HALF-FULL REPORT 08/07/15

We could spend all day talking about the Pub candidates’ debate last night (8/06), which is why we won’t. Instead, there’s a link to the full transcripts at the end of this HFR, plus a selection of the best quotes.

Right now, we’ll cut to the chase and answer the two easy questions. First, who won? Carly Fiorina and Ted Cruz. We’ll get back to them in a moment. Second, who lost? Answer: rhymes with Chump.

He said nothing of substance whatever – try to find a counterexample in the transcript. A close personal friend of mine has a net worth much higher than Trump’s, has known him for many years, and has intimate familiarity with his business dealings. Here is what he tells me:

“Trump is an incoherent wind bag – a symptom of the cheapening of our culture like Kim Kardashian. He got his start with his father’s money made from subsidized housing projects in Queens, and his father’s ties to New York City politicians. He’s been a crony capitalist from day one.

In the 1980s, when he tried to become a client at Goldman, I and the other senior partners there turned him down because of his seedy reputation and that he was de facto bankrupt. It was the same a few years later at Lazard.

He’s lost his money on these tacky casinos which use just his name for a fee while the bond holders control the equity. He was bailed out by his cheap TV reality shows. In truth, he has no real business other than clever capitalizing on his name.

I estimate his net worth to be well south of a billion in real terms since he attributes massive value ($3 billion) to the “goodwill” of his name, the Trump “brand.” He takes future projected revenues (like TV show contracts) and calls them assets.

He is no conservative, not even remotely. Rather he’s a populist saying what he thinks will get him attention. He’s a lover of cronyism, a big supporter of Hillary, and in no man’s land politically.

It’s the GOP leadership’s shame that this guy can emerge due to their ineptitude and the voters’ exasperation with them. That said, his candidacy will end like the Hindenburg.”

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Meanwhile, Carly won the “Happy Hour” debate. She belonged with the Big Dogs, along with Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal – not with the likes of 20^th century has-been ego-candidates like Jim Gilmore, George Pataki, and Rick Santorum.

Even Chris Matthews agreed, whom Carly dismantled during a post-debate interview. Her response to Tingle-Leg was so spot-on all Matthews could say was, “I see why you stood out tonight.” (Video is in the link.)

It was Cruz who clearly came out on top in the primetime debate. He eviscerated Trump’s name-calling – illegal immigration is a problem “because our leaders are stupid,” a really stupid thing to say – with:

“You know, there was reference made to our leaders being stupid. It’s not a question of stupidity. It’s that they don’t want to enforce the immigration laws. That there are far too many in the Washington cartel that support amnesty.”

His closing statement was the best. It’s included, along with other key quotes, in the Appendix. You can read the full transcripts of both debates to decide for yourself.

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Let’s give a cheer for what Carly said elsewhere this week. On Monday (8/03), she gave a speech that earned this headline: Fiorina Blames Fannie and Freddie, Porn-Watching Regulators for the Financial Crisis. She is, as usual, precisely correct.

And another cheer for Bobby Jindal. During a radio show interview on Monday (8/03), he called for the arrest of sanctuary city mayors as accessories to illegal alien crime. In addition, families of illegal alien crime victims should be able to personally sue such mayors. When you can seize a politician’s pension or home, they’ll start being good boys fast.

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Now for the laugh of the week. The libtard media was full of stories that SloJoe Biden was “90%” sure to run because it was his son’s dying wish. Right. No one but a libtard who believes in the Easter Bunny could buy that.

As a TTPer, you well know that this was Zero’s plan all along after wiping out the PIAPS with the drip-drip-drip of ruinous news leaks. Now Zero has upped the ante. On Wednesday (8/05), we learned that the FBI has launched a criminal investigation of Hillary.

To top that off, we learned on Monday (8/03) that the State Department Inspector General suspects criminal activity on the part of Hillary’s closest aide – and Moslem bisexual girlfriend – Huma Abedin.

That Double-Whammy was the green light signal for libtard pundits to write columns about what a great president “Authentic Joe Biden” would be. Enjoy the circus…

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Here’s the fun read for the week: Just Like Atlas Shrugged Predicted. Starnesville in Seattle. The prescience of Ayn Rand continues to astound.

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Now for the shock of the week.

It’s no shock that President Scumbag gave a speech on Wednesday (8/05) that Fox’s Brit Hume denounced as “dishonest, partisan, and insulting.” So much so that Powerline’s John Hinderaker considered it Zero’s “lowest moment yet.” Why?

Because Zero tiptoed right up to accusing anyone opposing his Iran deal of treason – specifically accusing Iranians chanting “Death to Americans” of (this is a direct quote) “making common cause with the Republican caucus.”

So what’s the shock? It’s that the Democrats’ second most powerful Senator (and will replace Harry Reid next term) New York’s Chuck Schumer announced last night (8/07) he would vote against Zero’s Iran deal.

And that’s not all he did. This headline from Tuesday (8/04) will also come as no shock: Obama Admin Taking Side of Palestinian Terrorists Against US Citizens.

It involves a lawsuit by the families of Americans killed by Palestinian terrorist groups. Zero’s DOJ has announced it may intervene on the side of the Palestinians.

Thus along with his announcement to oppose Zero on Iran, Schumer also told Zero Justice and John Kerry to butt out of the case, and “not intervene in the judge and jury’s finding the PLO and PA guilty.”

So here’s the shocker: for this, the HFR has no choice but to make (taking a deep breath here while holding nose) Chuck Schumer HFR Hero of the Week.

The HFR doesn’t buy the White House’s claim (reported by CNN) that “Schumer’s announcement of opposition came only after enough Democratic support was assured to keep the plan intact.” Zero is screwed now and he knows it.

He needs 34 Senate votes to avoid a veto override of his deal. Since all 55 Pubs will vote for override, only 11 of the Dems’ 45 need join Schumer now, who has enormous juice on his side of the aisle. A House override is already baked in the cake. Zero’s fellation of Iran will end in an ugly climax for him. Thanks, Chuck.

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Last week’s HFR told you about Pub Congressman from North Carolina Mark Meadows, who filed (7/28) a formal motion in the House to “vacate the chair” – which if passed by a simple majority of 218 votes would remove John Boehner as Speaker.

Now comes marvelous news that Boehner did not have the votes to reelect him as Speaker before the August recess. If enough Congresscritters get enough of an earful from their constituents demanding Boehner’s removal, we could all get a wish come true this September.

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Now if only that could happen to Boehner’s counterpart in the Senate, Mitch McConnell. This headline should be enough to make any decent American, including his colleagues, to want to spit in his face: Mitch McConnell: Planned Parenthood Should Be Funded.

McConnell and his ilk have now gone way beyond being RINOs. It’s hard not to look upon them, as upon any supporter of Planned Parenthood, as HINOs – Human In Name Only. The monstrousness of selling aborted baby body parts and intact born-alive murdered fetuses is fully on a par with that of ISIS.

McConnell is now at his home during the August recess: 2318 Dundee Road Louisville, Kentucky 40205. Why aren’t there huge protests of outrage in front of his home every day now until he pledges to restore his humanity and support defunding PP?

And his fear of blame for a shutdown? He should embrace it, for nothing would expose Zero’s being a total HINO than to shutdown the entire government over defunding the Nazis of Planned Parenthood. It would be Zero’s Shutdown, not the Pubs’.

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We’ll close – save for the promised Appendix on the debates below – with a note on Réunion. That’s the island in the news lately as parts of missing flight MH370 have been washing ashore.

There’s all kind of sensationalist stories coming out now – such as describing Réunion as the “land of molten lava and killer sharks.”

As usual, TTP has got you covered so you can understand what Réunion is really like. Just read The French Ocean from July 2007. You’ll enjoy the pictures – particularly of my son Jackson standing on a lava flow.

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APPENDIX

Read the transcripts to decide for yourself who did best. As for the Fox panelists, the HFR’s opinion is that those of the first 5pm debate were weak – but by contrast regarding the second at 9pm, the questions Kelly, Wallace, and Baier asked and demanded to be answered were fantastic.

Full Transcript Republican 5PM Debate
HFR’s favorite quote:

Carly Fiorina:

“Hillary Clinton lies about Benghazi, she lies about e- mails. She is still defending Planned Parenthood, and she is still her party’s frontrunner. 2016 is going to be a fight between conservatism, and a Democrat party that is undermining the very character of this nation. We need a nominee who is going to throw every punch, not pull punches.

We have arrived at a point in our nation’s history where the potential of this nation and too many Americans is being crushed by the weight, the power, the cost, the complexity, the ineptitude, the corruption of the federal government, and only someone who will challenge the status quo of Washington, D.C. can lead the resurgence of this great nation. I will do that.”

Full Transcript Republican 9PM Debate

HFR’s favorites:

Cruz:

“President Obama has talked about fundamentally transforming this country. There’s 7 billion people across the face of the globe, many of whom want to come to this country. If they come legally, great. But if they come illegally and they get amnesty, that is how we fundamentally change this country, and it really is striking…

Megyn, we need a commander in chief that speaks the truth. We will not defeat radical Islamic terrorism so long as we have a president unwilling to utter the words, ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’

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 it clear, if you join ISIS, if you wage jihad on America, then you are signing your death warrant.”

Scott Walker:

People like Hillary Clinton think you grow the economy by growing Washington. One report last year showed that six of the top 10 wealthiest counties in America were in or around Washington, D.C.. I think most of us in America understand that people, not the government creates jobs.

And one of the best things we can do is get the government out of the way, repeal Obamacare, reign in all the out of control regulations, put in place an all of the above energy policy, give people the education, the skills that the need to succeed, and lower the tax rate and reform the tax code. That’s what I’ll do as president, just like I did in Wisconsin.

Marco Rubio:

Well, first, let me say I think God has blessed us. He has blessed the Republican Party with some very good candidates. The Democrats can’t even find one.

(Regarding jobs, small business, and entrepreneurs) We need to lower the tax rate for small business — and for all business– to 25 percent, to limit the amount of regulations on our economy. We need to repeal and replace Obamacare… we need to repeal Dodd-Frank. It is eviscerating small businesses and small banks. Over 40 percent of small and mid-size banks that loan money to small businesses have been wiped out since Dodd-Frank has passed.”

Mike Huckabee:

“Ronald Reagan said ‘trust, but verify.’ President Obama is ‘trust, but vilify.’ He trusts our enemies and vilifies everyone who disagrees with him.

The military is not a social experiment. The purpose of the military is kill people and break things. (APPLAUSE) It’s not to transform the culture by trying out some ideas that some people think would make us a different country and more diverse. The purpose is to protect America. I’m not sure how paying for transgender surgery for soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines makes our country safer.”

The funniest line of the debate was Huckabee’s:

“It seems like this election has been a whole lot about a person who’s very high in the polls, that doesn’t have a clue about how to govern. A person who has been filled with scandals, and who could not lead, and, of course, I’m talking about Hillary Clinton.”

(The entire audience exploded in laughter, as did all the candidates on stage – including Trump, who knew of course as did everyone else the joke was on him.)

Rand Paul wipes out Chris Christie:

“I don’t trust President Obama with our records. I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead.”

Ted Cruz closing statement:

“If I’m elected president, let me tell you about my first day in office. The first thing I intend to do is to rescind every illegal and unconstitutional executive action taken by Barack Obama. (APPLAUSE)

The next thing I intend to do is instruct the Department of Justice to open an investigation into these videos and to prosecute Planned Parenthood for any criminal violations. (APPLAUSE)

The next thing I intend to do is instruct the Department of Justice and the IRS to stop persecuting religious liberty, and then intend to cancel the Iran deal, and finally move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. (APPLAUSE)

I will keep my word. My father fled Cuba, and I will fight to defend liberty because my family knows what it’s like to lose it.”