Marc Pitzke: A Club of Liars, Demagogues and Ignoramuses!

The US Republican race is dominated by ignorance, lies and scandals. The current crop of candidates have shown such a basic lack of knowledge that they make George W. Bush look like Einstein. The Grand Old Party is ruining the entire country's reputation. Africa is a country. In Libya, the Taliban reigns. Muslims are terrorists, most immigrants are criminal, all Occupy protesters are dirty, and women who feel sexually harassed, well, they shouldn't make such a big deal about it. Welcome to the wonderful world of US Republicans, or rather to the twisted world of what they call "their presidential campaigns." For months now, they've been traipsing around the country with their traveling circus, from one debate to the next, one scandal to another, putting themselves forward for what's still the most powerful job in the world. As it turns out, there are no limits to how far they will stoop. It's true that on the road to the White House all sorts of things can happen, and usually do. No campaign can avoid its share of slip-ups, blunders and embarrassments. Yet this time around, it's just not that funny anymore. In fact, it's utterly horrifying! It's horrifying because these eight so-called, would-be candidates are eagerly ruining not only their own reputations and that of their party, the party of Lincoln lore. Worse, they're ruining the reputation of the United States. They lie. They cheat. They exaggerate. They bluster. They say one idiotic, ignorant, outrageous thing after another. They've shown such stark lack of knowledge, political, economic, geographic, historical, that they make George W. Bush look like Einstein, and even cause their fellow Republicans to cringe. "When did the GOP lose touch with reality?" wonders Bush's former speechwriter David Frum in New York Magazine. In the New York Times, Kenneth Duberstein, Ronald Reagan's former chief of staff, called this campaign season a "reality show," while Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan confidante Peggy Noonan even spoke of a "freek-show."