Democrat presidential candidates debate

Where my Indiana heads at, as my pal Caesar would say? I have to give respect for Senator Lugar. He may be a Republican, but he’s our home republican, and he’s one of the last true moderates. I can, and do, respect him, and I’m glad to see him named as someone another moderate would pick for his team.

The reminder of Elizabeth Edwards is there in John’s bracelet. What an awesome woman. What a powerful reminder that cancer hits all kinds of families in all kinds of ways.

As a lead in to this debate, I watched the news, local NBC and BBC World. Both shows mocked the people suggesting questions almost uniformly, NBC white guy calling them ‘crazy YouTubers’ and the BBC white guy sneering at the Viking hat submission as a ‘typical internet user.’ Again, it’s funny to see the defensiveness of these people. Do they not send email? Does their mother not send them photos of her grandchildren over email? I mean, it’s kind of true — to tweak the phrase a bit — that the internet is for nerds. But just because nerds push the envelope, that hardly makes them typical.

I have to agree with Hillary — who I’ve always liked and respected; isn’t it great (however honest or accurate) for people to be arguing on tv about who is going to be better at fighting for women’s rights. I would say, also, that what they’re talking about is poverty, and in our current capitalist patriarchy, that means talking a lot about women and children.

You go, Rev! Wow, huh. A Reverend who understands the 14th Amendment.

I took the opportunity to get my cucumber tomato salad while a couple of the candidates were blathering about how we would end wars with violence. I’m glad to come back to hear Barack saying that you can’t end this with war. I agree, and am glad to have someone recognize that you can’t end wars by waging more wars.

I’ve never much liked Chris Dodd. I had lunch next to him and his family in the first year we were here, and he’s not much more personable in real life. His brand of not-so-personable really yanks my chain. Maybe, Chris, the people of Iraq are not rushing to ‘start a nation-state’ because (1) they had one before the U.S. illegally invaded and occupied it, and (2) they’re still reeling from the destruction of the relics of the civilizations on which that nation-state was based.

Yes, women should register if men register. It’s funny to hear Hillary say she believes the volunteer military is sufficient, since it depends on those systems of poverty and inequality to fill its rosters. If we create the national systems of quality education, health care, and full employment that Hillary talks about, the attraction of the military will be lost for all but true believers.

Hugo Chávez! What an honor to be lumped with Castro! You lucky devil. Tee hee. What a threatening idea, that the resources of the nation belong to the nation, not to rich people abroad.

Joe, Joe, Joe. Do you think we’ve forgotten the whole plagiarism thing? I guess no one told you that taking credit for work you didn’t do is at the very least a minor transgression.

Bill! The relief to be able to stand up in public and say SCRAP IT!

University of Chicago Lab School, represent! I went there, for kindergarten and first grade. It was there that I was sent home with a message that I had a problem with authority. Go figure.

Woot! Ann Arbor! Note, though, that ‘safer’ didn’t get on that pro-nuclear list.

Joe, Joe, Joe. Do you think that people are going to consider a net worth of 70 to 100 grand as not very much? Minimum wage is around 10k per year; you’d triple that if you lived off your net worth (and I assume you mean liquid assets, and not your house) for the duration of a presidential term of office. Barack has it right.

C-c-c-clinton. Poor Michael. You spit out that name in a way that would make the NRA magazine editors proud.

Good for you, Anderson. And Joe. I was thinking Dennis would have to be my man in the corner to say ‘that gun is only for killing people, it’s unnecessary, and it should be banned.’

Thank you, Anderson. You did good.

Democrat presidential candidates debate

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