It’s been all politics all the time it appears of late.  I skipped the latest Republican debate and, based on what I’ve read about it, I couldn’t be happier.  The Republican Party has degenerated, in my opinion, to such a strange, comical-if-it-weren’t-so-damn-frightening extreme that its hard to take them seriously.

Perhaps the best example of the (let’s be kind) oddities current Republican candidates display can be found in the below, a question asked in this latest debate about which woman they would put on the $10 Bill.  I found the article, written by Ben Mathis-Lilley, on Slate.com:

GOP Candidates, Asked To Name Iconic American Women, Cite Foreigners and their Relatives

You read that right, the answers by many of them were, to say the least…silly.

For those who don’t want to hit the link, I’ll post the candidate replies below:

• Rand Paul: Susan B. Anthony.
• Mike Huckabee: His wife.
• Marco Rubio: Rosa Parks.
• Ted Cruz: Rosa Parks (but on the $20; he’d keep Hamilton on the $10).
• Ben Carson: His mother.
• Donald Trump: His daughter or Rosa Parks.
• Jeb Bush: Margaret Thatcher.
• Scott Walker: Clara Barton.
• Carly Fiorina: Wouldn’t change the bill.
• John Kasich: Mother Theresa.
• Chris Christie: Abigail Adams.

So basically three of the eleven candidates chose relatives (Huckabee would put his wife on the bill, Ben Carson his mother and Donald Trump his daughter…or Rosa Parks).  Frankly, I find these answers shameful.  If the three were trying to be “funny”, the joke is pretty damn weak.  Regardless, one gets the feeling their answer displays more about their ignorance of famous American women than any actual humor.

You would think that would be the worst type of answer, but then you have the very bizarre responses from Jeb Bush and John Kasich.  Jeb Bush chooses…former British P.M. Margaret Thatcher?!  John Kasich wants to put Calcutta’s Mother Theresa on a U.S. bill?!?!  As with the relative answers above, I can’t help but think these responses show their ignorance of famous American woman.

Three of them chose Rosa Parks: Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump (but as noted above, he said either Ms. Parks or his daughter!).  I find the choice of Rosa Parks, especially with regard to Ted Cruz, a curious one.  Considering some of the philosophies he -and the others- espouse, I wonder if they’re not just mentioning a name they’re familiar with rather than what she’s most known for.

Scott Walker’s choice of Clara Barton, the nurse who founded the Red Cross, is actually a rather neat choice, in my opinion, though it doesn’t warm me at all to his candidacy.

Susan B. Anthony, a feminist involved in the woman’s suffrage movement, was Rand Paul’s choice and is also not bad at all, though we did have her already appear on currency, albeit a coin…

Chris Christie chose Abigail Adams.  I think she’s an interesting choice though if I were to go with a First Lady, I might be more inclined to pick Eleanor Roosevelt.  Given Mr. Christie’s party, it would have been quite shocking had he -or any of them- chosen her.

Finally, and most curiously, the only female candidate at the Republican debate, Carly Fiorina, stated she wouldn’t change the bill at all.  I’ll give her this much, that’s a very conservative answer.

So…what have we learned by this little exercise?

Hmmm….maybe….

No…

…Uh…

I have no idea.