GOP Debate No. 2 - Some Reaction

Ron Paul’s snowball’s chance in hell of winning the Republican nomination melted into a puddle last night, thanks to Rudy, and if he has any sense he’ll tell his deluded campaign staffers to return home to their families. There’s already a group of folks who believe that America has justly earned its share of belligerence and resentment, that apple pie “deserves it” – and this group finds a more suitable home in the Democrat party, left side of the tent. After Mr. Paul’s gaffe he deserves little more than a wikipedia entry in history. Adios, champ.

Rudy had his moment, but continued to get his knickers in a twist about abortion. Anyone who stakes out a pragmatic position on a hot-button issue risks the possibility of being upended by principle. I’m against abortion personally too, but recognize that a massive change right now is, at the very least, problematic. Anyone in this camp runs the risk of sounding like “slavery is wrong, but let the states decide”. Rudy should settle on some key rhetoric that explains his position in the best manner possible, and deflect or ignore further questions as “asked and answered”.

McCain is sounding tired. He should never utter the “drunken sailor” line ever again, especially after getting one-upped by Huckabee (who I still weirdly like) with his zinger about Edwards in a hair salon.

Also, McCain’s nuance on interrogation is a principled stand that cuts the other way. After having talked to many Americans – even a staggering number of folks who vote Blue every election - I think that I’m in complete agreement with the majority. We really don’t want to live in a country that routinely interrogates the most repugnant, qualified offender in extremely unpleasant ways. We want the moral high ground, but in an asymmetric conflict of attrition we may have to settle, in very rare scenarios, with doing whatever it takes to prevent catastrophic loss of life.

Keywords: “Very rarely” and “whatever it takes”. Again, this can be easily (and irresponsibly) extrapolated with hype into beating the nose-ringed hippie at the bookstore because we (whoops) fell down a slippery slope to fascism and now everybody’s burning Huck Finn. But this is hyper-reactionary hysteria, and we must believe that our government, categorically, is functionally incapable of systematic excesses, regardless of which political party is in power.

In other news, Fred's looking better to me.