Freak Show 2011...sigh...

F R O N T   R U N N E R S :

HERMAN CAIN:  "I positively do not remember that woman!!  I also do not remember most other things either..."

Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky seems quite innocent in comparison to Sharon Bialek's claim (backed up by her former boyfriend) that Herman Cain not only made crude sexual advances to her but also implied that sex was a prerequisite for a job.  The saddest part of this is that--despite similar claims from and legal awards given to several other women who filed suit--the Republican party does not seem to care about this moral failing.  In addition, Cain appears clueless on practically every political or foreign relations subject.  For instance, Cain stated that "China is “trying to develop nuclear capability"--something they've actually had for 45 years.  This is only one of many, many embarrassing (and even scary) gaffs that make him sound less intelligent and informed on current events than a 5th grader.  Cain claims that Democrats have brainwashed 80% of the American people, and that he "feels like Moses".  When he can't answer a simple current events question, he makes the excuse that he has "all these things swirling around in my head."
 

NEWT GINGRICH:  "I just won't go away!!  (Except when I'm on a luxury cruise with my latest wifey.)"

Newt has apparently made family values a core platform plank, knowing that this will naturally strike a chord with most of his constituency.  Yet, consider this:  Newt dumped his cancer-stricken 1st wife. When his pastor criticized him for not supporting his two kids, he left the church. Newt dumped his 2nd wife after cheating on her with the Congressional aide who is now his 3rd wife. The scandal sidelined Newt in 2008.  And Newt's latest wife?  Based on the latest reports, it appears that she'll stay married to him during his run for the presidency now that he's given her a million dollar necklace and a cruise among the Greek Islands.  Shifting to the financial side:  Newt Gingrich's consulting firm received between $1.6 million and $1.8 million from Freddie Mac.  (At first it was only $300,000.)   Newt claims it wasn't lobbying but "historical and financial advice".  He claims he was not a Washington insider.  Two Freddie Mac sources who worked at Freddie Mac in 2006 claim otherwise.  They said Gingrich was hired to help Freddie Mac build alliances on Capitol Hill, and to burnish Freddie Mac's reputation. They said he also met with donors to the company's political action committee.  Most people have long forgotten that Gingrich was censored for ethics violations by a near unanimous House of Representatives when he was Speaker of the House, and payed a $300,000 fine.


RICK PERRY:   "Hyuckity yuck.................................heh heh..............................oops."
Rick Perry promised to eliminate 3 federal agancies--the department of education, commerce and energy.  (He couldn't even remember the third one.)  Aside from this painful gaffe, what does Perry really want to do?  Is he proposing to dump the already woefully underfunded U.S. Patent office, or the agency that protects U.S. nuclear weapons from accidents or terrorist attacks, or all of the dozens of other sub-agencies?  Which parts of these agencies does he want to eliminate?  Assuming he can't even remember a sound bite consisting of the names of three government agencies, do we expect him to have seriously analyzed this?  These and many other political gaffes have stoked the common perception that Perry--like Cain--is too dumb to be president.  Of course, there are other issues such as "camp niggerhead", his infamous debate with Romney, his speech while inebriated, his physical attack on Ron Paul, etc.

MICHELLE BACHMAN:  "Either you're for the U.S., or you're not!  We need an investigation!"

Michelle Bachman's gaffes are also numerous, and in this case, intentional.  If the other candidates are accused of being stupid, Bachman is accused of being just plain crazy, or alternatively, the Senator McCarthy of 2011.  Bachman's signing of a declaration that implies Blacks were better off under slavery is just one example of her poor judgment; another was her statement implying that the HPV vaccine caused mental retardation.  The list goes on...and on.  Like many of the Republican candidates, Bachman's all-too-frequent "Gospel of Capitalism" assertions (eerily in the vein of "Atlas Shrugged" by the atheist Ayn Rand) makes one doubt whether her version of Christianity is one's own.  Bachman frequently points to recent natural disasters as being messages from God to Washington, and soon after such a comment, her press secretary does damage control by quickly telling the press it was just a joke.  Bachman frequently indicates that her decisions (such as running for president) are all personally approved by God.
  

MITT ROMNEY:  "Lets put your SS and Medicare money in the stock market, and let's pay those CEO's more money!  I know all about business!"

Mitt Romney is probably the least radical and least crazy--and the most intelligent--of the Republican candidates, with the possible exception of John Huntsman.  Romney's gaffes are less bizarre than those of most of the other candidates.  He is in the enviable position of being able to watch his Republican challengers make fools out of themselves while he attempts to look presidential.  Romney is a Morman who has made $250 million on Wall Street.  In his consulting work at Bain Capital, he played a real part in the trend towards out sized CEO salaries and stock options, not to mention an emphasis on shareholder value above all else.  Some would say that he did not create jobs while at Bain Capital; instead, as a private equaty firm, he bought companies, eliminated jobs to make the bottom line look better, dressed them up nicely to resell, and dumped them for a fat profit.  Romney wants to partially privatize Social Security and Medicare--something that will undoubtedly make Wall Street love him even more.  The wall street elite are now bankrolling his run for the presidency against Obama.  Romney knows business, and he's a problem solver in this respect--definitely a good thing.  The real question is, will he take the country in the right direction?  I.e., will he work to re-ignite the American dream or will he further increase the class warfare that's starting to manifest itself as a result of burgeoning income inequality?

A L S O    R A N S :

RON PAUL:  "I'm the most sensible sounding candidate, except when I say that all government should be abolished."

Ron is a well-meaning, elder statesman, whose sincerity seems like a breath of fresh air compared to the other candidates.  However, he unfortunately happens to be an anarchist--no public schools, no police, no anything, all private competition, competing according to their own rules. In this way, he is similar to Marx or Nietzsche, who proposed their own "good-sounding" ideas of communism or Nazism that nevertheless turned out to be disastrous in the real world.  Trouble is, in Ron's case, the world has already experienced many violent upheavals and subsequent "dark ages" that served to prove just how well anarchy works in real life.  No need for more experiments here.  We also already know what de-regulation did for Wall Street--and deregulation is only partial anarchy.  My personal observation is Ron's most avid followers tend to be naive and know little about history.  To be fair, Ron does often has good, sane ideas on such things as foreign policy that deserve a healthy debate.  However, one or two disastrous ideas is still a disaster, even if it is mixed with other very good ideas.  Perhaps this is why Ron is getting the silent treatment from the media.
  

RICK SANTORUM:  "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most radical conservative of all?"

I shouldn't waste too much time on this guy, since he's not one of the front runners, but I can't resist talking about a wacko.  Based on his NWS bill, he appears to be a "paid lobbyist" posing as a congressman.  His flap with the school board over refusing to pay $100,000 based on residency issues also begs the question of his honesty.  He also believes that "schools indoctrinate our children to like Obama and Socialism."  Santorum's voting record puts him on the extreme right, as he competes for the "more conservative than thou" distinction.  Rick accused Romney of being more liberal than Obama, accused Herman Cain of being "pro-choice", and accused Rick Perry of being soft on illegal immigrants.  In the category of saying one thing and doing another, he presented an ill-timed award to Jerry Sandusky.  Rick also gets his own award for being the biggest whining professional victim.  If you want to identify the worst, most brutal leaders in history, these are the ones with the most paranoia.

I N V I S I B L E   C A N D I D A T E S :

JOHN HUNTSMAN:  "Gee, I forgot to wear my clown suit!!"

Huntsman is a moderate Republican who worked as ambassador to China for Obama, so he has no chance.  Again, I won't waste time on him for this reason. For anyone who wanted a reasonably intelligent Republican candidate who was capable of working in a bipartisan way, sorry.

BUDDY ROEMER:  You say big money corrupts politics?  Whoa, there!...not so fast...

Buddy who??  Buddy has been excluded from every televised debate and most polls. His name won't appear on key primary ballots in Florida, where the state Republican Party opted to leave him off, and South Carolina, where his shoestring campaign couldn't swing the $35,000 filing fee. Why?  His signature issue is "how big money corrupts American politics."  His presidential theme is "America Needs Buddy".  Need I say more?  Not a chance for this poor guy.  Perhaps he should switch parties.


GARY JOHNSON:  A classic conservative?  No kidding?  Quick, get the specimen jar!!

Gary who??  Gary's campaign web site says "Gary Johnson has been an outspoken advocate for efficient government, balanced budgets, rational drug policy reform, protection of civil liberties, comprehensive tax reform, and personal freedom. As Governor of New Mexico, Johnson was known for his common sense business approach to governing. He eliminated New Mexico's budget deficit, cut the rate of growth in state government in half, and privatized half of the state prisons."  Obviously not radical enough to win.

There is something revealing about the "invisible" candidates---it shows what the Republican party is NOT about--i.e. bipartisanship, anti-influence peddling and efficient government.

HONORARY FREAKS:  Sarah Palin and Donald Trump.  They showed the way to perdition.