OPENING REMARKS

Andrew Yang – Hahahahaha… the opposite of President Trump is an Asian man that likes math. WHAAATTT!. Funny, smart, to the point. Other people said stuff. Now every time someone says math, they think Yang. Maybe he can hire people to yell math at the polls.

Harris in a natural speaker, even in the minor flub, she handled it like a pro. Didn’t get nervous. Shows she can handle the pressure.

Biden was last to speak. Poignant. Commanded the stage. Got a pretty good ovation.

HEALTHCARE

“yadda,yadda,yadda” My personal opinion. None of those plans will ever work until they come to the realization that healthcare is a national issue and should be exempt from capitalism, profiting, and socialism, the government will pay it with your taxes, and made into a practical issue, we take care of each other and we pay for it and be a stand alone independent agency. We HAVE TO pool our resources. This would allow for negotiating prices and keeping pharmaceuticals at a fair rate. Everyone talks price, great, how does keeping employer based or tax based health care offset that. Private businesses want to make money and the government is great at seeking ways to hike taxes by disguise. This is why you need that independent agency that is fully transparent and separate from any other agency. Lol, keeping it private will bring medical and pharmaceutical costs down, are you crazy, no one profits when you pay less and if you keep it as a for profit system, then they are going to seek profit, maybe we can pay with twinkies and cupcakes, like that at least Hostess can make some money, disclaimer: currently own shares in Hostess.

Hahahaha… math makes a resurgence in the political debate. Yang, you are a genius.

IMMIGRATION/DECRIMINALIZING BORDER CROSSING

Castro – The Marshal Plan. We all know he’s right. All other plans are band aids, Castro’s is a permanent fix. Some of us learn from history and some of us don’t. A whaaat! moment. Civil action for illegal immigration and what we need is some one with guts (Balls, you know he was thinking Balls, I’ll say it for you, Balls on this issue)

*A Marshall Plan is an amazing idea that would ensure the safety of our neighbors to the south and have a curbing effect on illegal immigration as well as boosting a slacking economy. I always wondered why businesses choose an authoritarian regime with goals of usurping democracy over democratic countries that are less than half the distance away. I am hoping this would mean opening drug interdiction bases manned by American or NATO troops and opening trade routes and re-directing businesses to the south. No plan will work unless you rid these countries of the scourge of drug running.

Harris – Is aghast at the treatment of women and children. Children have died. Being treated like felons and criminals. (If you get elected, you should think about Castro’s Marshal plan)

Bennet – Agrees with Harris. It’s Un-American. (If you get elected, you should think about Castro’s Marshal plan)

Gillibrand – People are being killed, extorted and raped. We need to do something. (If you get elected, you should think about Castro’s Marshal plan)

Biden – Crossing the border is a crime.

(Mr. Biden, Can you tell me England’s asylum laws, I’m betting that most people that come here couldn’t tell you what our asylum laws are or even have a clear understanding of them, it’s difficult when it’s life and death and unfortunately in a lot of cases it is) (If you get elected, you should think about Castro’s Marshal plan) (Lol, get in line?, the thieves and drug cartels can start at the back of the line and work their way up the line, if my family is in danger, I’m cutting the line, sorry!) (And stop giving countries money blindly without us there making sure they are implementing that money the right away, doesn’t promote good leadership, a mistake saying that you just gave money away and didn’t get your desired result)…. (Dumb people don’t deserve safety only people with PhD’s? because they have no schooling? Jesus Christ… Dude…. If they’re kicking out nimrods, I’m locking my doors, maybe you should too, at least when it comes to this issue. People with PhD’s aren’t fighting our wars, digging our needed ditches and harvesting our necessary crops. If we had a nation with people with only with PhD’s, we would have a nation doomed to fail) Couldn’t disagree more with you on this issue, came off badly, but luckily illegal citizens don’t vote. Wait, I’m legal and graduated from school, and I promise to try and get my PhD.

Gabbard – It’s heartbreaking. We can do both, safe borders and have humane legal immigration. No more second class citizens they should be able to better themselves and get an education (plus if they don’t get a PhD, Biden is going to deport them) (If you get elected, you should think about Castro’s Marshal plan)

Yang – simply stated, Yang went Vinny bag of donuts on the situation. Yang said the reasons they say for detention and not allowing immigration are false or in other words “Everything these guys are saying is bullshit, thank you” (LOL. I hope you go up in the polling.) Good ovation. (If you get elected, you should think about Castro’s Marshal plan)

Booker (A Rhodes Scholar) – Repubs are loving this, we need to stick together. Crossing the border is not a crime, it’s a civil issue. Brought up the PhD issue, (in all fairness, I wrote that before Booker stated it) (If you get elected, you should think about Castro’s Marshal plan)

Gillibrand – Children are dying under the current system. We need to do better. (If you get elected, you should think about Castro’s Marshal plan)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

Biden – People should receive help not just be thrown into a system that’s going to perfect the criminal skills. (Biden under attack, fights back) Invokes Obama, a good President that may be deemed great by historians (with PhD’s). Says Stop judging on me on my past. (Head scratcher)

Booker (A Rhodes Scholar)- We need to legalize marijuana. (ehhhh, no) Booker rips into Biden, Biden under constant attack. Kool- aid reference, classic, points for a retro slam. Continues his attacks on Biden policies.

Castro – Agrees with Booker and attacks Biden. Front runner is getting barraged with incoming rhetoric. End qualified immunity for law enforcement. Attacks De Blassio on the Gardner case.

Inslee – Washington is the apotheosis (That 25 cent word, $11.37 with inflation since that phrase was invoked, was for Biden so when he gets elected doesn’t try to deport me) of Criminal Justice Reform.

De Blassio – We were forced to wait, we will take action on the Gardner case. (Personal opinion, always do what an officer is asking you to do, if they’re wrong, they will face the consequences, do not engage in a fight with the police. My heartfelt condolences goes out to the Gardner family, I do not make a judgement on whether the officer was right or wrong, I don’t know enough about the situation to offer any kind of opinion) Attacks Biden on the Gardner case.

Yang – Stop the infighting. We are not our enemies. Focus on the solution not on the person next to you. We should focus on bettering people’s situation prior to needing the Criminal Justice System to get involved. Got cut off but was making an awesome point that he wasn’t allowed to finish.

Gillibrand – Officer in the Gardner case should be fired. Was adamant and resolute on the issue. Showed decisiveness. Strong, tough.

BIDEN/HARRIS

Harris – Me and Biden are on opposite sides of how to approach the busing issue with the Senators of that time. Makes a resounding point of stating that if those senators had their way, she would have never been a Senator, Booker would have never been a Senator and former President Obama would have never been in the position to have offered Biden the position of Vice President. whaaat! Continues into what is her strong point, Criminal Justice, and throughout a bombshell, stating that the Civil Rights Department recommended charges be filed in the Gardner case but was overruled by the AG. Damn! And that she would not allow this type of behavior to occur.

Biden – Biden attacks back. Attacks her honesty and ethics. He figuratively said, in the most direct way without actually saying it, “Everything she just said is Bullshit, thank you” dropped the mic and danced on her grave. whaaaatttt! They have lobbied hefty attacks on each other and have damaged each other heavily. Biden got off the floor and completely leveled Harris. I can tell Biden didn’t want to do it, but if you get knocked down, you better prepared to get that 10-8 round back in a big way and he did just that!

Gabbard – Harris placed 1500 people in jail for marijuana violations and laughed at her own usage. what!(Those sneaky left hooks that you don’t see coming can have a devastating, calamitous, destructive and crushing affect on one’s goals) Harris wants to be a prosecutorial President, what! (I hope that’s not true. That wouldn’t be her job, like she states it isn’t the job of the current President) And kept people in prison beyond their sentence to use them as cheap labor, wait WHAAAATT! (ooof, slavery, if true, it’s hard to believe) (Harris is visibly upset and shaken up, She needs to deny these charges or she will never beat Trump). Failed to disclose exonerating and exculpatory evidence that would have freed a man from death row… WTF!!! WHAAAAATTTTT!!!!! She needs to deny these allegations immediately, that’s a personal opinion. There is most likely something behind the scenes that we don’t know about. Did Gabbard used to be a sniper in the military, because she just set her sites on Harris and might have killed her chances.

RACIAL DISPARITY

Bennet – #Equalisnotequal. A great tag line with amazing logic behind it.

Inslee – I approached this topic with humility because bigotry hasn’t affected me like it has others. Honesty. I feel that I have a double responsibility to fix these issues.

Yang – Technology. By implementing a fair minimum wage and help the lower socioeconomic class. (Won’t get into the problem with that argument under this banner.)

Castro – Lets call people what they are, the President is a racist. We have to invest in educating people, and invest in our educational system and make the best education for everyone. (As my ex-girlfriend would say after we ate and I asked her if it was my turn to pay…Yep!!)

Gillibrand – White people’s skin is bullet proof?? (Huh, how about if you are hispanic and white, am I still Superman or is it Superhombre?) Gillibrand feels that white privilege is the reason why minorities are targeted and white people are not. Not a great argument. She needed to expound on how and if she meant the Criminal Justice System.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Inslee – We need clean air and clean water no matter who you are.

Biden – I have been on the front line from the Paris accords to this day.

Yang – (Rephrased) It’s too late, it’s already happening and if we don’t do something yesterday, we are in for one hell (because it’s hot, get it) of a ride.

Harris – Agrees with Inslee. Thinks that the current President embraces science fiction instead of science fact. A good line that would have went over better 10 minutes earlier.

Gillibrand – LOL…hahah.. The first thing I’m going to do is clorox the oval office. Bam! whaaaattt!!! Gillibrand is fervent supporter of the green new deal and is, by her enthusiasm, an unyielding and determined advocate for climate change solutions. I have goosebumps down my spine listening to her justify her position. I’m going to go plant a tree.

Gabbard (The Sniper) – Climate change is a personal… I love the way she says Hawaii…  Growing up in the most remote island chain in the world, protecting our environment isn’t political, it’s a way of life, it’s part of our cultural. Prior to the new green deal I offered the Off Fossils Fuels Act…

H.R.3671 – Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act115th Congress (2017-2018)

Booker (A Rhodes Scholar) – The truth. The suppression of our black voters by foreign nationals is why we lost Michigan. I will block voter suppression. (I know a little about that)

Harris – President Trump lied to the working people. The trade policy is a disaster. Trump betrayed the American people.

TRADE/CHINA

Gabbard – Fair Trade. Not trade deals that give away our sovereignty, our jobs and harm our environment. I would not keep the tariffs because there is no clear or strategic plan.

Biden – I would re-negotiate. Either we write the rules of trade or China does. The only way to do that is by partnering with our allies and standing firm.

De Blassio – Attacks Biden on NAFTA, which Biden concedes was not good for the country

TECHNOLOGY/JOBS

Bennet – By infrastructure and by stopping letting politicians profit from business deals. No more pork.

WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE (And it has become a battle royale and Biden is the belt holder being attacked)

Yang – We have to give women the economic freedom to make the changes that helps them by placing a dividend of $1000 a month in their hands.

Harris – Require corporations to pay an even wage or fine them. Enforce the Equal Pay Act. Women get pay paid 80 cents on the dollar, black women 61 cents, native american 58 cents and Latina women 53 cents on the dollar. I’m done with the conversation, I will fix it. (Front kick to the face of the other contenders and lays them out flat) (My mom and ex-wife are Latina, that hits home, literally, especially knowing that they are the smartest hard working people I know) Attacks Biden on the Hyde Amendment and flip flopping by withholding resources for poor women reproductive health care and for women of rape and incest. Harris has prosecuted rape and child molestation cases………

Gillibrand – It needs a broader conversation. Attacks Biden on past remarks that women belong at home. And here we go!!! On his remarks that women that work outside of the home causes the deterioration of the family, Gillibrand wants clarification.

Biden – Gillibrand’s remarks miscontsrued my stance. It was about giving families tax breaks. Gets defensive on the position and states that he is very pro woman (LOL, the current President says the same thing) and states that her attack is due to her Presidential run. And answers critique on the Hyde Amendment

Inslee – I have the largest pay increase for our teachers and for Nursing staffs in my state.

-The air has been sucked out of the room by the attacks on each other and the people clap less and the answers are less poignant. People came to be energized and got the little debate of horrors.

AFGHANISTAN/FOREIGN POLICY

Booker (A Rhodes Scholar) – I will not be the “Tweet and Commander” and run the country in the twitter office. It has created a dangerous situation. I won’t reveal my plan but will do it reasonably and privately, so we don’t endanger anyone

Gabbard – (The only veteran on stage) – We were all lied to, this was the betrayal. I will get our brothers in arms out of war zones and not engage in frivolous armed conflicts. The damage that these wars inflict on our military and their families is irreversible. (A crack of emotion peeking through from the very stern faced Gabbard) Thank you for your service!

Yang – Stop the never ending wars, bring people home, and invest those funds in our communities. Our alliances are sputtering due to the President’s erratic behavior.

Inslee – These decisions are judgement calls. I voted against the Iraqi war and this goes to my judgement.

Biden – I was wrong and misled and did make a bad judgement call for the Iraq invasion. I opposed the surge in Afghanistan.

MUELLER REPORT/ CHARGES AGAINST TRUMP

Harris – I would never direct the DOJ to do anything. No one is above the law.

Booker (A Rhodes Scholar) – We have a President that’s acting like an Authoritarian and he should be impeached.

Castro – I agree with Booker, I believe that he should be impeached, I would not direct the DOJ but any competent DOJ would seek criminal charges. Impeach, and let McConnell get him off the hook.

De Blassio – Impeachment is obvious but it must not consume us and we should work for helping families.

Bennet – Impeachment is secondary, the first business of order should be beating him for the office of President

CLOSING ARGUMENTS

“yadda, yadda, yadda, ADIOS” President Trump needs to be beaten (not physically, I’m hoping) at the election polls.

And then Yang speaks and he kills it. Mixing a little humor with wit and tough policies, while the whole time looking like an AI Bot.

Booker (A Rhodes Scholar) shares inspirational family story, nice.

A wealth of dotcom sharing

Harris takes a somber tone and recites her work as a prosecutor. Predators are cowards…. Yes they are….

Biden, a battle for the soul of America…. I agree.

Winners

Yang, Castro and Gillibrand and I liked Gabbard (Hawaii) oh yeah, Bennet, well done and Math… Math is a winner, Math won in that debate.

Losers

Biden and Harris and the democratic Party.

Personal Comments:

This was the wrong time to for the front runners to challenge each other because the herd will thin out, that’s when you attack the record of you opponent if it’s necessary. I literally was going to watch the excorcist so I can watch something that isn’t as brutal as this debate. I was not comforted by the front runners, I didn’t get that warm fuzzy feeling that they gave me last time. They have an uphill battle, but it might have been better to air that dirty laundry now then later.

The “establishment” pick lost the last election, the “establishment” pick has the biggest chance to lose this election. I said it in 2016 prior to Bernie losing the nomination, you don’t have to be a genius to see that in this election. The last two Presidents were not “establishment” picks. Maybe our next pick should be a computer geek, an author, a mayor or a cantankerous old Senator that is an independent… I’m telling you, the people want something new not an “establishment” player. And I’ll be honest, I’ll vote for who I think is best but if I don’t like either one, I’m not voting and I’m sure there are a lot of people who think like I do, and do you know why, because we think that……

                                                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

Opening Remarks

What I was looking for is a Vinny Bag of Donuts moment. For one person to reference the movie “My Cousin Vinny” and say “you remember the part where Vinny gets up and says … “everything these guys said is bullshit, thank you” and just let the next person go. I would vote for that person, it’s why they voted for Trump. By the time everyone was finished talking I couldn’t remember what the previous person said. I think that this formatting of allowing the candidates to speak at length in the beginning is “loco”, that’s Spanish for not functional. If I had to pick a person(s), Amy Klobuchar, because she is loud, even when she whispers and she said basically I don’t lose… in a rhyme and it stood out; and Bernie Sanders because he was the only one with inflection, you know, the opposite of monotone or at least he was the one with loudest inflection; Elizabeth Warren because she just did that direct attack towards the President; and Mayor Pete because he called Trump a cheat and that was a “did he just call Trump a cheat?” moment which makes me remember that he spoke even though I couldn’t tell you what else he said.

Health Insurance

Bernie doesn’t need a microphone, he is a microphone. I opened my window and heard him. What I heard from everyone is, to quote one of the candidates, “yadda, yadda, yadda”. If you can make a wall a national emergency, why can’t you make healthcare a national emergency? If people are dying like they say, wouldn’t that constitute a national emergency? If healthcare is causing economic distress, wouldn’t that be a good reason to declare a national emergency? I’m going to repeat my opinion, you have a NASA, make a MESS, Medicare for Everyone Stocked Solution, MESS. You might want to call it something else, the acronym might not work?? Even though it is definitely accurate right now. One private insurer, with no CEO, just managers. An independent agency that doesn’t answer to no one and can’t have their funds raided. The problem is that the monies are divided, therefore creating the problem we have. If everyone’s monies went into one independent agency, you could cover everything for everyone at a 100%  and maybe have something left over to buy a sandwich, maybe…. and at one easy rate dependent on your income and adding the corporation cost sharing the way they are doing it now. The problem with healthcare is that it’s split. you have too many companies that have a certain portion that are healthy and paying dues and certain portion that are sick and are paying dues and using their healthcare. If you pool all healthy people into one insurance company, with all people that require healthcare and get rid of the hundreds of millionaires that are in the healthcare business, you won’t have a system that can barely survive, you will have a system that will thrive. It’s all about pooling your resources into one non-profit system. Prove me wrong. It can be done, legally, but you need the grit, the resolution, the huevos… as us hispanics like to say. You have to have the mindset that this is as big as an existential crisis as climate change, that this, with a growing elderly society and diminishing younger society, isn’t an option but a must for our economic solvency… or we can just kill all the old people and keep the current system, but do one or the other. Maybe you can hypnotize people to do nursing home shootings instead of school shootings. This one goes to no one, just a bunch of bickering without a real solution, forced to pick someone, Sanders because my window was open.

Immigration

Criminalizing illegal immigration, lol. I heard a story, when the English/Spanish came over to the U.S. (don’t think that was the name at the time), there were a couple of Native Americans watching them land. The first guy says to the second guy “What do you think, should we criminalize illegal immigration?” the second guy said “Nah, they’re probably just visiting.” Take that any way you want. If you’re for criminalizing border crossing, you probably thinking that’s exactly why we should criminalize, who wants crazy Europeans coming over here and if you’re on the other side, you should be thinking how can we criminalize something that we did. I’m not saying just let everyone in, but walking past an imaginary line should be treated like…well, someone crossing an imaginary line. You just ask them to go back or you take them back, civil solution, maybe you can carpool, good for the environment. If they break any other law then you enforce that law. You keep border security in place and let the pieces fall where they may. It over burdens our system to try and convict anyone that crosses a line that you can only see on google maps. “Amor, did we cross the line”… husband looking at phone “I don’t know, I lost my connection” This one, Buttigieg, civil unless there’s a criminal element.

Gun Violence

Difficult topic. I am a firm believer of the second amendment. I am not a believer of why the amendment was first enacted, to stand against an oppressive and dictatorial government, that is no longer a viable reason. I do believe that you should be able to defend your home against anyone that wishes to do you or your family harm, if you are a hunter or even if you wish to do it for fun, i.e. target shooting. That being said, why would anyone need a fully auto M-16 that carries 30 round magazines? To look cool? Are you shooting a flock of geese in less then 5 seconds? We all heard of Bell’s Curve. 20 percent want to ban all guns while 20 percent believe you should have SAM’s (surface to air missiles) placed on your roof along with your solar panels, no doubt to power the SAM’s. We need a person that is right in the middle of those extremes, in the middle of the sane 60 percent. Someone with common sense. Then, when we find a weapon that doesn’t meet the restrictions, you change the law and allow people to sue the manufacturer, the gun dealer and anyone that is involved in bringing that gun or transforming that gun in this country.

Bernie Sanders/ Demo’s too far to the left

The guy is funny, smart and tough. He is so relevant that he is a sole topic of the debate. Do you think Sen. Sanders is too extreme? He isn’t. If you want to move a heavy object ten feet, you have to prepare like you want to move it 20 feet. Have lofty goals and smart implementation. No one expects you to move those twenty feet in one day, we all know you have to go foot by foot. But if you prepare for twenty feet and you only get those ten feet, you still did something good. Plus, when you negotiate with Congress, you want them to think that you want the world while the whole while knowing that you would settle for what’s best for the country and nothing less. Ask for twenty feet, settle for ten feet, and when they offer 9 feet, tell them you want 21 feet until you get that last foot.

Green New Deal/Climate Change

A lofty goal. We should reflect on JFK at this time, who, when referring to landing on the moon, a lofty goal at the time;

 “But why, some say, the Moon (New Green Deal)? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? (may not be relevant anymore) Why does Rice play Texas? (Do they still play them?)

We choose to go to the Moon (New Green Deal)! We choose to go to the Moon (New Green Deal)…We choose to go to the Moon (New Green Deal) in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win”…..

Huh, reading it out loud, minus my childish comments, it works.

I think all the candidates were right and they were animated and inspired and you can tell that they believed in this. Some were more measured and set goals that can be achieved while in their presidency if they get elected while others set goals that far outreached any term of service they could provide but seemed that they would haunt the next president if they fail to continue their progress. I support any measure that eliminates harming our planet. A huge issue that could sink their opponents.

A shout out. Hey, AOC, you have started a revolution. Trouble maker, lol. Good for you.

Infrastructure

Williamson tied infrastructure to racism. And it worked. Nice. (Better roads in the southern border so my family doesn’t have to walk through the dessert when, uhhh, “visiting”, that’s mine.)

Racism

O’Rourke… we’re great because of not despite of immigration.

Williamson made a solid argument for reparations. Well thought out. Well received.

Sanders provided a solution called the Thurgood Marshall Plan that would make sure that education, a good education, is provided to all, especially the distressed communities.

Economy

Congressman Ryan…. It’s China..They have a 100 year plan, a 50 year plan, a 30 year plan, a 20 year plan.. We live on a 24 news cycle. Holy Shit… If you don’t get elected you should definitely hold a cabinet post.

Sen. Warren… We have a Trade policy written by giant multi national corporations to help giant multi national corporations, they don’t have any loyalty to America, they are not patriots. Very Presidential.

O’Rourke… He is right, you need a united front with your allies to defeat China or at least to force them to give a fair paying wage to their people.

Sen Sanders… Sen. Warren is right and I support her, basically…. that’s new in these debates.

Student Loan

Had to use the bathroom, missed it, I’m sure it was a good one.

Foreign Policy (This is how I understood it)

LOLOL!!!! Question was how are you different from President Trump on foreign policy Sen. Sanders. -“Trump is a pathological liar, I tell the truth” He’s been the funniest candidate, mixing in that humor unwittingly and seemingly naturally while reaffirming his message of taking on big business strongly. We should not be the policeman of the world. I agree.

Dem Ryan – Don’t give dictators credibility and photo ops by meeting with them so they can just go and shoot of their missiles two weeks later. Cabinet post, if you don’t win.

Mayor Pete – No more endless wars. 3 year sunset on any foreign conflict that would have to be renewed by congress to continue. Radical idea that might work. We are all one, we are not a letter, R or D. How will history judge you, how will God judge you, maybe a jury should judge you.

Hickenlooper – You can’t just leave after you burn down their house. You have to rebuild that house or don’t destroy it in the first place. It’s a humanitarian issue. The women would be destroyed.

Sen Warren – You need a better exit strategies, before you enter.

Sen Klobuchar – We need the treaties, this is not a  race where the person that finishes first wins, If one person loses we all lose. We need to be a partnership in this world, not the sole survivor.

Ending Statement

Basically, in their opinion, Trump needs to be defeated. Makes sense, hopefully they’re not running in a two person race to come in second place.

I like Williamson, she is a long shot be she is telling how it is, how she think it is. They both might be the same, that’s for the voters to judge.

I think Klobuchar would make a really good President. She under performed a little but she gives me the feeling that she can do what she says she can do. She seems tough as nails.

Warren is ready made.

Mayor Pete seemed the most pragmatic. If he doesn’t win this one, he will definitely win the next one that he is in and I think we will be better for it. He should finish potty training before becomes President, get it, because he’s really young and inexperienced and still gets pimples on his forehead. I had to, Sanders is next.

Sanders is …. The father of this revolution. Maybe the American revolution, get it, because he’s old. A little ageism on my part but I think I’m voting for him, either him or whoever the Repub nominee is or whoever the Demo nominee is, but definitely one of the two. Plus, my son said that to me, that’s where I got it.

The ending statements should be kept and opening statements should be nixed.

Winner, Sanders, maybe? The democratic party, definitely.

 

As the most famous arbitrator of any kind of pugilism, from sports to politics once said, “Let’s Get It On” (The great Mills Lane), The DEMO debates are here and let’s start by saying that there are no neutral corners so if a knock down is scored, we’re going by 1900’s boxing standards which means that the person that just landed that political blow isn’t backing off and going to a neutral corner. That was never more evident when Sen. Harris put Biden on the ropes and landed some heavy shots, all above the belt as she made sure to say that she did not believe that Joe was a racist but done f’ed up in his decision and she was there to make sure he admitted it. Former VP Biden shouldn’t be surprised that he will be on the receiving end of some hay makers as he and Sen. Sanders are the front runners. For his part, he countered but not well enough. That’s 10-9 round for the Senator from California, who by the way has some very high quality political ring experience. And I quote, uhhh… and I surmise this is no time for a food fight, this is the time to put food on the table for working families. She had to have that prior because man, that was a show stopper and attention getter. A bolo punch from way outside that landed flush and the chin of her competitors. I think Sen. Harris might be latina because she sounded just like my ex-wife when we were still dating about who was going to get breakfast. If you read my blog you’ll note that I never won that argument and in this debate, sorry Joe but the phrase is can I please have huevos pericos con carne, because Joe, in that issue, Sen. Harris made you get breakfast.

The answers by the political combatants were mostly along party lines. They mostly agreed on everything, but differed on how to implement them. I like lofty goals but I prefer a realistic solution. I think we’re all tired of I’m going to do this and do that when you know there is no hope of it getting done, Sen. Sanders made that point at the end. There wasn’t much of that in this debate or at least I got the sense or I felt like these people could actually do what they were saying. They inspired me, they taught me something, they gave me hope, they gave me the warm and fuzzy feeling like that they could take care of us, as a nation. That’s good, so I kind of looked for the person that made me feel like that and was pragmatic. The one that knows this is no easy task but has that self confidence in themselves, the grit, the wherewithal to get the job done and the one knows when things aren’t working and know to find a different solution. I do want to note something.

In 2016, the Repub field was large because all expected that former Sec. Clinton would receive the nomination and they thought her vulnerable, so when Sen. Sanders almost pulled of that upset, the Repubs were biting their fingernails because they were witnessing a small revolution. Clinton ended up winning and what they predicted came to fruition. There are about the same number of Demo candidates, there is a reason for that. These people see a problem and feel that they can exploit something. This is going to be very interesting.

The topics of health insurance, which, in my opinion, all are getting it wrong, but I write a blog and eat Ramen Noodles, the spicy ones are great, so what do I know, but here is my opinion. I say don’t make the same mistake as Social Security. It had good intentions but when the government got in a pinch they raided the coffers. That’s exactly what will happen if you let the government run health insurance. If you go to government run healthcare, the money collected will eventually be diverted to other things or other fixes or tax cuts and it will get all f’ed up. The problem with health insurance is that CEO’s have yachts, (I got that from Sen Warren and good for her for pointing it out) I think they named the yacht “wouldn’t have this without breast cancer”, that’s wrong in so many ways. 27 million for a CEO, that’s about one thousand people that won’t get coverage for their life threatening disease. I say eliminate the CEO’s, keep the managers, and make the government oversight the CEO, and merge all the companies into one. Before you say that’s illegal, it’s a monopoly, since there will be no competition, no profit making, since our ailments will no longer make anyone a yacht owner, there is no monopoly… unless parker brothers becomes your health insurer. The money collected will be used solely for bettering health, the people that work there, work on a set wage and not bonuses, any left over money, if there is any, would be given as a rebate back to the people. A private business with no lobbying power only there to help people. Private medicare where the CEO, the President of the U.S., earns nothing. The biggest part is that the government won’t be able to dip their fingers into any of the money and the business won’t make a single dollar in profit. It will work the same way it works now except no 40 million dollar golden parachutes or exorbitant salaries. I mean, a golden parachute, wouldn’t they die in free fall, I would hope so.

I love the narrators, they were great, seriously but there is one question that made no sense. Would you pay for illegal immigrants health insurance? It baffled me for a second because my first thought was would you help a person on the street that gets hit by a car, or has a heart attack? or would you check their wallet first to make sure they can afford your help? You help because it is simply the right thing to do. You help because you are human and they are human. The question seemed like a gotcha question and the debaters were looking for the right way to address the question, respectfully, in a way that makes sense. I would have been admonished for my salty language. Hell yeah you help and address any issue, if it needs to be addressed, afterwards. It is important to note that it’s illegal to spend tax money on our illegal citizens. But a proper health care system, like the one mentioned above, would allow for hospitals to take care of any serious injuries to anyone and still profit. There is already a system put in place where people without health insurance still receive treatment, maybe not full on care, but enough to remedy the issue. Illegal citizens are just people without health insurance.

I loved the outrage of how illegal citizens were treated. This is going to a be big issue. A child should never fear anything. Mayor Buttigieg’s answer on the hypocrisy of helping people or lack thereof by a party that associates or bases there ideals on a man that did nothing but help people, that gave his life to help people, was amazing… What he did there was land 1, 2, 9, 3, 2, 1 combination. If you know boxing you know that was one hell of a shot combo. Sen Sanders took the pragmatic approach, the right approach, he said yeah and I’ll make sure that the situation won’t be needed because he will fix the problem in our back yard and address Honduras, El Salvador and Central America to make sure that their countries are no longer safe havens for the worst drug lords this world knows, bad people that keep good people in constant fear. As the greatest nation on this good earth, it is our duty to help when a country is run by the corner drug dealer. So after Mayor Pete landed his combo, Sen. Sanders said let me show how you do it, landed the pragmatic 1, 2 down the middle and got himself a 10-8 round.

All the debaters were really good but some did stand out. I also seen that some tried to interject humor. Some did really well and some sounded like me telling my son a knock knock joke, they got silence and stare that said please don’t do that again. I actually thought they were pretty funny but none as much as Rep. Swalwell who gave an earnest try at what I thought was a funny moment only to get the knock knock silence to which you can hear the Representative audibly get frustrated. It’s the delivery, that’s what my kid tells me, god bless his heart, it was funny, it’s just your delivery.

Joe, when they tell you to pass the torch, which is a great one liner, tell him, I definitely will, when I’m done with it. VP Biden is still a stalwart for and of the people. And he’s right, it’s not the NRA, it is the gun manufacturers. Don’t be fooled by the mouth piece, you have to know who really is doing the talking.

Sen. Sanders, the ever respectful hard nosed political icon, and he is, gets respect because people see that he deserves it. Sen. Sanders is “I’ll give you the mic when I’m done talking sir” democrat of this age. He should have been the nominee in 2016 and is still a very deserving nominee. BTW, he won the last 45 seconds.

Sen. Harris is charismatic and a gifted debater. She, as Sen Harris pointed out will be the proper pronoun for the next President, is formidable, strong, intelligent and gets you to go get breakfast, because SHE is busy fixing shit (sorry but that seemed to fit).

Mayor Buttigieg, I hope I’m getting that right, commands (which is a big deal because all he needs is the -er and chief behind that, I hope I don’t have to explain that) the stage and it seems that people are measuring their answers to his answer (except for Sanders). Mayor Pete served in a war, do you know how big of a deal that is? If you don’t, trying to explain it won’t help. Mayor Pete is a Rhodes Scholar, he speaks an ungodly amount of languages, which might come in handy with the foreign leaders on those side bars, and he is the EF Hutton of of these democrats. When he speaks, and I’m being very serious, everyone listens. I knew someone just like him, they call him 44, as in the 44th President of these United States (Obama was the 44th President right, I should look that up). Also the only person to take blame for an issue, stating “I couldn’t get it done”, a “the buck stops here” moment.

I do not think the other worthy debaters got the proper amount of time, that would be all of them. The one thing that these debaters taught me, in particular Harris and Sanders, is that the stock market is not a marker on how our economy is doing, it just means that big business is doing well. It felt like they sat me down and put a dunce cap on my head because that’s exactly how I was viewing it but seemingly I was wrong. I learned something or how do we say it now, I got schooled.

This is just a recap of the second debate.

The one thing I would like to add is that these questions shouldn’t be necessary. They should all have been answered by now. Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect, a butterfly flaps it’s wings in one place and it causes a hurricane in another. Well it doesn’t have to be just natural disasters, a person takes care of a person in one place and people are freed and made safe in another. It doesn’t have to be a negative connotation, it can be a positive one, it just depends who is leading the charge.

 

Every once in a while, I”ll take some of the NYT’s more interesting articles and post them. This one was ingenious. 18 Questions for 21 different candidates and see which answers best meet your way of thinking. The winners in my book  (in no particular order) and the reasons why were

Question 1 In an ideal world, would anyone own handguns?

Give this one to Buttigieg and Harris for a weird reason, for both noticing that in an ideal world, this question would not be necessary. Everyone else follows the cookie cutter answer but Harris and Buttigieg realized that the question was flawed in its premise, ideal worlds don’t need to be questioned. It actually takes a little smarts to realize that. They were the only two to kind of point it out. Mistakes people made, attacking the NRA because it just seems political, doesn’t seem like a practical solution. It’s like when the Repubs attack Planned Parenthood, they are doing it just because they don’t donate funds to their side.

Question 2 (A lot of words about healthcare)

This question was what Sanders has been saying since his hair was still dark and combed, just kidding, Sanders recognizes this to be a problem but none have the solution that I was looking for. If President Trump can declare illegal immigration a national emergency, why can’t the next President declare healthcare a national security issue? The answer I was looking for was cancer shouldn’t be profitable, it should be cured. The only way you do that is by taking profit away from insurance (not the pharmaceuticals or the hospitals or nurses, just the insurance companies). Make it a private monopolized company which would allow for strict government oversight and profit cap, no millionaires in the business, and since it would be just one company, they would not be allowed to lobby. A lot like NASA, but for healthcare. This would minimize how much you have to pay and maximize the amount of care.

Question 5 Who is your hero and why?

Lol, a lot of Oedipus Complex in these answers and a lot of love for their spouse or life partner. Abraham Lincoln, MLK and the Roosevelts were mentioned a lot. Some picked a Mexican freedom fighter and another Ms. Tubman of the underground railroad. The answer were quite genuine and heartfelt, differing from some of their other answers to other questions, these were more instinctive. I’m a fan of Lincoln, not only because he held the country together in one of it’s most turbulent times but because of how intelligent the President was. He figured out how to become his party’s nominee while being the least known candidate. He, like the Jeopardy champion, figured out the flaw in the process that could be exploited to win. That is a trait that maybe .0001% of the people on this planet have, and Lincoln showed why that trait was so important. It’s seeing the obscure as obvious. I’ll be looking for that in all candidates. It’s not about always having the right answer, it’s about knowing it when it presents itself.

Question 8 Something about illegal immigration being a problem.

The answer is….of course we don’t want illegal immigration, but the problem is not the U.S. or the immigrants that are obviously fleeing violence, it’s obviously the country they are coming from that has poor and corrupt leadership. Castro made a great analytical point about fixing the problem. Can’t be short sighted. Fix the country they are coming from and you fix illegal immigration. Then all immigration would be legal because all nations would be profitable. A Marshall Plan for Central and South America. That was a great answer. Can’t stop a hurricane by locking the door people, can only slow it down. What else, if building a wall didn’t work, building a bigger wall is just going to obstruct your view of it not working. I got some more, the definition of crazy is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. If none of the ditch digging, wall building, fence having avenues worked, then maybe we’re headed to crazy town unless we come up with a better solution, which is where Castro and Warren differed in all the answers.

Question 12 Do you support or oppose the death penalty?

What can I say, this almost went down party lines except for Bullock, (no relation to Sandra, I’m guessing) but the death penalty should be a personal choice. If someone is locked up for life and has no chance of parole and exhausted any and all remedy that they had to become a free person, if they choose to take the death penalty instead of living in 7 x 9 cell for the rest of their lives and because they hate the view of chimney smoke and because they cancelled GoT, then it should be their right to die. I think it less humane to cage a person for life then to let them have the option or choice to meet their maker. Oddly,  Dems are for abortion but against the option or choice of death penalty. Again, I think it should be the person’s choice, not the states.

Question 18 Does anyone deserve to be a billionaire?

LOL, sure, but their employees should be millionaires, and if they are millionaires, then their employees should hundred thousandaires, and so on. That’s how equality works, it isn’t trickle down economics, it’s wide open spout guaranteed wages.

My favorites were (in no particular order) Sanders, Harris, Buttigieg, Castro, Warren and Klobuchar. I really wanted to root for Gabbard but her answers were short and to the point but not in-depth, nothing really stood out. Booker was to emotional, he needs to let the Jersey out, he seems too caring (that sounds wrong but you know what I mean). Beto seems to be looking for the answer that you want to hear, sorry man, just seems that way. I liked Gillibrand but she almost seemed a little indecisive. Still a little early to tell.

Here is the big point. None were that funny, not that it matters a lot, being funny, maybe Buttigieg, but Trump is hilarious even if our politics sometimes don’t mesh and he can captivate. I wrote a post about a freshman congresswoman, Abigail Spanberger, and the NYT had interviewed her. Spanberger beat a good ol’ boy in his backyard that was dominated by good ol’ boy politics. She did it by being forceful, honest and ….. listen to the interview, funny or not scared of trying to be a little light hearted. The best thing, just a trick, self deprecating humor, works all the time. Don’t be afraid to point out some of your faults, if you don’t, President Trump will definitely do it for you, so you might as well beat him to the punch. Oh, by the way, you know who won with a little self deprecation in between powerful speeches, if you don’t, then why did you list him as one of your heroes. #16.

Maybe we can make a replica of this border wall on our southern border. It actually has an understated beauty and millions of people visit it each year. They make money off of this border wall and it’s a national attraction, in China, nonetheless, it’s a tourist attraction. The funny thing is that the government is fighting over essentially what is currently in place and the combatants have all, one time or another, voted in favor of placing, repairing or replacing the exact same thing that they are arguing about. It wasn’t immoral in 2010, why would it be now? Why would you want to tear down an existing barrier and replace it with another barrier that would be just as effective or ineffective, however you glass full option points you toward. People are going hungry folks. Just replace the parts that are in need. Use the other part of the funding for more sophisticated methods, like building a real life Spiderman that will catch the drug dealers in his web, lol, we’re not there yet. Compromise is good for the soul, it also will put food on the table for many. These people will not be alright if you prolong this. They will not be ok. It’s difficult buying food without money. I know.

Be consistent in how you vote or how you represent the people. It’s not your view you are representing, it’s your constituents. While I get it, we all get upset at the person in charge, you want to maintain your principles and your representative views. If you decided prior to update, replace, or fix the barrier where it wasn’t effective or it was dilapidated, then stick to that. You shouldn’t change your views as the person who heads the Oval Office changes. The American people are looking for consistency and efficiency. There will be items where you will disagree and then you can stick to those principles and your constituents will thank you for it. But if you had already decided that you weren’t going to just build a whole brand new wall, which I think is a waste of money, then stick to that.

Update: Both sides have made their case, I still remain confused. Is it the money being spent that they object to or is it that it will be 30 feet tall, not that 30 feet will make that much of a difference. I agree that stopping people that feed off of other people’s misery for a profit is a must, i.e. people and drug smugglers and anyone else and I guess people that throw temper tantrums… maybe, but I don’t quite know where they disagree? It was too general of an argument from both sides to see what is holding back a compromise. The President is a better speaker when he is extemporaneous, Pelosi seemed like she was resolute, Schumer is from New York and after reviewing his argument, it seems that they both believe in effective border security and the problem is what they believe would be effective measures. I say open the government for two months on the agreement that they will come to an agreement and work towards a compromise. Illegal citizens make up less than 1% of crime statistics, so if the argument is, they’re just coming here to commit heinous crimes, then that might not be enough to sway reasonable people. It seems to me, that since this is how they support their families abroad, committing crimes would be counter intuitive to their needs and goals. I do agree though on stopping smugglers. I hate to say this, it generally isn’t people that just immigrated that take this country for granted, it usually is people that have enjoyed it’s freedoms for a lifetime. We don’t know how good we have it because we don’t know how bad we can have it. I leaned towards the Dems argument which seemed to be a more grounded argument. That being said, we should have permanently disturbed any drug smuggling coming over the border by now and with that being said, most drugs come by air, sea and even underground (tunnels) then it comes through land that is not a port of entry, so unless we can make the wall go 30 feet under the dirt, float on water or levitate, it will have hardly any impact on drug smuggling. I think an honest assessment of the southern border should be done and IF there is any sections that actually need a barrier rebuilt, then I think it would be a good idea to allow the campaign promise to become realized, because increasingly, it almost seems it’s about full filling a campaign promise against not allowing that campaign promise be realized.

Maybe we can make a replica of this border wall on our southern border. It actually has an understated beauty and millions of people visit it each year. They make money off of this border wall and it’s a national attraction, in China, nonetheless, it’s a tourist attraction. The funny thing is that the government is fighting over essentially what is currently in place and the combatants have all, one time or another, voted in favor of placing, repairing or replacing the exact same thing that they are arguing about. It wasn’t immoral in 2010, why would it be now? Why would you want to tear down an existing barrier and replace it with another barrier that would be just as effective or ineffective, however you glass full option points you toward. People are going hungry folks. Just replace the parts that are in need. Use the other part of the funding for more sophisticated methods, like building a real life Spiderman that will catch the drug dealers in his web, lol, we’re not there yet. Compromise is good for the soul, it also will put food on the table for many. These people will not be alright if you prolong this. They will not be ok. It’s difficult buying food without money. I know.

Be consistent in how you vote or how you represent the people. It’s not your view you are representing, it’s your constituents. While I get it, we all get upset at the person in charge, you want to maintain your principles and your representative views. If you decided prior to update, replace, or fix the barrier where it wasn’t effective or it was dilapidated, then stick to that. You shouldn’t change your views as the person who heads the Oval Office changes. The American people are looking for consistency and efficiency. There will be items where you will disagree and then you can stick to those principles and your constituents will thank you for it. But if you had already decided that you weren’t going to just build a whole brand new wall, which I think is a waste of money, then stick to that.

I can smell it. I can see it coming. It’s not all that strange of a story. People are foaming at the mouth at the chance of challenging President Trump for the Oval Office and they are going to make a crucial mistake, over confidence. While President Trump’s style of tit for tat makes him vulnerable, he has made some in roads that other presidents have refused to address. Trump has renegotiated several pacts, all the free trade pacts, and tackled China when no one would even try. He has also cracked down on illegal immigration, albeit I liked the old way better, but that plays strongly into his base and even leaks to some moderate lefties. He is getting us out of costly wars and the stock market seems to have no ceiling. People might disagree with his New York attitude towards civility, basically meaning civility is for the dinner table and no where else (please pass the potatoes), but that might not be enough to dethrone the king. He does have some weak points, climate change and immigration and the Russia debacle, but will that be enough to oust him in a robust economy? I don’t know that it will be. I will say though, if someone had stolen his phone or changed his password on twitter a long time ago, he would have a way better chance of getting re-elected.

There is one person that can definitely beat him, and it isn’t Joe Biden, sorry Joe, can’t call you a guarantee, bu there is one….. There’s always one.

I have wrote about who I think has the best shot for the Democrats. If one of those people get selected, they’re going to need the right running mate. We all know how important good running mates can be, they can make or break your candidacy. For some candidates, the right running mate is vital, Sen. Harris, and for some they have some leeway, Sen. Sanders. I have my opinions,

Rep. Gabbard – Since she is a frog’s hair from being a Repub, which I like, her choice should be a person with experience, a little older and someone with whom the voters can relate. Tom Steyer comes to mind. Billionaire Dem who had political ambitions but never really put himself in. This might be the perfect opportunity for a grand entrance.

Sen. Harris – Since she comes from the most liberal State in the union, her challenges are going to be to win over some red states or even purple states. She would need someone to the right of her that can appeal to those states that are teetering at the fulcrum of red and blue. The person I have in mind would likely not be her choice but she needs a Repub turned independent. A person that shares most of her views especially on immigration, Former Senator Jeff Flake or Beto O’Rourke, a Dem from a red state. It’s an out of the box choice but one that will work out well.

Sen Gillibrand – Since she comes from NY, the toughest state in the country (by reputation), then she might want to keep that trend. If Sen Booker does not get the nod in the primaries, he would be a perfect fit for Sen. Gillibrand. Smart, born in D.C, went to college in California, represents NJ.

Sen. Sanders – If Bernie gets the nod, his running mate is easy. He has to pick a woman that’s tough, can pull in Repubs, and can handle a debate. Two women come to mind, Rep. Gabbard if she doesn’t get the nod or Rep Abigail Spanberger that just won in a red district. Both of these women have some amazing background stories that can  and will guarantee his victory.