7th GOP Debate: Another Fox News Circus

One can hardly blame Donald Trump for skipping the recent Fox News Channel presidential debate in favor of hosting an event to raise money for wounded military veterans. After all, just like the first so-called Fox News “debate,” it really wasn’t a political debate at all. It was just another show -- a circus performance for the purpose of audience entertainment – not serious intellectual edification.

Once again ring master (moderator?), “Megyn Kelly set the comedic tone for the evening: KELLY: “So let's get started… Senator Cruz, before we get to the issues, let's address the elephant not in the room tonight. (LAUGHTER) Donald Trump has chosen not to attend this evening's presidential debate. What message do you think that sends to the voters of Iowa?”

That’s not a debate question. Kelly candidly admits it has nothing whatsoever to do with the issues. It’s a deliberate provocation directed at Donald Trump with whom she has been engaged in a feud ever since the last Fox News debate wherein she deliberately provoked Trump with stupid, juvenile, unprofessional questions having nothing to do with the issues.

Megyn Kelly knows perfectly well why Trump skipped this debate. He wasn’t sending a message to Iowa; far from it.  She’s the reason. She doesn’t like Trump and the feeling is mutual. She’s biased and she wears that bias on her sleeve. Kelly doesn’t mind advertising it to the whole world. Her object is to scold and humiliate.

Remember, this is the same Megyn Kelly who confronted Trump then with: “You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals’... Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks.”

Naturally, Kelly’s first non-question of the latest “debate” gave Ted Cruz the perfect opportunity to mock his absent rival, which is precisely what Kelly intended solely for the amusement of her audience at Trump’s expense: CRUZ: “Now … let me say I'm a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat, and ugly. And Ben, you're a terrible surgeon." (LAUGHTER) "Now that we've gotten the Donald Trump portion out of the way...” (LAUGHTER) (APPLAUSE)

Ha, ha, ha, clap, clap, clap; that Megyn Kelly girl is just too clever and amusing for words isn’t she? Look how she injected her jab against Donald Trump right from the get go and the rest of the candidates on the “debate” stage were reduced to being used as mere theatrical props in the Megyn Kelly circus show. It’s all about her.

She proved that next by turning her knife on Ted Cruz with another long, convoluted non-debate question designed to pit him personally against Trump: KELLY: “The divide between you and Mr. Trump has turned into one of the biggest stories in the country; And for six months that -- your campaign, during this campaign, you praised Mr. Trump as somebody who you thought was an effective voice against the Washington cartel. You said you were glad that he was running as a Republican. But when he started to criticize you, your message changed, and you suddenly started to portray him as the voice of the Washington cartel, and suggested he would do the Democrats' bidding. Which is it?”

This question wasn’t up for debate with the six other candidates on the stage. This wasn’t about a serious political debate issue. It was solely directed at one candidate. Kelly is not interested in moderating a debate in which the candidates’ debate one another. She wants to participate. She wants the candidates to debate with HER! She wants the spotlight on HER! She wants to shine.

Another example: KELLY: “Senator [sic] Christie, you began this campaign touting your record as a Republican from a blue state who knows how to get things done and reach across the aisle. However, many Republicans feel that reaching across the aisle and getting things done isn't great if you get the wrong things done. And they prefer to stand on principle rather than compromise. Why are they wrong and you're right?”

Ted Cruz got it absolutely right when he observed: CRUZ: “Chris, I would note that…  that the last four questions have been, "Rand, please attack Ted. Marco, please attack Ted. Chris, please attack Ted. Jeb, please attack Ted… Let me just say this...."  WALLACE: ... “It is a debate, sir.” CRUZ: “... Well, no, no. A debate actually is a policy issue…”

You see, that’s exactly the point.  In a presidential debate it’s the candidates who are supposed to make the debate points – not the moderators – the candidates. It’s the moderator’s job to moderate – not participate in the debate – moderate. They’re questions should be short, precise and directed to all the candidates; for example: “If elected, how would you handle ISIS?” “What would you do about gun violence?” ”What would you do to improve the economy?  ”What do you think are the major threats to the homeland and how would you deal with them?”  They should begin the topic and then let the candidates do the debating; let them score the political points; let them bicker with each other. It’s not supposed to be an entertainment show. It’s supposed to be a serious debate.

Never-mind that, proclaims Megyn Kelly; she actually thinks that it is proper professional form for her as a monitor to produce a campaign commercial, complete with video clips, no less, targeting one candidate for the benefit of the others.

Case in point: KELLY:  “Live, in Des Moines, Iowa. Now, we move onto the topic of immigration. Senator Rubio, we'll start with you. When you ran for Senate in 2010, you made clear that you opposed legalization and citizenship for illegal immigrants. You promised repeatedly that you would oppose it as a U.S. Senator as well. Here are just a few examples. Watch:” (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) … (END VIDEO CLIP) … (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) … (END VIDEO CLIP) … (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) … (END VIDEO CLIP)  

The video clips purport to show Rubio flip-flopping on the immigration issue. Taken together it looks just like a 60 second negative campaign commercial) KELLY: “Within two years of getting elected you were co-sponsoring legislation to create a path to citizenship, in your words, amnesty. Haven't you already proven that you cannot be trusted on this issue?”

And on and on … WALLACE: “Gentlemen, we're going to turn now to what we call electability, issues that you're either facing in the primaries or issues that you're certainly going to face in a general election. So you may not be altogether unhappy if you're not included in this round.” (LAUGHTER) “Senator Cruz, you pride yourself on standing up to the D.C. cartel, but as we've seen to a certain degree tonight, there's a price for standing up to the D.C. cartel. Thirteen Republican senators have endorsed other candidates, none have endorsed you. You -- twice last year, you asked for a colleague to second a motion, a routine courtesy on the Senate floor, and no senator would do it. Top GOP officials worry that if you're at the top of the ticket -- some officials -- that not only will you lose the White House, but it will tank the ticket all the way down the line. The question is does your style sometimes get in the way of your ability to get things done, sir?”

The 7th GOP presidential Debate: Another Fox News Circus.