No Good Choices

Who was the big winner of Thursday’s GOP debate? It had to be Dr. Ben Carson, who had the good sense not to participate. It was without doubt the best decision Dr. Ben has made in his misbegotten and now ended campaign.

The rest of the candidates were all losers. Their so-called debate was an almost unwatchable, vulgar, screamfest of lies and accusations. What a disgrace for what used to be a legitimate political party.

I credit the Fox News moderators, who asked decent questions for the most part, with pushing for real answers. But the candidates, beginning with Donald Trump, would have none of it. Trump was at his showy, whiney, name-calling worst, refusing to reply directly to dozens of questions. His partners, particularly Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were only a few steps behind. John Kasich was there, too, but it’s hard to believe he is a serious factor to survive in this nasty slugfest for the nomination.

And then there’s this: before slamming the candidates for their juvenile behavior, please remember that earlier in the day we heard from Mitt Romney, who resorted to name-calling and slurs and slams to point out that Trump is a name-caller. In other words, Romney showed himself no better than the rest. And frankly, what the heck is Romney doing getting involved in this except as a stalking horse, and a bad one, for the Republican establishment? Oh yeah — Mitt would be the establishment’s preferred candidate now … now that he’s four years away from being a loser in 2012. And by the way, that’s the bottom line for Mitt: he’s a loser.

As for the debate, well, I can’t think of any reasons to discuss it further. It was shameful, descending even to the ugly level of penis references and bathroom humor, thank you Rubio and Trump. Repulsive.

And then consider this: for everyone who wants to blame Trump for everything, look at his competitors: are Rubio and Cruz really any better? Their ideas are almost as whack-a-doodle as Trump’s, and they are personally scarcely less odious. There are no good choices here.