Here’s a bit of commentary that I had following the first GOP Presidential debate. I know this happened weeks ago, but worth posting to provide some insight into how I view these candidates.
Donald Trump – The best thing about Trump is that he doesn’t care about being politically correct. He’s correct that being PC is one of the biggest issues in this country. Too many of us libertarians or mostly conservatives let the left bully us around. We don’t say what we NEED to say because we know we’ll be called racists, bigots, poor haters, etc. (which is the way the left debates – no substance so revert to name calling) Other than that, Donald Trump is a democrat in republican’s clothing (i.e., RINO). I’m on the fence on whether the world would consider us a laughing stock for electing him, but I then remember Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood guy too. Either way, he’s not for me.
Ted Cruz – He’s possibly the only republican I could really get behind. I do love that he stands on principle and isn’t afraid to shut the government down over something that’s actually important. In fact, we’d all be better off if we just let the government shut down for a couple of years. I’m not sure he would get elected in a general because he can’t move left on social issues, which is what most independents care about.
Ben Carson – He’s honestly the smartest man up on the stage. He’s not a politician and it shows. That’s probably his biggest challenge; he doesn’t project force when he speaks or debates. He’s very calm and collected, which I love, and probably a necessary trait for being a neurosurgeon. However, this is a fight between alpha males and the beta male won’t win. He’d be great Veep choice though – that way we can at least keep Hilary from calling us racists in the general election.
Marco Rubio – He’s an alright guy, seems to be a decent senator, but he seemed like he was on speed or something. He doesn’t have any real substance and just shouts about how “we have a new economy” and the “choice has to be about the future and not the past”. That’s great for an online campaign ad, but not adebate on policy; pass. Post script: the jobs and technology in an economy may be new, but the laws of economics don’t change, there are simple solutions to fix the economy – get the government the hell out of the way – the same way the market innovates new technologies, it can resolve it’s own issues.
Rand Paul – Oh how hopeful I was for Rand Paul; alas, he disappoints me. To say he’s not his father is an understatement. He seems to blow with the political winds and is more republican than libertarian on lots of issues. I loved his argument with Chris Christie (who’s a joke and won’t even mention here) about privacy and government surveillance. The one thing he keeps waning on is foreign policy. Listen Rand, you said before that we need to stop playing war in the middle east. Like your father said, we’re responsible for the power of ISIS because we destroyed the only things keeping a lid on radical Islam; the secular, butcher dictators that tortured those people to death so they could stay in power. Now all of a sudden, your’e walking things back. NO. Make people understand that American imperialism and military adventurism leads to blow-back. Our “friends” today always seem to be our enemies tomorrow. So stop giving them money and weapons and fighting their wars. We’re broke – let’s take our military put them around our boarders and say “listen, we have this huge, advanced, second to none military. We advise you not fuck with our homeland”. When people contend that we can’t be responsible for the hatred that radical Muslims have for the US I have three points:
- How much would you hate Canadians if they started bombing New York on a decades long basis? Think you might be a bit pissed?
- How many times has Switzerland been a victim of a terrorist attack? Better yet, how many times has Switzerland been conquered or destroyed? They even survived WWII perfectly intact. There’s a pretty easy explanation – neutrality. They stay out of other people’s business.
- Whether we like it or not, the Muslims hate the Jews and Israel more than they hate us. Anyone who knows history might think that they’re a little bit bitter about the fact that we just carved Israel out of the map after WWII because well, we won, we can do what we want. Kind of explains why Israel is Satan and we’re the Great Satan, according to Iran.
Last point on the middle east – the Shiite and Sunni’s have been warring for centuries. What in the world does that outcome of that war have to do with America’s interests? We have more oil than Saudi Arabia now, we have no reason to be over there. To be honest, it’s going to take centuries for that war to end, so why don’t we let them occupy themselves and we can rebuild our massive economy at home and when the dust finally settles we’ll once again be the wealthiest country in the world.