Posted on Aug 7, 2015
LCDR Deputy Department Head
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The candidate that stood out the most to me in a positive way was Carson. What did you think of the debate overall? I was pleasantly surprised at the civility.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/live-coverage-republican-presidential-hopefuls-debate-n405591
Edited >1 y ago
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Cpl Jeff N.
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It went about as I thought it would. Very hard to score points with 10 people and 60 seconds per question and little interaction with the other candidates. I thought some of the questions were incredibly loaded. Trump got 3. It was clear who their target was.

The very first question about not running as a 3rd party candidate. We all knew the answer that was intended to get Trump sideways with the GOP only. He had made the statement about possibly running as an independent already. Why ask it and get the 3rd grade hand raising thing going.

Then the question from Kellie on his calling women names. Really? Is that all we can come up with considering the thousands of questions that could have been asked. You said some bad things to women does that disqualify you from president? I don't know, ask Bill Clinton, he actually did bad things to women and he made it, twice.

The Trump bankruptcy question from Wallace was another loaded question that could never be answered in 60 seconds and was really intended to make Trump look bad with no ability to adequately walk through the transactions, why they happened etc.
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Cpl Jeff N.
Cpl Jeff N.
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LCDR (Join to see) I you are going to ask a question like that under the rules that he gets 60 seconds to explain the complexities of 4 different LEGAL bankruptcy filings and ignore, in your question, the fact that he has had over a hundred companies for context then I call BS on the question.

There is no way any businessman could answer a question on 4 bankruptcies in 60 seconds. Anyone that has been around these transactions (Chapter 11's) knows it. It would be a fair question in an interview where he would have time to answer and there could be a follow up or two as well. The purpose of the question was to bring his business savvy into question with no fair way for him to address it in the format. It was an ambush question.

I am not a Trump devotee. I was incredibly surprised at the poor wording and loaded questions used last night in a number of instances.
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LCDR Naval Aviator
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I think the point being brought up was that while Mr. Trump did make a great deal of money on his bankruptcies, in one case investors lost over $1,000,000,000. While it's legal, it's not particularly ethical, and the larger issue at hand is that a President can't file bankruptcy, or walk away from a failing investment. The President must do what they can with what they've got, and ducking out while someone else is left holding the bag isn't an option. The follow-on to the point about his investors makes the question valid, not the details of the business.
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Cpl Jeff N.
Cpl Jeff N.
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LCDR (Join to see) . I am not sure how much experience you have in the business world with bankruptcies. Most companies go down a long bath to bankruptcy. Their financial performance falls off, they are not making money, the start paying suppliers more slowly, key business metrics begin to collapse and other observable issues.

Many companies continue to do business with a company clearly in trouble betting on the come that things will be okay that it will turn around. Many times they are wrong and made poor decisions about doing business with a company clearly in trouble. If you are left holding the bag at a chapter 11 filing you likely walked right past many clear signals and ignored them in order to continue doing business (generating revenue and profit). Once a company is under the bankruptcy court protection you are pretty safe to work with them but you don't want to be an investor or a supplier that is owed money prior to the filing. People make decision about where they invest and who they do business with. Sometimes poorly.

The president doesn't have to turn a profit, meet the markets expectations, meet a boards expectations or many other things a CEO of public corporation does. Government is an expense based organization. They are only a cost center to the country and we don't get what we pay for (in taxes). Trying to glean anything about a CEO filing a bankruptcy to a president running the country is misplaced
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LCDR Naval Aviator
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You raise some excellent points there. Definitely something to think on.
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PO1 Thomas Herms
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I believe the combination of debates went a long way toward illuminating the policies of each candidate and a sample of their style of leadership and diplomatic skills. I have followed Carly Fiorina since she took the reigns at HP and negotiated the merger with Compaq. It was unfortunate that her role as CEO ended like most chief executives with a boardroom dispute and ouster, but it was good that the debate illustrated her strong convictions and commanding presence. Ron Paul and Donald Trump had enough time to illustrate the dangers of them negotiating with world leaders. I think Carson had the right attitude toward the military, but doesn't really understand how far we have fallen since President Reagan's goals of a 600 ship Navy. In general, I think the debate has started the process of thinning out the crowd.
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LCDR Deputy Department Head
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PO1 Thomas Herms well thought response. Thank you, and I tend to agree with all of what you said.
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SSG Warren Swan
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Did anyone else notice this guy was ORANGE last night? If you're going to get a crappy spray tan at least match your hands and lips to your face.
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COL Vincent Stoneking
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I actually recorded the debate and watched it later, but that was I think my first comment to my wife.
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