was conspicuously absent from this quorum of contenders, carefully vying for cabinet positions yet haunted the pundits and hopefuls who could focus their attacks on a surrogate, political outsider and Trump apologist in the form of businessman Vivek Ramaswamy—described by Fox hosts as a “skinny guy with a funny last name,” exactly the same words used for Barack Obama. While not a forgone conclusion, Trump calculated sitting out this debate would be to his advantage, leading the polls for the GOP nominee by a compelling majority, with his major rival, Florida governor and cultural-crusader DeSantis seeming much diminished in this forum. And while the split-screen seemed not garner the attention wanted or expected, all but one of the candidates pledged (albeit meekly) to support Trump for re-election should he be convicted on one or all of his four indictments and ninety-one criminal charges and no one on stage really addressed policy but rather personality and credentials.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links to revisit plus the party’s response to the 1991 attempted coup in the Soviet Union
two years ago: more links to enjoy, ant architecture plus Bohemian Rhapsody (1975)
three years ago: cocktails for on-line courses, the International Garden PoTY plus vintage Soviet pop
four years ago: a sorceress’ trove found in Pompeii
five years ago: Kalashnikov makes an electric vehicle, a White House press briefing, drought in Europe reveals ominous Hunger Stones plus one community’s fight to keep a fast food giant at bay