The Applause Lines

They tell us something, a reader suggests:

It's just fascinating that the Republican audience is so moved by certain statements that they simply must applaud (despite requests that they abstain). What floats their boat so far?

1) John Edwards in the beauty parlor - they simply adored that one
2) McCain's super-wimpy cop-out on the Confederate flag
3) Giuliani's shameless twisting of Ron Paul's caution about interventionism
4) Three cheers for torture!
5) Romney: Let's double the size of Guantanamo!
6) More cheers for torture!

I try very, very hard not to believe that Republicans are jerks. This debate has been most unhelpful.

I'm forced to ask: how exactly does one double Gitmo? Are we to start offering bounties for arresting random people in the Middle East, spirit them to Cuba and torture them for information? Oh, wait ... we did that already.