Bill of Goods.

Last night's Republican debate was sponsored by MSNBC, so Yaakov and I got to watch via live internet feed. As you may know, I find politics interesting and entertaining.

Mitt Romney was a polished speaker. I admired how he held his ground when questioned about personal monies being spent on his campaign. I disagreed with his assessment of Hillary Clinton, however, that she was "out of touch" with the American people. Plenty of people like her, so she must be in touch with somebody.

John McCain doesn't interest me one way or the other. He likes to name-drop his supporters, which he did. Twice. Not impressed.

Rudy Giuliani answered some tough questions with humor and grace, which earned my admiration. I like how he said that he was planning on making a come-back, like the NY Giants.

Ron Paul was his usual self. I cheered his adamant "NO," when asked whether the current war was a good idea. He's the only Republican to have consistently voted against the Iraq war. I admire his radical underdog status.

Mike Huckabee delivered 3 or 4 funnies, which I like about him. I also like how he stood firm when questioned about his faith. He has HUGE ears. And I still think he resembles Richard Nixon.

Mitt Romney fielded an interesting question when asked about his faith. It was something like, how could people vote for a Mormon? (In other words, how could people vote for a guy with such crazy religious beliefs?)

The minute the question came up, Yaakov began singing the infamous "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" song from the South Park "Mormon episode." I turned to him and said, "What? All religious people have been sold a bill of goods. You don't think we believe some weird stuff?" Yaakov looked surprised and asked, "Aren't you frum? Moshe Emes v'Torah Emes." (Moses is true and Torah is true.)

Ok, fine. But still. I mean, Noach and the Teiva? Yona in the fish's belly? You could go on and on with the bizarre and irrational stuff found in Yiddishkeit. I don't find my incredulousness out of order, I think it's a common dissonance. Besides, there's an idea (which I've blogged about), that "a Jew is above reason." Once you start getting into issues of faith, a Jew goes beyond logic. I lump all Jewish weirdness into that category.

So Mitt, if you want to believe in Joseph Smith and his golden plates, gezunter heit. I believe in some strange stuff, too.