by Max Humana

The first formal events of the 2016 Presidential campaign went down on Thursday, August 6, 2015, under the watchful and controlling eye of Fox News. The date was originally intended to showcase only the first Republican debate, but due to the seemingly never-ending horde of narcissists desperately chasing fame, fortune and a gig on the Fox propaganda engine, and the outcry from those in the mad hatter’s gallery of wannabes whose polling and name recognition had the elevation of an earthworm burrow, it morphed into a two-headed monster. The ‘actual’ debate was preceded by a warmup event pitting the ‘who’s that?” wannabes against their competitors in the junior circuit.

Rest assured, nannies were on hand to take care of the kiddie event and security was ready to control anyone wishing to do something really outré to gain attention and raise their polling percentage above the 2016 political Mendoza line (1% for this particular crop of GMOs (Greed-Mad Opportunists)).

This essay will not address the events at the ‘everybody gets a trophy’ warmup event. The goings-on in the ten-ring circus / main event, itself far less a true debate than a ‘debatish’ embarrassment to civilization and serious discourse, provided a transparently clear message about the diminishing quality of so-called journalism today and some blindingly and depressingly, clear reinforcement of the Fox modus operandi. As the event was orchestrated by Fox News, it was less a true attempt to enlighten the viewing public on the candidates’ actual views and policies than a seizure of a golden opportunity to send messages to the target viewership in a stupefyingly obvious attempt to guide voters to the Fox-preferred GMO(s), and away from the others.

The very first question of the night went straight to the heart of the conservative viewer and was intended to jar every “true conservative’s” strong sense of sacrosanct tribal affiliation. That ‘are you with us or against us?’ question, and the key word “pledge” (the right wing does so love their ‘little boys in the treehouse club’ pledges), and the follow-up statement by Inquisitor #1 (Bret Baier) that running as an independent would essentially default to having another Democrat in the Oval Office, were specifically designed to elicit a response from Donald Trump that would make him less desirable to Republican voters.

It went rapidly downhill from there.

From that first question it was clear this would not be a ‘big tent’ right-wing kumbaya with softballs, red meat and red herrings thrown in every direction, or even a more direct ‘what do you think about (whichever issue) and what are you going to do about it’ night. It was clearly planned and executed as a staged media event, with a primary desired outcome of making at least one specific candidate less desirable to the right-wing voter / Fox viewer, than an attempt to ascertain the GMOs’ actual positions on issues important to the majority of the citizens of the United States of America. Throughout the spectacle, the words ‘boiler plate’, ‘red meat’, ‘is this a debate or a Fox / Koch Brothers Candidate Screening Debutante Ball’ and ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ went through my head on a short repeat cycle.

The questions asked of the candidates were very illuminating into the psyche of the Fox goombahs and the Inner Party of monied and influential conservatives pulling the strings as they try to push this election where they want it to go. A close reading of the event’s transcript gives a stark reminder of the real priorities within not only the Republican party but the current conservative state of mind as driven by Fox and its crop of GMOs and other money-sniffing puppets. It also showed how Fox only barely skims the uppermost nanolayer of many issues in an attempt to use code words and their associated visceral response in the conservative viewer to push them to think, act and vote in the intended direction. The spirit of Big Brother cast a long and very dark shadow over the entire proceeding, as it was clear the intent was plainly to set the stage for Fox and other conservative mouthpieces to be able to aver that they had actually mentioned some issues of importance while manipulating viewers. Plausible deniability is always one of the most desired states of being at Fox, and this debatish spotlighted it like a noon sun in the Sahara.

Even if you just read the transcript and did not see the verbal and bodily cues from the live event or the video, you can get a very clear sense of what Republican priorities are for the persons competing for the highest office in the land. You can also get an equally clear sense of what their priorities emphatically were not, are not and expressly will not be. The results are what one would expect from a party driven by money, greed and power, and expressly and absolutely not about humanity, the greater good and a desire to represent all Americans, even moderate Republicans, Independents and (shudder) those disgusting Democrats.

After publication of the full transcript, I reviewed it in detail and came up with an admittedly slightly subjective list of 20 different categories of questions which the inquisitors posited. I also noted the glaring, but far from unexpected, omission of at least four absolutely huge and important subjects.

The first column below lists the question categories, broken into four tiers based on how frequently they were asked. These tiers clearly indicate the issues’ importance to Fox and the American right wing. I labeled the tiers “Very Important”, “Moderately Important”, “Not Very Important”, and “Asked Only To Say We At Least Mentioned It”. The second column indicates how often one of the inquisitors asked a question inside each of those categories. The chart below the tiers graphically shows how the categories broke out.

As a brief digression, was there some sort of deliberate calculation before the event on the requirement for a ratio of inquisitors to GMOs? If Trump had verbally abused one of the moderators to such a degree that he or she wilted out of their chair and could not continue, was the plan to have at least two left to keep things going?

TIER 1 – Very Important                          Times Asked
Use of Military / Torture                                        7
International Relations                                          7
Belief in / Comms With Imaginary Beings         6
Fealty to Tribe                                                          5
Immigration                                                             5
Scope, Size of Government                                    5

TIER 2 – Moderately Important               Times Asked
Abortion                                                                     4
Economy                                                                    3
LGBT                                                                           3
How / Can You Beat Dem Challenger                   3

TIER 3 – Not Very Important                     Times Asked
Racial Issues                                                               2
Social Security / Medicare / Entitlements             2
Temperament / Divisiveness                                   2
Financial Management                                            2

TIER 4 – Asked Only To Say They Did      Times Asked
Veterans’ Affairs                                                        1
Money in Politics                                                       1
Health Care                                                                 1
Knowledge of US and World                                   1
Dynastic Politics                                                        1
Preparation for Office                                              1

The tiers were subjectively named, of course, but make sense in the broader analysis of what the debatish was intended to do, and in what topics are of concern to the likely-to-vote conservative viewer, and more importantly what was of most concern to Fox, the ringleader of this particular vulpine circus. It is a fact that no single debatish event, or indeed every actual debate, can cover each and every important issue of the day, particularly with as large a number of GMOs as were jostling for attention in this particular shopping cart. But this event, billed to the American populace as a means to illuminate the candidates’ various perspectives on issues and their stated plans for addressing them, failed spectacularly, on the level of “galactic implosion” failure.

Not surprisingly in an event hosted by Fox, the Fomenters of Fear, ‘the military and torture’ and ‘international relations’ were far and away the top two most popular categories, with seven questions asked in each. That said, and in all fairness, these two subjects should indeed always be among the top categories in any real and professional discussion of the most important issues facing any country which values its citizens’ and collective security, welfare and independence. The proliferation of threats today vary greatly in their size and scope, potential depth of penetration and impact, are virtual as well as physical, and some are truly quite fearsome to consider. These facts – not opinions, but facts – make the defense of our nation and its citizens an ever-expanding mission, and any sitting or prospective Commander In Chief must be prepared to rationally assess and respond appropriately to them.

This is not to say the questions asked were necessarily good questions, but that is a separate issue. And it served to help reinforce that the right wing has a deep-seated and nearly uncontrollable compulsion to use the military and torture against any and all who actually do threaten the tribe or who they wish to bend the knee or conform to the American policy du jour. This is a stone cold fact far beyond any question, and is a severe weakness of the far right, rather than the strength they perceive it to be.

The subjects of GMO fealty to the tribe, and if any of the GMOs have been hearing an imaginary being telepathically communicating its thoughts to them, were next most popular and are particularly important to note. Fealty to the specific tribe of right wing conservatives is clearly far more important to them than fealty to and public service in the interest of the entire population of over 300 million Americans, and this was made evident with the first questions. This perspective is glaringly obvious in the numerous fights across the US over unions, income inequality, health care, entitlement reform, voting rights, and dozens of other issues which affect a majority of Americans, not just those who vote Democratic. Fealty to the tribe came up five different times. It was a far more important issue to Fox, the candidates and conservative viewers than health care, the economy, racial Issues, entitlements, the effects of money in politics and several other truly important issues. It is again blindingly clear what is of most importance to Republicans and Fox – not how well the eventual GMO candidate would lead, or would run the country for the welfare of all the citizenry, but how closely they would stick to the party line and serve conservative interests. Not American interests, but right wing interests.

On the subject of hearing voices from the great beyond or inside their heads, if any of the candidates espoused these views, it should be an automatic disqualifier for public service. If a person can believe they hear voices from any of the many thousands of variations of the same or different deities humanity has invented over time, they don’t need to be elected to public office, they need to be sent to counseling and rehab. What if Megan Kelly had asked the GMOs if Mithra had spoken to them, or Manitou, or Ma’at, Minerva, or (most appropriately considering their micropenis-driven overcompensatory bellicosity), Mars? Trump could have invoked Mena, the Roman goddess of menstruation (not a joke – look it up). This is also a topic for another missive but it can’t be stressed enough, that listening to voices in your head is a sign of mental illness, not a communique from the beyond and a sign of a conduit to the Force. Those who act on these voices are those who need to be kept away from others, forcibly if need be. Just open the Bible and take a good long look at its blood-soaked passages, then redouble your efforts to keep theists out of public office.

It was very, very interesting, and pathetically sad, that two of the GMOs were specifically asked about their unsteady or belligerent temperament or their divisiveness, and another was asked about political dynasties, but only one single solitary question came up on health care. This seems to be a theme in all Republican campaigns. The Bush II campaign accused John McCain of being unstable, as a possible result of spending time in an enemy POW camp. At the time it seemed the very lowest of low blows, particularly coming from a service-dodging chicken hawk. However, McCain’s later choice of the Wacko from Wasilla as his VP candidate actually seemed to bear out that he had indeed lost his mind. In this campaign, there is no shortage of bellicosity and divisiveness, qualities which only appeal to the lowest crusts of society.

Also, only one great question was asked only once. The single question that everyone applying for a job anywhere can expect, “what makes you qualified for this job?”, was only asked one time. Here is an embarrassingly and pathetically unqualified gaggle of office chasers, demagogues, theists, oligarchs, influence traders, plutocrats, patricians, failed governors, hypocrites and a retired doctor / demagogue / theocrat, seeking the highest office in the land, and only one of them gets asked why he is qualified for the job? Could it be that Fox knew this was not a question which anyone would have a good answer for, or that the answers would be disingenuous at best and downright frightening at worst?

Of the numerous wrong, wrongheaded and simply out-of-this-world hot gaseous emissions belched out through the event, the most particularly odious bit of drivel emanated from the latest in a seemingly endless long and painful line of Texas Twits, Trolls and Troublemakers, Ted Cruz. Regarding ISIS, Cruz said the following “When I asked General Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, what would be required militarily to destroy ISIS, he said there is no military solution. We need to change the conditions on the ground so that young men are not in poverty and susceptible to radicalization. That, with all due respect, is nonsense. It’s the same answer the State Department gave that we need to give them jobs. What we need is a commander in chief that makes — clear, if you join ISIS, if you wage jihad on America, then you are signing your death warrant.”

Let’s indeed be perfectly clear. It is true that both State and Defense frequently fail to shower themselves with the sweet-smelling nectar of common sense and appropriate action. State does things and uses money in ways that don’t always pass the sight, smell or sound tests. The ranks of Defense were and are filled with plenty of people in senior leadership positions who happily and voluntarily castrated themselves without anesthesia both in public and in private, obsequiously handing over their balls and spines in the essentially internally unopposed run up to and prosecution of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent failure to achieve anything but diaphanous and short-lived successes, and the failure to secure a single drop of oil or a dollar in ‘payment for services rendered’.

Some of these people, and others even today, see such conflicts through the mind-stultifying effects of bible-colored lenses, with the West on the bright, shining side of light and good and somehow always able to act fully within the intent of their deity by waging war in Mesopotamia. But for the most part, the people who work in these organizations, and I say this more assuredly about Defense simply because I know more people from that organization, are everyday Joes and Janes trying to do their best with small budgets, missions that are too big and too undefined, organizations that are too few in number and too small in size, and often a near total lack of a clue from the (any) Oval Office as to what the hell we are actually doing ‘over there’. Also, inane micromanagement from the White House, Pentagon and other locales, plus mission creep, always hurts the efforts in the field. The last decade is a clear indicator that no one wearing Republican red can be trusted with our nation’s blood and treasure.

Let’s be even more clear. General Dempsey is right, and Cruz is dead wrong, totally wrong, and ignorantly wrong. His face is just the latest one sitting atop the never-ending parade of empty suits which spout the same chickenhawkish hubris that this nation has endured from too many loud, overconfident and ignorant GMOs for too many painful years. I am extremely curious about how he became privy to some unseen source of knowledge which provided him with such amazing and informed insight into the roots and conduct of armed conflict and the appropriately synchronized application of the instruments of national power. Perhaps he could take some time off the stump to sojourn with the troops who are currently serving in any of a large number of far-flung and inhospitable locations around the world, and spend a few months embedded with our outstanding men and women in uniform. Perhaps, maybe, at the end of that time, he might possibly begin to get the tiniest microscopic glimpse an actual clue. Hell, I’d even be open to a one-time “Pentagon Special” waiver for age and character, and let him enlist, so he could live and learn from the situation on the ground, first-hand. The same old, tired and pathetically ignorant talking points and screeches of ‘just kill them all’ are what got over 4400 of our blood and treasure killed since 2001, and nearly 32,000 others permanently damaged, many for the rest of their lives, as they and their families try to cope with the wreckage of their bodies, minds and dreams.

This is the problem. This is why we cannot ever again elect such ignorance to any position of political power. And we can see it coming. The mindless screeching about ‘killing them all’, the vacuous stares and reference to a godly plan – we’ve been there before, America, and we do not ever want to go there again. If there is a need to fight, our men and women will fight, wherever and whenever they are needed, for as long as they are needed. But it needs to be in a just fight, in a proper fight, and one with clear reasons and with a clear end state. Against a real enemy. And not to have to fight while the Secretary of Defense micromanages the war, while a theist in the Oval Office faithfully proselytizes that if we just keep at it, we will root out every enemy in every house in every village in every country we invade, to “free them”.

As an overall comment on the debatish circus, what was most glaring was the gaping hole left by the complete and extremely conspicuous absence of four specific issues which are foundational to not only our fellow citizens as individuals, but to our shared commons as a nation and community. Each of the four issues has been of huge importance and relevance in our national discourse, and they have absolutely huge impacts on the health, welfare and prosperity of every single American in one way or another. These four topics were not mentioned even a single time, and are certifiably and demonstrably below the ‘give a crap’ line within the Republican party, and they will not be talked about unless forced to. These untouchable topics were Income Inequality, Quality of Education, Child Welfare and Women’s Rights. The Republican candidates for President of the United States of America were not asked a single question on any of these topics. How can you show your face in public after such a pathetically transparent and uncaring middle finger to women and children, to the poor, and to those struggling to get a good education? You do it by focusing on fripperies and scare-mongering, and always checking to make sure everyone toes the party line. This, indeed, is the true Fox modus operandi and mission.

I was going to also mention the environment as a fifth neglected issue, but that would have been too much. After all, who needs clean air and water when the Second Coming is at hand, and the faithful will (any day now, really!) be sucked into Never Never Land by God’s Own Magic Vacuum and everyone else will be left on earth to rot. And climate change is, after all, according to the science denying right wing, only a fabrication by the entire scientific community studying the subject, and is, like all other inconvenient and scientifically proven issues, fit only to be rejected out of hand. Like all other actual science is when it doesn’t support the conservative mission.

This entire group of GMO candidates is a crop with deadly poison in its genes. No person in America should partake of any of the assorted variety being offered by Fox and the right wing; the side effects would be truly Biblical.