Whatever the writers of Bad Lip Reading are on, I want some.

Open thread below....

DOWNLOADS: (360)

PLAYS: (1154)

Embed

As Heather already noted, Willard made a big show out of making these outrageous and specious claims about Iran:

We must not allow Iran to have nuclear weapon. If they do, the world changes. America will be at risk. And some day nuclear weaponry will be used. If I'm President, that will not happen. If we re-elect Barack Obama, it will happen," he said at the CNN Republican debate on Wednesday night.

That he made such a claim comes as no surprise. After all, Newt Gingrich made this insane claim in the same exchange:

This is an administration which, as long as you're America's enemy, you're safe.

And let's not leave out Rick Santorum:

In the meantime, when the radicals in Egypt and the radicals in Libya, the Muslim Brotherhood, when they rise against either a feckless leader or a friend of ours in Egypt, the president is more than happy to help them out.

When they're going up against a dangerous theocratic regime that wants to wipe out the state of Israel, that wants to dominate the radical Islamic world and take on the great Satan, the United States, we do nothing. That is a president that must go. And you want a leader who will take them on? I'll do that.

Three outrageous claims in the span of six minutes, and a moderator who followed up with each of them asking what exactly they might do to stop Iran, a sovereign country, from arming themselves with nuclear weapons.

Oh, wait. No, John King said nothing. Nothing. No followup with Willard on his claim that he, and he alone would prevent that nation from arming. No followup with Newtie about whether he consulted with Gaddafi and Bin Laden before making such an inane statement. And no followup with Santorum about how he could refer to the United States as the Great Satan while claiming Satan was attacking the United States.

Crickets.

So let's be serious for a minute. Three out of the four candidates were calling for war against Iran even though we have no proof they are even trying to build nuclear weapons or want to. Only one candidate on that stage had a lick of sense, and his words were carefully parsed. Ron Paul said this:

Continue reading »

A senior vice-president at NBC (yeah) actually said,

[W]e look forward to hosting a substantive and stimulating forum for the candidates to make their case to the voters in this crucial state and the whole country.

Or we could have a drinking game.

Live stream at NBCPolitics.com at 9 pm Eastern. NBC plans to tape delay the debate on the West Coast until 9 Pacific.

Open Debate Thread below...

DOWNLOADS: (470)

PLAYS: (543)

Embed

Mitt Romney made twin revelations on taxes during last night's GOP debate in South Carolina. First, after previously claiming "I don't put out which tooth paste I use either," Romney suggested he might release his tax returns in April after clinching the Republican nomination. (On Tuesday, Mitt pointed to the source of his cowardice, admitting he "probably" pays only 15 percent on the millions he still earns annually from Bain Capital.) But perhaps more shocking was Romney's casual call for a top income tax rate of 25 percent. That not only contradicts his much-hyped 59-point, 162 page economic plan, but would deliver yet another massive, budget-busting windfall for the wealthy more than twice the size of the Bush tax cuts they already received.

On January 1, 2013, the top income tax rate is scheduled to return from its current 35 percent to the pre-Bush level of 39.6 percent. Romney had proposed extending the 35 percent rate for the top two percent of taxpayers (including those who like himself are among the richest 3,140 Americans). In comparison, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have called for slashing gilded-class tax rates to 28, 20 and 15 percent, respectively. But when Fox New host Bret Baier asked the candidates "What is the highest federal income tax any American should have to pay," Mitt apparently panicked that his payday for the upper crust was too small:

ROMNEY: I would like 25 percent, but right now it's at 35, so people better pay what is legally required. But ultimately let's get it down to as low as we possibly can, if it's 20, if it's 25 but paying more than 25 percent, I think, is taking too much out of our pockets.

BAIER: So the highest you had was 35?

ROMNEY: Well, that's what the law is right now, but 25 is where I would like to see us go.

Of course, that's not what Romney's economic plan says.

Earlier this month, McClatchy reported that "Romney tax plan would most benefit wealthy." The Center for American Progress explained just how much. While "Romney's plan also gives nearly 60 percent of its benefit to the richest 1 percent of Americans," Mitt's tax cuts for millionaires are "nearly twice the size of those from George W. Bush." And that was before Mitt Romney's spontaneous outburst Monday that he would really like a top rate of 25 and not 35 percent.

Continue reading »

Stretch is moderating. Facebook is co-sponsoring. But I promise you no sense will be made.

Leading into this debate, Facebook has been carefully gauging the mood of voters in both Iowa and New Hampshire, but also across the country. By using Facebook, users have been commenting on the Meet The Press page and asking exactly what they want to see in the debate. Also they've been talking with each other too as they post comments. Facebook and NBC have also been asking voting-age users in specific key areas what they think are the key issues going into the debate:

Economy 58%
Federal Deficit 19%
Healthcare 11%
Illegal Immigration 6%
Foreign Policy 5%

While the core of the data is coming from people they surveyed in New Hampshire and Iowa, they are allowing anyone to pose a question to the candidates on the Meet The Press Facebook page.

The debate will be streaming on NBC, MSNBC and the Meet The Press Facebook page.

Let us know if you see any clipworthy moments.

Republican candidates for President of the United States (yeah) will debate on WMUR, New Hampshire:

The debate will take place at 9 p.m. on Jan. 7 on the campus of Saint Anselm College. It will be moderated by ABC's Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos and WMUR's Josh McElveen. The debate will be broadcast on WMUR and across the nation on ABC. WMUR.com will livestream the debate and provide live updates throughout the night.

Image above from C&L commenter flag_bible_gun. Debate open thread below...

DOWNLOADS: (1909)

PLAYS: (34174)

Embed

The one thing that makes me sad about Sarah Palin not running in 2012 is that Tina Fey will not be called upon to do her Palin impression. But you can catch her in this sketch from May, before the Republicans decided to hold 150 bazillion debates and make us all long for the days when they were all Fox News commentators instead of candidates for the GOP nomination.

Excellent impressions done by all, but it's Fey's Palin impression that grabs the 14th spot in the countdown.

DOWNLOADS: (1628)

PLAYS: (12930)

Embed

Number 15 in our countdown is a tie between several related videos. We like to call it "debate hate."

The video at the top is from the September 22, 2011 debate, where a gay soldier asked Rick Santorum whether he would roll back the repeal of DADT and the progress gays have made in the military under President Obama. Before Santorum could answer, some in the audience booed the soldier loudly. No candidate spoke up.

But that isn't the first time debate hate has reared its ugly head. On September 7th, the audience cheered Rick Perry's record of executing a record number of prisoners in Texas, including at least one who was innocent.

Continue reading »

Just remember: Gingrich is the smart one.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving redubbed with excerpts from GOP debates. Best. Mashup. Ever.

[h/t Mediaite]