Most Ridiculous Moment – November 1, 2015

"Consensus"

It was a savvy day on the Sunday talk shows, with much time devoted to inside-the-beltway horse race gossip over whether Jeb Bush

is finished, or if this is Marco Rubio's 

moment, or if Bernie Sanders is finally 

taking on Clinton.

The media's newest heartthrob, Marco Rubio, was on Face The Nation. He was asked about his lack of experience, and said “Entitlement reform is a huge undertaking.” Most of the rest of the interview was about his missed Senate votes.

The Face the Nation panel all but declared Rubio the nominee, with Peggy Noonan saying of Jeb Bush, “He's got the wobblies,

I mean, now and then, candidates just get wobbly.” The discussion then turned to Noonan's new book, “a collection of her speeches and columns,” and about the greatest speech she wrote, one for Ronald Reagan after the Challenger disaster,

the highlight of which was a poem written 

by somebody else.

Jeb Bush himself was on Meet The Press, where explained he let Marco Rubio walk all over him because, “I got cut off. That debate was a really weird debate just because you didn't get a chance to continue on.”

He defended his overall performance, saying “I can complete a sentence in the English language pretty well,” and on policy said the opposing or favoring the death penalty is not an either / or issue, and said of President Obama, “We now have a divider-in-chief who pushes people down that disagree with him.”

On the idea that the invasion of Iraq led to the rise of ISIS, Bush said “The better argument is the surge worked. A fragile Iraq existed.” Bush said his father, former President 

George Bush watches the Sunday talk shows, and observed, “I love my dad. I'd kill

for him. I'd go to prison for him because I love 

him so much.”

Carly Fiorina popped up on ABC's This Week, to where she admitted she “misspoke” about the President's employment record, but then said, “this is what the liberal media always does, it attacks the messenger trying to 

avoid the message.”

Ben Carson was on also ABC, where he complained about the debate questions, saying “You know, you can spend forever combing back through somebody's history and say, "In 1942, didn't you say...?"

He called for more armored brigades in the Baltic basin to show some strength, and “a missile defense system in the eastern bloc of countries,” to show we oppose Putin, and for US. policies to “keep the oil prices down, which keeps him in his little box.”

He also said the U.S. could collapse like the Roman Empire “by allowing our populists to become enemies with each other, stirring 

up hatred and strife within our country.”

But the most absurd moment came during the Paul Ryan's appearance on all three networks. Ryan said even though he is now Speaker of the House, “I'm going to keep mountain climbing. I'm going to keep camping. I'm going to keep hunting.”

Philosophically, he believes “I think big government displaces what we call civil society. Big government makes it harder for communities to come together and heal problems.” and called for a new tax code, a replacement for Obamacare, and “to move people from welfare to work, so that people can make the most of their lives.”

He also said “I think it's time we take some policy risks by showing people what we really believe, who we are and how we can fix this country's great problems,” and “my job is to lead us to consensus. And to, on big controversial issues, operate on that consensus.”

But amazingly, while said “I think it's very important that we do find common ground where we can find common ground to advance the nation's interest and do it in a way where we don't have to compromise principle,” and said he endorsed immigration reform legislation allowing for legal status, 

he then completely rejected ever working 

with the President on any bill addressing immigration.

Saying “that is not in the cards,”, and “I do not believe we should – and we won't – bring immigration legislation with a President we cannot trust on this issue”, and “I think it would be a ridiculous notion to try and work on an issue like this with a president we simply cannot trust on this issue. He tried to go it alone, circumventing the legislative process with his executive orders.”

None of the panelists on any of the shows took even the slightest notice of this stance, with Matt Bai calling Ryan a conciliator.

So, it's time for the Republican party to take policy risks, show the people what they really believe, and to create consensus and find common ground. Immigration reform, if brought to a vote, would pass, and would be good for America, but Paul Ryan and the Republicans won't work with the President of the United States, at all, because he hurt their feelings, and they don't like him.

And that's the most ridiculous thing 

that happened this Sunday.