" and explains Obama's lack of experience prior to the election.  He says he's "put together an outline" to get America back on track - everything from energy policy to trade policy, etc.

Back to Perry - a question on national security:  "I don't think America needs to be in the business of adventurism."  On Obama, Perry commends him for maintaining "the chase" on Osama.  Also, "He has proven for once and for all that government spending won't create one job."  In addition, "He kept Gitmo open," against the wishes of his base. 

To Bachmann - a Libya question.  "Are you advocating a shift away from the George W. Bush Freedom Agenda?"  Bachmann says Obama has weakened us militarily.  She says it was wrong to go into Libya.

8:40:  Santorum dislikes "the isolationist" view he sees on the stage.  He says Obama was indecisive and confused on Libya and only went along with it because the UN told him to.  Invokes Reagan. 

A bizarre question to Huntsman about "crazy and inane statements" and attempts to pit him against other Republicans on the stage.  Huntsman says "we can't run from science," and "we can't run from mainstream conservative philosophy."  Global warming?  Really?

Heh - Huntsman:  "I can get elected."  Okay.

Perry on global warming:  "I do agree that ...the science is not settled on this,"...but that we shouldn't put the American economy in jeopardy on "science that is not settled yet." 

"Find out what the science truly is before you put the American economy in jeopardy," Perry says.

He touts the Texas clean air actions.  Nitrous oxide and ozone levels down.

Bachmann says that tomorrow night "the nation won't be seeing permanent solutions," but instead more gimmicks.  Agreed.

Newt says he would fire Bernanke tomorrow.  I tell you, Newt livens up a dull debate.  He tells it like it is.  He blows off questions they've asked and answers whatever he wants to.  He's by far the best speaker.  Not electable but a good debater. 

Romney:  "I don't want to raise taxes on the American people."  He says the middle class is the population most hurt by the Obama economy.  "No tax on interest, dividends, or capital gains," he says.  He's a negative on Bernanke as well.

To Perry on the death penalty - (and applause when his total of executions was announced).  Perry says, No, he hasn't lost any sleep over that and explains the appeals process.  You "will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas" if you kill one of "our citizens."  More applause.  "When you have committed heinous crimes against one of our citizens," you will face the ultimate justice.  The audience likes this.

8:50:  Ron Paul gets a question about free lunch and feeding poor school children.  He resists the accusations that if you don't support the welfare state you aren't compassionate.  Applause.


And done.  So who won?  I'd have to say Newt.  Romney continued to fly under the radar while still getting a few early jabs in at Perry.  Perry stayed true to script and used a lot of the same lines I heard him use in South Carolina and in his book.  Santorum and Cain seem to struggle for attention and when Bachmann doesn't get called on she tries to jump in.  Nobody screwed up or gaffed, as far as I could see.  But Newt seemed to have the most commanding presence.

I was anxious to see how Perry would do as his first debate.  I think Perry is vulnerable on a couple of issues, immigration being one.  I haven't seem him pressed or challenged on that in-state tuition issue which concerns a lot of conservatives.  He took a couple of hits on it tonight as others insisted that the incentives for illegals be removed.  He has to come up with a response to that.

He's also vulnerable on the Social Security issue although I do agree with him that it is a Ponzi scheme.  If you're using today's payments to pay current recipients, and the number of people paying into Social Security is decreasing, as it is, then there is no guarantee that the money you're paying into it will be there when you need it.  That's the very definition of a Ponzi scheme. 

Perry will need to articulate better his message of reform because what people are hearing is "abolish."

Mark me as still undecided.  Lots of time left.