Last night saw the latest in the series of Republican presidential debates occur in Las Vegas.  Most of the usual candidates were there except for Jon Huntsman.  Rick Perry actually demonstrated a pulse for the first time in these debates although he wasted his energy on Romney's Massachusetts health care plan which has moved on what it was in the nearly five years since Romney left the governor's office.  Perry wasted more energy with his petulant attack on Romney for having supposedly let an illegal alien work on his Massachusetts residence a few years ago.  Romney said he had the alien and their employer fired once he found out about this.

Rick Perry has zero credibility on the illegal immigration issue because of his college tuition subsidy for these individuals.  Does Perry expect every potential political candidate to conduct an indepth background investigation of all individuals and firms who work on their house?  Do we have to everify the cashier every time we go to the grocery or department stores?  I'm against illegal immigration as much as anybody, but we're really getting into nanny state territory every time some one asks us if we've associated with illegal aliens.

I like Rick Santorum's strong commitment to traditional moral values and his desire to emphasize how the decline in such values has economic and sociological impacts on our society.  Unfortunately, he comes across as needy and he neglected to tell the audience last night that the individual he defeated in the 1994 Pennsylvania Senate race was Harris Wofford instead of Bill Clinton's electoral impresarios Paul Begala and James Carville.

Romney showed true passion when debating Perry, kept his cool when attacked by Santorum and Perry, and Herman Cain's 999 plan got well-deserved criticism for its manifold weaknesses.  Despite the contentiousness of segments of last night's debate, American political debate is like old ladies at a tea party when compared with British parliamentary style question times.  Cain's foreign policy unsuitably was again demonstrated when he essentially stated that he would consider trading Al Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo for American hostages.  Such dangerous naivete cannot be tolerated from a presidential candidate.

The most irritating thing at last night debate was the sophomoric performance of CNN's Anderson Cooper.  CNN is a decidedly leftist network, but Cooper was more interested in promoting discord among the GOP candidates and demonstrating his leftist street cred than promoting serious discussion of the policy issues facing this country.  For instance, Cooper went wacko on Dallas minister Robert Jeffress' criticism of Mormonism as a cult.  Perry had already said he disagreed with Jeffress' appraisal but Anderson, being the unctuous left-wing student government type that he is, insisted on Perry and other candidates repudiating Jeffras.  What the candidates should have told Cooper was that they were not going to play his infantile left-wing college thought police political correctness game. 

One unfortunate profile in cowardice by all candidates in last night's debate was their refusal to endorse the scientifically sound and research endorsed finding that Nevada's Yucca Mountain is the best and safest repository for the  U.S.' nuclear waste.  This has been an issue that has dragged on for to long due to the whining of Nevada politicos.  No other state is going to have enough empty space that is geologically suited for this responsibility.  A possible compromise would be placing the waste on Harry Reid's property.   Speaking of property, another failure of courage last night was in responding to a question about the mortgage foreclosure crisis.  While it is valid to criticize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and predatory lenders in some case, none of the candidates had the courage to denounce individuals who knowingly buy more house than they can afford to pay for and expect taxpayers to subsidize their financial incompetence.  The candidates should have said that a household mortgage is not a Las Vegas crap shoot, but comparable to a marriage in that it has to be worked on and attended to regularly and that individuals and families must learn to live within their means and not give a hoot about the social status of their residence.

It would be nice if we had journalists intelligent enough to ask questions of real substance.  For instance, last night Ron Paul said he'd eliminate the Interior Department.  One question that could be asked of him is whether he favors turning national parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite and national military parks like Gettysburg to the private sector and how we would preserve the natural, historical, and cultural integrity of these sites?  Michelle Bachman should be asked what specific statutory or regulatory evidence she has that the controversial Independent Payment Advisory Board in Obamacare will be a "death panel."?

Samples of additional probing questions would be:

Do you think China and the U.S. are destined for military conflict within the next two decades?  If so, what steps will you take to ensure U.S. victory?

Do you favor getting rid of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and eliminating federal bureaucracies that have kept American Indians from becoming full participants in the American dream?

What personal and business loopholes do you favor removing from the tax code and why?

What specific policy steps will you take to decrease direct governmental involvement in the agricultural sector and will these steps be part of the next quinquennial farm bill?  Describe how these steps will increase competition and lower food prices.
While obtaining greater energy independence is desirable, the U.S. is to populous and technologically productive to be completely energy independent. What specific steps will you take to promote increased domestic energy production and conservation?

The Arctic Ocean is becoming an increasingly important international trade route due to climate change and it's vast mineral resources also have attracted the interest of the U.S. and other international powers.  What specific steps will you take to advance U.S. interests in this region and prevent powers such as Russia and China having hegemony over this region?

What steps will you take to prevent imbecilic programs such as the Obama Administration's Fast and Furious from being implemented?

What steps will you take to reduce U.S. drug consumption which provides financial sustenance to Mexican and Latin American narco-terrorists?