pseudocivil conversation

My thoughts on the presidential debate as it occurred...

McCain's lefthanded?!? Or is he just self-taught ambidextrous?

Oh, sweet. Obama brought up infrastructure--I haven't heard any of that so far in this cycle. McCain's pretty collected, though I'm not sure energy independence and tax cuts and the national debt have much to do with the collapse of retirement funds in conjunction with the decline of the market. I find it interesting that he's advocating the purchase of bad debts by the government--and saying is it expensive? yes--when in the last debate, he was advocating spending cuts.

Oh yay. He just reminded us of the "suspension" of his campaign so he could go "help" with the bailout. Also going after Obama and his "cronies"--although he does have a point about the CHA's expansion under Clinton. He's putting an awful lot on the shoulders of the bailout package and keeps shilling for the government's purchase of bad debt.

Obama keeps pounding away on the deregulation issue. Seems to be sticking to the talking points. Unfortunate. McCain's sounding more realistic, although of course he keeps bringing up the cronyism/special interest thing--not a good idea for someone who's been there six times longer than his opponent.

Obama seems to be a little condescending and meandering--is his point that although both parties are at fault, the Republicans are more so this time around, so trust the Democrats instead? He really didn't answer the question. McCain is answering the question much better, though, mentioning various civilian government-spending watchdog groups. The "my friends" thing is kind of irritating, though, and Joe Lieberman is NOT a good example of bipartisan cooperation.

No Middle Eastern oil in 10 years? Well, if we could send a man to the moon ... yeah, actually, that sounds pretty awesome, O. I wonder what people thought of that...

And I'm getting really annoyed by the overhead projector. Does he seriously think that thing's what's bringing down the economy? An overhead projector? Who cares about that? Do these people really not know what a small part earmark spending plays in the overall budget?

"Many of you remember the tragedy of 9/11 and where you were on that day ... " Yes, every second, rehashed every week since. The point being?

THE PEACE CORPS! I am definitely voting for Obama. Also, he's cute. And McCain gets attacky once again and pulls out the ridiculous cliche: Jell-O to the wall. Why have I been hearing this so much lately?

Oof. Brokaw just slapped Obama down and let McCain's attack on the tax increases stand. Ouch. And of course, Obama still gets his way--by not answering the new question. Urgh. I'm on the rumbly train to Maaloxburg. This had better work; if I'm not hearing a lot tomorrow about how he's not raising taxes on 95 percent of the population, I'm just going to give up milk. Long-winded fuck; he's eating up a lot of time.

On the other hand, McCain is surprisingly hypocritical tonight. Or...not that surprising? Oh, look. It's that famous pen. I swear to God it looked right at me from the TV. And Brokaw is a biatch--"Look at the lights, we have them in red and green and yellow and..." blah blah blah. Son, you're just the moderator. Shut up.

Supply-side economics, rah rah rah. McCain keeps walking around, directly into the camera's line of sight behind Obama. I wonder if he's trying Al Gore-style debating techniques, or if he might just wanna be on camera? In the meantime, Obama keeps talking ... and talking ... and talking. McCain, though, has the posture of Montgomery Burns from The Simpsons--holy shit, and the hair. I can totally see him going "Eeeeexcellent..."

Oh good. Arizona is a better place to live than Tennessee. How nice. I'm sure the Tennesseeans in the audience appreciate it. Sweet, McCain's gone over time too, that pasty fuck.

A good hit against McCain on children's insurance and also a pretty great point on federally-regulated health insurance versus cross-state insurance purchases.

Goodness. I had no idea that a strong military was absolutely essential for peacemaking. Thank you, Mr. McCain, for teaching me that peace can only be bought by force. Also, I hate how cunningly buddy-buddy McCain seems to think he's being; son, you're old. You've been in politics for a third again as long as I've been alive. Gravitas is your friend. Simulated roguishness is not. Every time you get that look in your eye when you're about to make a joke, it makes me wonder if you get the same look just before you beat your wife.

I like Obama's answer about his "doctrine" as far as humanitarian crises go. We do in fact have a moral obligation to intervene in places like Rwanda and Darfur, even if our national security isn't necessarily at stake. At the same time, I also liked his answer about the peacekeeper force already assembled by the African Union. On the other hand, McCain says we need "a cool hand at the tiller" in these situations; does he really think he can be that cool hand? Yeah, me neither.

10:10 p.m.: [Cig break]

After the fastest cigarette I've ever smoked--Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran! And I loved that straight-arm--shut up when the young and relevant are speaking, old man.

He acted responsibly throughout his military career? He slept around Rio, crashed three very expensive planes, and stopped the Vietnamese from killing him by whipping out daddy's name. And he knows how to get bin Laden, huh? I'm sure the President would have liked to know this, oh ... seven years ago?

Whoa. Obama'd go into Pakistan? Ballsy. Not that great an idea, although this may have to happen again eventually because of cross-border attacks. I don't know about McCain's answer re: Russia; is it really a good policy to continue to jab Putin as though he were an autocrat? I mean, he is an autocrat, but treating him as a bad guy won't serve to avoid another Cold War.

Oh, look at Clever McCain: he got out of that gotcha question! At least Obama said, they've engaged in evil behavior and have strongly nationalistic impulses and...well, blah blah blah.

McCain didn't answer the Navy Guy's question: he asked if Iran did attack Israel, not how to prevent it. Finally Obama does--we will never take military options off the table.

Long answer to the short, last question, O. Nice intro of your bio, but finish it. McCain's answering it but good--what I don't know is the unexpected, but I do know we can depend on each other for support and blah blah blah. Of course he knows that; he depended on his father's buddies in tough times! Although his ex-wife probably isn't as well-acquainted with the notion of being supported by people who love you in those times. He repeated the tiller line, though. Hmm...

Damn. Awkward moment, when McCain grabbed that guy's head. I will eat your brains. And fuck if John and Cindy don't look especially affectionate--a quick side-hug. Michelle's schmoozing the crowd, though and John's making the rounds, and Obama's spending his time chatting with this one member...interesting. He's got a rectangle under his jacket--Manchurian Candidate by remote control? Still, he's having a good talk with some folks in the audience there. He made a funny! But seriously, are the Obamas trying to talk to every single person in the auditorium?

Fark. I'm tired.