There were eight candidates on the Milwaukee debate stage. The consensus from the mainstream media is that only one candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, stood out.
Ramaswamy did not become the center of attention because he was young, quick, telegenic, and relaxed (with an oversized plastic smile that many on social media found irritating). He became the night’s star for aggressively pursuing a MAGA agenda without any of former President Trump’s baggage.
The similarities to Trump in 2015 were unmistakable. Ramaswamy is an Ivy League-educated millionaire entrepreneur who flies in his own private jet and has never run for public office. Draining the swamp is something he can do well, never having been part of one. The only other authentic non-swamp person with business credentials was North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgam, who created Great Plains software and sold it to Microsoft for over $1 billion before winning the election in a landslide.
The remaining six candidates looked unserious and did not appear to have a strategy to help solve America’s and the world’s biggest problems. They were all eager for the job but, other than possibly Ron DeSantis, whose biggest political accomplishment has been in turning Florida deep-red, did not instill any confidence that they could become an effective leader of the Free World.
The debate continued for two hours, each candidate reciting practiced lines. But many of the responses were remarkably similar to those that you hear from the Democrats.
Abortion. On abortion, only North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis agreed that the matter has now irreversibly and correctly moved to the states. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said that a federal ban was impractical (meaning it was a process issue because the measure couldn’t get 60 Senate votes) but did not appreciate the elegance of the Supreme Court decision when it ruled based on the supremacy of the Tenth Amendment. Mike Pence wants a six-week federal ban; Tim Scott wants a 15-week federal ban. Both sounded like Democrats arguing for federal control of a state issue.
Federal debt. No candidate spoke convincingly about how they would solve the country’s massive debt problem, now inching towards $50 trillion in ten years. Pence avoided answering a question about how the debt ballooned during his time as VP. Instead, he cautioned that the Trump tax cuts were about to sunset in 2025 and that he would irresponsibly extend them without saying how he would pay for them. No one even raised the issue of entitlement reform, with only a few talking about cuts to discretionary spending, which accounts for less than 15% of the budget.
Election integrity. No one addressed what caused hundreds of thousands to march in Washington on January 6, 2021. No one complimented the many GOP states that have passed election integrity reform laws since 2020. By staying away from the issue, they looked like the average Democrat who insists that a whole slew of 2020 election irregularities (no-excuse absentee ballots, drop-boxes, insufficient signature validation, late acceptance of ballots, illegal Zuckbucks-type contributions, etc.) does not merit attention.
Law and order. While there were comments about the idiocy of defunding the police and fentanyl, no one spoke about the disaster in the summer of 2020 when race riots killed four times as many people as on January 6. No one had a plan to rid American urban areas of homelessness, abject poverty, unhygienic conditions, and drug abuse, other than to argue for more police. We know that stepped-up law enforcement alone will not address the issue.
Big Tech and misinformation. Gov. DeSantis was most comfortable discussing how Florida dealt with school closings and mask mandates. But nearly everyone else seemed more like Democrats. No one challenged COVID’s origins; no one declared that it was wrong for the government to work with Big Tech to suppress meaningful dialog under the garb of misinformation. No one criticized the 51 intelligence officers who deliberately helped sway the election to Biden.
Ukraine and foreign policy. The moderators shockingly did not bring up Ukraine until after the debate’s first hour. No candidate addressed why Russia did not attack Ukraine when President Trump was in office. No one discussed the risk that the Russia-Ukraine war could escalate to World War III. No candidate assured Americans about nuclear weapons. Pence, Christie, and Haley continued the Democratic establishment position that supporting Ukraine was in America’s national security interests, falsely asserting that Putin would invade other NATO countries if he were not stopped. No one discussed the rise of the BRICS countries or how they would take steps to ensure that the dollar remains the world’s dominant currency.
Deep State and Lawfare. Other than Tim Scott, Ramaswamy, and DeSantis, no candidate spoke about the weaponization of the DOJ. No one talked about how the Deep State triggered the Russia-Russia-Russia hoax that crippled the first two years of the Trump administration. No debater acknowledged that, based on what we now know about the Biden family’s dealings in Ukraine, Trump’s first impeachment was unwarranted. No candidate offered that regarding January 6, Trump was already punished -being impeached a second time and acquitted by the Senate – so pressing criminal charges against a political opponent was unAmerican.
The modern GOP is firmly uniparty and indistinguishable from the Washington Democrats and the Beltway types. Without a MAGA agenda, a new GOP administration would essentially look like the Biden administration, except for a few changes to appeal to the religious right.
We could use your help. Support our independent journalism with your paid subscription to keep our mission going.
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics And Geoeconomics
1. Ukrainians Display Destroyed Russian Hardware In Independence Day Celebration – UPI
Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day on Thursday as Russia’s 17-month invasion of the country continues.
In Kyiv, residents paraded destroyed Russian tanks along the capital’s main street to show the country’s resistance to Moscow’s attack.
Ukraine’s parliament declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, followed by a ballot initiative supported by 92% of the Ukrainian voters the following month.
2. Russia’s Putin Sends Condolences Over Crash, Says Prigozhin ‘Achieved Results’ – Al Arabiya
“First of all, I want to express words of sincere condolences to the families of all the victims,” Putin said in a televised meeting, calling the plane crash that killed Wagner chief Prigozhin a “tragedy.”
“I knew Prigozhin for a very long time, since the early 90s. He was a man of complicated fate and made serious mistakes in his life, but he achieved the right results,” Putin said.
3. U.S. Intelligence: Intentional Explosion Brought Down Wagner Chief Prigozhin’s Plane – A.P.
An official anonymously described that the initial assessment was that Prigozhin was “very likely” targeted and that the explosion falls in line with Putin’s “long history of trying to silence his critics.”
Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said press reports that a surface-to-air missile took down the plane were inaccurate. He declined to say whether the U.S. suspected a bomb or believed the crash was an assassination.
4. Russia Extends Detention Of WSJ Reporter Gershkovich – D.W.
The reporter has been held in pre-trial detention since his arrest in March. Moscow accuses Evan Gershkovich of espionage, which he and the Wall Street Journal deny.
The United States has repeatedly lobbied for his release, accusing Moscow of “hostage diplomacy.” President Joe Biden described Gershkovich’s detention as “totally illegal.”
5. India And China Agree To ‘De-Escalate’ Border Tensions – BBC
The two world powers are facing off against each other along their ill-defined 2,100-mile-long border – known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – in the Himalayan region.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said both sides had agreed to step up efforts to disengage troops along the LAC. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping spoke on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in South Africa.
6. Taiwan Reports Renewed Chinese Military Activity, Planes In ‘Response’ Zone – Reuters
Taiwan’s defense ministry reported renewed Chinese military activity around the island, including 13 aircraft entering Taiwan’s “response” zone and five ships carrying out combat readiness patrols.
China held a day of drills around Taiwan in an angry response to brief stop-overs this month in the United States by Vice President William Lai.
7. China-Based ‘Flax Typhoon’ Hackers Targeting Taiwan Govt: Microsoft – AFP
Microsoft said that Flax Typhoon, “a nation-state actor based out of China,” has since mid-2021, mainly “targeted government agencies and education, critical manufacturing, and information technology organizations in Taiwan.”
The activities observed suggest “the threat actor intends to perform espionage and maintain access to organizations across a broad range of industries for as long as possible,” Microsoft said in a blog post.
“However, Microsoft has not observed Flax Typhoon act on final objectives in this campaign.”
8. Nearly 2 Million Excess Deaths After China Abruptly Ended Covid Curbs: Study – Reuters
A new U.S. study shows that China’s abrupt move to dismantle its strict COVID-19 regime, which unleashed the virus onto its 1.4 billion residents, could have led to nearly 2 million excess deaths in the following two months.
The study by the federally funded Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle was taken from a sample of mortality data published by some universities in China and internet searches.
9. Saudi Arabia Considering Chinese Bid To Build Nuclear Plant, Report Says – Al Jazeera
Saudi Arabia is considering a Chinese bid to build a nuclear power plant in the kingdom amid frustration over the U.S. stipulations for supporting Riyadh’s quest for nuclear power.
China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), a state-owned firm, has proposed the construction of a nuclear plant near the border with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed Saudi officials.
10. Iran Supports BRICS Efforts To De-Dollarize: Raisi – Al Arabiya
Iran supports efforts by the BRICS group of emerging economies to move away from dependence on the U.S. dollar; President Ebrahim Raisi told the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
Six new countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, have been invited to become full members of the BRICS bloc. “The membership will take effect from the first of January 2024,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
11. Official Source Denies Report Accusing Saudi Forces Of Killing Ethiopian Migrants – Al Arabiya
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch group alleged that Saudi border guards have killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants trying to cross into Saudi Arabia from Yemen.
The official Saudi source said the allegations were “unfounded and based on unreliable sources,” the Saudi Press Agency reported.
12. Climate Change: Thousands Of Penguins Die In Antarctic Ice Breakup – BBC
A catastrophic die-off of emperor penguin chicks has been observed in the Antarctic, with up to 10,000 young birds estimated to have been killed.
The sea ice underneath the chicks melted and broke apart before they could develop the waterproof feathers to swim in the ocean. The event occurred in late 2022 in an area fronting onto the Bellingshausen Sea.
Dr. Peter Fretwell, from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), said the wipeout was a harbinger of things to come.
Please email [email protected]
Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
