The 2016 Republican presidential candidates gathered in Las Vegas Tuesday night with two goals: to scare the hell out of the American people and promote themselves as the guy or gal who’ll keep us safe. They all succeeded at their first objective but I’m not sure anyone scored on the second.
Frontrunner Donald Trump continued to promise he’d commit war crimes to defeat ISIS, by targeting fighters’ families. “Frankly, that will make people think because they may not care much about their lives, but they do care, believe it or not, about their families’ lives,” he told us. Senator Ted Cruz, who’s moved into second place and may lead in Iowa, continued to promise he’d “carpet-bomb” ISIS while not seeming to understand what the term means, since he promised he’d spare civilians and cities. Carly Fiorina, who’s fading fast, bragged about helping the NSA after 9/11 when she was Hewlett-Packard CEO—and may have divulged classified information.