Sunday's On the Phone to Monday: 11/19 & 11/20

I know that Glenn Beck is a wreckless demagogue that says literally anything that enters his mind regardless as to how true or factual it is.  Like many Americans/Human Beings, I tried not to take too much pleasure in his leaving of Fox News, but took a modicrum of schadefreude just the same.

At the same time, there has been something missing.  In all of us, I think.  There was something about his particular brand of crazy that helped keep the rest of us in perspective.  Let's say that you had a thought in your head.  Your filter might say "No, don't say that." or "Well, that couldn't be right because of reasons A, B and C."  And then you'd hear something that Glenn Beck said, like:

"This town (Wilmington, Ohio) hasn't taken any money from the government.  They don't want any money from the government."  (Pants on Fire! from Politifact)

"Less than 10% of Obama's Cabinet appointees have any  experience in the private sector."  (False.)

"In the health care bill, we're now offering insurance for dogs."  (Pants on Fire.)  

I mean, don't you miss that?  Just a little bit?  I mean, just when you think that your radar is about to put you over the edge, you hear something like that and you realize that you're a sane, rational human being.

The reason why I mention this because of the following article:

Glenn Beck:  Rick Santorum "is the next George Washington"  

See what I mean?  You read that and everything seems okay.  Everything seems to be alright and your perspective seems correct and justified in light of the such innane comments.

If you had to compare anyone that you know today to George Washington, would it be Rick Santorum?  The same Rick Santorum that said that protecting the institution of marriage was paramount to the survival of the country and without it, "our country will fall"?  Do you think that George Washington blamed losses to the British Army on gay sex?

Also as a side note, Santorum might be the first Republican I've heard say that he would disregard the 10th Amendment and refuse to grant the power to the states to settle the question of gay marriage on their own.  The hypocrisy of the position is overwhelming.

Also, can we please stop looking for new Founding Fathers or Great Persons of Historical Interest?  I mean, Washington and Lincoln were not entirely and completely popular in their life times.  Especially Lincoln, I'm pretty sure the people of about eleven states hated him to the point that they were going to kill over it.  And where was that 10th Amendment during the Civil War, hmm?

Mitt Romney Gets Key NH Endorsements   

Over the weekend, fmr. Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney gained two key New Hampshire endorsements.  The first was from Senator Kelly Ayotte and the other from Rep. Charlie Bass.

The endorsements are considered important for two reasons:

First, Romney is beginning to downplay Iowa just a tad.  Even though he's still doing well, it's becoming increasingly clear that he wants to ensure he has forward momentum from NH.  Endorsements from the lawmakers in the state should be important.

Secondly, and maybe even more importantly, the lawmakers are considered to be more conservative than Romney.  Because of the general perception that you are not allowed to change your mind over the course of 15 years, Romney is generally thought of as a "flip-flopper".

In spite of this, despite the new candidates and the new interest in old candidates, Romney has remained a significant force in the race.  You need only watch a little bit of the debates.  Typically, the second question goes to him (if not the first).

Getting the endorsements is a good thing, but eventually, Romney is going to have to come out of his hole and play.  McCain did well in NH in 2000 and we all know how that worked out.

Looking back on it, it is kind of cute.

Herman Cain Doesn't Remember If He Disagrees with Obama on Libya

I know that the clip of this gaffe has been played endlessly in the previous week.  For those of you that have no idea, here's a link. 

Candidates are going to make gaffes.  It's going to happen and there's very little that they can do about it.  That having been said, how a candidate and their campaign handles the gaffe is what defines the gaffe.  Just drawing from this campaign season:

- Michele Bachmann says that the Founding Fathers fought tirelessly to end slavery.  That's a mistake to say that, especially when the "Slavery Clause" in the Declaration of Independence was removed and the Constitution said that a slave was 3/5ths of a regular voter (for the purposes of the Census).  She responded to this by saying that John Quincy Adams fought against slavery and he was a Founding Father.  That's wrong.  He wasn't.  He was 12 for the 2nd Continental Congress and wasn't involved in politics during the Constitutional Convention.  Her response made her look more incompentant than the original statement.  The effects of that remain throughout the campaign.  She gets an F.

- Rick Perry says that he would remove three branches of government and names the Department of Education, Commerce and... uh... what was the third... EPA?  No... that wasn't it...  (fifteen minutes later)  Oh, yeah!  Department of Energy!  That was it!  It was a painful and mockable moment.  However, the Perry campaign made a joke of it.  He went on Letterman personally to do a Top Ten list and in the following debate made reference to it at least twice (as a joke).  He included himself in the joke, admitted that he goofed.  The negative effects of the gaffe are diminished because he admits that he "stepped in it."  He get a B.

-  Herman Cain completely botches the question and makes it clear that he doesn't know the difference between Libya or any other nation, but that he disagress with Obama's handling of it.  What would he have done differently?  Well, Cain would have done something different or he would have done more or less what Obama did.  I can understand a candidate that completely brain farts on a question, but you have to admit that you brain farted on the question.  And what has Cain's campaign done?  

Well, he nixed an interview with a newspaper because they insisted on having a camera at the interview.  And then, when asked about how it would affect his campaign (it being the clear lack of knowledge on foreign relations), Cain simply turned to the camera and said "999"...  because we haven't heard that one before.  So far, in his handling, he gets an F.  I never thought that I would say this, but he should take a note from Perry in this regard.  Acknowledge that you made a mistake and come out with a clear position.  If you pidgeonhole yourself, you won't be able to get out of it.

Class dismissed.

And there's no extra credit.

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