PBS Republican Debate at Morgan State

[Lynn Farris]

It was a little disturbing to see McCain, Romney, Thompson and Guiliani decided not to show up at the PBS debate that focused on "black" issues. But it did give us more time to hear from the other candidates. Of course they were all busy - but would you vote for a candidate that refused to talk to a significant minority in the US?

One of the most interesting candidates to emerge this year in my opinion is Dr. Paul. I don't think he will win - but he always makes me think about what our forefathers put forth in the constitution. He is a scientist and I believe the only Republican that will pull us out of Iraq. He is the leading recipient of money in the Republican party from members of the military hmmmm.

Anyway, one of the subjects that he brought up was that we have spent 400 billion on the war on drugs and it isn't working. He pointed out that prohibition didn't work either. Maybe we should stop it and treat it just like alcohol. That way we wouldn't have drug dealers killing each other. We could tax it and start paying for any number of things. He got huge applause. Actually he got the most applause for all of his answers.

I was surprised to see Duncan Hunter and Alan Keyes had joined the group - I hadn't realized that they were now in the race. Huckabee was the smoothest in terms of response - but he did indicate that the genocide in the US was worse than the one in the Sudan (he was discussing Abortion - interesting I had never heard it discussed in those terms.)

Informative debate - I wondered what those of you who watched it thought.

[Mike Deneen]

I only saw the last 20 minutes or so.
Let's be honest....the sad sack "leading four" had nothing to gain by attending. Noone is buying the "GOP cares about black people" routine, so they may as not waste their time.

Alan Keyes jumped back in last week (he's back to being a Maryland resident now). If you've never heard abortion referred to as genocide, you haven't spend much time around the hard right. I thought Keyes' career might be ruined by his lesbian daughter....I expected Ken Blackwell to take his place as "America's crazy religious right wing gay-hating black guy".

Ron Paul also won the viewer vote after a Fox News debate a few months ago. However, he can't get any movement in the polls.

FYI....Bill OReilly watched the debate and he was surprised at how well behaved everyone was. "It was just like watching a debate at a white college" he said, "noone was yelling, hey, MotherF***r".

[sharon kinsella]

Wow - O'Reilly - deep dude!

[Phil Florian]

Mike, that is awesome. Daily Show did a nice bit on Poppa Bear, too.

[Stephen Eisel]

Anyway, one of the subjects that he brought up was that we have spent 400 billion on the war on drugs and it isn't working. He pointed out that prohibition didn't work either. Maybe we should stop it and treat it just like alcohol.

[sarcasm] and help the American Farmer.. nooo[/sarcasm]

[Stephen Eisel]

"GOP cares about black people" routine, so they may as not waste their time.

Ken Blackwell, Lynn Swann, JC Watts and Michael Steele do not think that the "GOP cares about black people" routine is a waste of time.

Colin Powell was the nation's first black Secretary of State. He was appointed by a Republican. Condoleezza Rice was the first woman to hold the position of National Security Adviser, she was also the second black American to do so. She was appointed by a republican. Clarence Thomas was the second black member of the Supreme Court. He was nominated by a Republican.

Martin Luther King registered as a Republican in 1956. In 1964, 21 of the 46 Democrats in the Senate voted against the Civil Rights Bill.

[Mike Deneen]

90 percent of black folks don't trust republicans, and with good reason.
As JC Watts dad said, "that's like the chickens working for Colonel Sanders". Most of those names you list went down to crushing defeat.

Some righties spout the "some blacks used to be Republicans 50 years ago" routine. THat was before Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, and before Nixon implemented "the Southern Strategy". LBJ said at the time that he lost the south for a generation, yet signed it anyway. You NEVER see that type of political courage nowadays.

I will grant the GOP one thing....they don't hold a monopoly on racism. I see some echoes of "the southern strategy" right here in liberal Lakewood in 2007.

[Stephen Eisel]

90 percent of black folks don't trust republicans, and with good reason.
As JC Watts dad said, "that's like the chickens working for Colonel Sanders". Most of those names you list went down to crushing defeat.

And what does that prove?

[Todd Shapiro]

and why is that 90 percent of blacks don't trust the GOP. Is it because because one of their senior senators traded in his KKK hood for a seat in the US Senate......oh, that's right that would be Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia

is it because the father of senior GOP statesman voted against the Civil Rights Act.......oh nope again because that would be the father of former Democratic Presidential nominee and for Vice President Al Gore, who as a Senator from Tennessee voted against the Civil Rights Act.

And while LBJ should be credited with supporting Civil Rights legislation let remember that his Great Society welfare program helped to destroy the black family (illegitimacy among African-Americans in now close to 80%).

Any group who throws 90+% of their support to one party or candidate risks be marginalized on both ends. The Democrats take the black vote for granted and why should GOP candidates waste their time and money chasing after no more than 10% of the black vote.

[ryan costa]

legalizing marijuana wouldn't really help farmers. it is simply too easy to grow. easier than growing tomatoes. It would probably grow in most peoples gutters, like Maple Tree saplings.

Dr.Paul seems to be on a hardline about the constitution as justification for small government or something. That could be good. NAFTA and the WTO treaties probably are unconstitutional in that they circumvent our Constitutions articles about Congress having the power to regulate currency exchange, tariffs, import limits and duties, etc. There's nothing in the Constitution about a right to suburbia or McMansions or discount retail or getting bus rides to school, so maybe Paul would induce us to go cold turkey in regards to the addiction portion of our oil consumption.

Yeah, a lot of Southern Democrats joined the Republican party during the 1960s civil rights movement and earlier flare ups of the civil rights movement. Even Strom Thurmond was once a democrat. The veiled racism or racial apprehension of the Republicans has had to be replaced with surrogate metrics about property values and quality of education and stuff. But the Republicans can work together: the Atheist Globalists and the lower middle class churchgoers and the zealous christian globalists. They don't nitpick each other. The pro-choice atheist globalists are perfectly willing to vote with the bible thumping marginalized working class. It seems the rate at which the principle political parties trade cards with each other has slowed down.

Todays Republicans aren't really holding any of the cards Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Ike Eisenhower, and whatever the hell thomas Jefferson was holding. It's mostly just a feeding frenzy for oil, and a race to Wal-Mart to spend the credit or strong currency we built up from 200 years of isolation, protectionism, an empty resource rich continent, and most of the industrialized world blowing itself up in two world wars.

They'll say we need the trade to avoid the wars. But...we've got at least 2400 times more trade with China than in 1980. There's only one reason we aren't at war with China, or they aren't at war with Russia or gobbling up central or southeast asia. That reason is that there are only about 1.3 billion people in China, as opposed to 2 billion. There are not 2 billion people in China because of all the abortion, infanticide, and forced sterilizations. But they'll get there eventually. And they'll have better weapons and transportation technology when they do. Cuz they got a stronger economy. They'll maybe pre-empt the wars with emigration to east africa or south America. Get in there the way we got Texas.

But it kind of sucks living in America. I mean, there are distractions. It sucks living in a city, or a crowded suburb, because there are so many aggravating kids or white trash. This is generally played into frustration with liberals and feelings of being threatened by the Middle East or whatever else the news decides to keep playing.

The black communities are generally pawns of pimp-like leaders like Al Sharpton and rap moguls extolling a blame-whitey attitude. Brandon McCloud violently robbed a lot of people: he was killed by the Police. Brandon Marshall was killed by other blacks after getting off a bus. Black leaders don't try to get blacks riled up against blacks who are criminals. People like Brandon McCloud kill people like Brandon Marshall. We don't have protest rallies outside Brandon McClouds house after each time he commited previous crimes. We have rallies outside police stations when they shoot people like Brandon McCloud. I can understand why: it is better to protest the police: you can be more sure they aren't going to shoot you.

Republicans play on this to get more white voters, then screw most of those constituents by exporting their jobs. But both parties are willing to appease their constituents with more malls, suburbs, and tv stations.

but we gotta keep fighting the war on terrorism or whatever it is. i mean, stay in Iraq. Because World War II was cool, and all the Americans in it were cool. So we are cool too. But there's that whole oil addiction thing. In World War II the U.S. was still a global exporter of oil. We used less and had a lot more. It was something about "sacrifice". The leaders kept calling for "sacrifice". Rationing and promoting car pooling and mass transit and all that. It would be nice if the President encouraged Americans to consume smaller cars, but he usually uses that time in his speeches and interviews to talk about fighting protectionists and terrists.

In the unilateral war on oil addiction a terrist is anyone who makes middle class folks feel like moving to a further suburb. let's let the terrists win. I'll probably move to bay village as soon as I can afford to. preferrably within walking distance of a grocery store.

Some of our politicians claim Christianing up Iraq will get the region all peaced up. I'm not sure how. Christian places weren't very peaceful for most of Christian history. In fact, Christians have largely had to have been evacuated from Iraq since we knocked over Iraq. They can't go Saudi Arabia, because it is illegal to be a full time christian there. There are 2 million or so refugees from Iraq since Iraq has been all democracied up.

[Stephen Eisel]

legalizing marijuana wouldn't really help farmers. it is simply too easy to grow. easier than growing tomatoes. It would probably grow in most peoples gutters, like Maple Tree saplings.

Hemp has certainly helped the American farmer. I can also grow apples, strawberries, corn and etc... But buy the majority of what I use I buy from the store.