Call it what it is

We ought to, simply, call this series of farcical travesties what they are—Grandstanding Hyper-Macho Onanism Bouts. No one’s debating anything. They’re all just trying to out-bombast, out-swagger and out-warmonger each other in their bids for the loudest applause.

Yeah so, there was another Republican pep rally last night.

No matter how many of these sideshows I watch, I can’t help but walk away astonished that there are people gullible enough to buy into the propaganda and lies Republicans often sell. This is a party that is built on fear and driven by paranoia. A party running mostly against what Democrats support rather than on what they actually will do.
~Allen Clifton

Tonight’s Republican debate was the dumbest yet -- almost no content, facts, logic, or common sense. The men acted like seventh-grade boys lined up at their first dance trying to impress the same girl. Carly Fiorina was the girl no one wanted to dance with. I’m glad I’m not paid to be a pundit declaring winners and losers. They’re all losers.
~Robert Reich

My Facebook friend, Steve Meretzky, watched the entire debate (I'm thinking he might be a masochist or, possibly, just an impossibly brave soul ) and provided this brill summary:

Kasich: Normally, he's the only one in the GOP field that I can imagine having even a tiny change of bringing myself to vote for. But tonight, he came off as Crazy G. Warmonger, advocating toppling Assad at every possible chance. Also, his hand motions are starting to drive me crazy.

Fiorina: I have no idea what she said. When she speaks, it's like nails on a chalkboard; I can't even listen.

Rubio: Very entertaining. He was attacked constantly for having once briefly had a reasonable thought about immigration reform. I love watching how he starts to sweat like a pig during such attacks.

Carson: Every answer he gave somehow came around to "I've visited some countries lately, which proves I actually know something about foreign policy."

Trump: Before the debate, I think his advisors drilled him on "Don't be an insulting asshole." They failed. My favorite part was when he told Jeb something like "Me 41%. You 3%. Shut the fuck up, loser."

Cruz: After a few days of Trump-Cruz attacks, they renewed their bromance tonight. I would love to see a Trump-Cruz ticket. They might win Utah, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Bush: Couldn't seem to decide whether to focus on attacking Trump or on attacking Hillary. Pathetically incompetent at doing either one.

Christie: The most forceful candidate in tonight's debate. Particularly forceful about his intent to start wars everywhere in the world immediately. Is currently at 10.3% in New Hampshire polls, meaning that he's more popular in NH than in NJ.

Paul: The only candidate tonight that I could listen to without screaming. Actually made sense from time to time. I particularly loved his exchanges with Christie: "If you are a fan of World War III, then you've found your candidate…"

And, of course, Climate Change/Global Warming didn’t come up at all. CNN didn’t even bother to ask. Maybe they thought, why bother,these corporate puppets will just steer back to war, war, WAR.

From Think Progress:

Few of the Republican candidates have spoken out about the agreement, with most choosing to ignore it entirely. Rubio has spoken out against it, calling the whole idea of the global negotiations “ridiculous.”
~~snip~~
“This kind of unilateral disarmament in our economy is reckless, and it is hurting the American Dream,” Rubio said in Las Vegas on Sunday.

“unilateral disarmament in our economy?” "hurting the American Dream?" Did Rubio learn how to campaign from Caribou Barbie? You know, a red meat sandwich dipped in a solid overdose of rancid, nationalist cliché. The only difference is that he throws in multi-syllable words that Sister Sarah wouldn't attempt, like unilateral and disarmament.

Christ almighty, these people are bizarre and scary AND they're running for the highest office of our country.