indeed, insist that you allow our candidates for public office to engage in real direct debate. The current format, with moderators asking questions that are neither penetrating nor profound, simply doesn’t allow the public to hear any level of scrutiny of the many claims and counterclaims hurled during these joint statements that masquerade as debate.
I only heard most of tonight’s debate on the radio-which is a first as I’ve grown up in the TV era. The better angels of my nature (and yes, they do exist) cause be to describe Chet's radio performance as uncertain or shaky and Jim to have been far more perpared to govern but a different format could have been a massacre. The moderator/question format allows no real detailed analysis of any issue or claim. The questions require little more than a recitation of the short tag line for that issue. You’ve got to give Jim credit-he at least tried to critique some of Chet’s more preposterous claims/implications-but the format basically limits the candidate to the thumb nail posture.
This is merciful for the Chet Culver’s of the world-Jim Nussle would have eaten him alive in true Lincoln Douglas format. Chet’s plans are, as we know, mostly ludicrous and his historical performance in office is abysmal. Chet's not a bad or evil man, quite the opposite; he appears to be a sincere liberal who wants to help those he perceives as downtrodden. Unfortunately for mankind, the liberals’ perceptions of reality frequently take flights of fancy into the true purple haze of Woody Guthrie’s Depression Era America. The problem with the current “debate” format is the lack of what we debate geeks call “clash” allows the Chet Culvers to simply emote without any accountability to fact or logic.
Of course, liberals simply will not engage in such debates, not even on their own blogs which are mostly carefully screened, and far too many of our folks duck the format as well; although I expect the Nussle ’06 team would salivate for the opportunity. Does anyone think the current level of political discourse couldn’t use some degree of elevation and accountability?
Now, as my loyal readers know, the Dems won’t debate me ‘cause I do believe in clash, but I’ve found a potential protagonist. A character with the handle of Noneed4thneed was out on Krusty tonight and asked if we are kidding about the six point Republican message stickers we sell over at the Polk GOP. Well, Noneed, we’re not. Now if you would care to debate the six points, true Lincoln Douglas style, then rest assured that I’ll be your huckleberry because that’s just my game.
23 comments:
Shouldn't that be Messrs...
Stop Hate, Vote Republican.
Boswell is getting slicker but Lamberti stayed on him like a bulldog.
Who won't you debate Sporer?
GOP Precinct Guy says: Krusty has been blocked. What nefarious demobandito is behind this computer attack? Anyway, I knew I had seen that Chet Culver "chin in the air, head to the side smug lips sucked in at the end of a comment with a little nod or prance" before. But where was it? Then I remembered -- it's the way Il Duce spoke. Please, please, no jokes on Benito's title compared to another product. Seriously, Chet speaks and struts like Mussolini. Maybe he has a plan to make the trains run on time?
Hey Uncle Teddy
Just saw this in the Register about John Mauro. The lack of integrity and ethics continues with the Mauros.
Polk County Supervisor John Mauro has for years been the subject of one of the worst-kept political secrets in town: He maintains a house outside the district he's paid to represent.
In truth, since Mauro returned to public office in 2003, he has kept two homes to comply with a state law that requires county supervisors to "reside" within their districts.
For a time, the place Mauro called home was an apartment 12 blocks from the split-level where he'd lived with his wife since 1985. Today, his legal residence is his boyhood home, now owned by his sister.
Mauro, who is up for re-election in November, doesn't duck the residency question. "My constituency knows this," he said. "This was not like me running some back-end game here."
And he insists that he's got the state attorney general's blessing on the arrangement. But to some, including his November opponent, Mauro's dual residency tests the limits of the law's intent.
"We have a law that says you need to reside in the district you represent. That's pretty clear," said Jeff Riese, executive director of the Polk-Des Moines Taxpayers Association. He said while Mauro might not violate the letter of the law, "I can tell you it violates the spirit of the law."
Mauro remains defiant.
"I didn't write the law, and ... there's nothing in there that says I have to sleep at that residence," he said.
The message has caught on with some voters who say Mauro has ducked the issue.
"I can't understand how someone can run for a district office who doesn't live there," said Pat Borgen, a restaurateur on Ingersoll Avenue who lives in Mauro's district. "For me, it's a character issue, big-time."
Iowa law indicates that a supervisor "shall be required to reside" in his or her district and be a registered voter there, which Mauro is. The law does not define "reside."
When the question arose in the past, judges and the Iowa attorney general have generally said that the office holder's intentions matter most. Whether the official returns to his home within the district after an absence is a key consideration.
"It must be a residence in good faith," the high court said. "To come to a place with no intention of remaining, with the purpose of returning so soon as some temporary object is accomplished, does not fix the residence. Such a person is a temporary sojourner and not a resident within the meaning of our election laws."
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Mauro is not the only democrat to decide that the rules are for others and not them. Harkin lives in the Bahamas, not Iowa.
More evidence of the DemocRAT kulture of korruption.
Who's jurisdiction does this kind of thing come under?
Ted, how is your crew of Chuckie Allison and Petey Rose doing these days?
The reason they won't debate Sporer is the same reason that leftist talk radio is floundering and a big reason the current crop of Republicans is in so much trouble. People just do not want to listen to a political philosphy based on plunder.
Subject: IMPORTANT NUSSLE/VANDERPLAATS CAMPAIGN ISSUES
Fellow Republicans,
As former Bob VanderPlaats county chairs and supporters, I am asking each of you to recommit to this effort. We have heard and read about insiders who are very negative in their ways. This however, does not change that we want Bob and Jim to govern and lead our state. The only way that can be done is through victory.
I am just as upset with the latest events as you are. After a lot of thought, it just made me more determined to get Jim and Bob elected. All of us need to use the last 30 days to put up signs, make calls, whatever it takes to get them elected.
Now for the real impact! All of us need to write, email, call, etc., the Nussle/VanderPlaats camp and demand Nick Ryan's termination. You can write to headquarters at P.O. Box 7701, Urbandale, IA 50323 or call (515)282-0606, or email Barbra Snitker (Jim's assistant) at Barbra@JimNussle.com. Nick Ryan was the person responsible for misquoting Jim on the abortion issue. As you remember, this was not a small mistake. This last stunt was the end of him, in my opinion. Please do not sit on this idea. Act now, and let us take control of our party. Ours is the family party, the one we can really be proud of. So let's cleanse our party of self-serving egomaniacs who only care about where they are going.
Don't hesitate to write, call or email me with your thoughts or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mel Adema
#16 Deerhaven Drive
Sioux City, IA 51104
(712) 253-8404 cell
meadema@aol.com
Wow. That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
Apparently you have never spoken to Trainor Walsh Max. He'll top that just about everytime.
11:52-
Not sure the party CAN be fixed. It may be time to look elsewhere.
Crickets once again from the worlds lamest blog.
7:05
Krusty is the lame blog.
Just for a little something different.
Children Need Both Parents has autodialers, yard signs, and radio adds running against Judge Charles Pelton in Davenport for his particularly bad anti-father record. We are attempting to make him the third judge in Iowa history to have been thrown off the bench.
Sounds like a good idea Ken. Do you think it would be possible to start an organization that monitors Iowa judges. I vote "no" on all of them anyway but I think we could better inform the public if we monitored them.
Why was Matt McCoy visited by the FBI?
Judges seem to feel they are immune to the public. As for monitoring them I believe it will be up to individual groups to hold them accountable. My group is offended because judges see nothing wrong with granting mother only custody EVERYTIME despite clear evidence at least 25% of mothers should not have primary custody.
As for the Matt Meister - who know what craziness is going on with him. Did he just get back from Thailand or something after pulling a Gary Glitter? Just a possibility....
Maybe Matt thought I would forget his votes against Children Need Both Parents - NOPE!
Maybe Mikey will take his place on the sex offender list right next to Mohammed (piss be upon him).
Rumor has it that they took computers from him. My guess, just a guess...based on the computer seizure, if that is accurate, is it may have something to do with porn. The FBI doesn't usually deal with adult porn, so it may be pedophile porn.
Matt boy should have done a Michael Jackson and gone to a country that does not care. If you are into highly illegal and immoral activities it is best to leave a moral society especially since he is involved in making the laws.
I reiterate that Matt McCoy failed to support legislation to grant shared parenting to fathers. What a tool!
Matt McCoy failed to support legislation to grant shared parenting to fathers.
Probably because he is the "wife."
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