Republican debate live updates: GOP primary candidates take stage − without Donald Trump

My favorite part is how they keep talking about how dangerous China is, then they keep showing tik Tok ads
- Fuckin A right, the limits of hypocrisy know no bounds

“We need education in this country, not indoctrination in this country,” Ron DeSantis said.
Says the one who is at the forefront of indoctrination in schools.
- No, ya see, indoctrination is when we tell kids to respect one another's differences and teach them all about the world. An education is when we teach them "America rules" so they become good little worker drones without complaints. /s

Can we talk about how most of them are arguing against education??
- It's active hostility to higher education from those on the right, because once you're college educated, you tend to be more left leaning.
  https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/04/26/a-wider-ideological-gap-between-more-and-less-educated-adults/
  "Highly educated adults – particularly those who have attended graduate school – are far more likely than those with less education to take predominantly liberal positions across a range of political values. And these differences have increased over the past two decades.
  More than half of those with postgraduate experience (54%) have either consistently liberal political values (31%) or mostly liberal values (23%), based on an analysis of their opinions about the role and performance of government, social issues, the environment and other topics. Fewer than half as many postgrads – roughly 12% of the public in 2015– have either consistently conservative (10%) or mostly conservative (14%) values. About one-in-five (22%) express a mix of liberal and conservative opinions."
  
  If companies in Republican states didn't attract tons of out of state workers, the companies would have to leave. The GOP has killed their supporters' prospects of jobs when you increasingly need more education and training in today's world.
  And Republicans aren't even satisfied with that. Their abortion bans and attacks on LGBT people are making workers reticent to hire onto companies that want them to work in red states.
- Y, tho? That’s been their thing. Keep people poor & dumb.

"Drill, frack, burn coal and pursue nuclear."
Oy.
- I'm donating to the Biden campaign in honor of the Republicans climate positions
- I always hate when nuclear is dumped in with fossil fuels.
  The fossil fuel industry has been hamstringing nuclear since the 50s. (the Rockefeller Foundation did some "research" on the safe doses of radiation in the 50s, and then lied and said that there was no safe dose, even though we all swim through a safe dose every day of our lives).
  Oil money has then paid for anti-nuclear regulation that makes it almost impossible to build a plant on time and on budget, while also being the wrong regulation to actually make nuclear as safe as it can be.
  As an advocate for nuclear power, it's maddening to see these fossil fuel tactics work time and time again.
  Hell, the fossil fuel industry also helped twist the environmentalist movement against nuclear. The Rockefeller foundation helped found Greenpeace, and kept the money flowing for decades with the requirement that Greenpeace fight against nuclear power. Friends of the Earth was directly founded by a West Coast Oil Baron for the express purpose of being an anti-nuclear alternative to the (at the time) pro-nuclear Sierra Club.
  All because these ghouls wanted to make just a little more money from Peaker Plants (which are legally allowed to charge exorbitant fees for "emergency" power production)
  The current US grid has more Peaker Plants than ever, all because of the fact that wind and solar are intermittent, and yet have priority on the grid. Base load plants don't handle unplanned changes in power demand well. Peaker Plants become the only option. So either methane or some sort of oil based fuel.
  
  Nuclear is the only thing that has a prayer of stopping climate change. It's the only way we can produce clean energy at the scale we need.
  
  Rockefeller has a lot to answet for.
- Well the nuclear part is right so at least there's that.
  
  Conservatives push for nuclear, not because they actually want it, but because they are hoping to create a big political shitfight that will take years to resolve. It's a delay tactic, allowing fossil fuels to continue to be profitable for as long as possible.
  
  Yada yada broken clock yada yada

"I want to see how people conduct themselves" says the voter whose top choices are Donald Trump and Ronald DeSantis.

Holy shit! This is clown shoes. As expected, but seriously wow.
- This is clown shoes plus the honking horn and squirting flower...
  "After I gave myself to Jesus Christ ..."
  Sadly, Nikki Haley looks sane, and that is baffling to me ...
  Also, how is this being run like an NFL game??
  
  Same here. Finding myself agreeing with Nikki Haley for a moment there made me realize how far right they’ve gone. I know it’s the republican primary, but… sheesh
  
  Also, how is this being run like an NFL game??
  Mostly for the advertisements.

"Consensus is the opposite of leadership" eeesh Mike. So if 60% of America agrees, the leaderlike thing to do is argue with them?
- It does seem to be a very undemocratic statement, doesn't it? Par for the GOP course.
- This is the one, rare instance where I'll agree with Pence to a point.
  Democracy can be cruel to the minority, and creating an equitable society built on freedom and justice means that sometimes, you have to listen to 60% of the people demanding something and then say "no." Leaders lead their people to where they should be, living by example and making persuasive arguments. Leaders also compromise and build consensus, and great leaders recognize that sometimes they don't get to have it their way. We should choose leaders we trust to make those judgement calls.
  The problem with that is that Pence is not anywhere on the list of people with the qualities or integrity to be trusted to make decisions. Pence is the sort of guy to order pizza for a group and get four white pizzas with olives because he likes olives and sauce is sinful.

"Its not just drugging people up with Zoloft and Seroquel"
What.
The.
Actual.
Fuck.
- Suspiciously specific denial is suspicious.

Ramaswamy is a used car salesman. I wouldn't put money on him actually believing any particular statement that left his mouth. Absolute grifter.
- "We are paying single women not to have a man im the house..."
  Jfc.
  Yes, please, just pair us all up per government sorting.
- Perfect for the Republican Party then.
- So, like, a republican?
- They all are because they know their audience
- He has to be a Trojan horse, right? He nearly took over the entire "debate."

I don’t know what I expected, but somehow the “debate” is worse than that.

I especially liked the part where Desantis froze and needed to reboot before giving his closing statement.
- Just awaiting instructions from the Borg queen.
- And he gave us his best Uncanny Valley Terminator smile!

"The elephant not in the room"
Oh, ffs.
- I’m not watching the debate. Was that someone slamming Christie?
  
  Not watching either, I'm sure there's plenty of Christie slamming, but willing to bet that's a reference to Trump. It's got a bit of a double meaning as he has the majority of the party's support, and the Republican mascot is the elephant.
  
  Surprisingly, no.

Fentanyl is ultimately coming from China. Can we stop blaming Mexico?
- Christie spitting facts.
  Weird.
- Well, China is supplying it South of the border.
  The big dealers in Portland are all Honduran.
  
  I mean, cut off the source, the distributors have nothing to distribute.

Freaking Pence thinks he's on a pulpit.
- Have you met Republicans? He's trying to be what they want.
- Homie genuinely believes in Noah’s Ark and all that magic shit.
- Pence was on a pulpit, and he condemned Trump to the court system from it.

Vivek "drill, frack, burn coal" Ramalamadingdong. I'm having flashbacks to that dipshit Palin and her drill baby drill battle screech.
- He's a piece of shit, but calling Ramaswamy "Ramalamadingdong" is pretty gross to me.
  
  Exactly! That title belongs to Mr. M. Night Shamalamadingdong!
  
  Out of curiosity, why?

You could replace all of them with animatronics controlled by ChatGPT, and no one would know!
- They would, because the replies would be smarter.
  
  One of them literally said Vivek was a cgpt.

That whole top row in the thumbnail is going nowhere.
For various Republican reasons.
- I don't see anyone in the debate going anywhere unless Trump is forcibly removed from consideration.
  
  A very weak field
- Except Denumbnuts. He's probably going to be the nominnee.

Bunch of ass-clowns.
- I had to turn it off when they did the thing about Bidenomics. Fox News really sucks, and I had forgotten how much.

They want to invade Mexico, wtf?