The Moshtra From Hofstra!!!

It's ON!

6:03PDT
Hi, I'm Bob Schieffer, and we're just a bunch a folksy folks talkin folksy stuff around a folksy table, so let's be regular folks and talk to the regular folks about the regular folksy folks stuff that regular folks folk about when they folk with each other.

First question: Market, sucks, what are you gonna do?
McCain: Homes, homes, throw money in a hole and help dumb people pay their mortgages.
Obama: I love Lon Guy Land! It's Depression II!!! Oh Noes!!!!! We both supported the bailout so, but don't forget executive compensation, and see I said, "MIDDLE CLASS", did McCain say "MIDDLE CLASS", no I don't think so, therefore because I say the words, "MIDDLE CLASS" and throw out the meaningless phrase "MIDDLE CLASS TAX CUT" I'm more a man of the people than those fatcat Republicans. Specifics, Ha, you don't want specifics from The One, you just want him to whisper sweet nothings in your ear.
MCCAIN: McCain fires back with Joe the Plumber from Ohio, and he's taking to long to get to the punchline, the punchline was, Obama explicitly said he wants to "SPREAD THE WEALTH AROUND", without that phrase, the Joe the Plumber incident loses its fire. As Ren would say, EEEEEEDIOTTTTTTT!!!!
OBAMA: Rebuttal, spreading the wealth around is a great thing, evil OIL, did I mention EXXXON yet (yes, the extra 'x' is intentional, cause EXXXON is obscene), I just did, I'm so smart, I am The One, this is in the bag, I guess I'll just get wonky and ignore that I said I'd SPREAD THE WEALTH AROUND, and instead mention how giving money away to people who now aren't paying any taxes and actually redistrubiting existing wealth isn't socialism.
MCCAIN: Finally, he wants Joe the Plumber to "SPREAD THE WEALTH AROUND", Obama's plan is Class Warfare (and it is, too), McCain doesn't want to raise anybody's taxes.
OBAMA: I'm cutting taxes for 95% of Americans even while 40% of Americans don't pay taxes, cause I'm MAGICAL, and I'm going to mention EXXXON again, cause they're evil, and you MIDDLE CLASS Folksy Folks are wonderful.
MCCAIN: He's not afraid to come off as irascible tonight, apparently, corporate taxes are too high, if we raise business tax, businesses will run off to Ireland and hire a bunch of leprechauns, we don't want leprechauns running our corporations!!!

6:14PM PDT
Schieffer: Both you are spending like drunken sailors, you'll both raise the deficit, what are you going to cut?
OBAMA: The rescue package will not add to the deficit if I'm running things, cause I'm MAGICAL. I believe in pay as you go, and every thing I've ever proposed on the Senate floor has been paid for (of course, I've never actually proposed anything), and again because I'm so magical, the Congress is going to give me a magical LINE ITEM VETO even though it's currently unconstitutional. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, still no cuts, even more spending proposed, actually, but he promises to be responsible.
MCCAIN: I'm going to ignore the question to Bob, I like spending tax money just as much as every other Senator, it's an addiction with us. Energy independence will magically balance the budget (actually, it could help if we sold mass quantities of oil on the open market, but that ain't happening), spending freeze, just go at the budget with a hatchet. End Ethanol subsidies (Woohoo!!), no tariff on Brazilian sugar based ethanol (again, woohoo!!!!). He'll fight for a line item veto (D'oh!, guess that pesky constitution is meaningless to McCain, too).
OBAMA: Spending freeze is bad, we can cut carefully and somehow come up with a 40-50% reduction of the federal budget (which is what you'd need to get towards not only balancing current budgets but reducing the debt). And it's all Bush's fault, and McCain is Bush, so there.

6:20PM PDT
Can you balance the budget?
MCCAIN: I ain't BUSH, MUTHERF$($#(&!!!!!! If a budget freeze works in NYC, it'll work here, and I'm the person to do it. Obama's a spender, and a liberal, and a waster, I'm not, MUTHERF*(&$#(&!!!!!!! (he didn't say the mutha's but he meant them)
OBAMA: Once I voted against lawyers, and I supported charter schools, and I support clean coal (funny he doesn't campaign much on those issues). McCain is a liar, even FOXNEWS says so, and they're evil. And I call you BUSH, cause you are BUSH, so there, and you hurt my feelings, you are a mean old man, you mean old man.

6:25PM PDT
You both pledged to be above the mud, but you're both slinging the muddy stuff, what's up with that?
MCCAIN: It's Obama's fault, if we met face to face, we wouldn't have had to trash him in paid ads. Rep. John Lewis is a libelous jerk and Sen. Obama sat silently, that hurt my feelings, too. Campaigning is tough, get used to it, and Obama's spent more on negative campaigning then anyone in history, and he lied about public financing, cause he's a liar, liar, with his pants on fire.
OBAMA: Ummh, Ahhh, Ummm, Ahhh, campaigns are Ummm, ahhh, tough. Ummm, ahhh, I think he doesn't like this Ummmm, Ahhh, question. 100% of McCain's ads are not only negative but racist, even the ones where he just talks about his own record (which have been plentiful, so this 100% of ads are negative is a laughably, and easily provably false statement that takes some amazing audacity to even think, let alone say out loud). Let's get back to the economy, he's being negative cause people love my WEALTH SPREAD™(see here).
MCCAIN: Obama sucks, and he knows it.
OBAMA: Rep. John Lewis was reacting to those MOBS of angry pitchfork wielders at all the GOP events, so it was understandable, but his analogy was inappropriate, and he Rep. Lewis also pulled back slightly. I'm not getting into tit for tat, cause we have big challenges, and let's talk health care, let's ignore that I'm an asshole.
MCCAIN: Our rallies are full of good folks, and an occasional idiot. Do not impugn the good folks just cause a few idiots show up, you pissant little fool. When they say bad stuff, I jump on them and tell them it's wrong, when your folks say bad stuff, you smirk your stupid little smirk you smarmy little bastard (OK, he didn't say those exact words, but that's what he meant).
OBAMA: This campaign is too serious to worry about the unlevel playing field that the MSM and fears about being labeled a racist have created.
MCCAIN: Ayers and ACORN are relevant given that Obama won't own up to his relationships with these crazies.
OBAMA: I'm above all this, I can't believe he deigned to mention Mr. Ayers, Bill Ayers is just a kindly Professor, and that little board we worked on was bi-partisan and Bill Ayers won't influence my presidency. ACORN is fine, just a few folks got out of line, and my past with them. I like a bunch of old white folks and DC Wonks, those are who will run my presidency, so don't bring up Ayers or ACORN.
MCCAIN: Facts are facts, and Obama's still not forthcoming, and my campaign is a positive one that will fix America, Obama's is a commie marxist radical piece of crap.

6:40PM PDT
Schieffer: Why would your VP be better if thrust into the Presidency than the other guy's?
OBAMA: Regular folksy folk Joe Biden is folksy folk, and an experienced policy wonk. Nevermind the plagarism, the blowhard, the sheer idiocy of his behavior on various Senate committees, or his shady familial dealings and spreading of campaign cash, Joe Biden will be wonderful, and did I mention I'm going to raise corporate taxes and give 95% of folks a tax cut?
MCCAIN: America Lurrrrrvvvvvvvsssssssss Palin! She's a reformer, she's real folksy folk, she's stood up to big oil, and she's reduced government, and she's a breast of freth aire (or something like that). Why'd he bring up Autism? I guess he's confusing Autism with Downs, or he sees all developmentally challenged children about the same.
OBAMA: (BOB: Is Palin qualified) Palin's wonderful, and yeah, special needs is important, and we need to spend more federal dollars on this stuff, and if you freeze monies, that won't happen.
MCCAIN (BOB: Is Biden qualified) He's a qualified idiot. (he says more, but that's all he really says). Obama's answer to everything is spending more, cause he's a spendaholic, and his programs will scuttle our economy.

6:47PM PDT
Bob Schieffer: How much can we reduce Oil imports by 2012?
MCCAIN: We can cut out Saudi and Venezuelan oil completely by 2012 (by upping domestic and Canadian, and reducing demand through alternatives). Canadian oil is good, it's got that special Canuck flavor.
OBAMA: 10 years, completely, I won't say what we can do in 4 years, but domestic production should be raised, carefully, and we must reduce demand, but only with types of energy sources that the Laurie Davids and Sheryl Crows of the world would approve. Did I mention that BUSH=MCCAIN lately? No, we'll I'll do it again, not all trade is good trade, but McCain thinks all trade is good, and we should be firm with South Korea and be protectionist, cause Smoot-Hawley worked so well.
MCCAIN: Notice Obama said, 'we'll 'look' at off shore drilling', he didn't say we'll do it. And Hell Yeah!! with the Free Trade, asshole. We're screwing Colombia, and Obama wants to keep screwing them, I want Colombia to prosper, Obama's never even been South of the Border.
OBAMA: The Colombian government is evil, and they've killed socialist, and I always prefer socialist, that's why I supported a free trade agreement with Peru. Back to energy, Ford/GM/Chrysler can be saved if we force them to create econoboxes and hybrids, cause government intervention into the design process ALWAYS turns out wonderfully!
MCCAIN: Obama won't trade with Colombia, but he'll sit down with Chavez (damn commies, both of them Obama and Chavez). If you want Hoover's Smoot-Hawley all over again, elect that smirking fool sitting next to me.

6:57PM
Bob Schieffer: Health care, what's up with that?
OBAMA: It breaks my heart, I love the middle aged women, especially those still angry about me snubbing Hillary, so let me look into the camera and tell you all the wonderful things that I'll do for you on health care. Unicorn farts, and candy rainbows, that's what I'm offering, it'll cost some money to harvest those unicorn farts, sure, but it's WORTH IT!
MCCAIN: It's a tough subject, and it's a cost issue, so reduce costs, improved records, clinics, tackle obesity, reward wellness, and most importantly, encourage competition. Hey, Joe the Plumber, what are you doing with that ballot in your hand? Vote for me! If Obama's elected, Obama will force you to spend far more to cover each employee, while my plan will be much more private, and his will be socialist.
OBAMA: Joe the Plumber, small business won't have to provide health care, I'm only going after the fat cats (ummm, then there'll be fewer big companies, or they'll hire far fewer people, not a good situation). Joe the Plumber will get a big fat tax credit, and that'll be wonderful. And McCain's credit won't cover some people, and he's going to tax health care, so he's evil, and won't cover most people (but my unicorn farts will cover everyone!).
MCCAIN: Hey Joe, Obama's a commie, and Obama is lying about my plan, it will be a net benefit to most people, and it will be far more portable both geographically, through the workplace. Obama is Senator Government (he shouldn't have corrected that mistake, he is Sen. Government). With the Dems in charge and Obama as President, it'll get far worse.
OBAMA: McCain's plan is scarrrrryyyyy!!!!!! Booooooooo!!!!!!

7:06PM PDT
Roe v Wade, McCain is against it, Obama loves it, would you nominate a Justice against your view?
MCCAIN: No litmus test from me. I lead the GANG of 14, Obama stayed away from it. I've voted for Breyer and Ginsburg cause they were qualified, Obama based his votes purely on ideology, cause he's an ideologue. Supporting Roe v Wade would probably be inconsistent with the type of constructionist I'd appoint, however.
OBAMA: There's a couple of old liberals on the court, and I won't have a litmus test, but *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*, so if you want to keep the current ideological balance, you know which one of us will pick correctly (I'll ignore the bit about Alito and Roberts and my opposition to those qualified nominees). Now I'm getting wonky with some dumb equal pay for equal work case (I guess his polling with PUMAs isn't looking good to bring up this at this time, he's pandering to a specific group, and despite the polls looking good for him, he seems very concerned with courting Hillary voter types).
MCCAIN: Obama kills live babies!
OBAMA: Ummm, ahh, ummmm, ahhhh, ummm, I didn't vote the way I voted, and the law I opposed didn't do what you claim it did. I support a late term ban, as long as you have loopholes that you could drive a truck through in it. And we shouldn't burden people with unwanted pregnancies, I'm mainstream on this issue, I swear. I don't like abortion.
MCCAIN: Health of the mother is a huge loophole, and is used for everything under the sun, and Obama knows that. The unborn have rights, period.

7:16PM PDT
Bob Schieffer: I don't like how Obama sounded on that last question, so let's move on, our education system is expensive and it sucks, what are you going to do about it?
OBAMA: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, we need reform and money, blah, blah, blah, blah, we must start state indoctrination while children are still in diapers, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, more pay for teachers, blah, blah, blah, blah, accountability, blah, blah, blah, blah, college is too expensive, blah, blah, blah, blah, tuition credit, blah, blah, blah, forced service for a government stipend, cause that'd be wonderful, and finally, the parents must be parents.
MCCAIN: It's a civil rights issue, we have equal access, but we still have failing schools, and we need choice and competition between schools to break the back of the unions, reward good teachers, and dump bad teachers. Charter schools are part of the answer, not throwing money at the problem. Teach America and Troops to Teacher should be supported, college loans, wait, I'm sounding pretty much just like Obama, I guess we both suck.
BOB Schieffer: Local or Federal control of education?
OBAMA: Yes, of course I believe we should socialize and standardize and federalize the schools, I'm a commie, afterall (but I'll pretend it's all about fixing No Child Left Behind and ending 'unfunded mandates'). I'm pro-charter school, I swear. And I'm against bad teachers. But, vouchers won't work, and he's not giving enough money to get people to take Marxist Theory courses or Wimyn's Studies.
MCCAIN: Vouchers do work, biiiiiyyyyyaaattttcchhhhh!!!! NCLB is just a beginning, money isn't the answer, reform Head Start, transperancy, and more accountability, and I'll guess I'll ignore the original question about whether or not this is primarily a Federal or Local thing.
OBAMA: I'm going to do more, I swear.
MCCAIN: You suck!

7:27PDT Closing statements:

MCCAIN: Vote for me.
OBAMA: Vote for me.

Ten Questions for Each Candidate That Probably Won't Be Asked...

For Obama (going into bullet point mode, cause this blog has been lacking in bullet points, lately)

Edward Said, fool or sage?

Wealth redistribution, policy goal or communism?

Mandatory government servitude, bringing us together or neo-slavery?

White Sox or Cubs?

Of all the cities to make a name for yourself politically, why pick the biggest cesspool of corruption in the nation?

Should the federal government set prices at the pump and for home heating oil?

Is combating global warming more important than improving the economy, and if one adversely effects the other, which wins in your administration?

Yes or No? (no other question and not referencing anything else, just ask him, "Yes or No", sometimes, how one responds to nonsense has meaning)

Which should be the larger priority in K-12 education, encouraging more students to embrace the hard sciences, or promoting social justice?

Do you really believe that the President has a line item veto as you've implied throughout your campaign?

McCain questions that won't be asked:

What's wrong with a flatter simplified tax code?

In retrospect, McCain-Feingold, a huge mistake, or success?

How 'bout them Cardinals, playoff bound?

How old is too old to run for President?

If you were forced to cut three cabinet posts, which three would you eliminate?

As you are likely going to be faced with a solid Democratic majority in the Senate, how would you get a strict constructionist for the Supreme Court through the Senate confirming process?

Fish or Fowl? (what, you didn't expect the same nonsense question, did you?)

In light of the Heller decision, will you direct your DOJ to aggressively attack municipal and state handgun bans?

What could we learn from Canada, and the way they are governed?

Should voting standards be more nationalized to prevent future Florida and ACORN style messes?

If Either Candidate Had Any Guts...

They'd stride out on the stage at Hofstra for tonight's debate, wearing one of these (let's see Mr. Schieffer deal with that, again).

(Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll semi-live-blog this semi-interesting-debate)

If a Blogger Liveblogs a Debate, and Nobody Follows it Live, Was It Really a Liveblog?

Bears, wood, shit, I'll be liveblogging the debate, even if nobody notices.

5:55PM PDT

Why is a Panda sneezing in my semi-liveblog? Cause I expect this Townhall to be PANDERFEST 2008™

6:00PM PDT
80 uncommitted voters selected by Gallup, vetted by NBC, that makes me feel good about this being fair to the GOP candidate (or not).

6:01PM PDT
Tom Brokaw's the final arbiter of what's asked and unasked, Brokaw begins with woooooeeeeeeeee, the economy, we're doooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmm. Allen Shaffer asks the first question, Obama begins the littany of woe, depression is here, etc, and I guess that means a new New Deal is in order. But, that FDR crap screwed us over and delayed the recovery from that trough until WWII. Of course, this is an excuse for class warfare, boooooo!!! CEOs, yeaahhhhh!!! middle class. That's Obama's solution.

McCain's solution is socializing home ownership. Uggghhh.

Neither candidate is really offering anything interesting or sensible.

Brokaw asks who would you appoint to replace Paulson, McCain's answer, maybe Warren Buffett, maybe Meg Whitman, someone folksy folks can trust. Candidate Obama unanswers the question, instead he wants to hit the wooooooeeeeee is the middle class crap again. Meh.

6:11PM PDT
Oliver Clark asks what's up with this bailout? McCain hits the Fannie/Freddie link to the current mess, and links Obama to it, and touts his own calls for reform. Will anyone hear him (Obama can be seen smirking as he listens). McCain pushes the home loan thing again, along with reform of Fannie/Freddie presumably.

Obama gets up to answer, says it's about the credit market (so why didn't the money go straight to the credit market?). Obama blames deregulation, Fannie/Freddie had nothing to do with it, I suppose.

James Brown sums up both responses.

6:17PM
Brokaw asks, 'will things get worse before they get better'? McCain's answer, American workers are great, Obama doesn't get that question.

On to Teresa Finch, 'both your parties suck, why should we trust either of you?'
Obama's answer, GWB, GWB, GWB, McCain=GWB, GWB=Satan, therefore McCain=Satan. Obama claims he's a deficit hawk who will shrink government (seems hardly believable).

McCain's answer, DC is broken, he's Mr. Reform! Oh, no he didn't he mentioned his crappy ass McCain-Feingold, the same bill both candidates have run circles around and raised huge wads of cash. McCain hits Obama on being a big fat liberal, and big spender, Obama's smirking again, I guess he's going for bemused disdain. Somehow McCain brought in Energy Independence, I guess he figures that's a winning issue for him.

6:23PM
Brokaw asks Health Care, Energy, Entitlement, which is highest priority?
McCain answers first, McCain says you can go after all three, and 'my friends' Social Security is a joke, it won't be there for you if you were born after 1960. Nuclear power, all the above, domestic production of energy, and health care, whatever, all three can be done, no priorities.

Obama's answer, energy is first (I guess), specifics, naaahhhhh. $15B over 10 years to create magic fairy dust that will power our cars using the bottled farts of unicorns and dragons. Obama still seems to think the President has a line item veto, guess he hasn't read the U.S. Constitution lately. Hits McCain on that $4B to BIG OIL (Booo!) bit.

6:29PM Internet Question from 78 year old Fiorra (or 12 year old Candi, it's the internet, who knows?)
What sacrifices will we ask from our citizens, McCain pushes for earmark reform again. Reduce the size of the federal government with spending freezes to non-essential programs (why not eliminate the non-essential? I hate half measures, Federalism would be nice for a change). McCain goes back to the importance of not prioritizing.

Obama gets up to bat, brings up 9/11 and how GWB (booo!!!) squandered all that good will and not asking for sacrifices (derides, 'go out and shop' back in 2001). In the great ObamaNation that will follow his inaugural, we will all happily reduce our own energy use by buying smaller cars, weather stripping, and serving in the Peace Corps, and starting up a Volunteer Corps so that everyone gets drafted into non-military service (he didn't say that, but he did say that as far as I'm concerned).

6:34PM
Brokaw asks how Government will restrain itself. Obama answers, we must punish the rich (not what he said, but what he means). Derides freeze proposal, cause government is wonderful. McCain calls Obama changeable with regards to his various tax proposals, compares him to Herbert Hoover, and even invokes Smoot-Hawley (but not by name). McCain wants to leave taxes alone, and game the system with tax credits rather than actually fixing the system and reducing the complexity of the system.

6:39PM
Internet Langdon asks, unfunded entitlements will eat the whole budget within a few decades, what are you gonna do about it? Obama won't give up on his 95% OF YOU WILL GET A TAX CUT, PROMISE, PINKIE SWEAR, CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO DIE. Let's ignore the entitlement question. Hit's McCain on tax cuts for the rich thing again. Whatever, soaking the rich will have a 'trickle down' effect, things that trickle only trickle down, wanting the economy to work from the bottom up instead of top down defies history, experience, and physics.

McCain's answer, 'I'm a Maverick!' He'll attack Social Security (no specifics), he'll attack Medicare with a Commission! (similar to the base-closing commission of the 90s). McCain hits back on Obama's tax record.

6:44PM
Ingrid Jackson asks 'Climate change, green jobs, why can't Congress always act so fast as on the bailout'? McCain answers, me and my buddy Leiberman are green, we're so green we green glow with Nuclear Power! (woohoo!!) Go Nuclear! Pushes his 'all the above' approach, cause American workers are great.

Obama describes this as both an opportunity as a challenge, and we'll have 5,000,000 new green jobs if the government gets involved. He implies that the computer was a government project, but that's bunk, computers were big room filling pieces of hardware before the PC revolution, and computers as they are used in our daily lives and have changed the shape of the world were decidedly NOT a government aided phenomenon. Green Tech will be similar, I suspect, the more government stays out of the way, the better, but Obama wants the government to pick which companies and solutions win, and which lose, which is why we end up with porkbarrel crap like E85. Grrrr, Arrggggghhhhhh.

Brokaw's getting sniffy, do we want incubators, or Manhattan project?
McCain wants both, start off with government project, and once it gets going, hand it over to the private sector. McCain hits the pork thing again, which is relevant given that much of our energy policy is pork based in one way or another and that's why it has failed so miserably and Obama's suggested solution will most likely fail miserably (hey, I'm not impartial, I can through in a partisan screed from time to time).

6:50PM
Lindsey Trella asks, 'should Health Care be a commodity'?
Obama answers, 'waahhh, waaahhh, waahhh, boohoo, boohoo, boohoo, health care is broken, and the government must step in and save everyone and everything'. Somehow socializing health care won't lead to socialized medicine. If the government steps in and offers a gold-plated health care system of first resort like what Congress gets, then health care will be effectively socialized, private providers will not be able to compete. Either he's lying about his intentions, or he's an idiot.

McCain answers, expand effeciency, and the market can work and folks can afford it with a bit of a bump from the government with his tax credit. Let folks shop, they'll make the better decisions. Choice will work, markets will work, that's his mantra.

Brokaw asks, health care, privilege, right or responsibility?
McCain answers, it's a responsibility, we ain't Canada biyaaaatccchhhhh!!!! (I may have maed up the part about Canada). Ohhh, 'nother smirk.
Obama, health care is a RIGHT, cause his mother died of cancer fighting with insurance companies (Earth to Obama, socialized medicine paradises don't do half of the stuff we do for cancer patients, they would have stuck your mama in hospice care and morphined her up and she probably would have died months earlier than she did here, but why let facts get in the way of a good personal anecdote?)
That sums up the difference between the two, doesn't it, and it shows that if health care is a RIGHT, then how can you leave it up to the private sector? Someone isn't telling the whole truth about what he wants to do about health care, and it ain't McCain.

7:00PM
I missed Obama's rant against deregulation while I was doing my own rant. Phil Eliott asks, 'will our economy effect our military?' (obviously I've been paraphrasing the questions, that's why the single quotes).
McCain answers by singing the little ditty below:

(I know the above video is meant to be anti-American, but screw that, we kick too much ass for some little snot on the internet to make us look bad).
OK, I lied, he didn't start singing that song, but he should have.

Obama's answer, we are in decline, Iraq was a mistake, everyone hates us, woooooeeeee, wooooeeeeee, woooooeeeee is us, Unless we elect The One.

Brokaw, what's the 'Obama Doctrine' and what's the 'McCain Doctrine'?
Obama answers, Rwanda should have been considered, genocide is very, very bad, and we should intervene where possible, but defining what's possible is entirely up to The One. Darfur, we could do some stuff, but only if everyone loves us.

McCain answers, goes back to Obama being wrong about withdrawal, would have screwed Iraq and the whole region. The USA (F Yeah!) is a force for good in the world, McCain won't repeat the mistakes of Somalia, or Lebanon in the early 80s.

Both said about the same, but Obama emphasized international cooperation.

7:12PM
Katie Hamm asks about hitting Pakistan with or without their approval to hit Al Qaeda and Taleban.
Obama blames Bush, Iraq is why Bin Laden is dead somewhere (hey, you can't prove he's alive, so I'm assuming he's dead) in Pakistan. We need to talk tough with Pakistan, so far hasn't answered the question, he'll waive his wand and get them to do what we want, I guess.

McCain answers, Teddy Roosevelt is a hero of mine, I knew Teddy (oh, wait, sorry, he wasn't pulling a Lloyd Bentsen). Goes back to driving out the Soviets, should have helped rebuild Afghanistan in the 80s, won't make the same mistake. Petraeus will save Afghanistan, and we'll work with Pakistan, McCain won't talk tough (but he'll act tough, as implied, and also implying that Obama is all bluster with his talk of going after Bin Laden in Pakistan).

Obama demands a rebuttal, rambles, accuses McCain of being unhinged and bloodthirsty.

So far nothing new from this dog and pony show, neither is hurting the other (nor helping themselves, really).

7:17PM
Brokaw, Oh Noes! Afghanistan is a disaster, we need a friendly dictator there.
Obama, answers, Iraq is the problem with Afghanistan. Blah, Blah, Blah, this is going nowhere, refutes friendly dictator suggestion, but thinks Afghan government can be more responsible to their people.

McCain answers, tactics need to change, NATO needs to be better commanded, and the Afghans and Pakistanis most step up, and the surge can work in Afghanistan (and also, Obama won't admit that he was wrong about the surge in Iraq). In Petraeus we trust. Honor, Victory.

7:20PM
Russia, they're bad, how do we get them to be better?
McCain answers, Russia is bad, they're fat with oil money, they're being run by ex-KGB, and they're acting agressively in their backyard. We must support Georgia and Ukraine, and get them in NATO. Get the rest of the world on our side (ahhh, but there's all that oil, and Europe and China are weenies, so that's a non-starter).

Obama answers, Russia is one of the central issues for any future adminstration, and we must help these ex-Soviet Republics, and we must talk alot without actually saying anything (oh wait, that's what he's doing, not what he's saying he'll do, but he's still not saying anything, and brings Bin Laden back into this somehow).

7:25PM
Russia, Evil Empire?
Obama, they have evil impulses.
McCain, maybe, can't answer either way, Russia will play ball, but we must play from strength.

7:26PM Two more questions
Retired Navy Chief Terry Shirey asks will we defend Israel if Iran attacks?
McCain shakes the CPO's hand, can't wait for UN to defend our friends, must prevent Iran from getting nukes, cause Iran having nukes means Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and any one else with the means will want their own. Sanctions will prevent the possibility of an Iranian attack on Israel seems to be his answer, and that we won't allow a 2nd holocaust, so I guess that means we'll defend Israel (and possibly bomb the hell out of Iran with our own nukes, though he doesn't say that).

Obama replies diplomacy will keep us from having to make this decision (but only if we have a president the rest of the world lurrrvvvvvvvs, like The Obama). He's still talking, goes back to the idea of direct talks with Iran, cause there's nothing wrong with a President Obama meeting with President Ahma-dinner-jacket.

7:31PM Last Question!
Peggy asks, What Don't You Know, and How Will You Learn It?
Obama's answer, Michelle has my balls in a jar by her dresser (oh, wait, that's not what he said, but sounds like it to me). He's giving a closing statement, he's not even thinking about answering the question, Brokaw should break in with an, "Obama, Please" (is that racist of me to suggest that?). More Wooooooooeeeeeeeee, woooooooeeeeee is we, but that woe will be relieved if we have the courage and nerve to elect The One.

McCain steps up, McCain doesn't know what everyone doesn't know, nobody knows the trouble we'll see.

But, that trouble will be overcome by the great folks of the US of A, and his steady hand will guide us through these troubled waters.

7:36PM MY IMPRESSIONS
Nobody did nothing, they told the same half-truths, spun the same spin, neither hurt themselves, or the other, neither of them seemed to really have any solution more than 'more government' to the domestic issues, and as far as foreign policy, Obama believes the consensus fairy will come and build global consensus at the waive of a wand, while McCain seems to believe that more of the same with a slight McCain twist will do the job.

Watching the NBC feed, Brian Williams and Andrea Mitchell are immediately spinning it as a big Obama victory (without directly saying so).

A Debate Complaint . . .

Foreign Affairs isn't only war-fighting, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia, though you'd get that impression from this debate. Issues that should have been addressed, but weren't:

Borders.
Would have been nice to get Obama and McCain on record as agreeing or disagreeing about illegal immigration.

Overbearing visa restrictions.
It's too easy for the wrong people to sneak in, and too hard for the right people to visit and move here legally. This has to stop and damages us abroad. Would have been nice for this to be brought up.

Opium.
Afghanistan would be going better if we would buy up the opium crops (and use it for the production of medical opiods) and support the growers, rather than letting that revenue stream fund Al Qaeda and Taliban efforts.

Free Trade.
Colombia's President is wandering around NYC and DC trying to get firm support for a trade agreement, and the Democratic leadership in Congress is giving him a cold shoulder. That's no way to treat a staunch ally, but for the Dems are on a protectionist kick, and the media refuses to call them on it. Should have come up in this debate.

Africa.
George W. Bush has been the best friend in the White House Sub-Saharan Africa has ever seen. It would have been nice to see what Obama or McCain intended to do to continue to build on the remarkable progress enabled by Bush's leadership on the issues of water, malaria, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

Protectionism.
With the dollar down against the Euro, Europe should be ripe for a flood of cheap American goods supporting tons of US jobs across many industries. EU countries will fight this tooth and nail given that they're socialist, protectionist, and hypocrites by nature (free trade is well and good, as long as it's the USA that's wide open for European goods, not the other way around). I'd like to know how each candidate would fight to open up European markets.

Cuba/Venezuela/Bolivia
The axis of socialist stupidity within the Americas should have been a topic for debate. Does McCain or Obama support full autonomy for Santa Cruz in Bolivia? What will either of these men do to help the opposition in Venezuela challenge Chavez's dictatorship? With Raul Castro's ever so slightly kinder, gentler, autocracy in Cuba, is it time to normalize relationships there, or should we maintain the status quo?

China
Competitor? Friend? Rival? Threat? Enigma?

India
Should we do more to embrace India? What's America's role with India, how should we expand our cooperation with the largest democracy in the world? Should we encourage competition between China and India?

Instead of an endless back and forth about whether or not Iraq was a mistake and whether or not Afghanistan is in trouble, there are many more global challenges facing the next President, and it would have been nice to see a debate that focused on future challenges rather than rehashing the same tired talking points of the past 6 years.

What to Do About Tonight . . .

I think for a liveblog to be relevant, you need major traffic like Althouse, so she can do the liveblog thing.

And to do live drunkblogging, you need to have major traffic, and be a major alcoholic (or at least play one on the internet), so I'll leave that up to Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom. Stephen Green at Vodkapundit. (UPDATE: can't explain why, but I always get those two mixed up, I'm pretty sure drunk blogging originated at Vodkapundit, though he's abandoned the gimmick it would seem)

So I'm going to do something different, and ambitious. I'm going to record one of the feeds of the debate, chop it up to each Q&A, and then break out my trusty Mind-Reader-Omatic 5000™.

So, over the course of this weekend, I'll be dribbling out posts covering the entire debate that not only have YouTubed clips of each Q&A, but useful and helpful annotations of:

A) What they should have said (in my opinion)
B) What they really meant by what they said
C) More importantly, what they were thinking when they said it, and what they would have said had they not been too busy vote-grubbing (using my trusty device, so you know this will be accurate, or at least as accurate as the 5000™ can be from 1800 miles away)

It's a big project, one I may wimp-out on, but we'll see how it goes for the first couple of questions, and if I like the results, I'll keep it up, if I don't, I'll pretend I never suggested doing this in the first place.