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"You're Fired!"

Hadn't thought about this... but those two little words definitely mean something new to me now... HA!

So what do you do when the Lovely Bride wants the DVR to catch the new CSI, the South Carolina GOP Debate is on, or your pal is trying to survive Celebrity Apprentice with GENE SIMMONS as the project manager.

And it's a very good week for Stephen - he gets to direct the "commercial."

DES MOINES, IA -- The last GOP debate until IA: The seemingly endless debate parade of 2007 began -- on the Republican side -- at the Reagan Library in California, underneath Reagan's own Air Force One. It took us to Columbia, SC (where the GOP candidates sparred for the first time), to Manchester, NH (where audio/lightning troubles allowed Rudy to joke, after receiving a question on abortion and Catholic faith, that perhaps God was trying to punish him), and then to here in Des Moines (where Brownback -- remember him? -- targeted Romney on abortion). It continued on to the economic debate in Dearborn, MI (where Thompson made his first appearance), to Orlando, FL, then to St. Petersburg, FL for the YouTube debate, and then the Spanish-language one on Univision last Sunday. Now it's come to this: the final Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses; the Democrats have theirs here tomorrow. And with all of the cable news networks carrying this debate live, what would have been an under-watched afternoon affair in Iowa is perhaps turning into the most important debate of the cycle.

"Give a hug to Cha-vez...sing we all Noel!"

...In this, the heart of Cuban-American country where Fidel Castro is still ostracized, Paul was loudly booed when he called for improved relations with Cuba.

"We're at a time when we need to talk to Cuba and travel and trade with Cuba," he said...

...The candidates, with the exception of Paul, denounced Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez as a a tyrant...

"Estoy NO un crackpot"

"Red meat for the salivating terrorism denying supporters of PaulPot"
(Ron Paul = crackpot)

Believe it or not I think HUCK had the best night of all the candidates... largely for two reasons. He wasn't really directly attacked all that vociferously - and he used his humor, calm, and yes even biblical knowledge to quiet the antics nearly every time he spoke.

Sure the sexy story is all the attacks back and forth between Rudy and Mitt - but as someone who has not watched these debates all that seriously until now (as have most Americans) Huck came across very very very well!

Rudy had to answer the questions that hurt him.

Mitt had a poor night because of the ganged up attack against him - particularly on immigration and waterboarding.

McCain did not do well enough to gain ground.

Tanc and Dunc added interesting color to the side issues...

Crackpot was his usual self...

But Huck did better than anyone else...and it showed. (And by the way I have not endorsed him nor any other candidate.)

10:09pm - Rudy "I'm a Red Sox fan before I wasn't one. And while I was elected the Yankees one 4 World Series..." Romney "47 years in the waiting... and we hate the Yankees."

10:08pm - CrackPot "I will not run as an independent...I'm even crackpottier!"

10:04pm - Rudy "Infrastructure and capital investment program, and its done remarkable work", Paul "We do not need to sacrifice one thing more", McCain "I will veto every pork barrel project",

10:03pm - CRACKPOT VIDEO...

10:01pm - Romney "We've got bigger issues to deal with besides saying what kinds of flags to fly...", Fred "A symbol of racism in the public place".

10:00pm - Huckabee "48% of African Americans DID vote for me - because I asked for their vote. And I tried to help them. Our party had better reach out. I don't want to be part of a party that is ever decreasing."

9:58pm - Rudy "We have not done a good enough job in promoting our ideas to the African American community..."

9:56pm - Huckabee "Whether we decide to go to Mars is not a decision I feel like I need to make, but I would expand space exploration. We need to put more money into science and exploration... and if we do send to Mars - perhaps we could put Hillary on the first trip!" Tancredo "We can't afford to go to Mars."

9:55pm - Romney "Time for us to recognize that we MUST take a new path - not with Hillary off the left - but with Ronald Reagan."

9:53pm - Fred "One of the things I would do for Social Security's future generations is to protect them from MY generation. Not merely a fiscal issue but a moral issue."

9:52pm - Huckabee "I need the support of everyone - including the Log Cabin Republicans, but we can disagree on some policy - would I welcome their support, but would not change my position... sticks with convictions, can explain them..."

9:51pm - McCain "I speak to the military leaders all the time. Almost unanimously they say that the present policy is working at that this policy ought to be continued because it works."

9:50pm - The Gay General speech - complete wierdness...

9:48pm - Hunter "Homosexual behavior would be bad for unit cohesion." Huckabee "what Hunter said", Romney "this is not the time to make that change, that policy doesn't make any sense to me".

9:40pm - Fred "I think that the VP has a dual role, he presides over the Senate - but should be chosen on his qualifications to run the United States." McCain "must be able to carry out the responsibilities of the President."

9:38pm - Rudy "I did not Sept 11 use Sept 11 to do anything unusual Sept 11. Haitian immigration Sept 11. I was United States Attorney and prosecute Cicilian mob figures - and Sept 11 - to you!"

9:37pm - Tancredo "Paul lives in crackpot heaven... we would be under threat even if we withdrew..."

9:36pm - Paul "Not losing a battle is irrelevant. Wolfowitz admitted that they came after us because we are occupying their country... and I'm a freakin' crackpot!"

9:35pm - McCain "Shut the heck up CrackPot - America didn't lose a single battle in Vietnam! Read the terrorists idiot - they want to follow us to our shore!"

9:34pm - Paul "Crackpot theory 101 - give the country back to the terrorists... and I'M A TOTAL CRACKPOT - and the North Vietnamese are now in charge of Iraq. Vote CRACKPOT!!!!"

9:32pm - Fred "We should not be there a day longer than necessary (in Iraq) but we should be there as long as we need to be but not a day longer than we need to be but longer than some would say and less than others - and THEN there's Iran.

9:27pm - Romney "I do not believe it is wise to describe what techniques we would use for interrogation - and keep the thugs in Gitmo", McCain "I'm shocked that you could not believe that waterboarding is not torture, and if we're going to get the high ground. How in the world anyone thinks that that kind of treatment could be carried out by Americans is beyond me." McCain "Life is not 24 and Jack Bauer..."

9:24pm - Rudy, "Stay on offense against Islamic terrorism...not one democrat addressed the issue of islamic terrorism", McCain "The most important thing is to win in Iraq, we're gonna fight back the democrats efforts to set a date for surrender", Hunter "When the world was in trouble - it was America that came and helped you. I WILL NEVER APOLOGIZE for the United States of America."  

9:16pm - DO YOU BELIEVE THIS BOOK? Rudy, "Not in every respect, read it frequently, read it in the big crisis in my life", Huckabee "Do I need to help you out Mayor", Romney "I believe the Bible is the Word of God, a guide for my life, I believe in the Bible", Huckabee "I believe the Bible is the word of God to man himself. But the Bible has some messages that are not left up to interpretation, and until we get the real simple things right, we don't need to argue about the things that are more complex". BECAUSE THE BIBLE IS THE REVELATION OF AN INFINITE GOD AND NO HUMAN CAN FULLY UNDERSTAND HIM, AND IF THEY CAN - THEIR GOD IS TOO SMALL!

9:15pm - Tancredo, "I pander to Jesus in the shadow of Huck!"

9:13pm - Huckabee, "Death Penalty, what would Jesus do... toughest thing I've ever had to do. I read every page of every case of every decision I was asked to decide. I believe there is a place for the death penalty - some crimes are SO heinous. Some crimes are beyond any other capacity for us to fix. 'Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office.'"

9:11pm - Rudy, "Ban on all abortions, Would not sign". Romney, "Would welcome a circumstance to ban all abortion, and I would be delighted to sign that bill".

9:10pm - Fred, "Abortion becoming illegal should be our number one focus, and that means new justices on the bench of the Supreme Court. Most states have laws that prevent abortion after viability - that same pattern should be followed to punish doctors..."

9:08pm - Paul, "Get the federal government OUT of abortion... I don't think that the woman should be charged with a crime. I'm an OBGYN and I never saw a time when an abortion needed to be performed medically speaking..."

9:07pm - Rudy, "Romney has a mixed record... I have reduced crime in Harlem by 80%. The city of New York was one of the most dangerous places in the country."

9:05pm - Romney, "Best thing you can do for a kid is give them a mom and a dad. And it's time to go back into this country to the time of values. Family values... Better education - civil rights issue of our time - education... tough laws related to being touch on crime... violent crime in my state dropped 7%."

9:04pm - Gun collections - Fred "not telling where they are", McCain "I don't own one now", Hunter "Gun just like my Dad's", Romney "I have two guns in my home - owned by my son Josh, chessy laugh included..."

9:02pm - Fred, "The Mayor never found a gun control law that he didn't sign... Hopefully the Supreme Court will uphold the ruling in the DC case..."

8:58pm - Rudy, "We have to be very aggressive about enforcing the gun laws that already exist. We reduced shooting 74%. We went from being one of the most dangerous cities to one of the safest. Government CAN impose reasonable regulations.(BOOOOOOOOOS) New York can have stricter rules than Texas, and the Supreme Court will decide this in the next six months. I will live by that. I'm not going to interfere with that."

8:57pm - Hunter, "You should never throw a gun, you gotta be safe with guns Jay. But the right to bear arms is important to national, home, and personal security!"

8:54pm - Huckabee, "I cut 90 taxes... 'When they're kicking you in the rear, they're just proving that you're still out front!"

8:53pm - Romney, "On Abortion I was wrong... this happened when I was Governor, I could not sign a bill that destroyed life. I'm not going to apologize to people for becoming pro-life."

8:52pm - Fred, "Giving my buddies a lil extra air time..."

8:51pm - Hunter, "it's in our best interest to see to it that China stops its cheating, they are arming themselves... BUY AMERICAN this Christmas season..."

8:50pm - Tancredo, "It's already illegal to import lead based items..."

8:48pm - Rudy, "Are the politico accusations true? No! I had nothing to do with the handling of the records..."

8:46pm - Romney, "Corn subsidies... some renewable fuel, we're competing with HEAVILY subsidized nations...Open markets..."

8:43pm - Tancredo - "Yes to Grover", Huckabee "Yes", Romney - "Yes", Rudy "Yes", Fred "Yes", McCain "My Pledge is up to the American people...", Paul "have to cut spending...", Hunter "It would be wrong to pledge in light of nationa emergencies..."

8:43pm - Paul, "McCain doesn't understand Isolationism or crackpotism..."

8:41pm - McCain, "Crackpot's Isolation brought about WWII! I just finished having thanksgiving with the troops - and their message is 'Let Us Win!"

8:39pm - Huckabee, "Get RID of the IRS... and install the Fair Tax. Revamp Homeland Security...Most people are more afraid of an audit than a mugging and there's a reason why..."

8:39pm - Paul, "Washington did not change me... and I'm still a crack pot!"

8:38pm - Fred, "I would eliminate the OMB's top 100 programs, not 3..."

8:36pm - Rudy, "Don't rehire half the federal workforce that retires over the next ten years..."

8:35pm - Romney, "We've got to veto pork bills, but we have to fundamentally change the way Washington works. We're going to have to go after entitlements, and veto all spending increases..."

8:34pm - McCain, "Republicans have completely lost  control of spending, we study the DNA of bears, we're going to help kids with health care by encouraging them to continue to smoke..."

8:32pm - Paul, "I'm a complete crackpot, and UN Resolutions, and I'm a crackpot..."

8:30pm - Romney, "The question is are we going to put illegal kids ahead of kids who are here legally...

8:29pm - Huckabee, "We're a better country than to punish children for what their parents did..."

8:28pm - Romney, "Mike just said that he gave scholarships for illegal aliens. But its not your money, its the tax-payers money! Illegals should not get tax-payer breaks."

8:27pm - Huckabee, "We never passed a bill that gave special priviledges of illegal aliens the chance to get a discount in tuition. And it didn't pass... This bill would've said that we would not punish a child for a crime committed by your parent! Bring people from illegal status to legal. And take people from tax-takers to tax-payers! Veterans Bill of Rights!"

8:25pm - Hunter, "I built the border fence in San Diego and it DOES work. Double border fence with the road in between, and as a result the crime rate in San Diego went down 53%. I wrote the law that mandates 854 miles of fence, and the government has not built an inch of that fence!"

8:24pm - Tancredo, "I'm not going to do anything to push MASSIVE immigration legal or illegal... THERE ARE NO JOBS that an American won't do."

8:22pm - Tancredo, "It's wonderful to hear them out Tancredo, Tancredo..."

8:21pm - McCain, "We tried to endorse the borders, the people don't believe us..." "These are God's children as well, and they need rights and protections as well..."

8:19pm - Rudy, "New York City was NOT a Sanctuary city..."

8:16pm - Fred, "I pledge to refuse amnesty to ANYONE who comes here illegally... We have thousands of people who are waiting to come here... we now get to decide who comes in our home. We've got to strengthen the border and we've got to eliminate Sanctuary cities... Fred goes after Romney AND Rudy early... not a bad thing... "Rudy DID have a sanctuary city, the Mayor went to court to overturn it."

8:15pm - Mitt to Rudy, "Are you going to check papers of those who look a little different!"

8:10pm - Rudy Giuliani, "New York was NOT a sanctuary city..."

Roaring out of the Thanksgiving break last weekend, both Romney and Giuliani traded shots for two days running on a variety of issues - spending, tax cuts, crime, healthcare, and appointments - as they stumped in New Hampshire, where Giuliani is redoubling his efforts to catch Romney.

Giuliani and Romney have used increasingly harsh language against each other. But in the past five days, Romney and Thompson have also zinged Huckabee for advocating driver's licenses and tuition breaks for illegal immigrants while governor of Arkansas; Huckabee hammered Romney for shifting positions on abortion and gay rights; McCain whacked both Giuliani and Huckabee for their lack of military and foreign policy experience; and Giuliani's campaign issued a release criticizing Thompson's record on taxes while serving as a senator from Tennessee.