Passion and petulance – a differing view of the debates

The Jake Tapper Show wouldn’t rival Jerry Springer’s style of instigating a brawl, but it did manage to bring the republican debates, particularly Segment B, into the realm of juvenile name-calling. As much as the moderator kept a level voice, consigning his colleagues to the outfield to lob only occasional questions at the candidates, the outcome was less substance and more face slapping. All that was needed was a Three Stooges’ “woo-woo-woo” to emanate from center stage to complete the scenario. Despite the debasing of a critical match-up to debate how candidates would respond to our nation’s precipitous future, a few of the participants rerouted the vacuous queries to supply real answers about what must be done. Unfortunately, Donald Trump was not among those. Halfway clever banter and facial plasticity does not substance make, and he was not the only one rising to the bait.

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Most every pundit is ignoring the first debate despite the fact that the four candidates had more time to expound on their viewpoints and plans should they gain the White House… but they shouldn’t overlook it. Between Segment A and Segment B there were only a handful of participants who supplied the passion of their convictions couched in sensible policy: Governor Bobby Jindal, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, and Governors Mike Huckabee and Scott Walker. This listing is in the order of delivering their conservatism followed by solid facts to back up their policies. Jindal is wrongfully disregarded by establishment GOP when his plans and passion for this nation’s future are matched by only a few on the later main stage. Although his sideswipes at Trump are ill-conceived, this statement was one of the strongest of both debates and one that should ring in the ears of all voters: “America did not create religious freedom, religious freedom created America.” The Washington outsiders have their stumbling blocks. Dr. Ben Carson, who may be the one candidate to personify Proverbs 15:33b “…and before honour is humility,” shared with Trump criticism of the George Bush Iraq policy but offered a lacking alternative. For those candidates (Paul, Carson, Trump, etc.) who believe they can bargain with cultures that despise negotiation as weakness, the disastrous Iran Agreement (as Trump repeatedly calls it) is a plain example. To believe that a beneficial deal could be forged at all with intransigent rogue nations is fantasy. They simply do not see the world through the same lenses. Responding to foreign policy questions with “I have great people,” Mr. Trump, is not an answer.

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Both Trump and Jeb Bush have taken a wrong tack on the tax code. Graduated or progressive taxation according to amount of wealth was never part of the Founders’ vision and the current IRC must be scrapped before any other system is instituted. The People know full well that unless something is first repealed it will only be added to, which is how the tax code got to be 70,000 plus pages long in the first place. The only comment from Trump that was purposeful was regarding illegal immigration in that this nation has laws and they need to be implemented. Fiorina was absolutely wrong in her assessment of the 14th Amendment in that it does not bestow citizenship to any child birthed by an individual who crosses the border in order to deliver. In this one instance, even Senator Rand Paul correctly interpreted the Constitution. But one oft-repeated term bandied about by candidates, the press and numerous others must be rectified. Although it arose, this time, only in the first debate, please get this straight… The Constitution is the only Law of the Land. There is no other and referring to legislation passed by Congress that has been signed into law by the president, does not qualify. Nor does a ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States, which, as often as not, is arbitrary in this politicized judiciary. SCOTUS opinions are not the final arbiter and cannot, nor ever should be, considered “law of the land.” Of all the candidates participating in the two debates, Ted Cruz appears to be the only one who has made this distinction publicly. As the field is winnowed over the following months, it is imperative to divide the candidates by their passion and their petulance. The passion must be for conservative Constitutional causes: religious freedom (including those of Faith being able to serve in government); defunding programs that destroy human life and dignity (Planned Parenthood, Obamacare and other entitlements); refusal to compromise national security (Iran Agreement, non-prosecution of government officials for illegal activities, discarding immigration laws, honoring foreign laws above the Constitution, etc.) and halting government interference with free enterprise via back-breaking economic, environmental and tax regulations. Deep-six the concept that there is such a thing as credible discussion of non-existent issues like climate change (neé global warming), illegal immigrant rights and politically correct terminology. Republican candidates must address what is real – faith, free speech, defense of this nation and wealth creation opportunity.

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