The Nacilbupera Guzzle

Whoever examines with attention the history of the dearths and famines … will find, I believe, that a dearth never has arisen from any combination among the inland dealers in corn, nor from any other cause but a real scarcity, occasioned sometimes perhaps, and in some particular places, by the waste of war, but in by far the greatest number of cases by the fault of the seasons; and that a famine has never arisen from any other cause but the violence of government attempting, by improper means, to remedy the inconveniences of a dearth. (Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations IV.5.44)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Bridgewater and Eagar Debate: Who won?

After listening now thrice to the Utah U.S. Senatorial debates on Wednesday's Lonsberry Show (debate during show's final hour), we have had enough thought and time to form our opinions. Here our our results in four areas:
  1. KNOWLEDGE, ARTICULATE: Both candidates represented themselves well. We felt both candidates knew the issues well enough to speak thoroughly on the subject and neither came across like a "deer in headlights": either would measure up to the job of representing Utah knowledgeably. Result: TIE

  2. PERSONALITY: Bridgewater approached the questions more like a diplomat trying to preserve good relations as a second-choice for those delegates who might not pick him as a first. Eagar was a General Patton out to defend, protect, and ready to take on the Commies once the war with the Fascists was over. These personalities are true to the personalities they exhibit elsewhere on the trail. Many would argue we need diplomats and view disagreement among allies as counter-productive. Our view is we need both though when push comes to shove, we'll keep Patton. Measuring against the 3,500 delegates whose opinions may or may not be the same as ours, the result is: TIE

  3. MODERATION: We were delighted Mr. Lonsberry arranged this debate and our kudos to him. Lonsberry's lack of professional moderation came through when he digressed into addressing initial questions to Mrs. Eagar as "Ma'am" during the middle part of the debate while not equally applying the term "Sir" to Mr. Bridgewater. Mr. Lonsberry deserves some forbearance for serving in the military and having the "Sir" and "Ma'am" terms ingrained into him. We thought Eagar showed good restraint in not pointing out this relatively-minor inequality and thus garnished some points with the listeners unlike Bully Boxer of California:



    Lonsberry exhibited other minor biases by (1) during the debate pointing out in complimentary fashion a photo he had seen on Mr. Bridgewater's website while lacking a compliment to Mrs. Eagar (2) his interruption of Mrs. Eagar mid-sentence using the term "Ma'am" thrice to redirect her discussion of debt was distracting as well and (3) he directed a complex three-questions-in-one to Eagar but not to Bridgewater. We could find no instances of biases against Bridgewater towards Eagar. As such, Lonsberry came across moderately biased towards Bridgewater although we have no reason to believe that he actually is, doubt he meant to come across this way, and recognize the biases were relatively minor-to-moderate. The overall moderator score: NOT BAD.

  4. BEST QUOTE: Many times debates are won over memorable one-liners. The winning quote in our mind was this humorous quote by Eagar nearer the conclusion of the debate:
    We are to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s--and right now Government thinks it’s God.

So who won overall? Perhaps Eagar for the best quote, but really we'd have to pick all three: Eagar, Bridgewater, and Lonsberry all came across as genuine Patriots fighting in the cause for principled constitutionalism as the opinion of each was raised in Nacilbupera's mind.

6 comments:

arc said...

I believe that Cherilyn Eagar is the only one running who has supported and been active in fighting for conservative values for the last 30 years at the local, state, national and international level. [That includes Bennett]

Unknown said...

I agree that Eagar is our Patton and that is exactly what our Congress needs right now to combat the left wing female ding-bats in congress. Yes there are male ding-bats as well, but to date all the females are left-wing and that gives the impression that all women are for whatever position they are for and that just isn't true. We need a real female conservative in the Senate to counter ... particularly one that has such an outstanding track record!

Anonymous said...

I finally got around to listening to it today, and I would have to respectfully disagree. While, they were close in ability, Bridgewater was the winner in my opinion. He didn't attack like Eagar, who constantly kept bringing up the same points no matter how unrelated to the issue it was.

This doesn't mean that I am supporting Bridgewater, it just means that in this debate, I would have to give the win to him. He was eloquent, on topic, and concise.

Nacilbupera said...

Arc, Jeantap: Amen!

Travis: Thx for the comment! It is hard to judge a debate because we bring differing lenses. What you see as irrelevant attacking in Eagar, we see as a strength in being unafraid to "call it as it is." On a personal note if we might, you have one of the most beautiful families!

Susan said...

You know, when a man "attacks," it is seen as strength. When a woman makes the same attack, it is seen as pushy or shrill. I respect a candidate that can go on the attack, and stand up for what they know and believe is factually correct. Part of the problem with Washington today, is all of the political correctness, and the fear of someone taking offense, even if the comment is correct and factually based. If we had more honest representation in DC, representation that was not afraid of laying out the facts as they stand, Washington would not be as corrupt as it is today. But as it is, no one is willing to appear on the floor of either the house or the senate, and tell the truth about practically anything. The fear of a personal counter attack is too great.

Nacilbupera said...

Susan:

Thx for the comment; two scriptures come to mind:
Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed..." & John 8:32 [NIV] "...and the truth will set you free."