Questions (Real and Sarcastic) for the First GOP Debate

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Thursday August 06, 2015 · 1:55 PM PDT

2015/08/06 · 13:55

I return from a short absence of diary writing (OK, over 4 1/2 years) to post a diary with my proposed questions for the candidates tonight.

I generally don't like to diary because, while my job is litigation attorney, I am extremely thin-skinned, so when I say something that draws criticism (as is inevitable), I either feel really bad about it or I get very defensive and bitter.
Oh well, I guess once every 4 or 5 years I can take a chance and go for it.

I think the mistake that a lot of people make who want to draft great questions for the GOP is that they draft questions which require a great deal of analysis and meaningful thought. The party has drifted SO far to the right that these "are you a moderate" questions are meaningless, much like asking a serial killer if it is OK to steal a loaf of bread to feed your family -- that is not a challenge. Many of my questions seek to basically establish only that the party has gone so far to the right that its candidates will state whatever it takes to appeal to the craziest. Some are a little tougher. Anyway, without further ado, I break my 4+ year absence after the squiggle

dukelawguy

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Friday December 31, 2010 · 9:07 AM PST

2010/12/31 · 09:07

Yesterday, the Iowa Supreme Court decided an issue that really is not of much interest to most of you, but which has made me chuckle when I think of the hard-core Tea Party activists and their corporate masters at Fox News.

The court ruled that Iowa may properly impose a state tax on the royalties that KFC makes from its Iowa franchisees, rejecting KFC's contention that KFC must have a physical presence in Iowa or Iowa cannot properly tax KFC.

http://www.iowacourts.gov/...

While this ruling at first seems rather irrelevant to most of our lives, it does place the Teabaggers and their corporate masters in a logic trap (not that logic or being hypocritical ever bothers them, but follow me below).....

dukelawguy

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Monday December 21, 2009 · 2:25 PM PST

2009/12/21 · 14:25

Oh, T-Paw. While the standard GOP line is that they love gay people and have a ton of gay friends, but are just interested in keeping "the [darned] gays" from marrying, T-Paw takes it one step further

Here is the key exchange about a 1993 law Pawlenty voted for:

dukelawguy

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Monday August 17, 2009 · 11:43 AM PDT

2009/08/17 · 11:43

When I first came to live in Minnesota in 1989, Minnesota was a state that was a magnet for jobs and growth. A state where people wanted to live. Sure we had a reputation as a high tax state, but we also had a reputation as a state with great public services, job growth and public education.

Of course all of that has been going down the toilet since we elected Tim Pawlenty. T-Paw has made it his goal to make Minnesota into a cold Mississippi so that he can tell his right-wing overlords that he never raised income taxes. (Property taxes have grown exponentially, but Tim says that is not his fault).

My hope is that the people living in the other 49 states will not ever have to live with the "leadership" of T-Paw, so I have to make sure that Timmy's recent comment on programs held dear by the elderly is recorded somewhere so that any GOP or Dem. opponent can use it.

dukelawguy

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Monday June 29, 2009 · 12:13 PM PDT

2009/06/29 · 12:13

Since anyone who is reading this entry has an interest in the case, I assume you all know where to get the opinion by now, but if not, here you go:

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/...

Quick Summary (I will not recite the facts in full, since no member of the Court felt any substantial need to explore any facts that did not favor his or her own opinion):

The city of New Haven, Connecticut administered firefighter officers' exams in which very few minority candidates finished in the upper echelon. Rather than risk being sued for "disparate impact" discrimination by those minority candidates who did not qualify, the City tossed out the results and promoted no one.

Nevertheless, the firefighters who did the best on the exam sued, asking that the federal courts require the City to accept the test results and give them promotions.

The City won at the district court and the Second Circuit. Today the Supreme Court reversed and ruled that the plaintiffs win as a matter of law. You can look through the opinions all you want, but here is my very quick summary:

dukelawguy

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Friday May 15, 2009 · 9:31 AM PDT

2009/05/15 · 09:31

As someone who knows a little something about this field, I was stunned to read that GM "will be" terminating 1,100 of its auto dealers.

http://news.aol.com/...

GM says it wants to cut "costs" and to mirror Chrysler's decision to get rid of almost 800 auto dealers.

I frankly do not know GM's real reason for the dealer terminations, but I can assure you of one thing: if they want to get rid of 1,100 auto dealers, GM is going to need to file for bankruptcy protection.

dukelawguy

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Thursday April 16, 2009 · 2:20 PM PDT

2009/04/16 · 14:20

I have to admit that in 2004 when George W. Bush was re-elected, I considered whether the Blue States should just secede and join Canada. I am not proud that I thought that. But I did.

As someone with access to legal decisions, I quickly looked to see if secession was just a bad idea or if it is flat out illegal/unconstitutional. That led me to stumble upon Texas v. White (1868) which has been cited in comments (and I am sure in other diaries) here. Basic analysis -- any attempt at secession is a complete nullity.

Then when secessionist Sarah Palin was nominated as a VP candidate, I thought, "Huh, maybe there is some case law recently that says secession is OK again?"

Well:

dukelawguy

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Friday April 10, 2009 · 11:38 AM PDT

2009/04/10 · 11:38

The recent videos featured on this site offering up potential GOP teabaggers, although ballsy efforts, were way too hard to swallow.

It is very hard to come up with GOP sex imagery that would not make one's mind pull up short. But I still think that if someone thought about it longer and harder that he could come up with a whole load of GOP celebrities who would be candidates for the planned "teabagging" who were not, well, hideous boner-shrinkers (or whatever the female equivalent is).

So, a review of some old Internet listings shows that the following GOPers may get involved on April 15th's teabagging (warning -- I have not called any of these people up to confirm that they are actually GOP supporters):

dukelawguy

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Thursday March 26, 2009 · 1:33 PM PDT

2009/03/26 · 13:33

None of it good, but if you read the document:

http://www.gop.gov/...

you can find some pretty amazing stuff. And reading it will: a)give you a chance to re-live the 2008 presidential campaign; and b) tell you why they really don't want to provide too much detail.

You get to learn about how bad England's health care system is, and how a kid died of a tooth infection and how Ted Kennedy singlehandedly is preventing wind power exploration anywhere in the U.S. by keeping it of Martha's Vineyard..... But you also other things.

dukelawguy

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Monday February 23, 2009 · 12:25 PM PST

2009/02/23 · 12:25

When gas sky rocketed to $4 a gallon, what did we hear from the GOP:

Drill Baby Drill! and

We need more refineries. Democrats keep us from building more refineries.Democrats keep us from building more refineries.

It was so clear -- we were way behind in oil production versus expected demand, so oil had to go way, way up in price and our poor tiny overworked refineries in the U.S. just couldn't refine enough gasoline for us to get by.

But wait! As of today the entire world economy has collapsed. People are driving billions of fewer miles than expected. And oil is at $38.69 a barrel as I write this. Yet gas hasn't plummeted to $1 a gallon or even maintained its price at about $1.70 a gallon, despite this being the dead of winter. Instead, as oil has declined, gas prices have increased. Um, why?

dukelawguy

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Wednesday February 04, 2009 · 3:36 PM PST

2009/02/04 · 15:36

When I was growing up in the sticks of western NY, my friends and I decided one day to start using the terms "dickish" and "dickishness." I certainly don't claim to have invented the terms, but my group used them freely and more than anyone I knew at the time (or since).

To be "dickish" or to demonstrate "dickishness" a person or group of people generally have to do some act:

in a manner that will not really benefit them in any real way in the long run; and

just because they can do it and inconvenience you.

In my current job, I occasionally run into someone who will refuse a request for a one day extension of time to file something. Why? Do they believe that I could not get the item filed if necessary? No. Do they believe that I could not request an extension from the court? No. So why oppose my request? Because they can, and it makes my life a little harder. That person is demonstrating "dickishness."

So anyway, let's move on to the whole Digital TV conversion fiasco.

dukelawguy

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Friday January 23, 2009 · 10:12 AM PST

2009/01/23 · 10:12

I saw a different diary entry asking why Kristen Gillibrand's selection was made and what the difference was between upstate NY and downstate NY. I started to make a comment on that entry, but it was way too long to be a decent comment, so I decided to try my own diary entry on the subject.

So, for you uninitiated, here are some of the differences between upstate NY and downstate NY from a guy who grew up south of Buffalo, NY.

I will not focus on the big political points, but I will just give you a flavor for the different worlds. And to all you folks who are going to shout "stop stereotyping me/us" -- you basically have three options at this point of the diary: 1) stop reading, 2) toughen up a little, and/or 3) get a sense of humor.

Poll

84 votes Show Results

The Zone of New York State I Like Best Is.........

84 votes Vote Now!

The Zone of New York State I Like Best Is.........

Zone 1

16 votes

Zone 2

7 votes

Zone 3

6 votes

Zone 4

11 votes

Zone 5

24 votes

They are all great and I don't want to offend anyone

5 votes

Dukelawguy can't describe them decently enough for me to vote

3 votes

They all suck

2 votes

I hate New York in general

6 votes

I refuse to answer because I have been offended

4 votes

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Questions (Real and Sarcastic) for the First GOP Debate

Iowa v. KFC -- Enough to Make a Teabagger's Head Explode

Tim Pawlenty -- Regrets His Vote In Favor Of Gay Rights

August 14, 2009 -- Tim Pawlenty Goes Negative On Social Security and Medicare

Ricci v. DeStefano -- What An Awful Mess

GM to Cut 1,100 Dealers? They'll Need to Seek Bankruptcy Protection.

Secession -- Legal Analysis and Practical Analysis

Potential Celebrity Teabaggers

The GOP "Budget" Document -- There IS Some Stuff In There

Drill Baby Drill! Wait, Let Me Bend Over First.

Digital TV Fiasco? True GOP Dickishness.

Upstate NY Versus Downstate NY