You might have missed the segment in last night’s GOP debate where CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked carefully prepared questions about what America’s industrial policy ought to be. That’s because he didn’t — not that I’m criticizing Wolf, who did much better than the pathetic Brian Williams and hapless John King — but the candidates nevertheless indirectly gave us their own ugly visions.

At the GOP debate on Thursday will Wolf Blitzer ask Mitt, Newt, Rick or Ron any question with the tenaciousness we see on display in this video at a European Central Bank press-conference in Ireland?

Well, one cannot say that all truth has been removed from politics.

The fact that Jarret could use a term that is like fingernails on a chalkboard to LGBT people, and still be out there as White House spokesperson on the issue of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, is symptomatic of something deeply wrong. She should have stepped down, because her continued presence in the media on this issue is like pouring gasoline on the fire. They should have replaced her with someone else immediately. It’s a sign of incredibly callousness and insensitivity on the part of the administration that she continues to be their spokesperson on this issue.

It’s easy to praise constitutional rights in the abstract, to declare that you are a believer in free speech, the right to trial, the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments when you’re speaking only in general terms. The real test comes when you’re asked to deal with difficult specific cases.