Iowa Republican Debate

[Ryan Ruck]

Anyone else watching the debate?

To be honest, having this many candidates on stage at once is just stupid. I think they need to limit the debate to the top 5 candidates. Anyone can run for the Republican nomination if they want but, pare down the debate so the serious candidates can have a chance to seriously discuss the issues rather than give soundbites.

[Ryan Ruck]

I'll tell you what, Ron Paul is really doing a good job tonight reinforcing my opinion that he in no way, shape, or form belongs in the Oval Office.

And all those goofy hooting Ronulans in the audience are really getting on my nerves and disrupting the debate. Time to start removing them.

[Ryan Ruck]

Overall impressions tonight.

Mitt Romney looked off-kilter a few times. When he wasn't, he sounded like typical Empty Suit Mitt.

Herman Cain sounded really good. I know I'm biased in that regard but he gave concise answers to questions and offered solutions to problems given. I do wish he would have kept going past the bell like the others to better get his view out rather than stopping on a dime like he did.

Michelle Bachmann sounded pretty decent. Nothing really jumped out at me though.

Newt did very well debating and that helped him stand out. He's got a good handle on the issues, he just doesn't exude leadership. Add to that his penchant for cross-aisle hand holding and that's not good. Considering his past experience and his failings, I'd say he'd make a better VP than Prez.

Mentioned Ron Paul above. Point still stands.

Everyone else, ho hum...

[vector7]

I tuned in after it started and saw the same as you mentioned above.

A question stood out like asking Michelle Bachmann if she submitted to her husband to pursue a career path would she continue to submit to him as President. That was a stupid question, something I would expect out of Chis Matthews mouth.

At least Chris Wallace didn't ask it after his Flake question during his last interview with her.

Reporter Booed for Asking Bachmann if as President She Would Be ‘Submissive’ to Her Husband

• Posted on August 11, 2011 at 11:48pm by Scott Baker

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. stands with her husband Marcus at the end of the Iowa GOP/Fox News Debate at the CY Stephens Auditorium in Ames, Iowa, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

AMES, Iowa (AP) — The Bible tells wives to be submissive to their husbands. If she were president, would that apply to Michele Bachmann? In Thursday’s Republican debate in Iowa, the Minnesota congresswoman was asked if she would be submissive to her husband.

Bachmann, the only woman in the Republican presidential field, says she interprets “submission” to mean “respect.”

She said she respects her husband, calling him a “wonderful, godly man and a great father.” And she says he respects and loves her, too.

The question by conservative columnist Byron York drew boos from the audience.

[vector7]

I'll tell you what, Ron Paul is really doing a good job tonight reinforcing my opinion that he in no way, shape, or form belongs in the Oval Office.

And all those goofy hooting Ronulans in the audience are really getting on my nerves and disrupting the debate. Time to start removing them.

Iran is no threat and he would finish the job of dismantling of our military for the Axis.

Check out the comments on the youtube video posted below.


08/11/2011 • 10:00 PM

Ron Paul in Iowa debate: Iran should be allowed to develop nuclear bomb

The best clip from the Thursday night Republican primary debate.



From NewsMax.

Excerpt:

Iran should be allowed to have a nuclear bomb, Republican candidate Ron Paul suggested during Thursday’s presidential debate.

The maverick Texas Congressman also said it was time to stop the half-century old embargo on Cuba and all troops should be brought home.

His comments brought scorn from rival candidates. Michele Bachmann said she would do everything in her power to prevent Iran becoming nuclear.

Rick Santorum said “Iran is not Iceland, Ron. “It’s been at war with us since 1979.

“Anyone who suggests Iran is not a threat to this country is not seeing the world very clearly.”

Paul said it is natural for Iran to want a bomb as it is surrounded by countries such as India, Pakistan and Israel which all have one and with China, the United States and Russia all involved in the region. He said the U.S. should not get involved in the country’s internal affairs.

Consider this recent article on Iran’s weapons development, from Investors Business Daily.
Excerpt:

Tehran’s navy deploys ships to the Atlantic capable of launching long-range missiles. This is not a joke. This is a dress rehearsal for the day an EMP attack ends our way of life.

‘Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?” Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked at “The World Without Zionism” Tehran conference in 2005. “But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved.” He added that Iran had a “war preparation plan” for, as he put it, “the destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization.”

Electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, is not a subject familiar to most Americans. But it’s quite familiar to the Iranian military.
It’s been practicing for the day when an Iranian missile tipped with a nuclear warhead lifts off from a vessel parked in international waters off our shores, the warhead detonating high above the American heartland, sending electromagnetic waves rippling across the American landscape, frying every electronic circuit within range.

In a July 18 statement, Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said the Iranian navy plans on deploying warships in the Atlantic Ocean as part of a program to ply international waters.

Two days later, another Iranian rear admiral, Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi, revealed for the first time that his navy has equipped a number of its logistic vessels and units with long-range missiles.

The squadron will be equipped with the Nur missile, which is based on China’s long-range Silkworm C-802 anti-ship cruise missile and has a 125-mile range and 365-pound warhead.

It is not these ships and their missiles that threaten us, but what comes later as they use these forays to gain experience operating far from Iranian shores.

A simple Scud missile, with a nuclear warhead, could be fired from an inconspicuous freighter in international waters off our coast and detonated high over the U.S.

It would wreak devastation on America’s technological, electrical and transportation infrastructure. Masked as a terrorist attack, Iran would have plausible deniability of any responsibility.

Iran has practiced launching and detonating Scuds in midflight, launched from ships in the Caspian Sea. It’s also tested high-altitude explosions of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile, a test consistent with an EMP attack.

The warhead need not be of a staggeringly high yield — nor must the missile have an intercontinental range.

“One nightmare scenario posed,” according to Peter Vincent Pry, an expert on EMP who sits on a congressional panel looking into the threat of such a weapon, “was a ship-launched EMP attack against the U.S. by Iran, as this would eliminate the need for Iran to develop an ICBM to deliver a nuclear warhead against the U.S. and could be executed clandestinely, taking the U.S. by surprise.”

Iran has previously called for Israel, our ally, to be “wiped off the map“.
Excerpt:

Leaders around the world on Thursday condemned a call by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel be “wiped off the map,” and a top Iranian official said that mass demonstrations in his country on Friday would rebuff the rising criticism from abroad.

“I have never come across a situation of the president of a country saying they want to . . . wipe out another country,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at a summit outside London of the 25 leaders of the European Union’s member states.

Blair said Ahmadinejad’s comment was “completely and totally unacceptable.”

In a joint statement, the E.U. leaders “condemned in the strongest terms” the Iranian president’s call, saying it “will cause concern about Iran’s role in the region and its future intentions.” President Jacques Chirac of France told reporters that Ahmadinejad risked Iran “being left on the outside of other nations.”

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Israel, called the Iranian president’s statement “unacceptable.”

The statement was widely reported in the Arab world; leaders there reacted for the most part with silence. Most Arab countries have no diplomatic relations with Israel. But the Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said, according to the Associated Press: “We have recognized the state of Israel and we are pursuing a peace process with Israel, and . . . we do not accept the statements of the president of Iran. This is unacceptable.”

U.S. and European leaders have grown increasingly worried about the bellicose attitude of Iran at a time when it is pursuing a nuclear program that they have said may be intended to produce a nuclear weapon.

Iran is also sharing weapons technology with North Korea.

Is Ron Paul right to want to let Iran have nuclear weapons and long-range missiles? Does he understand modern weapon systems?

Is he aware of the threats that Ahmadinejad has made to Israel and the United States?

Is he aware of Iran’s military interference in Iraq?

Does he understand how Iran influences Syria, which is now imitating Iran in shooting innocent people in the streets?

Is he letting facts influence his ideology?

[American Patriot]

Afraid I don't have cable so didn't watch it.

Thanks for your take on this guys.

[Toad]

I can't ever vote for Mitt. He's a Democrat who pretends he's a Republican. That's how I explain him to people who ask.

Ron Paul - He seems like the kind of guy who would do well living off the grid in backcountry Idaho writing a manifesto.

Bachmann - Like Ryan, she played it simple and safe. Didn't distinguish herself in any way other than a mud throwing spat between her and Pawlenty.

Newt - I'll give credit where credit is due. Newt has always been a very very smart guy. If I ever have an academic/historical context question - I'd ask Newt. Big brain. He's also the dictionary definition of RINO.

Cain - Very sharp. Thinks and responds on his feet. No safe BS sidesteps to questions, he actually addressed the questions. He does however need to step up and get a little more aggressive with the compitition. He didn't get much in. He needs to start now and get comfortable with it because if he wins the ticket, he'll need to do it against Obama big time.

Huntsman was entirely forgetable.

[American Patriot]

Who's Huntsman? Never heard of him. Ever.

I don't generally watch debates because they are made-for-TV movies, pre-loaded skits with pre-known questions. There is no way you can choose a viable candidate from a set of ground rules that really do not allow any leeway in their behavior.

In my opinion, the best way to choose someone as a candidate is to watch them working and talking to the public in an open forum, or being interviewed on tv in a quick question-answer thing like when they get caught up by the media and have questions shouted at them.

I say this because I've personally sat on debates as a candidate myself and in general had plenty of time to prepare myself for stupid questions both publicly and in debates.

I did well in both formats because I'm quick on my feet and wit in person (as some of you well know) and if I have time to prepare, I'll rip you to shreds.

So - watching a debate is watching actors and actresses who've studied their lines carefully and know just when to deliver that one, knowing quip that folks will remember for years to come.

[vector7]

Who's Huntsman? Never heard of him. Ever.

The Manchurian Candidate

by Mike Emanuel | January 31, 2011

• 11 Comments

U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman arrives before President Barack Obama welcomes China's President Hu Jintao during a state arrival on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Senior White House officials confirm they do expect U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman to resign this spring, and explore a possible 2012 Republican presidential bid.

But during Monday's briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs backed away from conclusions that Huntsman will run for the presidency.

"I've talked to several people in the building," Gibbs said. "And I have not heard anybody say they know what the future holds for Ambassador Huntsman, except to say, as I said earlier, that he will leave sometime in the first part of the year.

The former Utah governor has avoided speaking about his political future publicly, but the campaign buzz continues.

President Obama nominated Huntsman ambassador back in May 2009 - mere months after Huntsman had been re-elected as governor. It was the first and only publicly announced nomination for an ambassador made by this president, and the treatment was befitting. Not only was Mr. Obama tapping a Republican, but a Republican who co-chaired his opponent's, Senator John McCain, presidential campaign. "I know that Jon is the kind of leader who always puts country ahead of party and is always willing to sacrifice on behalf of our nation," the president said.

When asked about the 2012 rumors at a press conference earlier this month with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Mr. Obama praised his ambassador's expertise in the region, noting specifically Huntsman's fluency in Mandarin Chinese and again, his party affiliation.

"He has brought enormous skill, dedication, and talent to the job. And the fact that he comes from a different party I think is a strength, not a weakness, because it indicates the degree to which both he and I believe that partisanship ends at the water's edge, and that we work together to advocate on behalf of our country," the president said.

"So I couldn't be happier with the ambassador's service. And I'm sure he will be very successful in whatever endeavors he chooses in the future," Mr. Obama said, smiling, "And I'm sure that him having worked so well with me will be a great asset in any Republican primary."

Aid to eye White House, Jon Huntsman ends popular run as ambassador to China

Jon Huntsman, whose resignation as ambassador to China was announced Monday, has earned widespread respect among both American businessmen and Chinese officials.



US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman and Chinese Ambassador to the US Zhang Yesui wave to China's President Hu Jintao as his plane departs O'Hare International airport in Chicago in this Jan. 21 photo.
Frank Polich/Reuters
Enlarge

---

By Peter Ford, Staff Writer / February 1, 2011
Beijing Jon Huntsman, whose resignation as ambassador to China was announced Monday, has earned widespread respect among both American businessmen and Chinese officials during his two years in Beijing.

The former Republican governor of Utah will be leaving his post in the next few months, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. The move will leave Mr. Huntsman free to consider a possible run for the US presidency.

Huntsman, a fluent Mandarin speaker, has been ambassador during a contentious period in US-China relations; in the past two years Beijing and Washington have clashed over currency and trade issues, territorial questions in the South China Sea, and policy toward Iran.

“He did a lot in difficult conditions to protect Sino-US relations,” says Shi Yinhong, an expert in US affairs at Renmin University in Beijing. “He helped steer the relationship through the storm, and he leaves quite a positive image.”

Respected by bicyclists, business community

The ambassador, who could sometimes be seen on weekends riding his bicycle with his family around Beijing, “earned a lot of respect from the American business community,” says Patrick Chovanec, who teaches economics at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Huntsman's family firm Huntsman Corp., a global chemicals manufacturer, has investments in China. And as a businessman himself, Huntsman “was a very effective spokesman for US interests in China,” adds Professor Chovanec.

Though unfailingly urbane and diplomatic in public, Huntsman expressed himself more bluntly in cables to the US State Department, as illustrated by WikiLeaks. In one February 2010 cable he accused the Chinese government of “muscle-flexing, triumphalism, and assertiveness.” A month earlier he had complained that Chinese investment regulations “add to the overall sense that China plays unfairly in the global marketplace.”

WikiLeaks’ revelations of these “quite realistic and hard opinions,” says Professor Shi, “were regrettable for his image among some Chinese scholars and maybe the government.”

Huntsman for president?

Although his Mormon faith is seen as a potential political liability, Huntsman is widely believed to be pondering a 2012 presidential bid against his current boss, Barack Obama. President Obama referred slyly to such a prospect during a press conference last month with visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao. “I’m sure that him having worked so well with me will be a great asset in a Republican primary,” he said with a laugh.

Such a bid would have a historical precedent, points out Chovanec, who is a former aide to House Speaker John Boehner. In the 1964 presidential campaign, Republicans unenthusiastic about both Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller launched a write-in campaign on behalf of Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., a Republican serving a Democratic president as ambassador to South Vietnam.

Mr. Lodge never built a campaign organization even after winning the Republican primary in New Hampshire, and Mr. Goldwater won the nomination. “If Huntsman is better organized, the result might be different,” Chovanec speculates.

[American Patriot]

President Obama nominated Huntsman ambassador back in May 2009 - mere months after Huntsman had been re-elected as governor.

“He did a lot in difficult conditions to protect Sino-US relations,” says Shi Yinhong, an expert in US affairs at Renmin University in Beijing. “He helped steer the relationship through the storm, and he leaves quite a positive image.”

Nominated by Obama, to China? Helped trade with China? I like him less and less now.

Thank you Vector.

He won't get the nomination though because I never heard of him before.

Not saying *I* have anything to do with it, but I am well-read and keep up on who's who usually. When I have NO IDEA of who someone is, that means a good number of others are as clueless (or more clueless) than me.

[vector7]

August 12, 2011
Road to the White House

Which GOP candidates made their case?





Gingrich Blasts Debt Super Committee




Herman Cain on Sharia Law




Pawlenty, Bachmann Trade Shots

[vector7]

Iowa GOP Debate Part 1




Iowa GOP Debate Part 2

Iowa GOP Debate Part 3

Iowa GOP Debate Part 4

Iowa GOP Debate Part 5




Iowa GOP Debate Part 6

Iowa GOP Debate Part 7

Iowa GOP Debate Part 8

Huntsman is questioned here at 1:45 mark of this video about jobs going to China

[Ryan Ruck]

I tuned in after it started and saw the same as you mentioned above.

A question stood out like asking Michelle Bachmann if she submitted to her husband to pursue a career path would she continue to submit to him as President. That was a stupid question, something I would expect out of Chis Matthews mouth.

At least Chris Wallace didn't ask it after his Flake question during his last interview with her.

Yeah, what is Chris Wallace's problem with Bachmann? If anyone has been acting like a flake, it has been him.

Iran is no threat and he would finish the job of dismantling of our military for the Axis.

Yeah, LOL! I got a good laugh out of some of Paul's responses.

"I'm not an isolationist but I do think we should withdraw into our own borders and eliminate the military!" (Note, Paul didn't actually say that. Just my summary if him.)

Afraid I don't have cable so didn't watch it.

Thanks for your take on this guys.

See the YouTube vids vector posted above. Was going to post the same ones before I saw he posted them.

I can't ever vote for Mitt. He's a Democrat who pretends he's a Republican. That's how I explain him to people who ask.

Yep.

Ron Paul - He seems like the kind of guy who would do well living off the grid in backcountry Idaho writing a manifesto.

Bachmann - Like Ryan, she played it simple and safe. Didn't distinguish herself in any way other than a mud throwing spat between her and Pawlenty.

That was my take.

Newt - I'll give credit where credit is due. Newt has always been a very very smart guy. If I ever have an academic/historical context question - I'd ask Newt. Big brain. He's also the dictionary definition of RINO.

Exactly.

Cain - Very sharp. Thinks and responds on his feet. No safe BS sidesteps to questions, he actually addressed the questions. He does however need to step up and get a little more aggressive with the compitition. He didn't get much in. He needs to start now and get comfortable with it because if he wins the ticket, he'll need to do it against Obama big time.

That's precisely what Cain needs to do. He's too nice. Like I mentioned, stopping on a dime when the bell rang. I wonder if some of that comes from his radio career and having to stop precisely at times for hard breaks?

Huntsman was entirely forgetable.

Who?

[American Patriot]

LOL@
Quote:

Originally Posted by Toad
Huntsman was entirely forgetable.

Who? _________