Drunkard's Walk Forums

I figured the media would strain to spin this as an Obama victory, but I assumed that he'd give them something, however small, to work with.
He gave them nothing.
The Hill's post-debate headline is "Romney lands punches against subdued Obama in first debate," but that doesn't remotely capture it.
How bad was it for Team O?

Dude:





And the coup de grace of an unspinnably terrible night for the left:





Endgame:



Andrew Sullivan, one of The One's biggest fans, despairs:

Quote:Look: you know how much I love the guy, and you know how much of a high information viewer I am, and I can see the logic of some of Obama's meandering, weak, professorial arguments. But this was a disaster for the president for the key people he needs to reach, and his effete, wonkish lectures may have jolted a lot of independents into giving Romney a second look...
The person with authority on that stage was Romney – offered it by one of the lamest moderators ever, and seized with relish. This was Romney the salesman. And my gut tells me he sold a few voters on a change tonight. It's beyond depressing. But it's true.

According to Dave Weigel, Romney's 67 percent in the CNN insta-poll is the highest number they've ever recorded after a debate.

And the capper to the evening. What's the opposite of a leg tingle?

Obama did say before the debate that debates aren't his strong suit.

Way to start keeping your promises, dude.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

I seem to recall Romney saying that debates weren't *his*. (Or maybe it was his campaign. I wasn't paying too close attention, and don't remember exactly how it works.)

Well, they couldn't both be right, or something.

-Morgan.

I think it was pretty clear that Jim Lehrer lost the debate.
-- ∇×V

True enough, Lehrer lost control.

So is Romney going let Big Bird go on unemployment?

Romney's proposals is running true to form. Trust me, never mind the details.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Obama supporters are blaming moderator Jim Lehrer for letting Romney control the clock. But the truth is Romney didn’t have the ball for longer. Obama spoke for fully three minutes longer than Romney, according to the CNN live clock.
And how quiet was Jim Lehrer, really? A check of Wednesday’s transcript shows he spoke about 1,400 words. When Lehrer moderated the first McCain-Obama debate in 2008, he tallied about 1,200 words, so his performance wasn’t out of character. The transcript also indicates he interjected more often than the average presidential debate moderator over the past three cycles. Transcripts show most moderators interject between 60 and 70 times, but Lehrer’s tally was in the 80s Wednesday.

No. Jim Lehrer was not "at fault". And he kept control. 

Face it. Obama came into this debate looking un-Presidential, un-prepared, and un-interested in knowing anything about his opponent arguments. He hasn't been seriously challenged or questioned in 4 years. He's spent all that time in a bubble of people who don't call him out for anything he says or does. 

As Michael Walsh says: 

Quote:If last night’s debate did anything, it ought to bury once and for all the myth of Barack Obama’s silver tongue. What viewers saw last night was the real Obama — slow-witted, unable to think effectively on his feet, desultory in his pre-debate preparation, and thoroughly unimpressive without his beloved teleprompter.
Is this therefore a game-changing moment? Not necessarily. But what Mitt did was to expose the president as the Primo Carnera of his day, the mob-owned heavyweight champ who won a series of fixed fights — until he finally found himself in the ring against an opponent who didn’t fear him, and who was more than happy to whale on him, especially once Romney figured out that Obama couldn’t hurt him. Meanwhile, Obama kept looking over at Mitt with a “I can’t believe you know all this stuff” look on his face, while periodically casting beseeching glances at moderator Jim Lehrer, hoping to be saved by a bell that never came.

All I noticed was that Romney has just damned himself by taking on the might of Big Bird. Seriously. What could be more appalling than 'Sesame Street is brought to you today by the letter M, for McDonalds'?

There are some things that need to exist for the public good, in public ownership.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

To be fair, PBS is not funded only by the Federal Government, and has already stated that even if they lost all their government funding, they will survive. They'd have to tighten their belts mightily, but they won't simply fold and vanish. And they already take a level of corporate sponsorship; "M for McDonald's" isn't all that far from what they're doing already.

To be fair on the other side, though, CNN reports that PBS's funding constitutes 0.038% of the federal budget. Promising to kill PBS (and the NEA, and the like) is a cheap win off a favorite right-wing target that won't actually make a real difference to the deficit. It's like promising to round up a dangerous criminal gang by ensuring their window washer gets life in solitary.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Quote:That’s what Romney and Ryan are selling. They promise they can cut tax
rates and eliminate enough loopholes to maintain the same revenue
without touching any of the credits or deductions—mortgage interest,
charitable contributions, medical expenses, health insurance, child
credits, state and local taxes—that might hurt the middle class. They
won’t tell you how they’ll do this, because that information might
affect your vote and thereby get in the way of true democracy—which, as
we all know, consists of a post-election negotiation between the Romney
administration, a Republican Congress, and year-round Washington tax
lobbyists who represent ordinary folks like you. If you buy that, you’ll
learn the hard way what W.C. Fields taught 76 years ago: Never give a sucker an even break.

The link to the full article
I also have a problem with Romney's vision of government...deregulate everything and have an immense military establishment. Sounds like what he wants is like imperial Britain of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Dartz Wrote:All I noticed was that Romney has just damned himself by taking on the might of Big Bird. Seriously. ...

Today's editorial cartoon in the Ottawa Sun:

[img]http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297321410257_COMICS.jpg?quality=80&stmp=1349402898252&size=650x">
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Romney may have won the battle, but he's losing the war.
His threat to cut throw Big Bird into the street is getting just as big a news as the debate itself. What he does not seem to see is the mission of Sesame Street. It is to prepare children for kindergarten. Especially in the poor and rural areas.
So who do you think is going to take umbrage at that...mothers with kids that's what! So he may had just offended mothers. I can see the Democrat spin doctors having a field day within. It enforces a narrative of Romney...an out of touch plutocrat.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Morganni Wrote:Sesame Street producers to the Obama campaign: Stop that.

Sorry, PBS.  You can request that Obama stop running ads with Sesame Street imagery and other PBS related stuff... but you can't stop him from saying that Mitt wants to defund you.
That aside... Isn't Mitt pulling the old doublespeak game?  Paying lipservice to whoever he's preaching to?  *looks it up* oh, my bad.... he's actually doing both those things.  Typical Republican ploys.  Unfortunately, their plays at keeping Americans uneducated so the populace at large doesn't notice seems to be working.  (I'm only being mildly sarcastic here, folks.  Remember that Corporate America (with the possible exception of the automotive industry) prefers workers that are dumb and work for peanuts... and who backs Corporate America?)
Oh, just so folks know why I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth again... I'm homeless and camping out the back of my truck.  Thank you, Republican Party, for fighting Barack Obama so vehemently that you fail to take care of the big picture items, like streamlining the application process for veterans benefits.  Pretty sure that was somewhere on Obama's to-do list.  (The soonest I can expect a response for my VA benefits application?  At least twelve months, I've been told.)
So Romney wants to deregulate and privatize everything?  All in the name of saving money from America's budget?  Poor man is going to be yet another figure head of Corporate America.
Hilariously irreverent thought - how long until GENOM becomes real and someone needs to assemble the Knight Sabers?  Probably not long if Romney becomes President (only instead of Megatokyo, it'll be Megabeijing or Mega Hong Kong... or, if we manage to melt the ice caps, Megachongqing).

My condolences...you mean it takes a year to process your VA benefits? Have you tried going to the VA center and see if they have some sort of space for homeless vets?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Ord haven't you seen an OHSA report on the state of some VA offices, I've read of one in an news piece where it's backlog of VA benefit records overflowed the filing cabinets and were stacked in the area to the point of exceeding the floor load limits. Apparently the VA benefits form ain't a small form but is of the size of a small phonebook. Now the piece was not clear whether or not the backlog pile was just for the past year, month..., just that it was the situation in one office and they were in the process of creating an electronic form.

Um, I'm of the believe that certain things should be under the control of government mostly things along the lines of utilities & essential services, for if they are run properly they're another line of income that governments loose if sold for a quick buck.

blackaeronaut Wrote:Hilariously irreverent thought - how long until GENOM becomes real and
someone needs to assemble the Knight Sabers?  Probably not long if
Romney becomes President (only instead of Megatokyo, it'll be
Megabeijing or Mega Hong Kong... or, if we manage to melt the ice caps,
Megachongqing).

Minor necro and slightly off-topic but: GenOn does exist.  When I saw them as a major sponsor at my county fair, with their corporate name on buildings I couldn't help but think: just one more hump on the last letter...
-- ∇×V

vorticity Wrote:

blackaeronaut Wrote:Hilariously irreverent thought - how long until GENOM becomes real and
someone needs to assemble the Knight Sabers?  Probably not long if
Romney becomes President (only instead of Megatokyo, it'll be
Megabeijing or Mega Hong Kong... or, if we manage to melt the ice caps,
Megachongqing).

Minor necro and slightly off-topic but: GenOn does exist.  When I saw them as a major sponsor at my county fair, with their corporate name on buildings I couldn't help but think: just one more hump on the last letter...

Another point on the tangeont.

Genom exists
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?