Just as we have witnessed the "Arab Spring", so too now do we come to a Spring of our own in this country--the springing forth of the masses in uprising at the injustices and injuries of our institutions.
SEASON THREE: SPRING
The Crowd was clearly not on board with the various "Occupy" demonstrations around our country and parts of the world.
Mr. Cain, in one of the most tone-deaf statements of the evening, said this: "Wall Street didn't put in failed economic policies, the White House did." Where to start, where to start. Let's do this in shorthand so the computer doesn't seize: Derivatives, Short-selling, Hedge Funds, de-regulation, capital gains tax assessments rather than income tax levies, robo-signing, etc.
Rep. Paul, in another of his many nice, sane, rational moments, replied, "Don't blame the victims." It had been suggested, by Cain, that the White House should be the focus of the protesters' ire, but Paul recommended that they stake out the Federal Reserve. The truth-telling sage continued: "Bail-outs came from both political parties and helped the derivatives people. Middle-class (hey, he said the word!) victims got stuck with the bill."
Mr. Cain keep ringing true to his false tone: "What do the protesters want? Bankers to come down and write them a check?" If you only heard that one line all night from Cain, that should've been enough.
Rep. Paul countered with "nobody's gone to jail over this!" And many, many should.
Gov. Romney then claimed that President Obama has no jobs plan. So what exactly has Cantor's nuts in a vice and just what it is the President is slicing up? Salami?
But nothing gets people as aroused--well, almost nothing--as religion. And this being the first debate since "Pastor" Jeffress of Texas decided that the Mormon religion is a cult, the topic was blowing around like blessed thistle on a desert wind.
The Audience gets kudos here for booing at the word "cult". Certainly a more reasonable crowd than we've had at these fetes so far.
Then Mr. Santorum decided to go off on this, his favorite subject. He urged voters to look at a candidate's values and the teachings of their religion. Not knowing when to leave well enough alone, Santorum added that "the road to salvation is another matter". But he did say that it wasn't applicable to becoming President. That's good. Like we'd spend all this time interviewing and training someone just to have them Raptured on us. Santorum then proceeded to continue his obvious fear of suffixes--he doesn't like anything stuck onto the end of something else (read your Google machine already)--by proclaiming himself to be Catholic, which is fine. Then he said that "Catholic has social teachings" and that "Catholic teaches what's right and what's wrong". What's wrong is that he's talking about "Catholicism". Or maybe he was trying to avoid "plagiars" (plagiarism) or looking like a follower of "socials" (socialism) while affecting certain "manners" (mannerisms)? Whatever it is, if he stays in the race, I'm gonna need a Santorum to English dictionary to keep up.
Mr. Gingrich, and this is why he has a "grinch" in his name, went on to give the most offensive remarks of the entire evening on this subject. He said that for a candidate to remark that "nothing in their faith would affect their judgement" worries him "because how can you have judgement without faith?" I would prefer that those with faith choose not to have judgement of those who are not desirous of it. But it gets worse. "How can I trust you with power if you don't pray?" OMG? You know what, that's about the stupidest, most offensive, most ignorant thing I've heard in a while. I'm going to move along the calendar now before my head completely explodes. But I will say this, comments like that are what gives "organized religion" a bad name.
Gov. Romney, in a much-needed moment of graciousness, did not disappoint. "To choose a person for public office by their religion is the most troubling thing the pastor said, not what he said about my religion." Good for you, Mitt! An adult moment!
Speaking of the Arab Spring...Mr. Cooper put to the candidates the possibility of cutting our defense budget.
Rep. Bachmann, always good for a funny or three, called the recently reported attempt of an act of terror on our soil with the knowledge of the Irani government "he-knee-us". I suppose that's upper Midwest for "heinous"? Then, in the fun, flirty excitement of the Vernal moment, she said that the "President of Iran--she didn't attempt the name--is a genocidal maniac." Other countries do not think well of our country, she explained. Geez, I wonder why not?
Mr. Gingrich told the crowd he was "a hawk, but a cheap hawk". That means he agrees to fly, but does not get his wings from Tiffany's, I guess.
Rep. Paul, who looks amazingly like my grandfather, noted that we already have an Empire that we can not afford. He gave examples of our troop presence in such places as Korea, Germany, and Japan. He said it was time for them to come home.
Who doesn't think Israel when they think of Spring? Mr. Cooper did and took the opportunity to ask those gathered their opinion of Bebe's swap of numerous Palestinian captives for a single Israeli in custody.
Mr. Cain, not exactly the Republican's Joe Biden on affairs of the foreign variety, said simultaneously that "we do not negotiate with terrorists" but he would consider the facts and not rule out a similar swap. When Cooper pointed out that the hypothetical to which he referred had been put to Mr. Cain previously in reference to Al Qaeda, Cain replied, "I don't recall it being about Al Qaeda." "It was," Cooper said.
Mr. Santorum and others put it simply: No negotiations.
But Rep. Paul put it best: "I wanna hear somebody up here willing to cut something real!" The audience swoons, and well they should. If only he was this rational on every subject, I'd lump him into my special sages category with Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders. He's so close sometimes.
And like the great gift of caring for the less fortunate, the warming temperatures, the green sprouts, remind us that Nature always gives back to us those things she made lie sleeping. Should we be so magnanimous with our own dwindling treasure? Let's go to Xenophobia for the answers:
Gov. Perry would have us defund the United Nations, certainly a harsher stance than even John Bolton took--he just wanted to carve off the top floors of the UN's headquarters.
Not to be left off the crazy train, Gov. Romney stated his belief that if we are borrowing money from China to provide humanitarian aid then the Chinese should be helping those people. I sincerely doubt it's that easy, what with the Communism and all. Then he shot me through the wallet with this zinger: "Federal employees can't make more than the private sector people who are paying for them." Okay, let's say this once more: Fine, I'm sure hubby will be glad to work for peanuts (that they won't even serve you on planes anymore) to tell those planes how to avoid running together, nevermind the fact that the longest a controller's career is allowed to span is 26 years. No problem. I'm sure he could stand out in the street and yell at cars to keep them all safe. That pays about $8 an hour. Are you, is your family worth $8 for every hour you fly in a plane safely? I'm thinking that's a low bid. I'm thinking this is one of those cases where you don't want to accept the folks who would take the low bid. I'm just saying...
Oh, Rep. Paul. We get so close together, you and I, then you pull out your teensy Constitution and turn me off, literally. (It's a pun.) "Federal Aid is not Constitutional."
Unless, of course, it's Israel. Rep. Bachmann said we shouldn't cut off aid to "our greatest ally" but that we should "look to Iraq and Libya to reimburse us for liberating them." If I were Jon Stewart and you could see me, this is the part where I pause, stare blankly into the camera, and you laugh...waiting for it. Look, Cheley, you don't make people pay you back for blowing up their entire country and killing hundreds of thousands of their citizens. Why didn't she throw Afghanistan in there, too? We even picked their leader for them. Iraq give us money? What, our own money back? The Heritage Foundation kids lost that for us in the first year of "rebuilding". Seriously, am I missing something here? If a doctor operates on me and "liberates me" from being alive, will I have to pay the bill plus damages to him for the time he spent not saving my life? I think I'll go liberate some doves from crapping on my deck, too.
And since we're talking doctors...Paging Dr. Freud: Mr. Cain just had to come back to that whole hostage swap thing. Poor man tried so hard to clear up his flip-flops that he messed up and told the truth. "I haven't said I would let the hostages in Guantanamo Bay go." A slice of the truth, Godfather!
Rep. Paul didn't miss his cue: "The prisoners in Guantanamo Bay are suspects who haven't been charged with anything." Boos rang forth. And he also vexed the audience when he asked if his fellow candidates "would condemn Reagan for trading arms for hostages with the Iran-Contra fiasco." The man has a way of making a point. He also has a way of missing quite a few of them, sadly.
The flowers of the GOP field have blossomed, painting the landscape as vibrant as a Navajo blanket. The desert has become very hot, but the evening isn't over. We have yet to enjoy Summer. And since Summer is high season for campaigning before next year's general election, the candidates are going to tell us how they intend to beat President Obama. So pack your picnic basket and pitch your tent, the final edition of this series is coming your way. Can I share your blanket? The sand in my hourglass is running down...
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