0810.7
20:36:20

Debate Liveblog (sorta)

Jump to Comments I’m sitting here on my computer watching the RAI broadcast of the the presidential debates. Yes, this means that I can only sort of hear the senators under the drone of the Italian translators. Why, you may ask, don’t I just watch it on C-SPAN or something? This way is more hilarious. Duh.

Below are some comments as I think of them

Did McCain just use that really lame example about federal funds for a new projector at (presumably) Adler Planetarium twice? Okay, three million dollars, man. For a planetarium projector. You know, we can’t even spend any money on NASA missions any more, so maybe this is the closest schoolchildren will ever get to making it out to space.

So much for “to outer space every one of us.”

McCain: “Let’s not raise anybody’s taxes.” Okay, fine! But quit cutting them, seriously, Laffer curves, diminishing returns blah blah blah blah so much for economic advisors.

News Flash: McCain isn’t too popular with Republicans. I guess he means before he selected Tina Fey.

Obama just conflated computers with the Internet, I think. Hopefully he won’t forget Poland.

McCain: “You know who voted for it? That one!”

It doesn’t how much oil we have to drill if we only have 20-odd refineries to turn it into gasoline.

Did McCain just say he needed hair plugs?

McCain:”My hero Teddy Roosevelt used to say, ‘Walk softly … talk softly, and carry a big stick.'” Or, you know, speak softly.

Brokaw: “I’m just hired help here.” The best-voiced hired help in the universe, sir.

Obama knows it’s speak softly. Hmm.

Apparently Britain’s Afghanistan ambassador is a distant cousin of Neville Chamberlain. Thanks for the news tip Mr Brokaw.

And it end with the senators getting in the line of sight of both the active camera and Brokaw’s teleprompter. Oh, I love America.

2 Comments

  • I thoroughly enjoyed this debate (esp. the format) and thought both candidates performed well. Hard for me to say who ‘won.’ I was irked that both consistently ignored the time constraints but this seemed to be McCain’s fault.

    The Adler Planetarium’s projector was a good point. Why should that be a federally funded project? Sure it’s a drop in the federal budget’s ocean, but considered by itself I don’t see why McCain is anything but correct. Someone living in, say, Oregon or South Carolina who will never come to Chicago should not have to pay for our projector. Nor should we have to pay for one of theirs.

    I really liked McCain’s explicit endorsement of nuclear power. The ‘that one’ line was pretty rude.

    I find the foreign policy ideals of both repugnant. Obama’s less so but the Afghanistan war is just as bad as the Iraq war (I’d like to see letters of marque & reprisal for bin Laden & co.). But at one point he was talking about Rwanda and he said “If we had been able to help them…” I was never really clear on why we didn’t (I saw Hotel Rwanda) but it’s not really as if we couldn’t have. And good Lord, full-blown support of Israel on both sides. Yay.

    I wish they had been able to come to some sort of factual agreement on each others’ tax policies. From what I’ve heard, Obama was 100% correct and McCain was consistently distorting. “Straight Talk” for ya.

    I don’t feel any more confident voting for either one. I’m going to vote for this guy. Didn’t learn anything. But it was entertaining!

  • Leave No Nazz Behind
    GMT-0500 08:03:12 0810.10 (Fri)

    I was underwhelmed. I caught the 2nd-to-last thirty minute segment plus a little bit of the final segment here and there amidst debating with other students.

    Re. refineries: bingo. And I’ve never heard anyone else say this except for my dad and you. Dunno where you learned it / figured it out from, but reading you write this gives me a little bit more hope since I know it’s not just our family that recognizes this fundamental bottleneck on gasoline production.

    Re. Israel: as I’ve heard it said before, you could not hope to become President of the United States without pledging yourself to Israel. The one lobby so powerful we don’t even think of it as a lobby — and the one that ain’t goin’ anywhere any time soon.

    Re. McCain’s rudeness: I didn’t see the part of the debate with the “that one” bit in it, but I did see a part where McCain rudely, dickishly said something to Brokaw when Brokaw reprimanded him for going over on time. It was a frighteningly Bush-esque moment not only because of the dickishness but because McCain was clearly doing it to try and seem macho or tough to swing-voters (??, I don’t know who else he could have had in mind) and he soon regretted it because he Bush-ishly tried to snicker it off like it was a funny 5th grade temper tantrum and the audience should be chuckling right along with him. And when they didn’t, he just awkwardly pressed on with his point, whatever it was.

    I definitely agree that while Obama also went over on time it was because he was following his Republican dance partner’s steps. Obama really had no choice: because the alternative (being the bigger man and not going over on time regardless of McCain’s poor form) would still have been met with McCain going over on time, and it would have sent the wrong message to American swing-voters — “I’m Barack Obama, and when bad guys break the rules, I keep on followin’ them and subsequently get reamed in the !@#$%.” He had to send the message “I’m Barack Obama, and when bad guys break the rules, I break ’em right back. I don’t take shit.” Not that McCain is a bad guy, duh, but you see what I’m getting at.

    Similarly, McCain probably felt pressured into breaking the rules in order to establish a public image of bullishness (for whatever stupid reason, as explored 2 paragraphs above). I don’t know why he thinks bullishness will be attractive after having had 8 years of the Lone Star’s very best to offer in bullheadedness, but whatever.