Candidate #16 in my governor, John Kasich (R-OH). No candidate profile for Governor Kasich yet, but candidate #17 is rumored to be on the horizon.
Given so many candidates seeking the Republican nomination, I believe all the candidates should get ample debate time – thus I favor at least one format that hasn’t been suggested – in groups of four – such as Group 1) Bush, Paul, Graham, Perry – Group 2) Trump, Carson, Christie, Pitaki – Group 3) Rubio, Huckabee, Jindal, Fiorina – Group 4) Walker, Cruz, Santorum, Kasich
This editorial headline from the Des Moines Register made me smile: Trump should pull the plug on his bloviating side-show. See for yourself.
If and when The Bloviator withdraws from the race, I predict he will do so in grand style – such as, El Chapo has threatened his family.
Cheers to GOP candidates Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rick Perry (R-TX) for aggressively bashing The Bloviator – but jeers to Marco Rubio (R-FL) for equating Trump’s behavior to a “classless” President Obama. Sorry Senator Rubio, but your classless comment registered a severe black mark against you that will be difficult to erase by this independent.
David Ignatius (Washington Post) is one of the most respected columnists specializing in foreign policy. Here’s one of his columns about the Iranian Nuclear Pact.
Cheers to the US and Cuba reopening their respective embassies. Now I await Congress to screw it up.
The video below is a commercial for a website for people who rent lodging. To me, this is a thought-provoking message. Plus their message about kindness in the notes on YouTube is worth reading. (To read, click here)
Last weekend I had the great pleasure of meet and spend time with two bloggers who have visited here: Ginger Snaap & El Guapo (along with TMWGITU). We had a fabulous time, but the pleasure was all mine. My meeting bloggers count leaped to three.
The blogging series continues to be a success, but only one more to go. On a side note, the last one (Posting & Frequency) was a post without fanfare – number 1700, which means this post is #1702.
Only one act remains in Meals: The Musical … and preliminary information is on the Hear Ye page.
The Explore series continues on Saturday featuring a wonderful video about a person, place, or thing.
To lead you into The Onion, they offer these tips for getting cheaper airfare.
Embed from Getty ImagesWeekly Headlines from The Onion (combos welcome)
Toddler unsettled by whatever possessed her to bite friend’s face
Lesser piece of paper used to test pen’s viability
Man sadly realizes his one bedroom apartment large enough to host party with all his friends
Leonardo DiCaprio agrees to donate “It Factor” to science
Four hours scrolling through Facebook before bed referred to as “winding down”
Interesting Reads
10 things you didn’t know about the first moon landing
Pew Research Center study about Americans, politics, and science issues
Chimney climbing
Mosquito’s technique of finding something to bite
Hot summer around the world (Photo gallery)
For many of us in the northern hemisphere, here’s a song for a hot summer night. For my friends below the equator, summer is on the way. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
A Frank Angle 
Wow, 1702 posts! Amazing!
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Brenda,
Many thanks … and since late August 2008. I keep plugging away in my little corner of the world in the midst of meager stats … but I enjoy the writing process and interacting with others.
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You have over 5,000 followers! That’s pretty good in the blogging world. I like your site a lot. I wish you great success. Warmly, Brenda
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Who knows how the 5K happened. Must have got on somebody’s list. Between businesses and new bloggers looking for followers (and most never return), the number is a bit bogus.
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I know what you mean. I couldn’t handle much more daily comment traffic, actually. I don’t know how people with more than 5 digits do it.
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To me, replying to all comments here is important …. and yes, it is time consuming, which takes away time from visiting others.
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Yes, answering is such fun and makes it all worthwhile.
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Absolutely!
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I think your idea of a quartered debate makes good sense. Anyone who runs should get a chance to strut their stuff (goodness knows Trump’s done enough of it), but doing it with 16 others (or 9 as the case in Cleveland will be since it’s the top 10) isn’t the best way to go about it. Voters could make a better informed decision if all candidates got equal time.
Love the ad, partly because I love the way toddlers walk. Like baby orangutans. 🙂
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Carrie,
Because the quartered debates makes sense, thus the reason it won’t be done. Meanwhile, your rationale for enjoying the video is truly from a pediatrician’s heart. 🙂
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Great idea about breaking out the debate, though sitting through one debate is torturous enough. Not sure I can sit through four. It doesn’t matter how many followers you have or how many are legit. What’s important is that you enjoy it and apparently many others do as well. Keep on keeping on.
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George,
Having a large field seeking the nomination has been known for a long time, so why the networks and the party refuse to do this is beyond me. I felt this in 2012 as well … thus wanting to give the others in the field a chance.
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Do you think we can have The Donald in each of the quarter debates? Please?
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I think he’d then be the only candidate we’d hear in all four quarter-debates.
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He’s the only one we’re hearing now!
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Which also means he’s getting the most coverage.
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Which means the Dem will win.
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It’s early … way early … even too early for a debate.
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Elyse,
Well … accommodating your request for The Donald may require having a fifth set. Do you really want that?
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Five IS a great number … Or e can add one more participant to each debate
Or how about doing a musical chairs debate? That would be hilarious.
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I can’t wait until The Bloviator teams with Nincompoop.
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Your politics are ceaselessly interesting… I think I should likely punch Mr. Trump in the nose someday. I don’t know, I’m not a violent person at all, but it seems like the right thing to do.
Loved that commercial… and not just because I use airbnb. I also read the moon landing thing, there’s some awesome stuff in there. I still think it’s crazy that we don’t go back to the moon. I mean, why not? I bet the next person to go there is some private entity that just wants to, you know, soar.
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Trent,
Mr. Trump is an interesting character who causes a wide range of reactions. To me, this is the interesting question – Who supports his candidacy? Meanwhile, glad our politics amuses you.
i haven’t used airbnb, but know of it. Glad you enjoyed the moon article. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Chinese arrive there.
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Well, putting two and two together, Mr. Trump could certainly afford to launch a trip to the moon… perhaps he could go and build a few buildings there. In space, no one can hear you scream.
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… Idea … he could start his own colony … Trumpsylvania.
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I try to stay out of politics, but appreciate your take on it. I like what Kasich has done for our state, that’s for sure. Where did you meet Guap?? And how did that come about? I think that’s great!
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Kelly,
Guap was in the area visiting a friend … and I was lucky enough to be included.
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That’s great!
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I too like your idea of 4 X 4 debates. It’s better entertainment than 98% of the channels. 😉
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Jim,
My thought is simple … all candidates should be equally heard. Instead of the top 10, thus more time to the front runners, how about the bottom 10. Who knows – maybe someone would leap into contention.
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Like many of your commenters, I like the quartering idea for debates… but why stop there?? I think we’ll have enough candidates next year to do a single-elimination sort of deal, like the World Cup, so that by the last debate we’re down to our last two remaining choices.
Hey, we could televise it, make it a reality show, and let the proceeds go to an actual useful human cause!! At least that way the entire year wouldn’t be a gigantic waste of time and money. And, just imagine how many younger voters would be pulled in by “America’s Got Politicians” or “Dancing Around the Issues”…! It’s not like the entire gig isn’t a circus show already.
That’s it, I need to run the world.
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Alisha,
Dancing Around the Issues is a perfect title for a debate show. You’ve been around here long enough to see that I have debate rules, which includes turning off the mic for not answering the question.
Then again, with some of these candidates there could be a debate show with one candidate … where they debate themselves. After all, you say now vs. you said then.
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Here’s another onion: “Leonardo DiCaprio unsettled, realizes Toddler used his apartment to host party”
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Fasab,
Damn toddlers just don’t know when to stop.
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You are definitely a veteran blogger with that amount of posts Frank. Well done.
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Colline,
I noticed the number the other day, thus made a note for a bit of personal recognition. #2000 will be cause for a major party.
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Lots of interesting nuggets here, Frank. Thanks! (I agree completely with you on Rubio’s remark.)
The AirB&B advertisement was really lovely. Thanks for that, too.
Congratulations on your 1702 posts, your many followers, and your meeting in person with three! 🙂
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Merril,
Many thanks. Interesting that I’ve met so few of the people here – especially a few that our nearby … but that’s OK. The AirB&B spot touched me the first I saw it, so I had to use it here.
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You are amazing blogger and always being hit! Thank you dear Frank, have a nice weekend, love, nia
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Nia,
Many thanks for the kind words and for your encourage … .and most importantly, for being a good person!
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You are 🙂 Welcome dear Frank, love, nia
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Donald Trump – HAVE WE NO SHAME?!!!
I AGREE with you for (1) cheering Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rick Perry (R-TX) for aggressively bashing The Bloviator, (2) jeering Marco Rubio (R-FL) for equating Trump’s behavior to a “classless” President Obama, (3) saying that David Ignatius (Washington Post) is one of the most respected columnists specializing in foreign policy, (4) cheering the US and Cuba for reopening their respective embassies.
I have decided not to appeal my “Meals: The Musical” technical foul with hopes that I can mend fences with your producer.
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Tim,
The Donald is feasting on his moment in the sun. After all, he own rules allows him to say anything … which is may he has no chance.
I know from experience that coddling the producer is just as bad as challenging him.
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P.S. I forgot to mention that I like your well thought-out GOP debate idea, but that it’s doomed for the same reasons that (1) caused you to change your voting registration from Republican to Independent, and (2) led President Charles de Gaulle of France to throw up his hands and say: “How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?”
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More the de Gaulle quote than unregistering the party.
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My kitchen looks like the last act of “Meals”. HEY, my kitchen’s a musical!
Luv the song!
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Resa,
LOL … and thanks for taking a peek.
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My, that’s a LOT of posts, Frank. Congratulations on your staying power. “”The unfortunate conclusion is that it’s very difficult to escape mosquitoes.” I read this article about mosquitoes with growing disappointment, as I thought I might be able to learn how to prevent my being bitten. I read that they’re attracted to interesting objects and body heat, so I deduced that I must have an interesting hot bod. 😆 Happy weekend to you.
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You sure have had great success on WP and you deserve it. Your posts are jam-packed with great stuff!
Love that video with the toddler. And the message that accompanies it: “As we grow older, we often get more nervous about new experiences. When we go to a new place, many of us are afraid that we won’t get accepted, that we’ll feel lost or alone. When you fear the unknown and avoid strangers, it’s easy to question Man’s kindness.” I think this hold true for all of us at any stage in life.
Thanks for sharing!
Great way to rock us out of this post, too! 1979, wow. That’s when music was music and the talent (rather than the showiness) ruled! 😉
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Lorna,
Thanks for the kind words, Numbers are what they are, but given my longevity, I think my stats are lousy … but I don’t dwell on that, thus keep prodding along.
Cheers to your love for the toddler video@
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As soon as I heard John Kasich had entered the race I immediately thought of you, Frank, and I look forward to your analysis as you continue to weigh in. I don’t recall a time when so many hats were thrown into the ring. I’d like to say it’s stimulating debate and discussion, but for me it really isn’t. I almost don’t care! I really liked the video for Airbnb. We use the travel rental service and think it’s terrific. You do find the best videos!
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Debra,
in terms of the primary, 16 viable candidates is a lot. Who knows the last time we saw such a large slate. Regarding my governor.Yes …. he turned around the budget, but many programs were cut or eliminated. His insistence of support against public section unions was a huge mistake, but somehow he was able to survive. He’s currently going after the religious right. He’s also disagreed with the Republican state legislature. In others words,, he;s good & bad … but I’m willing to take me time on him.
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The 4X4 debate is an interesting idea Frank, but this would only be effective if the questions were exactly the same for all the debates. Me personally, I simply believe all candidates should be on the stage and like debates of old, they should all be timed with their answers. So, there are a few more than usual, there will simply need to be more time blocked on debate night. Like what? Maybe 8 hours? Question and response from each, I just think it would be an all out brawl and I have my popcorn ready.
Loved the reads, especially loved the Pew Report the entire report was fascinating.
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Val,
Scientifically, yes … all should have the same questions … and we know that won’t happen. What also won’t happen is that a question is asked and all being able to answer. … and if 8 hours, not only no popcorn for me, no DVR.
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Oh, I know. Even I, the junkie that I am couldn’t sit through that.
😉
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Bloviator is a new word for me. Learn something new every day – eh?
We (my household) so can’t wait for the republican’t debates to start. The candidates seem to be so extreme these days – I can’t say that I’d give any of them a chance. I like to keep an open mind. But – they sure don’t make it easy.
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RoSy,
I’ve been using Bloviator for a couple of weeks, so the headline from Iowa was a big-time treat for me!
To me, the interesting thing about the field is the commonality of several of them. For instance, there is more than one positioned for the Christian Right … a few others for the Tea Party crowd … and so on … thus it will be interesting to see the shift when someone drops out. Oh well … time will tell.
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