Maybe they don’t understand the definition of the word debate. Last night’s GOP faux-debate was about national security. The nine candidates were supposed to convey ideas about how to defeat terrorism. Their ‘ideas’ were mostly based on falsehoods, and there was no debate. They did not offer counter measures to their opponents, they once again attacked each other’s ideas. To put it bluntly, they made fools of themselves. Not one of them discussed diplomacy, obviously they’ve never heard the word. None of them mentioned the agreement yesterday by 34 Arab, Muslim, nations to join forces and defeat ISIS.

Trump openly stated that he would violate the first amendment and bar all Muslims from our nation. He also claimed that the mother of the cowardly man who murdered innocent men and women in San Bernardino had advance knowledge of the attack. There is absolutely no proof of this allegation. He also stated that he would shut down the internet.

Jeb Bush attacked Trump regarding his opposing statements regarding ISIS. Recently Trump said that he would “bomb the f**k out of them.” On September 28^th he said that ISIS was not our fight; he said that Assad and Russia should join together and destroy them. This was a half-truth, but Bush is desperate.

Ted Cruz continued his pattern of blatant lies. In an effort to demean Marco Rubio, he attacked the junior Senator from Florida for his involvement with the ‘gang of eight’ in 2013. The Senate committee presented a bi-partisan agreement to reform immigration, including a path to legal residence. Cruz falsely claimed that there would not be comprehensive background checks. He lied once again when he said that the Director of the FBI claimed that the United States ‘could not vet potential Syrian refugees.’ Neither of these contained any semblance of truth.

Rand Paul also attacked Rubio wrongfully stating that Rubio had an “open door policy” on immigration. (Notice the trend here?)

Rubio and Cruz disagreed over the ‘USA Freedom Act,’ and the ‘Patriot Act.’ Neither of them admitted that both measures violated sections of the fourth amendment.

I can’t omit Rick Santorum from the path of misdirection, although he was not invited to the main stage. This religious extremist claimed that Muslim immigration to the United States has doubled since 9/11. The fact is that his timing is fallacious. The immigration of Muslims doubled between 1992 and 2012.

So you get the picture; a small and insignificant battle occurred between the presidential wannabees; there was no debate. America needs an intelligent and experienced president to lead our nation. Not one of the GOP hopefuls presented proof that they were qualified to live in the White House.

To be honest, I was embarrassed for all nine engaging in the circus Tuesday evening. No one offered a viable solution to fighting terrorism or reforming our immigration policy. Several statements by the candidates aligned themselves with the President’s policies, which have been highly criticized by Trump, Cruz, Bush, and others.

So, who won the debate? If it wasn’t a debate, and it wasn’t, no winner can be declared. I felt that Cruz and Bush harmed themselves with half-truths and lies. Christie took advantage to improve public opinion, but exaggerated the danger to our nation from ISIS. His statements about Russia revealed his penchant for war. Paul proved that he is finished, and should focus on his reelection to the Senate. Ben Carson was non-existent. Rubio was aided by attacks from Cruz and Paul. Donald Trump continued to speak from a ‘position of power,’ and is why he has the most support among lower income GOP voters.

Tuesday night simply proved that the GOP is in disarray. Since 2010 the party began to experience an obvious division, and there were no leaders to control its implosion.

Donald Trump has been the beneficiary of a broken GOP. His supporters are less enamored with Trump, and more disgusted with the others. Last night changed nothing; it simply reinforced the fact that the end of the GOP is not far away.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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Photo Courtesy of DonkeyHotey

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