Tonight’s Republican YouTube Debate was good, I think. Interesting at
times, crazy at others and boring in spots. Here are a few random
thoughts I had. (PS the title of this post came from a song written by
a YouTube-er about the CNN debates.)

• Huckabee is still my man. The more I listen to him, the more I
  like him. Though I admit, tonight he missed an opportunity or two and
  sounded rehearsed on a couple of points.

• But I loved his statement that
  he would eliminate the IRS, and that got a lot of applause as well. Though I admit I did cringe a little at the same time. It’s an outrageous idea, scrapping the tax code and the IRS. One that I love, but at the same time cannot see ever actually happening. So do I vote for the person who’s realistic and safe, and who’s plans will probably succeed but not accomplish much, or for the person who’s idealistic and a risk-taker and whose ideas may not succeed but if they do would accomplish a great deal of good (in my opinion)?

• I think some of my favorite lines of the night were also from
  Huckabee:
  • "In all due respect, we’re a better country than to punish children for what their parents did. We’re a better country than that."

• "Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office, that’s
  what Jesus would do." (PS — I really  liked what Huckabee said about
  the death penalty too — which is what this line came from.)

• And by the way, who knows what Jesus would do… about anything,
  really?? I’m kinda getting sick of that question, because no one knows
  the mind of God, except God. And to pretend that you could know, or
  could discern, what He would do at every turn and for every choice is
  just crazy. No one knows what God would do when faced with the death
  penalty except God. I know, I know, the question is meant to cause us
  to think about what we do before we do it, but honestly. Can we please
  stop asking ourselves and each other "what would Jesus do?" and start
  asking, "Jesus, what do You want me to do?" One
  arrogantly assumes we can know the mind of God, the other humbly asks
  Jesus for clarity and direction. Huge difference.

• I will tell you, though, that God deals with the question of the
  death penalty every moment of every
  day. He is continually faced with the dilemma of who lives and who
  dies, and with what to do with those who do die and find themselves
  instantly before His throne. While He has made clear the path of
  salvation and redemption, none of us can know for certain what He does
  as each individual soul comes before Him for determination of where
  they will spend eternity.
  I believe His deep love for each person wrestles with His just-ness and
  holiness; one arguing for compassion the other arguing for justice; and
  that that person’s decisions in life (even in the moments on the edge
  of death), most notably their humility, repentance, and confession of who Jesus is, play
  a key part in God’s decision. But that decision, whatever it is, is between that person and God and not for any of us to know, or to judge (or to pretend we could discern). But I digress…

• Watching Mitt Romney stumble around when someone forced him off-script,
  and especially when asked if he believes "every word" in the Bible, was
  at times humorous and at other times just painful.

• McCain is just boring. His monotone alone drives me a little nuts. I can’t imagine four years of that.

• One of the only two good lines McCain had all night (#2 is below) was when he stated he’d used many different guns while in the military but now he neither owns nor uses any. That last bit was almost a throw-away line, but I think it was his best — mainly because I was rather disturbed that some of the other candidates were talking so flippantly about the guns they own. McCain’s statement revealed a respect for guns as deadly weapons that, frankly, was sadly missing from most other candidates.

• Ron Paul was an OB doc? Yikes! I don’t even want to imagine that…

• Fred Thompson seemed rather distracted a lot of the time, losing his train of thought, struggling for words, and occasionally rambling.

• Some of the "commercials/videos" made by the candidates
  completely baffled me; I didn’t understand what they were about or what
  message, exactly, they were trying to make. Except, of course, "vote for me!"

• I liked Rudy’s commercial the best. That was funny right there, I don’t care who ya are! (text below)
  • As mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani faced unheard of challenges:
    runaway taxes, out of control crime, and, of course, the city’s
    nemesis, King Kong.

    Yet, Rudy prevailed.  Crime down by half, taxes cut, and annual snowfall dramatically reduced.

    Time called Rudy person of the year. Newsweek — the new mayor of
    America. And when asked, Hillary Clinton called him —[Censored!]  …but she probably
    planted the question.

• A few more of my favorite lines:
  • "A nation that cannot and will not defend its own borders will not forever remain a sovereign nation." and "One of the things I
    would do for his generation is protect him from our generation." (Fred
    Thompson)
  • "… I have a few ideas, and maybe Hillary can be on the
    first mission [to Mars]." (Huckabee, which caused much cheering)
  • "I would hope that we would understand, my friends, that life is not "24" and Jack Bauer." (McCain)
  • "…when I was Mayor of New York City the Yankees won
    four World Championships…. and since I’ve left [office] the Yankees
    have won: none." (Giuliani)

• I don’t understand the issue regarding gays in the military.
  While from a moral and spiritual aspect, I believe homosexuality is
  sin, I don’t believe I have the right nor the responsibility to force
  everyone to believe as I do, or live as I believe is healthiest and
  best. And I don’t understand why it is an issue that keeps someone from
  serving in the military. No one on the stage tonight, including
  Huckabee, adequately explained their reasoning for keeping the "don’t
  ask, don’t tell" policy in place. A policy, by the way, that I believe
  causes a person to live without integrity; forcing them to either
  pretend or at least not be open about who they are and what their
  motivations, intentions, and lifestyles are. I would think that
  integrity, authenticity and transparency would build more cohesion in a
  military unit than open homosexuality would tear it apart. I just don’t
  get it. Can anyone help me with this?

If you missed the debate, you can read the transcript here. And I would encourage you to do so, especially if you’re a Republican. The primaries are quickly approaching for many states and we all need to make an informed choice when we go into the voting booth.