Michelle Bachman Big Winner n ABC Debate

Michelle Bachman was the clear winner of tonight’s debate. She had the most articulate position in favor of NOT extending the payroll tax cut. This was in a bill I never would have voted for because I felt it set a bad precedent. Even Thom Hartman was sounding the alarm over this. However that being said, both Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are right in saying we should keep it going a little while longer to stimulate the economy. President Obama has the republicans pretty much over a barrel on this one and now congress has to pass it for political expediency. Newt delivered the strongest salvo on the whole jobs question with that really dramatic slash and burn tax policy that would decimate federal revenues. It wouldn’t help business for reasons we’ve talked extensively before. Romney never “explained” why he wants to keep the capital gains tax for incomes over 200,000 - - that is- other than having a moment of lucid sanity. Rick Perry and Mitt Romney got into an extended cat fight over various health care issues. Perry, Bachman, and Paul were willing to attack Wall Street as culpable for the business collapse and for taking Trillions of dollars. Newt didn’t weigh in and if he had would have probably sided with Wall Street. On the question of faith and family and background- - the other five gave quite satisfactory answers but when it came to Newt’s turn he really dropped the ball and had pretty much no response at all. Romney got a chance to talk about “compassion” and working with the disadvantaged, and also working with his Church. I think Michelle Bachman saying she was a child of divorce is a nice "human" touch that a lot of people will be able to relate to with their own child hoods. You know perhaps we need a woman president in these troubled times. It is said that "Men are etherial and abstract in their reasoning. Women are much more in touch with people because they have to be. They are more down to earth. I don't mind telling you that in any Christian church situation and I was offered the choice of a man or woman counselor for my problems knowing nothing else about them, I would pick the woman every time. But the major theme of the night was conservative consistency and Michelle Bachman invented a new slogan of “Newt-Romney” that I’m thinking just could catch on. She pilleried both Newt and Mitt on the health care and mandentory insurance. Santaurum generally backed up everything that Bachman said only he added the caviat of “Yes I fight- - but I fight and win”. Clearly there was talk about taking the Constitutional oath and Ron Paul suggests they actually read it. Bachman (?) cited historical documents saying how a man conducts his family life is the most important measure of the honor of a man. Ron Paul, like me, believes integrity is not something you should talk about but something you should live, and for others to see in you. Bachman raised the issue of the lower 47% not paying their fair share of Federal Income Taxes, meaning no tax at all. Of our side is going to complain about the rates the rich pay, the least we can do is be consistent insist that the poor make their fair share of the "sacrifice" too. Others wanted corporate taxes slashed even more drastically than Newt does. Michelle Bachman is sticking with her waive all taxes policy to “repatriate foreign funds”. Some wanted a 100% investment tax cretit which is only fair and something Thom Hartman implied we already had. To me it’s reasonable to take your income for the previous year and invest it back into the business and in this way not having to pay taxes on it. On the matter of the Palistinians being a not real people- - Romney and Santaurum pretty much came out against Newt and Romney said what I would have said. The negotiations are between Israel and the Palistinians and we should give Israel the freedom to either bring up or not bring up the issues they want. Newt wouldn’t know Truth if it bit him on the ass. I had to laugh at that one. Just in case Newt didn’t know the Ottoman Empire was a Turkish empire and nobody is saying that the Turks are Arabec. Also it’s the Palistinins who were a people in the land and not Israel, who to a large extent are not even Semetic. Some of the intigionous people were Safardic news and others were Islamic. But they weren’t Saudis. The stuff in immigration was so totally confused I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Gringrich has a “wait 25 years and we’ll think about Amnesty” plan, and also reiterated his desire to make English the official language of America.

I’ll write about the Christmas party earlier this afternoon tomorrow. All I’ll say is that the dinner was the usual for around here- - mediocre to poor, and the quality of the food has dropped dramatically over the years at these parties. Were I to have left money at the table to pay for the thing, were I to leave one of George Wallace's classic six dollar bills, I'd be over paying, even if that included the tip. I did manage to secure a second piece of pie from the cart I passed as on my way out of the room. I asked first. Pies were still the one thing that wasn't ordenary, and I threaded my way back to the table and sat down to eat it. I left the party at a couple minutes to five, which is record early. There were sexy women hanging out on the patio but they didn't like smokers so I went downstairs. I watched KNXT news and CBS news. I left here about 22 minutes to eight and went to the liquor store and spent my last five dollar bill on a can of Folgiers and am brewing coffee now. - - I went back early Sunday morning and tweaked this entire posting here and there.

I think a lot of us are disgusted by the mad rush of the Media to recessitate the Newt Gingrich campaign, like on ABC last night when they said "Well, Newt didn't screw up bad in the debate tonight so I guess he won". And then there was that disgusting ass kissing display that Chris Matthews engaged in concerning Gingrich Friday night. Thanks to a Rick Santaurum add we know that it was Newt’s 2^nd mistress and third future wife that converted him to Catholicism. I didn’t know that. Just how does that work. “Divorce your wife and marry me and become a good Catholic”. I thought the Catholic church screened new marriages. The whole “Rocky” analogy with Newt that Chris Matthews is trying to lay on us is absurd. Matthews is now calling it a crime to tell the unvarnished truth. And Romney can’t even talk about his own marriage and family and faith without Matthews labeling it an attack add. This is upside-down world. Romney says he has kicked off all of his campaigns introducing himself and telling us about his family. Congressmen don’t like Newt. Only nine house members have come our for Newt but over fifty have come out for Romney. They say he is a real bear to work for and he throws a hissy fit about having to ride in the back of the plane. They say when he was house speaker for four years “It was one crisis after another and usually self inflicted”. Of course Newt was blamed for shutting down the Government in 1995 and now his piers are saying “Whatever you do, don’t elect yet another democrat by your screw-ups. Meanwhile Mitt Romney is counting on the fact that Newt often has these melt downs and is not quite the Mr. Cool that Matthews would portray him as.

Here is an utterly absurd story about Rush Limbaugh citing the New York Times for saying that the Chi Com government is “acting like democrats” because they are now reasserting their heavy handedness and China is not quite the libertarian paradise with no rights or pensions for workers that Michelle Bachman fancies it. By the way, Michelle Bachman never referred to them as "Chi Coms". Besides, why should Rush be upset if Chinese exports are suddenly more expensive and also that their workers now have more money to spend in US goods. Why would a favorable swing in the balance of payments upset Rush? Hmm? Of course what this means is that workers will have more rights. Rush Limbaugh came out and said that anybody who supported the historic union movement in this country or favored groups such as the AFL CIO - - there is every justification to call such people communist. I guess Judy is really “getting off” on these highly absurd Rush Limbaugh radio segments.

REPORTING FROM RAMALLAH, WEST BANK –- Palestinians reacted angrily Saturday to comments by Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich that the Palestinians were "an invented" people. In the comments, aired Friday on the Jewish Channel cable network, Gingrich said, "I think we have had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs." He also put Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the militant Islamic group Hamas in the same boat, saying they "both represent an enormous desire to destroy Israel." Gingrich also described the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as "delusional." Describing Gingrich as ignorant of the region’s history, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad suggested that Gingrich should review history, "because all he seems to know about history is the Ottoman period." Gingrich’s statements are a "denial of history, which is not acceptable," he said. Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said Gingrich has "lost touch with reality." His statements show "ignorance and bigotry," and were "a cheap way to win pro-Israel vote," she said. Dimitri Diliani, a leading member of Abbas’ Fatah party, described Gingrich’s remarks as "reflective of the ignorant, provocative and racist nature of Mr. Gingrich."He warned that statements like these "jeopardize peace and stability in the region."

ANALYZE THIS: After this I had a dream that a very few of us were “graduated” out of this facility into another, which was some giant “house” or something in a more upscale residential neighborhood. But I didn’t like the vibes there at all and felt uncomfortable. I felt like everybody was watching me all the time. You would go into a room that felt “occupied” like you were coming into a situation where “stuff was going on that they didn’t want you involved in” and you couldn’t even sit and read without feeling ill at ease. I’d try and watch “Days of our Lives” and I’d think people were leering at me. Even going to the bathroom seemed like something you did by appointment, like brushing your teeth. At some point I began complaining about how I felt and alienated more people. There was a guy who reminded me of J W by looks in this dream, but he evolved into a major jerk. I saw Richard Powers there and he was one of the few, is only, person I knew there. First we chit chatted and then I said “You know, I’m beginning to developed a real nostalgia for the old facility” and he just responded “I know”.. But then I dreamed a segment later on where I was starting to get to know these new ones a little better. They said something about having a police beauro there where they investigated crimes.