In commentary for the American Prospect, I look at Mitt Romney’s absurd assertion in the second presidential debate that the way to reduce gun violence in America is for more people to get married. I mean, if that’s true (which it’s not) then why not:
Eunuchs for Peace: Since most murders in the United States are committed by men, and as long as the Romney campaign wants to deny contraceptive access to women, let’s give those birth control pills to men and hormonally alter their violent instincts
Read the rest of my creative crime fighting ideas here.
I was asked to add my $0.02 for FoxNews.com’s roundup of opinions on the second presidential debate. Here’s what I said:
If Mitt Romney hopes to stay viable in this election, he better do more explaining and less interrupting. And telling the truth would help, too!
You can read the rest of the responses here.
Discussing my MORE Magazine article on Candy Crowley’s presidential debate moderator role, with Megyn Kelly:
Is the second presidential debate a make or break moment for President Obama? Hardly…. Here’s my response to Politico’s latest Arena topic:
All President Obama needs to do is show up. If Mitt Romney yet again fails to provide details for his tax plan or backtracks on statements he’s made previously, the president should cede his time to give Mitt Romney a chance, once and for all, to honestly and fully tell the American people his plan for America. And then let’s see if Mitt Romney can win with the truth.
If you like my response, share it here.
Fox News asked me to contribute to a round up of network contributors’ takes on the vice presidential debate. Here’s my take:
Thursday night, Vice President Joe Biden channeled the frustration of the American people desperately trying to nail down the details in Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s plan for America. From turning Medicare into a voucher system to cutting taxes for millionaires and billionaires to how a Romney/Ryan administration would allegedly handle matters differently with Iran and Syria, Paul Ryan repeatedly failed to provide details for voters to know where the Republican ticket stands and decide how to vote accordingly.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan can’t keep running as the anything-but-Obama ticket — and tonight, Joe Biden made clear that he and President Obama will hold the Republican’s feet to the fire and make sure the American people get facts, not fiction from the Romney/Ryan campaign.
Joe Biden performed strongly in the debate, but the clear winner was the truth — which, despite every Republican attempt to suppress it, is finding its way to the light. And the more voters learn the truth about Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s agenda, the more voters support President Obama and his specific and proven plan to keep America moving forward.
You can read the full round up of other Fox contributors here.
I hope you’ll check out this piece I wrote and posted on Facebook — about the very pressing issues of domestic policy not even asked about in the first presidential debate on domestic policy.
I mean, they were 15 miles away from where the shooting took place in Aurora and didn’t talk about gun control? Nothing on reproductive freedom and the war on women? Immigration? Come on!
Check it out — and share your thoughts and share it with your friends on Facebook.
Here’s an excerpt:
We’ll all be talking about debate styles for the next day or so. But the American people will be talking about the holes in Mitt Romney’s platform until Election Day.
And here’s the whole thing.
The media insider website Mediaite picked up on my debate with Michelle Malkin yesterday. Here’s my favorite part of the piece:
“You’re a coward,” Malkin said.
“I’m not entirely sure I know how to respond,” Kohn replied. She apologized to Malkin but her apology was rejected. “I’m a naïve idealist who believes in America that we can uphold the tradition of our founders that we can disagree with each other,” said Kohn.
Hannity did say that Malkin should accept Kohn’s apology, but she refused. “This is all kabuki theater,” said Malkin. “She’s not going to be happy until we are all completely politically and ideologically lobotomized and only speak in dulcet tones the way that NPR hosts do.”
You can read their coverage here.
There’s this great line from Lily Tomlin’s “Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe” in which the central character is trying to explain to space aliens the difference between a can of Campbell’s soup and Warhol’s painting of said can. The aliens go to see a play but ultimately — taken by the intriguing reactions from the crowd — decide that “the play is soup, the audience is art”.
And so it was tonight. The candidates on the stage were soup, but the audience was a fascinating, impressionistic portrait of today’s conservative American electorate.
First, there was a lot of booing. They booed at Ron Paul for suggesting that Muslim extremists may have reasons for attacking America other than just “hating our freedom.” They booed Mitt Romney for not giving a knee-jerk endorsement of the so-called “Fair Tax”. And they booed Rick Perry for giving in-state tuition access to undocumented immigrants, although just moments later whooping it up when Michelle Bachmann suggested forcing immigrants to speak English — failing to see the contradiction that undocumented immigrants going to college probably, uh, speak English. In fact, much of the booing reflected a horrifying disinterest in nuance among the crowd. They didn’t want to hear anything about how government might work, how taxes could be justified or how immigrants could strengthen America. It’s no wonder the gravitational pull of the Tea Party has been not only ideological but pedagogical, creating a Republican Party that is more dogmatic and less nuanced than ever.
Second, the audience was markedly divided. There were numerous answers to which, when the camera panned to the audience, only some people were clapping but certainly not all. Repeal Obamacare? Thunderous, universal applause. But on issue after issue of domestic economic policy and foreign policy, the audience demonstrated a clear lack of unanimity that has oozed from the Tea Party and infected the once-united Republican Party. Today’s Republican Party is clearly more united around what it opposes — everything associated with Barack Obama — than what it supports. Post-debate commentators talked about the desire of candidates on the stage to “play to the Tea Party audience” but the Tea Party audience made their hard-to-pinpoint political schizophrenia and numerous ideological contradictions abundantly clear, such that through the lens of an applause-o-meter, the debate seemed like an impossible game of pin the tail on the moving elephant.
I won’t weigh in on which candidate came out on top tonight, but I will say that the Tea Party clearly came out on the bottom. An audience that literally shouts its support that someone without health insurance should be left to die, among other base and immoral notions, reveals that the Tea Party’s political taste and temperament are as far removed from the American mainstream as imaginable. Not necessarily a pretty picture, but a very accurate portrait indeed.
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