Part II, GOP Candidates Argue Like A Talk Show Over Immigration, Reagan
If you want to skip to:
On
Immigration,
On Ronald
Reagan, The Crazy
Daytime Talk Show
ON
IMMIGRATION Back to Top
Vandehei asks a reader-submitted question, "In
order to curb illegal immigration, do you support making changes in the
law that would give citizenship only to children who are born to parents
who are legally in this country at the time [of birth]?"
Huckabee says, "I think the Supreme Court
has already ruled on that. The real issue is, that doesn't fix the
problem. What we've got to do is have a secure border fence,
something I have proposed that we do within 18 months of taking
office."
Romney
says, "My plan is this, which is
for those that have come here illegally and are here illegally today, no
amnesty...we're going to send you back home immediately...For those that
have been here, let's say, five years, and have kids in school, you
allow kids to complete the school year, you allow people to make their
arrangements." He gives the "no special pathway, no special deal"
mantra for those who are already here illegally, with regard to applying
for citizenship.
McCain
says, "The people want the border secured first. And so to say
that that would come to the floor of the Senate - it won't. We went
through various amendments which prevented that [in McCain's
2006] proposal. But, look, we're all in agreement as to what
we need to do. Everybody knows it. We can fight some more about it,
about who wanted this or who wanted that. But the fact is, we all know
the American people want the border secured first."
Anderson Cooper
asks, "So I just want to confirm that you would not vote for your bill
as it originally was?" McCain's response: "My bill will not
be voted on; it will not be voted on. I will sit and work with
Democrats and Republicans and all the people."
On a
non-bill? Yes, just what we need - another administration that
abuses the authority of the Presidency by creating agenda's without the
proper voting structure designed to prevent that.
Argh!!
Congressman Paul is not given this question at
all.
ON RONALD
REAGAN Back to Top
This is what we find
the most ironic of this debate. The four candidates left were
standing in the Ronald Reagan's Library on California soil. They
were asked multiple questions with Ronald Reagan references, in obvious
Reagan tribute, where the former U.S. President was once Governor, and
where he passed away at the age of 93 In June, 2004.
What is ironic to us, is
that the one candidate on that Ronald Reagan Library, the one who was
most ignored throughout the debate, Congressman Ron Paul, was a friend of Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan
campaigned for Ron Paul, the only one he'd
campaigned for of the four remaining Republican candidates.
And Anderson Cooper
actually had the audacity to ask these candidates whom, of them, Ronald
Reagan would endorse, were he alive today.
Historically ignorant, and shameless CNN is.
Cooper: "Would
Ronald Reagan endorse you?"
Romney
says, "Absolutely [he would]. Ronald Regan would look at
the issues that are being debated right here and say, one, we're going
to win in Iraq, and I'm not going to walk out of Iraq until we win in
Iraq. Ronald Reagan would say lower taxes. Ronald Reagan
would say lower spending. Ronald Reagan would - is pro-life.
He would also say I want to have an amendment to protect marriage.
Ronald Reagan would say, as I do, that Washington is broken. And
like Ronald Reagan, I'd go to Washington...Ronald Reagan would say yes,
let's drill in ANWR. Ronald Reagan would say, no way are we going
to have amnesty again. Ronald Reagan..."
Did Mitt Romney ever meet Ronald Reagan? We find no evidence
to suggest that he has. If so, please send it our way.
Otherwise...we have no idea how he could have had the gall to speak on
behalf of a dead President, unless he was holding a séance. In
which case, there should have been a disclaimer.
McCain uses this question to dig on
Romney, saying, "Ronald Reagan would not approve of someone who changes
their positions depending on what the year is. Ronald
Reagan...came with an unshakable set of principles, and there were many
times, like when he had to deploy the cruise missile to Europe and there
were hundreds of thousands of demonstrators against it, he stood with
it. Ronald Reagan had a deal in Reykjavik that everybody wanted
him to take, but he stuck with his principles. I think he knows
that I stick with my principles."
So, not really a direct answer, but leads you to
believe it's a yes.
Paul: I
supported Ronald Reagan in 1976, and there were only four members of
Congress that did that. And also in 1980. Ronald Reagan came
and campaigned for me in 1978. I'm not sure exactly what he would
do right now, but I do know that he was very sympathetic to the gold
standard, and he told me personally that 'no great nation that went off
the gold standard ever remained great.' And he was very, very
serious about that.
"So
he had a sound understanding about monetary policy. And for that
reason, I would say look into Ronald Reagan's ideas on money, because he
too, was concerned about runaway inflation and what it does to a country
when you ruin the currency. And that's what's happening
today. The dollar is going down and our country is going to be on
the ropes if we don't reverse that trend." That was all Paul was
allowed to say about the man he knew so well, whose memory he so greatly
respects.
Huckabee says, "I'm not going to come to
the Reagan Library and say anything about Ronald Reagan's
decisions. I'm not that stupid. If I was, I'd have no
business being President." This gets a chuckle from the audience
earlier in the debate, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was
in the studio and later chatted with Huckabee after the debate.
"I think it would be
incredibly presumptuous and even arrogant for me to try to suggest what
Ronald Reagan would do, that he would endorse any of us against the
others." Thank you!! "Let me just say this, I'm not going to
pretend he would endorse me. I wish he would endorse me. I
wish he would. I would love that, but I endorse him."
THE CRAZY DAYTIME TALK
SHOW Back to Top
Now, things get sticky. McCain and Romney begin debating over a quote that
Romney once gave about needing a series of "timetables and milestones"
for the war, while U.S. soldiers were "wait[ing] in the weeds."
Romney insists McCain took this old quote out of context; McCain insists
"timetable" was a buzzword for withdrawal and Romney used it
purposely.
The two
begin arguing back and forth amongst each other like afore-mentioned
trashy daytime talk show (or perhaps even the season finale of VH1's I Love New York 2). Who said what, why Romney refused to weigh in on the
troop surge just months before he announced his bid for
presidency. This all goes on for a seemingly endless span of time
- with nothing accomplished - until finally, oddly, Vandehei suddenly
ends it with a question for Ron Paul about whether or not he agrees with
McCain's statement that we may be in Iraq for as long as 100
years.
We kid you not - this went on
f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Just those two. McCain and Romney, McCain and
Romney, both saying not much of anything except meaningless details of
who said what and what Romney thinks of McCain, and what McCain thinks
of Romney. And when we say a trashy daytime TV show, we most
certainly
do not mean an interesting
one. Consult the full transcript if you don't believe us.
CNN - yes, John McCain is
an American hero. There is no denying the amazing service he gave
for this country. Yes, Mitt Romney is sexy and has good hair for TV and
can talk faster than you can think. This does not mean you
cannot interrupt them.
That was utter bias, it was not right, and it is
why we wonder if
Goldman Sachs has more of a hand in this election than they really
should. Is that the kind of message you want CNN to present in a
nationally televised debate?
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