So that's why Sarah Palin has such disdain for community organizers. Because they haz teh power to destroy the fabric of democracy!!!!!11!!1!!eleventy-one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Boltgirl is still woefully sober
Showing posts with label debate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label debate. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Last Debate Liveblog, Thank Dog
6:03 I wonder if McCain's shout-out to hospitalized "our beloved" Nancy Reagan pushed her over the edge into a coronary, since she can't stand the guy. She stayed friends with his maimed and subsequently abandoned first wife. Uh, rest well, Nancy!
6:07 It's the bailout. The back-and-forth format is already interesting as McCain and Obama get into it over Joe the plumber from Ohio, who will now have higher business taxes and won't be able to buy the business he worked for all this life. Obama: ooh, McCain's been watching too many McCain commercials. Five years ago when you were in a position to buy your business, you needed a tax break then, and I want to give guys just starting out a break now, so we gotta make some tough choices.
Goddamn but Joe the plumber's getting a lot of mileage. McCain: Obama told Joe we need to spread the wealth around, and he's going to do it by stealing Joe's money. Does not know why we want to raise taxes on anybody. Even businesses. Oh Christ here comes Ireland and their 11% rate again. If they have the lowest corporate tax rate in the world, why don't all the US businesses set up their shell corporations on the Emerald Isle instead of all those Caribbean ones?
Obama: Warren Buffet could have afforded to pay more taxes back when it would have helped Joe the Plumber (feel like I need to capitalize it at this point, Jesus!). Exxon Mobil can afford to pay more now to allow cuts for working families. Apparently Joe falls into that 5% of small businesses that make over $250,000 per year and isn't eligible for the Obama plan? I feel Joe the Plumber commercials and possibly action figures in the offing.
6:19 Schieffer: back on topic, old man! McCain is all yeah yeah whatevs, oh what would I cut? Everything! Spending freeze! Hatchet first! Then scalpel. I know how to save billions in defense spending (like knowing how to catch Osama?) but the only examples I will cite is eliminating sugar cane-based ethanol from Brazil (eat it, samba kings!) and that airplane contract again. And earmarks, which Obama is the king of. Obama: some programs don't work at all and some are underfunded. Earmarks account for one half of one percent of the federal budget (eat it, old man!).
6:23 McCain: Senator Obama, I am not President Bush, and if you wanted to run against President Bush you should have run four years ago. Oh, my, two points to McCain for the takedown on that one. That might be the snappiest line I've heard from him in this entire campaign. McCain is really coming out swinging and is looking at Obama, apparently making eye contact and even directly addressing Obama. When have you ever stood up to the leaders of your party?
Obama: lists things that don't make him popular with key Dem constituencies. Calls out McCain's 42,000 tax increase claim, says even Fox News disputes it (ha ha! says the audience). If I've occasionally mistaken your economic and energy policies for George Bush's, well, that's because you've voted like George Bush. McCain: your examples are not very convincing.
6:32 So, guys, what's up with this nasty campaign? Are you willing to say to each other's face what your campaigns have been saying? McCain: if we'd done ten town halls like I wanted, the tone of the campaign could have been very different. It's taken turns that aren't acceptable. I've repudiated every nasty remark, Obama hasn't (huh?). Obama has spent more money on negative ads than any campaign in history (aroo?). Said you'd take public financing but you didn't. Obama: John, 100 percent of your ads have been negative. I don't mind being attacked for the next four weeks but the American people want to hear about the economic crisis, and McCain's campaign said if they talk about the economy they lose, so they want to change the subject. Hmm, he does not address McCain's indignant insistence that he repudiate John Lewis. Oh, now McCain clarifies: ads that disagree with him are attack ads. Well, that clears things up.
6:38 Another Joe the Plumber shout-out. And how about John Lewis? Obama: without being prompted by me, Lewis said he was troubled by Palin's rally attendees yelling things like terrorist and kill him and Palin not doing anything about it. Acknowledges the comparison Lewis made to the Birmingham bombings was inappropriate, and says his campaign did put out a statement saying so, and that Lewis subsequently said whoops, my bad. When people suggest I pal around with terrorists, we're not talking about issues, we're *garble garble can't hear because McCain is interrupting for about the fifth time in the last three sentences.*
McCain: if you say those Military Wives for McCain are saying bad things about you, or those veterans who wear those hats from Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, I'm not going to stand for people saying that the people coming to the rallies are anything but the most patriotic men and women. Okay, I don't think Obama was talking about the Military Wives for McCain. I think he was talking about the people who can clearly be heard on video screaming terrorist and kill him when Obama's name is mentioned. McCain works up an impressive righteous lather, but it's misguided. Now McCain's sputtering about the mythical people at Obama rallies yelling the same things about McCain, which I don't believe they have.
GodDAMNit, Barry, quit fucking stammering and just say he's fucking lying and deflecting right now. But no, Obama goes right back to needing to create jobs but by the way being respectful to each other.
6:46 Baboom! Here comes Ayers and ACORN--they may be destroying the fabric of democracy! Obama outright starts laughing. Perpetrating the greatest fraud in history? Destroying the fabric of democracy? The fabric of democracy? Are you fucking kidding me? Oh Christ. I'm impressed Obama didn't spit-take and fall over. Obama: first, Ayers. What he did in the '60s was despicable. We serve on an education board that was started by Ronald Reagan, along with the president of Northwestern (a Republican) and the head of the Chicago Trib board of directors, also very Republican. He doesn't serve my campaign and he will not serve my White House. End of story. Next, ACORN. Gives the same history already reported by the Washington Post, Gawker, you name it, Obama's only association was representing them vs. the state of Illinois re: the Motor Voter law. Who does he actually associate with? Economically it's Buffet and Volpert. On foreign policy it's Biden, Lugar, and Gen. Jones (former NATO supreme Allied commander). That's who I associate with, and the fact that this has become the centerpiece of your campaign, Sen. McCain, says more about you than about me.
McCain: you launched your political campaign in Ayers' living room! Long association with bomber terrorist relationship ACORN! But my campaign is about creating jobs and not raising taxes so I don't really care about that other stuff. No, my eyes always bug out this way and I think pounding veins in my temples are rather fetching. Why do you ask, Bob?
6:54 Why is your running mate better than the other guy's? Obama: Biden has a brain. No, not really. Biden has senate experience and blue-collar Scranton experience. McCain: Palin is a role model for women, got that gas pipeline goin' to relieve the energy problems of what they call the Lower 48. Oh and she understands special needs families, including autism! (aroo?) She understands it better than any American I know! And her husband is a tough guy! Obama on Palin: she's done a great job on special needs (aroo?). I guess the Special Olympics are just a perk that don't really matter. Minor zing: a spending freeze will make it kinda hard to continue research on autism. McCain: yeah, Biden's okay, whatever. But really, why do you keep wanting to spend more? Uh, because autism researchers are probably cool people but don't do their work on a purely volunteer basis?
7:00 McCain: Canadian oil is fine but the Middle East and Venezuela, nuh-uh. We're going nuclear and we're going to store and reprocess all that waste with no problem. The Navy has always done it; it's just those radical environmentalists who insist it has to be safe. Obama: We can x out the Middle East and Hugo Chavez in ten years, but it ain't gonna be during my first term. We do need to stop borrowing from China to pay Saudi Arabia, though. We need to tell the oil companies to use or lose the 68 million acres they're currently leasing but not drilling (nb: because holding the land pumps up their liquidible assets and thus their stock prices). And do all that hydroelectric and wind stuff and what the hell let's drill offshore too (oh fuck me).
McCain: oh, I admire Senator Obama's eloquence. He's got a real way with words. SO YOU HAVE TO PAY REAL CLOSE ATTENTION BECAUSE HE USES HIS MAGIC WORD POWERS TO BE ALL TRICKY. Obama suppresses a guffaw.
7:06 McCain: Obama's never been south of our border, unlike me, who fucked the bejesus out of a Brazilian model back in the day. Columbia just let three Americans go, so now they're going to be a great free market for our goods! What? Obama: Colombia has a shitty human rights record when it comes to labor protestors, so I didn't support a trade agreement with them, but did with Peru since they're improved greatly in that arena. Oh, right, the question was about energy, and I'm all about efficient cars and turbines. McCain: whatever, Obama wants to talk to Hugo Chavez.
7:09 Christ, is this over yet? No? My eyes are starting to glaze. Obama wants to raise taxes, did you know that? I hadn't heard.
7:10 No, it's not over. Now it's healthcare time. Does Joe the Plumber have insurance? I am certain we will find out. Obama: get to keep your doc, keep your plan, if you don't have it you can buy into the same federal plan McCain and I have. McCain: American kids are lardasses. Here's your $5k. Oh, good, here comes Joe the Fucking Plumber again. McCain says Joe is going to be fined if he doesn't adopt the Obama healthcare plan! Obama wants a... a... bureaucracy in charge of healthcare! Who ever heard of a bureacracy in charge of an HMO? Small businesses are exempt, you prevaricating sack of shit, so Joe the Plumber will be fine, but big companies have to make sure their employees get coverage. Joe, if you're out there and you wanna give your tiny employees coverage, we'll give you a fifty percent tax credit to help pay for it. $5k sounds great but only if you're young and healthy. Once the healthy younguns opt out of employer pools, all you old people will be the only ones left and you won't be able to afford your new jacked up premiums, especially when McCain taxes your benefits. And the average policy costs $12k anyway, so STFU already. And there won't be any regulation of state insurance laws, so they'll all end up in the least regulated state in the nation.
7:18 Joe the Plumber is probably regretting that little photo op with Obama, since this has officially become the Joe the Goddamn Plumber to America Debate. Joe is suddenly rich now and has to pay the fine. Because McCain says he is? I'm confused. Jesus, I'm glad I'm not drunk, because then I would be even more confused. Or maybe it would all make sense, which is really scary. Wait, now McCain says the average policy costs $5,800. Somebody not telling the truth here.
7:21 Question: would you appoint a SC justice who disagrees with you on Roe v. Wade? McCain: I've never had a litmus test, but R v W was a bad decision and it should be a state decision. I voted for Breyer and Stevens even though I disagreed with them, Obama voted against Breyer and Roberts because he's an ideologue. Obama: shouldn't be a strict litmus test (me: unless it's on this issue, in which case it better fucking well be the only litmus test you have) even though R v W hangs in the balance. I believe it was correctly decided, good people on both sides can disagree on abortion, oh FUCK NOT THIS AGAIN says women are in the best position to make the decision, but throws in those fucking bullshit qualifiers of consultation with family, doctor, and minister. Seriously, Barack? &%$^%#%$#%^*&^&$$#$ FUCK. Jumps back on the Ledbetter bandwagon, but I'm no less pissed about the abortion line.
7:26 McCain: gotta change the culture, brings up the fucking canard of the Illinois legislature trying to ensure medical care for fetuses that survive an abortion, and also the partial-birth abortion crap. McCain is proudly pro-life. Obama: the first one is not true (McCain's eyes bug nearly out of his head). There was already an IL law requiring life-saving treatment; the bill in question was designed to undermine R v W. The partial-birth abortion bill did not contain a provision for the health of the mother, so I didn't vote for it. Even though I'm in favor of a late-term ban (McCain grimaces and rolls eyes). What we really need to do is prevent unintended pregnancies by educating kids and helping single moms if they want to keep the baby. McCain is twitching and bouncing and seriously coming out of his chair. McCain says there he goes again with that eloquence, so you have to pay close attention to what he says about... and then McCain spits out the word health, "the health of the mother" with a sneer like it's the most obscene double entendre he's ever heard, and he's been around a lot of sailors in the Navy, dontcha know. Says "the health of the mother" has been stretched to cover just about everything. Oh, nice. Don't fucking talk about "compassion," you fucking asshole. He touts his status as an adoptive parent (an adoption Cindy surprised him with, by the way; he probably figured she was coming back from Malaysia with a souvenir more along the lines of painted coconuts) as proof of his compassion and commitment to life. But the *spit* *sneer* health of the woman? Piffle. A myth. An obscenity.
There's a final question about education but I'm too pissed to care right now. McCain wants charter schools and executing underperforming teachers or something. I am ready for this motherfucking asshole to choke on one of his condescending cackles and drop dead.
Thank you and good night.
Last fashion note: Spouses on stage. I think we can all agree that this explains McCain's nonchalance about what the Navy's been doing with nuclear waste all these years. They've been weaving it into fabric for Cindy McCain's final debate dress. Holy shit. That thing is fucking glowing.
6:07 It's the bailout. The back-and-forth format is already interesting as McCain and Obama get into it over Joe the plumber from Ohio, who will now have higher business taxes and won't be able to buy the business he worked for all this life. Obama: ooh, McCain's been watching too many McCain commercials. Five years ago when you were in a position to buy your business, you needed a tax break then, and I want to give guys just starting out a break now, so we gotta make some tough choices.
Goddamn but Joe the plumber's getting a lot of mileage. McCain: Obama told Joe we need to spread the wealth around, and he's going to do it by stealing Joe's money. Does not know why we want to raise taxes on anybody. Even businesses. Oh Christ here comes Ireland and their 11% rate again. If they have the lowest corporate tax rate in the world, why don't all the US businesses set up their shell corporations on the Emerald Isle instead of all those Caribbean ones?
Obama: Warren Buffet could have afforded to pay more taxes back when it would have helped Joe the Plumber (feel like I need to capitalize it at this point, Jesus!). Exxon Mobil can afford to pay more now to allow cuts for working families. Apparently Joe falls into that 5% of small businesses that make over $250,000 per year and isn't eligible for the Obama plan? I feel Joe the Plumber commercials and possibly action figures in the offing.
6:19 Schieffer: back on topic, old man! McCain is all yeah yeah whatevs, oh what would I cut? Everything! Spending freeze! Hatchet first! Then scalpel. I know how to save billions in defense spending (like knowing how to catch Osama?) but the only examples I will cite is eliminating sugar cane-based ethanol from Brazil (eat it, samba kings!) and that airplane contract again. And earmarks, which Obama is the king of. Obama: some programs don't work at all and some are underfunded. Earmarks account for one half of one percent of the federal budget (eat it, old man!).
6:23 McCain: Senator Obama, I am not President Bush, and if you wanted to run against President Bush you should have run four years ago. Oh, my, two points to McCain for the takedown on that one. That might be the snappiest line I've heard from him in this entire campaign. McCain is really coming out swinging and is looking at Obama, apparently making eye contact and even directly addressing Obama. When have you ever stood up to the leaders of your party?
Obama: lists things that don't make him popular with key Dem constituencies. Calls out McCain's 42,000 tax increase claim, says even Fox News disputes it (ha ha! says the audience). If I've occasionally mistaken your economic and energy policies for George Bush's, well, that's because you've voted like George Bush. McCain: your examples are not very convincing.
6:32 So, guys, what's up with this nasty campaign? Are you willing to say to each other's face what your campaigns have been saying? McCain: if we'd done ten town halls like I wanted, the tone of the campaign could have been very different. It's taken turns that aren't acceptable. I've repudiated every nasty remark, Obama hasn't (huh?). Obama has spent more money on negative ads than any campaign in history (aroo?). Said you'd take public financing but you didn't. Obama: John, 100 percent of your ads have been negative. I don't mind being attacked for the next four weeks but the American people want to hear about the economic crisis, and McCain's campaign said if they talk about the economy they lose, so they want to change the subject. Hmm, he does not address McCain's indignant insistence that he repudiate John Lewis. Oh, now McCain clarifies: ads that disagree with him are attack ads. Well, that clears things up.
6:38 Another Joe the Plumber shout-out. And how about John Lewis? Obama: without being prompted by me, Lewis said he was troubled by Palin's rally attendees yelling things like terrorist and kill him and Palin not doing anything about it. Acknowledges the comparison Lewis made to the Birmingham bombings was inappropriate, and says his campaign did put out a statement saying so, and that Lewis subsequently said whoops, my bad. When people suggest I pal around with terrorists, we're not talking about issues, we're *garble garble can't hear because McCain is interrupting for about the fifth time in the last three sentences.*
McCain: if you say those Military Wives for McCain are saying bad things about you, or those veterans who wear those hats from Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, I'm not going to stand for people saying that the people coming to the rallies are anything but the most patriotic men and women. Okay, I don't think Obama was talking about the Military Wives for McCain. I think he was talking about the people who can clearly be heard on video screaming terrorist and kill him when Obama's name is mentioned. McCain works up an impressive righteous lather, but it's misguided. Now McCain's sputtering about the mythical people at Obama rallies yelling the same things about McCain, which I don't believe they have.
GodDAMNit, Barry, quit fucking stammering and just say he's fucking lying and deflecting right now. But no, Obama goes right back to needing to create jobs but by the way being respectful to each other.
6:46 Baboom! Here comes Ayers and ACORN--they may be destroying the fabric of democracy! Obama outright starts laughing. Perpetrating the greatest fraud in history? Destroying the fabric of democracy? The fabric of democracy? Are you fucking kidding me? Oh Christ. I'm impressed Obama didn't spit-take and fall over. Obama: first, Ayers. What he did in the '60s was despicable. We serve on an education board that was started by Ronald Reagan, along with the president of Northwestern (a Republican) and the head of the Chicago Trib board of directors, also very Republican. He doesn't serve my campaign and he will not serve my White House. End of story. Next, ACORN. Gives the same history already reported by the Washington Post, Gawker, you name it, Obama's only association was representing them vs. the state of Illinois re: the Motor Voter law. Who does he actually associate with? Economically it's Buffet and Volpert. On foreign policy it's Biden, Lugar, and Gen. Jones (former NATO supreme Allied commander). That's who I associate with, and the fact that this has become the centerpiece of your campaign, Sen. McCain, says more about you than about me.
McCain: you launched your political campaign in Ayers' living room! Long association with bomber terrorist relationship ACORN! But my campaign is about creating jobs and not raising taxes so I don't really care about that other stuff. No, my eyes always bug out this way and I think pounding veins in my temples are rather fetching. Why do you ask, Bob?
6:54 Why is your running mate better than the other guy's? Obama: Biden has a brain. No, not really. Biden has senate experience and blue-collar Scranton experience. McCain: Palin is a role model for women, got that gas pipeline goin' to relieve the energy problems of what they call the Lower 48. Oh and she understands special needs families, including autism! (aroo?) She understands it better than any American I know! And her husband is a tough guy! Obama on Palin: she's done a great job on special needs (aroo?). I guess the Special Olympics are just a perk that don't really matter. Minor zing: a spending freeze will make it kinda hard to continue research on autism. McCain: yeah, Biden's okay, whatever. But really, why do you keep wanting to spend more? Uh, because autism researchers are probably cool people but don't do their work on a purely volunteer basis?
7:00 McCain: Canadian oil is fine but the Middle East and Venezuela, nuh-uh. We're going nuclear and we're going to store and reprocess all that waste with no problem. The Navy has always done it; it's just those radical environmentalists who insist it has to be safe. Obama: We can x out the Middle East and Hugo Chavez in ten years, but it ain't gonna be during my first term. We do need to stop borrowing from China to pay Saudi Arabia, though. We need to tell the oil companies to use or lose the 68 million acres they're currently leasing but not drilling (nb: because holding the land pumps up their liquidible assets and thus their stock prices). And do all that hydroelectric and wind stuff and what the hell let's drill offshore too (oh fuck me).
McCain: oh, I admire Senator Obama's eloquence. He's got a real way with words. SO YOU HAVE TO PAY REAL CLOSE ATTENTION BECAUSE HE USES HIS MAGIC WORD POWERS TO BE ALL TRICKY. Obama suppresses a guffaw.
7:06 McCain: Obama's never been south of our border, unlike me, who fucked the bejesus out of a Brazilian model back in the day. Columbia just let three Americans go, so now they're going to be a great free market for our goods! What? Obama: Colombia has a shitty human rights record when it comes to labor protestors, so I didn't support a trade agreement with them, but did with Peru since they're improved greatly in that arena. Oh, right, the question was about energy, and I'm all about efficient cars and turbines. McCain: whatever, Obama wants to talk to Hugo Chavez.
7:09 Christ, is this over yet? No? My eyes are starting to glaze. Obama wants to raise taxes, did you know that? I hadn't heard.
7:10 No, it's not over. Now it's healthcare time. Does Joe the Plumber have insurance? I am certain we will find out. Obama: get to keep your doc, keep your plan, if you don't have it you can buy into the same federal plan McCain and I have. McCain: American kids are lardasses. Here's your $5k. Oh, good, here comes Joe the Fucking Plumber again. McCain says Joe is going to be fined if he doesn't adopt the Obama healthcare plan! Obama wants a... a... bureaucracy in charge of healthcare! Who ever heard of a bureacracy in charge of an HMO? Small businesses are exempt, you prevaricating sack of shit, so Joe the Plumber will be fine, but big companies have to make sure their employees get coverage. Joe, if you're out there and you wanna give your tiny employees coverage, we'll give you a fifty percent tax credit to help pay for it. $5k sounds great but only if you're young and healthy. Once the healthy younguns opt out of employer pools, all you old people will be the only ones left and you won't be able to afford your new jacked up premiums, especially when McCain taxes your benefits. And the average policy costs $12k anyway, so STFU already. And there won't be any regulation of state insurance laws, so they'll all end up in the least regulated state in the nation.
7:18 Joe the Plumber is probably regretting that little photo op with Obama, since this has officially become the Joe the Goddamn Plumber to America Debate. Joe is suddenly rich now and has to pay the fine. Because McCain says he is? I'm confused. Jesus, I'm glad I'm not drunk, because then I would be even more confused. Or maybe it would all make sense, which is really scary. Wait, now McCain says the average policy costs $5,800. Somebody not telling the truth here.
7:21 Question: would you appoint a SC justice who disagrees with you on Roe v. Wade? McCain: I've never had a litmus test, but R v W was a bad decision and it should be a state decision. I voted for Breyer and Stevens even though I disagreed with them, Obama voted against Breyer and Roberts because he's an ideologue. Obama: shouldn't be a strict litmus test (me: unless it's on this issue, in which case it better fucking well be the only litmus test you have) even though R v W hangs in the balance. I believe it was correctly decided, good people on both sides can disagree on abortion, oh FUCK NOT THIS AGAIN says women are in the best position to make the decision, but throws in those fucking bullshit qualifiers of consultation with family, doctor, and minister. Seriously, Barack? &%$^%#%$#%^*&^&$$#$ FUCK. Jumps back on the Ledbetter bandwagon, but I'm no less pissed about the abortion line.
7:26 McCain: gotta change the culture, brings up the fucking canard of the Illinois legislature trying to ensure medical care for fetuses that survive an abortion, and also the partial-birth abortion crap. McCain is proudly pro-life. Obama: the first one is not true (McCain's eyes bug nearly out of his head). There was already an IL law requiring life-saving treatment; the bill in question was designed to undermine R v W. The partial-birth abortion bill did not contain a provision for the health of the mother, so I didn't vote for it. Even though I'm in favor of a late-term ban (McCain grimaces and rolls eyes). What we really need to do is prevent unintended pregnancies by educating kids and helping single moms if they want to keep the baby. McCain is twitching and bouncing and seriously coming out of his chair. McCain says there he goes again with that eloquence, so you have to pay close attention to what he says about... and then McCain spits out the word health, "the health of the mother" with a sneer like it's the most obscene double entendre he's ever heard, and he's been around a lot of sailors in the Navy, dontcha know. Says "the health of the mother" has been stretched to cover just about everything. Oh, nice. Don't fucking talk about "compassion," you fucking asshole. He touts his status as an adoptive parent (an adoption Cindy surprised him with, by the way; he probably figured she was coming back from Malaysia with a souvenir more along the lines of painted coconuts) as proof of his compassion and commitment to life. But the *spit* *sneer* health of the woman? Piffle. A myth. An obscenity.
There's a final question about education but I'm too pissed to care right now. McCain wants charter schools and executing underperforming teachers or something. I am ready for this motherfucking asshole to choke on one of his condescending cackles and drop dead.
Thank you and good night.
Last fashion note: Spouses on stage. I think we can all agree that this explains McCain's nonchalance about what the Navy's been doing with nuclear waste all these years. They've been weaving it into fabric for Cindy McCain's final debate dress. Holy shit. That thing is fucking glowing.
Quick Hits
UPDATED TO ADD: The Gawker ACORN FAQ is probably relevant to something in here, so go have a read. Good thing JordanCB is keeping on top of things.
Blogging? What is this blogging of which you speak? I am unfamiliar with the concept. It apparently involves thinking enough to hammer something out on a daily basis. I'll have to work on that one, maybe after a nap.
Debate? Debate! There is a debate tonight. What will be the main issue? I think it will involve oak reproduction in some manner, shoehorned in by McCain if not brought up directly by Bob Schieffer. My understanding of the matter so far is that (1) any fraud perpetrated through ACORN's voter registration drive fleeced ACORN, not the democratic process, and (2) the Republicans are doing handsprings over this ready-made excuse for both the financial crisis and, potentially, the lost election. I am waiting breathlessly for the inevitable shocked! e-mail! from! my! right! wing! brother!
Thank dog they're sitting down for this debate, although I do not know yet if the chairs have rollers on them; if so, well, look out for Scooterpants McWandery there, Barack.
Oh, right, I keep forgetting about Bill Ayers despite the McCain campaign's inability to let go of the same. That will probably come up too. I think it would be interesting to canvass the next McCain or, even better, Palin rally and ask people so, William Ayers--black guy or white guy? and see what the responses are. I could hazard a guess as to the majority response but won't.
Funny, but the Cubs still don't seem to be in the NLCS. There must be a mistake.
Is it lunchtime yet? Fuck. I'm starving.
Blogging? What is this blogging of which you speak? I am unfamiliar with the concept. It apparently involves thinking enough to hammer something out on a daily basis. I'll have to work on that one, maybe after a nap.
Debate? Debate! There is a debate tonight. What will be the main issue? I think it will involve oak reproduction in some manner, shoehorned in by McCain if not brought up directly by Bob Schieffer. My understanding of the matter so far is that (1) any fraud perpetrated through ACORN's voter registration drive fleeced ACORN, not the democratic process, and (2) the Republicans are doing handsprings over this ready-made excuse for both the financial crisis and, potentially, the lost election. I am waiting breathlessly for the inevitable shocked! e-mail! from! my! right! wing! brother!
Thank dog they're sitting down for this debate, although I do not know yet if the chairs have rollers on them; if so, well, look out for Scooterpants McWandery there, Barack.
Oh, right, I keep forgetting about Bill Ayers despite the McCain campaign's inability to let go of the same. That will probably come up too. I think it would be interesting to canvass the next McCain or, even better, Palin rally and ask people so, William Ayers--black guy or white guy? and see what the responses are. I could hazard a guess as to the majority response but won't.
Funny, but the Cubs still don't seem to be in the NLCS. There must be a mistake.
Is it lunchtime yet? Fuck. I'm starving.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Debate Semi-Live Blogging
45 minutes in, I do not like this two minute answer, one minute followup format. Brokaw started being a hardass on time about two questions in, with the result that McCain was able to leave a zinger about Obama raising taxes on small businesses just hanging out there, and Obama was not allowed to correct the record... or the impression McCain left in viewers' minds. If Obama does the same thing I'll be equally annoyed. It's a piss-poor idea that just begs for whoever speaks last to say whatever he wants, knowing there won't be an immediate rebuttal. I do not know what the format of the next debate will be, but is it too much to hope for that they might be given something like five minutes to respond, with a ten-minute response, followed by a five-minute rebuttal, and so on until the moderator decides the topic is exhausted? Probably way too much to ask.
Random note time.
They really should have put shorter chairs on the stage. McCain has taken to just standing or walking around while Obama's talking because his feet barely reach the floor. Did his people not bring a measuring tape tonight?
McCain is taking a page from the Palin playbook and answering as many questions with "energy independence!" as he can.
Teh "my friends" Tourette's, he haz it bad tonite.
McCain has reached across the aisle! Unfortunately, a lot of those grab sessions have been with Joe Lieberman.
Obama bags on Bush calling on people to go shopping after 9/11, saying Americans are looking for leaders that call them to work together to sacrifice for the country. The best thing we can start with, since energy is so central to everything, is to look at how we can save energy at home and at work.
McCain flogging his $5000 tax credit again. Says we need choice but to be smart about not choosing a Cadillac policy if we can't afford it. No word on what level of coverage he thinks will be available for 5k on the open market, or what people who can't front 5k even in monthly installments are supposed to do until April or May, or what people who don't make enough to file taxes and therefore will be ineligible for a tax credit in the first place are supposed to do.
Obama is pissed that his mother died at 53 from cancer, spending her last months in a hospital fighting with insurance companies over whether it was pre-existing or not. He says healthcare should be a right in the wealthiest country in the world. He would give a fifty percent tax credit, and I have no idea what this means, although he did say that empoyer-provided policies get to still exist. Oooh, I hope my boss decides to still be awesome.
Obama points out that in McCain's free market that opens up insurance without regard to state lines, every insurance company would relocate to states with the least amount of regulation so that they will be able to provide you with the least amount of coverage possible.
Oh snap! Obama says McCain's right that he doesn't understand some things about foreign policy, like why we invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 while al Qaeda sets up camps along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. That was McCain's job, and he was a cheerleader for Bush. Can't be a military power when the economy's in the tank, can't be a force for good when our national reputation is in the tank, can't swoop into Rwanda when the military is overextended. Obama Doctrine will be... if we stand by and watch genocide, that means we suck. But we have to pick and choose and work with our allies because there is bad shit happening all over the world all the time and we can't be everywhere at once.
McCain ignores the point that the Iraq war was not the best idea and falls back on Obama wants to bring the troops home in defeat. McCain Doctrine is to know our limits, says Somalia pretty well sucked. Gotta temper decisions with ability to make a difference. Oh, McCain's been in those situations all his life, and he won't take them lightly, but oh we can't leave early.
What do we do about Pakistan? Should we go all Cambodia on their ass? Obama: it's a difficult situation exacerbated by our getting distracted by Iraq and letting AQ regroup in Pakistan, which is the real central front in the war on terrorism. Gotta get out of Iraq so we can go back in and get Afghanistan right and quit coddling Pakistan as they make treaties with AQ. If we have Osama in our sights and the Pakis won't take him out, we will. McCain: We have to speak softly and carry a big stick! Obama wants to announce he's gonna attack Pakistan, which will turn public opinion against us! We, uh the Afghan freedom fighters drove the Russians out of Afghanistan and then we washed our hands of it and the Taliban came back! Who was one of the main freedom fighters? Olama? Osamoo? bin Loppin? Ohhhh, Osama bin Laden, right.
Obama insists on a followup and Brokaw gives up and capitulates. Obama says nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan, even though McCain keeps saying he did. Obama repeats the thing about retaining the right to kill bin Laden if he happens to be in Pakistan and Pakistan won't do it. And points out that McCain sang Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran and threatened to annihilate North Korea, and before we finished in Afghanistan said next stop, Baghdad! Which is not exactly speaking softly. Oh, he was just joking with an old veteran friend about Iran. And I know how to get Osama bin Laden, my friends, I know how to get him, but I won't telegraph my punches. I'll be responsible like I have been through my entire military career. Which made Boltgirl go HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
Question from me: if you know how to get Osama, why have you been keeping it a giant secret for the past seven years? Why no inclination to share this strategy with, say, the Marines?
I would like to point out that I am not drinking tonight. This shit is surreal enough on its own.
Is Russia an evil empire? Obama: they're not the old Soviet Union, but they do evil things and still have dangerous nationalistic impulses. McCain: saying yes reignites the Cold War, saying no excuses their behavior. Wow, the one answer he gave that did not piss me off.
What do we do if Iran attacks Israel? Do we fight for them or wait for the UN? McCain pisses himself thanking the questioner because he's a retired Navy petty officer, then goes back on the Obama wants to talk to Ahmedinejad without preconditions my friends train. We can't allow a second Holocaust to take place. No word on what his answer to the actual question is. Obama makes like he's going to shirk the question as well, instead sticking to the script of trying to keep Iran from getting nukes... but says we should never take military options off the table or give the UN veto power over our national interests, but the biggest thing has to be diplomacy to keep this kind of crisis from happening in the first place. Defends the need for direct talks. Notes that when Bush said he wouldn't talk to Iran ever ever ever, they went from zero centrifuges to 400.
Last question: what don't you know and how will you learn it? Jesus fucking Christ. Obama opens with a joke: I'll ask Michelle! Ha ha ha. What he does know is he got where he is because opportunities were given to him despite coming from modest means. The question is are we gonna pass on that same American dream to the next generation? McCain: What I don't know is what's going to happen here at home and abroad. Things suck here and abroad and we'll be surprised by shit. I always put my country first.
Cough.
And with that it's over. The guys actually pull off a handshake/bro hug and then try to stand side by side but get in the way of Brokaw's teleprompter, which gives them the excuse to fucking sprint away from each other and start shaking hands at opposite sides of the room.
Michelle looks lovely. I like the color of Cindy's dress so much I am almost distracted from the scary pale wraith wearing it. Oops, Michelle and the McCains almost crash into each other. McCain actually pats Obama on the back, Obama extends his hand, McCain redirects him over to Cindy, who accepts the proffered hand and shakes briefly.
Just enough time to grab a beer, finally, and settle in for Dancing With The Stars!
Edited! To add! It's Wheel of Fortune instead of DWTS! Not happy!
Random note time.
They really should have put shorter chairs on the stage. McCain has taken to just standing or walking around while Obama's talking because his feet barely reach the floor. Did his people not bring a measuring tape tonight?
McCain is taking a page from the Palin playbook and answering as many questions with "energy independence!" as he can.
Teh "my friends" Tourette's, he haz it bad tonite.
McCain has reached across the aisle! Unfortunately, a lot of those grab sessions have been with Joe Lieberman.
Obama bags on Bush calling on people to go shopping after 9/11, saying Americans are looking for leaders that call them to work together to sacrifice for the country. The best thing we can start with, since energy is so central to everything, is to look at how we can save energy at home and at work.
McCain flogging his $5000 tax credit again. Says we need choice but to be smart about not choosing a Cadillac policy if we can't afford it. No word on what level of coverage he thinks will be available for 5k on the open market, or what people who can't front 5k even in monthly installments are supposed to do until April or May, or what people who don't make enough to file taxes and therefore will be ineligible for a tax credit in the first place are supposed to do.
Obama is pissed that his mother died at 53 from cancer, spending her last months in a hospital fighting with insurance companies over whether it was pre-existing or not. He says healthcare should be a right in the wealthiest country in the world. He would give a fifty percent tax credit, and I have no idea what this means, although he did say that empoyer-provided policies get to still exist. Oooh, I hope my boss decides to still be awesome.
Obama points out that in McCain's free market that opens up insurance without regard to state lines, every insurance company would relocate to states with the least amount of regulation so that they will be able to provide you with the least amount of coverage possible.
Oh snap! Obama says McCain's right that he doesn't understand some things about foreign policy, like why we invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 while al Qaeda sets up camps along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. That was McCain's job, and he was a cheerleader for Bush. Can't be a military power when the economy's in the tank, can't be a force for good when our national reputation is in the tank, can't swoop into Rwanda when the military is overextended. Obama Doctrine will be... if we stand by and watch genocide, that means we suck. But we have to pick and choose and work with our allies because there is bad shit happening all over the world all the time and we can't be everywhere at once.
McCain ignores the point that the Iraq war was not the best idea and falls back on Obama wants to bring the troops home in defeat. McCain Doctrine is to know our limits, says Somalia pretty well sucked. Gotta temper decisions with ability to make a difference. Oh, McCain's been in those situations all his life, and he won't take them lightly, but oh we can't leave early.
What do we do about Pakistan? Should we go all Cambodia on their ass? Obama: it's a difficult situation exacerbated by our getting distracted by Iraq and letting AQ regroup in Pakistan, which is the real central front in the war on terrorism. Gotta get out of Iraq so we can go back in and get Afghanistan right and quit coddling Pakistan as they make treaties with AQ. If we have Osama in our sights and the Pakis won't take him out, we will. McCain: We have to speak softly and carry a big stick! Obama wants to announce he's gonna attack Pakistan, which will turn public opinion against us! We, uh the Afghan freedom fighters drove the Russians out of Afghanistan and then we washed our hands of it and the Taliban came back! Who was one of the main freedom fighters? Olama? Osamoo? bin Loppin? Ohhhh, Osama bin Laden, right.
Obama insists on a followup and Brokaw gives up and capitulates. Obama says nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan, even though McCain keeps saying he did. Obama repeats the thing about retaining the right to kill bin Laden if he happens to be in Pakistan and Pakistan won't do it. And points out that McCain sang Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran and threatened to annihilate North Korea, and before we finished in Afghanistan said next stop, Baghdad! Which is not exactly speaking softly. Oh, he was just joking with an old veteran friend about Iran. And I know how to get Osama bin Laden, my friends, I know how to get him, but I won't telegraph my punches. I'll be responsible like I have been through my entire military career. Which made Boltgirl go HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
Question from me: if you know how to get Osama, why have you been keeping it a giant secret for the past seven years? Why no inclination to share this strategy with, say, the Marines?
I would like to point out that I am not drinking tonight. This shit is surreal enough on its own.
Is Russia an evil empire? Obama: they're not the old Soviet Union, but they do evil things and still have dangerous nationalistic impulses. McCain: saying yes reignites the Cold War, saying no excuses their behavior. Wow, the one answer he gave that did not piss me off.
What do we do if Iran attacks Israel? Do we fight for them or wait for the UN? McCain pisses himself thanking the questioner because he's a retired Navy petty officer, then goes back on the Obama wants to talk to Ahmedinejad without preconditions my friends train. We can't allow a second Holocaust to take place. No word on what his answer to the actual question is. Obama makes like he's going to shirk the question as well, instead sticking to the script of trying to keep Iran from getting nukes... but says we should never take military options off the table or give the UN veto power over our national interests, but the biggest thing has to be diplomacy to keep this kind of crisis from happening in the first place. Defends the need for direct talks. Notes that when Bush said he wouldn't talk to Iran ever ever ever, they went from zero centrifuges to 400.
Last question: what don't you know and how will you learn it? Jesus fucking Christ. Obama opens with a joke: I'll ask Michelle! Ha ha ha. What he does know is he got where he is because opportunities were given to him despite coming from modest means. The question is are we gonna pass on that same American dream to the next generation? McCain: What I don't know is what's going to happen here at home and abroad. Things suck here and abroad and we'll be surprised by shit. I always put my country first.
Cough.
And with that it's over. The guys actually pull off a handshake/bro hug and then try to stand side by side but get in the way of Brokaw's teleprompter, which gives them the excuse to fucking sprint away from each other and start shaking hands at opposite sides of the room.
Michelle looks lovely. I like the color of Cindy's dress so much I am almost distracted from the scary pale wraith wearing it. Oops, Michelle and the McCains almost crash into each other. McCain actually pats Obama on the back, Obama extends his hand, McCain redirects him over to Cindy, who accepts the proffered hand and shakes briefly.
Just enough time to grab a beer, finally, and settle in for Dancing With The Stars!
Edited! To add! It's Wheel of Fortune instead of DWTS! Not happy!
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