The TV Event Of the Week

I haven't watched many Best Picture nominees, so my weekly TV entertainment had to come from watching the 87th Republican Debate. Many have been saying that as the last debate before numerous primaries next week, this could make or break any of the candidates' chances at winning the nomination, but the only thing breaking tonight was my heart, as I wondered "Why did I skip Modern Family to watch this??"

Just kidding.

My heart broke because the candidates tonight proved more than ever that the only thing any of them have going for them (with some exception in Ron Paul, but not completely) is that America doesn't like Barack Obama.

Okay, that's not true. What I meant is that Republicans don't like Barack Obama. And the candidates know it, and that's what they used to carry them through this debate. 

I'll be honest, I haven't watched any of the other debates. Maybe this is how all of them have gone. But the only message I got from any of the candidates tonight is "Barack Obama can't/won't/didn't do it; but I will"It could be anything from bomb Iran, to defund Planned Parenthood, to "securing our border". The lack of communicable and realistic, measurable goals and policies was disheartening, but not that surprising.

Take Iran, for example. All of the candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, seem to think that they have Iran completely figured out. Despite the sanctions the US has imposed on Iran, it was repeatedly stated that Obama refused to apply sanctions and has no interest in "standing up" to Iran and its never ending quest for nuclear weapons. The candidates had to use scare tactics to win some applause, since their logic was all but non-existant. Ron Paul's assertion that there was no proof of Iran building a nuclear weapon was laughed off by Rick Santorum and the rest of the Republican candidates, who seem to have forgotten how well things went the last time we went to a war with shaky proof (that turned out to not be proof at all).

The argument for military action against Iran is predicated on the assumption that Iran is building nuclear weapons and plans to use them to attack Israel or the United States, either overtly or by using proxy groups like Hezbollah or nameless Latin American organizations. The candidates (and most observers) neglect the fact that Iran is also facing a threat from both the United States and Israel. Even while Iran refuses international investigators access to its facilities, it is clear that it has to play a guessing game with all of the parties who are currently threatening it with military action. Iran knows that it can not attack the US or Israel with a nuclear weapon and expect to survive the next day. Even if a nuclear missile managed to leave Iran without the US or Israel knowing about it, the defenses that each country has in place would give Iran a slim chance of hitting its target. This isn't to say that we should take a chance. But Iran knows that its chances of becoming the most powerful player in the Middle East and Central Asia will not be through launching nuclear weapons against Israel or the US. Neither country would allow it, and that method of persuasion has long been proved obsolete, anyway. It will instead work towards that goal the way it has been: quietly and cleverly. 

But all we really know about the Republican's position is that they wouldn't do it the way Obama has.

If there's another debate after this one...I'm going with Modern Family.