Given the large number of candidates for the Republican nomination and the fact that even the top candidate Donald Trump is currently only scoring around 30%, there has been considerable speculation that the convention might arrive with no candidate getting a majority of the delegates necessary to win on the first ballot. The media in particular have been salivating at this prospect of a brokered convention full of wheeling and dealing and knock-down, drag-out, slugfests because usually these conventions are boring, tightly-staged, ceremonial affairs.
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While I gave my impressions of last night’s debate, I did not evaluate the truth of the statements made by the candidates. This is partly because ‘truth’ and ‘fact’ seem to have become quaint outdated concepts that do not matter anymore within the Republican party and partly because other people usually do a much more thorough job.
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Yesterday was the 174th Republican primary debate (or so it seemed though it was just the 6th) and going into the expectations were clear. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz would slug it out for primacy among the anti-party establishment wing, with Trump issuing his patented passive-aggressive attacks along the lines of “Ted Cruz is a very nice guy and I like him a lot but he really needs to clear up doubts about his citizenship by going to the courts and getting a ruling.” How Cruz would respond was the main interest.
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The stakes are rising in the standoff in the Oregon wildlife refuge. Seemingly emboldened by the lack of response by the authorities, the militants have used heavy equipment belonging to the federal government to remove fences, no doubt to free the land from the tyranny of government, and even though such removal is against the wishes of the ranchers who actually live in the area. They are also using government computers in the offices to create websites promoting their cause. These are clearly violations of the law.
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I have discussed in some detail the legal and constitutional issues surrounding Ted Cruz’s eligibility for the presidency that have been brought to the forefront by Donald Trump’s sustained focus on this issue, forcing Cruz to respond by suggesting that Trump may be being used by Democrats because they prefer to run against Trump than him.
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Yesterday two small US navy ships entered Iranian territorial waters. They were promptly intercepted by Iranian patrol boats and the soldiers detained pending an investigation by the Iranians as to whether it was a hostile attack or an accidental transgression. The Iranians assured the US that the sailors would be kept safe and the issue would be dealt with promptly. And sure enough, the sailors and boats were released following the Iranian determination that this was accidental. US Secretary of State John Kerry thanked the Iranians for the quick release and said that this kind of peaceful resolution was due to the diplomatic channels that had now been established because of the nuclear arms deal.
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The hot news in presidential elections this week has been the rise in the polls of Bernie Sanders that has seriously challenged Hillary Clinton’s air of inevitability as the eventual Democratic nominee. Her past policy positions, some of which like her warmongering and pro-Wall Street and pro-oligarchy stances, are distasteful to the more activist and progressive members of the Democratic party. These people are rallying around Sanders and the movement has been such that even the pundit class, many of whom were ignoring the Democratic race because it seemed like she was a shoo-in, are now sitting up and taking notice.
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