Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 30, 2016

15

OPINION

 Mountain Views News Saturday, January 30, 2016 

RAGING MODERATE

WILL Durst

PETER Funt

Mountain 
Views

News

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Rich Johnson

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Sean Kayden

Marc Garlett

Pat Birdsall (retired)


GOP DEBATES AREN’T 

HELPING MUCH

Never before in the relatively brief history of televised presidential 
politics have debates been so important as in the current GOP 
campaign. Yet, through six lengthy debates precious little has 
been learned.

 Consider three issues about which all Americans should be concerned: climate 
change, race relations and education. The two GOP frontrunners, Donald Trump 
and Ted Cruz, have never been asked about any of them.

 Here’s the boxscore: In the first debate Ben Carson and Scott Walker (who has 
since dropped out) were questioned about race. In two debates, Jeb Bush, Marco 
Rubio and John Kasich were asked about education. And, over the course of three 
debates, questions concerning climate were put to Rubio, Rand Paul and Chris 
Christie. Such random, at times chaotic, questioning produces plenty of heat but 
little light.

 With the seventh GOP debate scheduled for Jan. 28, a few days before the Iowa 
caucuses, perhaps hosts from Fox News Channel can find a way to deliver more 
substance. They should avoid the approach taken by CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla in 
the third debate when he began by asking each candidate to name his “biggest 
weakness.” The answers were breathtakingly meaningless (Trump: “I trust people 
too much”; Cruz: “I’m a fighter”).

 The sheer number of candidates, coupled with the moderators’ desire to be 
topical and edgy, makes “debate” a misnomer. The events have been more like 
talk-show interviews, with questions tailored to each candidate – sometimes quite 
combatively.

 In the first debate Fox’s Megyn Kelly went after Trump by saying, “You’ve called 
women you don’t like ‘fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals’...Does that sound 
to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president...?” By the third 
debate, CNBC’s John Harwood challenged Trump with such gusto that even some 
Democrats took exception. Harwood asked Trump if he was conducting “a comic 
book version of a presidential campaign.” 

 Moderators have often tried to pit candidates against each other. For instance, the 
first question in the second debate had CNN’s Jake Tapper asking Fiorina to respond 
to a statement made by Bobby Jindal about Trump. Moments later, Tapper’s first 
question to Bush was: “Would you feel comfortable with Donald Trump’s finger 
on the nuclear codes?” Each time Trump had to be given a chance to respond – 
pushing things farther off course.

 In upcoming debates it would be wise to avoid confronting one candidate with 
the remarks of another. Also, hosts should shorten their questions (some, such as 
those by FNC’s Bret Baier, have exceeded 100 words).

 They might also consider these format changes:

 –Have opening statements focus on a single topic, such as the minimum wage. 

 –Drop all social media questions. Networks seem determined to prove they are 
connected to the social media scene, but the few questions that have made it on the 
air have tended to be forced, superficial and distracting.

 –Close the candidates’ microphones 10 seconds after their time expires. Such 
action will finally keep them on the clock, while also curbing the many unwelcome 
interruptions.

 –Abandon the “you were mentioned” rebuttal rule. While it seems fair to give 
candidates a chance to defend themselves when mentioned by an opponent, the rule 
is being abused and wastes too much time.

 –Use one moderator and two fact-checkers. A single host can ask the questions 
while two colleagues monitor backstage. For the final 30 minutes, have them take 
over the questioning, with factual challenges to what was said earlier.

 In this election cycle the GOP has already accomplished the difficult task of 
piquing voters’ interest. Now, much would be gained if candidates and moderators 
put aside the brass knuckles and got down to brass tacks.

Peter Funt can be reached at www.CandidCamera.com

Peter Funt is a writer and speaker. His book, “Cautiously Optimistic,” is available 
at Amazon.com and CandidCamera.com. 

WHY IOWA AND 

NEW HAMPSHIRE?

And now the question that’s been dancing on the lips of 
politically concerned citizens for decades - Who’s the genius 
that chose Iowa and New Hampshire to be the first and 
most influential states in determining who becomes the next 
president? It was probably the same guy who figured out how 
to bundle subprime mortgages. Or related to the brewer who 
invented Cold Turkey Breakfast Beer. The idiot behind pay toilets on airplanes.

 The premier production, the Iowa Caucuses, is a wild and wacky adventure that 
takes up an entire evening. First you find where your designated precinct gathering is 
being held in a school, church, library or neighbor’s house, one of more than 1680 in 
the state’s 99 counties on a dark February night. Which means motivating supporters 
to attend is an integral part of the campaign, making the promise of snacks incredibly 
influential.

 Because the Hawkeye State is fiercely independent, the Republicans and Democrats 
have different rules. This will be the first year the GOP will announce a delegate count, 
which will be binding. Before, it was more of a “Santorum did well. Gingrich didn’t,” 
sort of thing.

 All hell broke out last year, when Mitt Romney was declared the winner, but two 
weeks later it was revealed Rick Santorum had won, even though Ron Paul got the 
most delegates. This year, they promise more transparency. Stay tuned. 

 The Democrats huddle together with people who share a candidate preference. But 
supporters whose candidates don’t cross a viability threshold (15 percent or so) can 
either try to convince other people to join their group, or disband and hook up with a 
different favorite.

 It’s the Tinder of electoral politics and places an emphasis on the art of hygienic 
schmoozing. A pleasantly odiferous group of followers holds a distinct advantage. 
People still talk about the delicious cookie smell that emanated from John Edwards’ 
supporters back in 2004. 

 The following week, the action moves north and east to New Hampshire. In the 
Granite State they are fiercely independent and proud of traditionally being the first 
primary since 1920. They actually have a state law that mandates they remain first in 
the nation, even if they have to move it to the previous year and compete with July 4th 
fireworks to do it.

 While the Iowa Caucuses are a game of musical chairs without the music and no 
chairs, the New Hampshire Primary is more straightforward. You just up and vote. 
The problem is who is doing the voting. Iowa is 87 percent white but New Hampshire 
is 91 percent. The two are as representative of the country as sushi is of Southwestern 
Cuisine.

 Both have tiny populations and are so damn white the blue veins running down 
their outer thighs could be interstate roads on the map of prejudice. These guys make 
the Pillsbury Doughboy look like a Central American coal miner after a double- shift. 
We’re talking about people who need SPF 50 to protect them from moonburn. If they 
were any more Caucasian, they’d be translucent.

 Besides, in February, climate change notwithstanding, both the Hawkeyes and the 
Granitoids tend to experience a little thing we call winter. Needless to say, if it were up 
to the journalists, the first two primaries would be held in Hawaii and Guam.

——-

Will Durst is an award- winning, nationally acclaimed columnist, comedian and 
margarine smuggler. For sample videos and a calendar of personal appearances 
including the upcoming one-man show “Elect to Laugh: 2016,” go to willdurst.com.


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LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN 

DICK Polman

MAKING SENSE

MICHAEL Reagan


IT’S THE NEGATIVITY, STUPID

Watching all the negativity flying around the stage at the 
Democratic Town Hall Forum the other night, something 
struck me. 

 Why, after watching Hillary and Bernie go after each other’s 
left-liberal throats, would anyone ever want to vote for either 
one of them? 

 They had nothing but rotten things to say about the other.

Hillary’s too cozy with Wall Street.

 Bernie’s too soft on the NRA and naive about negotiating with Iran.

Hillary’s insufficiently progressive and takes obscene speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.

 Bernie’s expensive progressive ideas will never make it in the real world.

Etc. Etc.

 The Democrat debate got so dirty that Hillary has had to call her pet attack dog David 
Brock in from the kennel and let him off his leash.

 Brock is the nasty former right-wing hit man whose pro-Clinton super PAC has sent 
out emails equating Bernie Sanders with dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

 His PAC has also attacked Bernie for not including enough “people of color” in his 
nice feel-good TV ad featuring Paul Simon’s song “America.”

 Somebody actually counted the blacks and Latinos in the video and declared that 
Bernie was insufficiently diversity-minded.

 Now the dirty dogs in Brock’s pack are running ads calling for Sanders to release his 
medical records.

 The Republicans presidential finger-pointers are just as negative, thanks mostly to 
attacker-in-chief Donald Trump.

 Actually, since there are more attackers and attackees, and since the attacks are 
constant and usually more personal, and since Trump is mixed up in all of it, the GOP 
negativity is much more self-harmful.

 It’s been hard to keep track of who’s been hitting whom in the Republican primary 
brawl, but here are just some helpful headlines from the Internet:

- Trump: Ted Cruz flip-flopped on birthright citizenship

- New Ted Cruz ad attacks Donald Trump’s ‘New York Values’

- Bush: Rubio, Cruz are followers, not leaders on Syria

- Carson questions authenticity of Trump’s faith

- Rubio hits Trump’s debate ‘theatrics’

- Trump hits Cruz on loans, citizenship: ‘Did he borrow unreported loans from Canadian 
banks?’

- Trump, Rubio and evangelicals target Cruz as Iowa caucus nears

- Kasich super PAC attacks Trump immigration plan 

- Carly Fiorina repeats after girl: ‘Donald Trump’s a moron’

- Christie on Trump skipping GOP debate: Leaders have ‘got to show up’

- Pro-Bush super PAC hammers Rubio for credit card controversy

- Rand Paul: ‘Trump is a delusional narcissist and an orange-faced windbag’

 Rand Paul must have hired a new writer, probably a sophomore in high school. 
But what’s going on is not funny.

 We’re all being played for suckers.

 After we hear months of this nonstop Republican-on-Republican bashing, we’re 
supposed to forget about it and vote for one of these bums to be our next president?

They don’t like each other, for both good reasons and stupid reasons. But I bet half of the 
GOP candidates won’t have the stomach to vote for the nominee in the fall.

If you believe all their negative ads and what the candidates say about each other and 
their ideas, it makes sense. There’s not a damn person worth voting for.

______

Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the 
author of “The New Reagan Revolution” (St. Martin’s Press). He is the founder of 
the email service reagan.com and president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Visit 
his websites at www.reagan.com and www.michaelereagan.com. Send comments to 
Reagan@caglecartoons.com. Follow @reaganworld on Twitter. 


THE MOST IDIOTIC REACTIONS 
TO THE POISONING OF FLINT

The poisoning of Flint, Michigan, is a national disgrace — and some of the 
people reacting to it have been disgraceful. Here’s an abbreviated list, going 
from bad to worse:

Bill Ballenger, veteran Michigan Republican commentator

 On the radio, Ballenger, a former state legislator, said, ”This has been a vastly overblown crisis .... 
It’s just a crock.” In his estimation, the lead-laced water has only hurt “like, two to three percent of the 
population.”

 The population of Flint is 100,000. So even if Ballenger’s math is correct (the guy is not a scientist), it 
means that he’s writing off 2,000 or 3,000 people as no big deal.

 “I live [in Flint] half the week. I’ve been drinking the water consistently without a filter all during this 
past two years… and I have no effect from drinking the water,” Ballenger also said. “I had my blood 
tested just yesterday, and I have no elevated blood-lead level.”

 Good for him. Hey, if one adult Republican pundit feels fine, how can there be a crisis?

Thing is, the Flint fiasco is really about the kids — and the science of kids. According to the medical 
stats, the share of kids with dangerous lead levels in their blood has nearly doubled since 2014, when 
the city — in a state-ordered effort to save money — switched from Detroit water to the Flint River.

The World Health Organization says that lead is particularly harmful to young children, and notes, “the 
neurological and behavioral effects of lead are believed to be irreversible.”

 Hence the problem with Ballenger’s remarks: An anti-science mentality is hazardous to public 
health.

L. Brooks Patterson, county executive of Oakland County, Mich.

 It’s bad enough when a commentator spouts nonsense; it’s even worse when a prominent public 
official tries to give it credence.

 Patterson is the elected leader in predominantly white Oakland County, a short car ride from 
predominantly minority Flint. At a luncheon the other day, Patterson cited Ballenger’s anecdotes (“he 
drinks the water, he showers in that water”) as evidence that the Flint crisis might be “a hoax,” and that 
it’s always important to consider the other side” of the story. “Let’s wait and see what the facts show,” 
Patterson said. 

 Unfortunately, there is no “other side,” unless one believes anti-science denial warrants equal status. 
But this is also coming from a man who wants to turn Detroit into an Indian reservation, “where we 
herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around it, and then throw in the blankets and corn.”

Dennis Muchmore, chief of staff to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder

 In an email to his boss last September, when the crisis was at full boil, Muchmore crafted a phrase that 
will live long in the annals of government fecklessness:

“I can’t figure out why the state is responsible… ”

 Maybe it’s because the state — under a Snyder-appointed emergency manager — made the decision 
to use the Flint River as a cost-saving measure? Maybe because, even after the Flint City Council voted 
to go back to Detroit water, the Snyder-appointed manager said no dice?

By the way, the full quote from that email is even worse: “I can’t figure out why the state is responsible 
except that (state treasurer Andy) Dillon did make the ultimate decision so we’re not able to avoid the 
subject.”

 Oh well, “we’re not able to avoid the subject.” Or, as Homer Simpson would say, “D’oh!”

Marco Rubio, Florida Senator and Republican presidential candidate

 Of all the candidates on the Republican trail this week, Rubio had the most fully articulated remarks 
about Flint. “That’s not an issue that right now we’ve been focused on,” Rubio said. “It’s just not an issue 
we’ve been quite frankly fully briefed or apprised of.”

 There’s the party mentality in a nutshell. Since the woes of impoverished cities are rarely on 
Republican radar, why would briefers bother to “apprise” the candidates of a burgeoning health crisis?

“The truth is that Flint, where 40 percent of residents live below the poverty level, was never on the 
Republican agenda,” said Matt Latimer, a lifelong conservative Republican and former George W. Bush 
speechwriter. “ I don’t believe it’s impossible for conservatives to help a place like Flint. But first you 
have to show up.”

 In the spirit of fiscal austerity, the Republican governor’s emergency manager switched Flint’s water 
because, over two years, it would save $5 million.

 Care to guess the salary of Jim Harbaugh, the University of Michigan football coach over two years, 
paid by the taxpayer? $14 million.

 Our society is defined by the choices we make. Just saying.

——-

 Copyright 2016 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Dick Polman is the national political columnist at NewsWorks/WHYY in Philadelphia (newsworks.
org/polman) and a “Writer in Residence” at the University of Philadelphia. Email him at dickpolman7@
gmail.com.

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