Last Night's Debate
That was just embarrassing...Really. I had the urge to shush Hillary because some part of me still admires her in spite of her bitchiness and inherent corruption. If she gets any more shrill I'll have to ignore her entirely--Like one of my biggest reasons for wanting Obama to sweep TX and OH is so I won't have to listen to her any more.
Barack did a good job overall. His calm was a good counterpoint to her fits. It wasn't his strongest appearance though. I understand going with understated--not going for the throat in a primary debate...but at some point he will have to address some of the more "sticky" issues of foreign policy. While I believe that he does have the "best judgment" out of any of the candidates, I do hope his arguments become more concrete and confident before he faces McCain.
Then again, maybe Clinton's health care diatribes are putting him into a semi-comatose state...It's not obsession on her part, it's a tactic to put him to sleep.
*Low--16 MINUTES OF HEALTH CARE. Okay, I really care about health care. It's a huge issue for me...but Clinton has lost her mind. She beat this one badly enough in the last debate...and the one before that...and... I need insurance to get treatment for a reaction I'm having; Every time she says "health care" I start uncontrollably sighing and rolling my eyes. It's tragic.
I had the strangest sense last night that MSNBC was re-airing a portion of the Austin debate because the candidates had actually been reduced to hair pulling and chair throwing over photos of "Obama Goes Native."
It's a cover-up...I firmly believe it.
*High--The only amusing moment in the health care debate. Barack can't get Hillary to shut up, neither can the moderators.
SEN. OBAMA: I'm going to get filibustered -- I'm getting filibustered a little bit here.
Okay, maybe I was desperate for something entertaining--but it really did seem like he was on the point of begging the moderator to shut her up some how...any how.
*Low, low, low...but funny--Do not make fun of the press and accuse them of bias when they have your gonads in their hands on national TV.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, can I just point out that in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time. And I don'tmind. I -- you know, I'll be happy to field them, but I do find it curious, and if anybody saw "Saturday Night Live," you know, maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow.(Laughter, boos.) I just find it kind of curious that I keep getting the first question on all of these issues. But I'm happy to answer it.
Wow, Hillary gets booed again. Big surprise. It might have worked if she'd been smoother about it...asked Barack HERSELF if she could get him anything when she was being slammed for viciousness on the campaign trail. Instead it was contrived and whiny--like she was waiting for the first opportunity to use a bad joke to paint herself as a victim.
*High--Tim Russert busts Clinton on jobs. Oh god...Mr. Obama, can we get you anything? Really, Russert for VP!
MR RUSSBERT (To Clinton): And I was reminded of your campaign in 2000 in Buffalo, my hometown,just three hours down Route 90, where you pledged 200,000 new jobs for upstate New York. There's been a net loss of 30,000 jobs. And when you were asked about your pledge, your commitment, you told The Buffalo News, "I might have been a little exuberant." Tonight will you say that the pledge of 5 million jobs might be a little exuberant?
*High--Obama straightens Hillary out on foreign policy experience--These are the kind of answers he NEEDS to give in the general election...
SEN. OBAMA: Well, Senator Clinton I think equates experience with longevity in Washington. I don't think the American people do and I don't think that if you look at the judgments that we've made over the last several years that that's the accurate measure. On the most important foreign policy decision that we face in a generation --whether or not to go into Iraq -- I was very clear as to why we should not -- that it would fan the flames of anti-American sentiment -- that it would distract us from Afghanistan -- that it would cost us billions of dollars, thousands of lives, and would not make us more safe, and I do not believe it has made us more safe...
...and just when I thought it couldn't get better, he addressed the issue of why he and Clinton have voted the same on Iraq since the war started...
SEN. OBAMA: ...Once we had driven the bus into the ditch, there were only so many ways we could get out. The question is, who's making the decision initially to drive the bus into the ditch?
*Low--A low for the moderators--Asking what happens if we pull out of Iraq and they ask us to come back. That was the most vague hypothetical situation I've ever heard--Politicians on the campaign trail cannot deal in ABSTRACT hypotheticals about major policy decisions. A "what if..?"scenario can bite them in the ass if it becomes reality. Both candidates looked completely disbelieving that the moderators even THOUGHT they would answer that one.
*Low--Have I mentioned that Clinton would not shut up. I assume she was trying to come across as aggressive and "a fighter".
Second commercial break...
SEN. CLINTON: Now wait a minute, I have to add --
MR. WILLIAMS: I've got to get us to a break because television doesn't stop.
SEN. CLINTON: -- because the question -- the question was about invading -- invading -- Iraq.
MR. WILLIAMS: Can you hold that thought until we come back from a break?...
*High--Barack laughs at Hillary mimicking his speaking style. It made her previous complaint look even more whiny.
Then he basically walked the dog all over Hillary. Two prime examples...
SEN OBAMA: ...And there's nothing romantic or silly about that. If the American people are activated, that's how change is going to happen.
...Senator Clinton in one of these speeches -- it may have been the same speech where you showed the clip -- said you can't just wave a magic wand and expect special interests to go away. That is absolutely true, but it doesn't help if you're taking millions of dollars in contributions from those special interests. They are less likely to go away.
*Low--Has Obama not heard the allegations that he agreed to accept public financing? I wasn't even aware that he agreed to aggressively negotiate with the GOP candidate (not an out-and-out "yes") and I wasn't made FURTHER aware of that during the debate. He passed up a chance to address a major issue decisively.
*Low--Hillary can't find her tax return. WORST attempt to avoid an issue during the debate. When asked if she would release her tax return during the primary, she said, "maybe". Russert hammered her...again.
MR. RUSSERT: So, before next Tuesday's primary?
SEN. CLINTON: Well, I can't get it together by then, but I will certainly work to get it together. I'm a little busy right now; I hardly have time to sleep. But I will certainly work toward releasing, and we will get that done and in the public domain.
*Low/High--Another incident where I was mildly disappointed in Obama's response--The Farrakhan issue. Eventually, he will have to come up with a reasonable explanation for his choice of church and how Rev. Wright can be both his "spiritual adviser" and someone who is all buddied up with Farrakhan. This was not a good time for fence sitting. Obama was noticeably disturbed when Russert quoted Farrakhan's anti-semitic rhetoric...but he failed to put the issue to rest.
HOWEVER, he almost made up for it when he turned Clinton's argument against her--insisting he would both "reject" and "denounce" Farrakhan's endorsement. It looked like her nit-picking over semantics and him being polite to the crazy lady.
*High--Not flashy and not much mentioned but I loved his response to the question about him being more liberal than Ted Kennedy. Not only did he manage to show himself as a candidate with a broad appeal but, with hard fact, showed just how much of the evidence for statements like that is bizarre and random.
*What the fuck moment--Is Clinton trying to create a "diplomatic incident"? No, I'm not going to pick on her for not being able to pronounce Medvedev, though I go think laughing and saying "whatever" over the name of a foreign leader is bad form. It's more that I thought her comments about Russia showed a complete lack of tact and forethought. No one else seems to have thought along these lines and maybe I'm wrong, but I see her sometimes caustic, sometimes flippant tone about important shit, potentially getting us in international trouble.
It's bad enough that she's already questioned whether or not Putin has a soul....but to call him out on rigging elections and say we'll have to re-think our policies towards Russia?
"CLINTON: Well, I can tell you that he's a hand-picked successor, that he is someone who is obviously being installed by Putin, who Putin can control, who has very little independence, the best we know. You know, there's a lot of information still to be acquired. That the so-called opposition was basically run out of the political opportunity to wage a campaign against Putin's hand-picked successor, and the so-called leading opposition figure spends most of his time praising Putin. So this is a clever but transparent way for Putin to hold on to power, and it raises serious issues about how we're going to deal with Russia going forward.
I have been very critical of the Bush administration for what I believe to have been an incoherent policy toward Russia. And with the reassertion of Russia's role in Europe, with some of the mischief that they seem to be causing in supporting Iran's nuclear ambitions, for example, it's imperative that we begin to have a more realistic and effective strategy toward Russia. But I have no doubt, as president, even though technically the meetings may be with the man who is labeled as president, the decisions will be made by Putin.
She just looked so darned pleased with herself. I was wide-eyed in horror at her lack of diplomacy.
Though Obama didn't seem entirely sure there WERE elections going on in Russia, he at least decided discretion was the better part of valor--He recognized both Putin's continued power AND Bush's role in the current US/Russia tensions. He came across as calm and reasonable, willing to see both sides of the issue. He took the opportunity reassert that he values our allies in NATO, something that can't be said enough after the last 8 years of "US as Vigilante."
I think he proved his point that judgment outdoes experience. I am now terrified at the thought of Clinton talking with world leaders.
So, not a shining Barack performance, but I don't think he was going for that. I think he was avoiding saying anything Hillary could use as ammunition, being cautious and keeping things low key. This wasn't a case where he NEEDED to take risks--Hillary needed to do that and pull them off. She didn't.
Moreover, He managed to score a couple points and came out at least even with her...a bit ahead in comparison--by not being grating or menacing other countries.
***
Regarding the plague. Rob is pretty much recovered. I'm a couple days behind him and have spent most of the day sitting on the couch, coughing and drinking hot beverages.
Barack did a good job overall. His calm was a good counterpoint to her fits. It wasn't his strongest appearance though. I understand going with understated--not going for the throat in a primary debate...but at some point he will have to address some of the more "sticky" issues of foreign policy. While I believe that he does have the "best judgment" out of any of the candidates, I do hope his arguments become more concrete and confident before he faces McCain.
Then again, maybe Clinton's health care diatribes are putting him into a semi-comatose state...It's not obsession on her part, it's a tactic to put him to sleep.
*Low--16 MINUTES OF HEALTH CARE. Okay, I really care about health care. It's a huge issue for me...but Clinton has lost her mind. She beat this one badly enough in the last debate...and the one before that...and... I need insurance to get treatment for a reaction I'm having; Every time she says "health care" I start uncontrollably sighing and rolling my eyes. It's tragic.
I had the strangest sense last night that MSNBC was re-airing a portion of the Austin debate because the candidates had actually been reduced to hair pulling and chair throwing over photos of "Obama Goes Native."
It's a cover-up...I firmly believe it.
*High--The only amusing moment in the health care debate. Barack can't get Hillary to shut up, neither can the moderators.
SEN. OBAMA: I'm going to get filibustered -- I'm getting filibustered a little bit here.
Okay, maybe I was desperate for something entertaining--but it really did seem like he was on the point of begging the moderator to shut her up some how...any how.
*Low, low, low...but funny--Do not make fun of the press and accuse them of bias when they have your gonads in their hands on national TV.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, can I just point out that in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time. And I don'tmind. I -- you know, I'll be happy to field them, but I do find it curious, and if anybody saw "Saturday Night Live," you know, maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow.(Laughter, boos.) I just find it kind of curious that I keep getting the first question on all of these issues. But I'm happy to answer it.
Wow, Hillary gets booed again. Big surprise. It might have worked if she'd been smoother about it...asked Barack HERSELF if she could get him anything when she was being slammed for viciousness on the campaign trail. Instead it was contrived and whiny--like she was waiting for the first opportunity to use a bad joke to paint herself as a victim.
*High--Tim Russert busts Clinton on jobs. Oh god...Mr. Obama, can we get you anything? Really, Russert for VP!
MR RUSSBERT (To Clinton): And I was reminded of your campaign in 2000 in Buffalo, my hometown,just three hours down Route 90, where you pledged 200,000 new jobs for upstate New York. There's been a net loss of 30,000 jobs. And when you were asked about your pledge, your commitment, you told The Buffalo News, "I might have been a little exuberant." Tonight will you say that the pledge of 5 million jobs might be a little exuberant?
*High--Obama straightens Hillary out on foreign policy experience--These are the kind of answers he NEEDS to give in the general election...
SEN. OBAMA: Well, Senator Clinton I think equates experience with longevity in Washington. I don't think the American people do and I don't think that if you look at the judgments that we've made over the last several years that that's the accurate measure. On the most important foreign policy decision that we face in a generation --whether or not to go into Iraq -- I was very clear as to why we should not -- that it would fan the flames of anti-American sentiment -- that it would distract us from Afghanistan -- that it would cost us billions of dollars, thousands of lives, and would not make us more safe, and I do not believe it has made us more safe...
...and just when I thought it couldn't get better, he addressed the issue of why he and Clinton have voted the same on Iraq since the war started...
SEN. OBAMA: ...Once we had driven the bus into the ditch, there were only so many ways we could get out. The question is, who's making the decision initially to drive the bus into the ditch?
*Low--A low for the moderators--Asking what happens if we pull out of Iraq and they ask us to come back. That was the most vague hypothetical situation I've ever heard--Politicians on the campaign trail cannot deal in ABSTRACT hypotheticals about major policy decisions. A "what if..?"scenario can bite them in the ass if it becomes reality. Both candidates looked completely disbelieving that the moderators even THOUGHT they would answer that one.
*Low--Have I mentioned that Clinton would not shut up. I assume she was trying to come across as aggressive and "a fighter".
Second commercial break...
SEN. CLINTON: Now wait a minute, I have to add --
MR. WILLIAMS: I've got to get us to a break because television doesn't stop.
SEN. CLINTON: -- because the question -- the question was about invading -- invading -- Iraq.
MR. WILLIAMS: Can you hold that thought until we come back from a break?...
*High--Barack laughs at Hillary mimicking his speaking style. It made her previous complaint look even more whiny.
Then he basically walked the dog all over Hillary. Two prime examples...
SEN OBAMA: ...And there's nothing romantic or silly about that. If the American people are activated, that's how change is going to happen.
...Senator Clinton in one of these speeches -- it may have been the same speech where you showed the clip -- said you can't just wave a magic wand and expect special interests to go away. That is absolutely true, but it doesn't help if you're taking millions of dollars in contributions from those special interests. They are less likely to go away.
*Low--Has Obama not heard the allegations that he agreed to accept public financing? I wasn't even aware that he agreed to aggressively negotiate with the GOP candidate (not an out-and-out "yes") and I wasn't made FURTHER aware of that during the debate. He passed up a chance to address a major issue decisively.
*Low--Hillary can't find her tax return. WORST attempt to avoid an issue during the debate. When asked if she would release her tax return during the primary, she said, "maybe". Russert hammered her...again.
MR. RUSSERT: So, before next Tuesday's primary?
SEN. CLINTON: Well, I can't get it together by then, but I will certainly work to get it together. I'm a little busy right now; I hardly have time to sleep. But I will certainly work toward releasing, and we will get that done and in the public domain.
*Low/High--Another incident where I was mildly disappointed in Obama's response--The Farrakhan issue. Eventually, he will have to come up with a reasonable explanation for his choice of church and how Rev. Wright can be both his "spiritual adviser" and someone who is all buddied up with Farrakhan. This was not a good time for fence sitting. Obama was noticeably disturbed when Russert quoted Farrakhan's anti-semitic rhetoric...but he failed to put the issue to rest.
HOWEVER, he almost made up for it when he turned Clinton's argument against her--insisting he would both "reject" and "denounce" Farrakhan's endorsement. It looked like her nit-picking over semantics and him being polite to the crazy lady.
*High--Not flashy and not much mentioned but I loved his response to the question about him being more liberal than Ted Kennedy. Not only did he manage to show himself as a candidate with a broad appeal but, with hard fact, showed just how much of the evidence for statements like that is bizarre and random.
*What the fuck moment--Is Clinton trying to create a "diplomatic incident"? No, I'm not going to pick on her for not being able to pronounce Medvedev, though I go think laughing and saying "whatever" over the name of a foreign leader is bad form. It's more that I thought her comments about Russia showed a complete lack of tact and forethought. No one else seems to have thought along these lines and maybe I'm wrong, but I see her sometimes caustic, sometimes flippant tone about important shit, potentially getting us in international trouble.
It's bad enough that she's already questioned whether or not Putin has a soul....but to call him out on rigging elections and say we'll have to re-think our policies towards Russia?
"CLINTON: Well, I can tell you that he's a hand-picked successor, that he is someone who is obviously being installed by Putin, who Putin can control, who has very little independence, the best we know. You know, there's a lot of information still to be acquired. That the so-called opposition was basically run out of the political opportunity to wage a campaign against Putin's hand-picked successor, and the so-called leading opposition figure spends most of his time praising Putin. So this is a clever but transparent way for Putin to hold on to power, and it raises serious issues about how we're going to deal with Russia going forward.
I have been very critical of the Bush administration for what I believe to have been an incoherent policy toward Russia. And with the reassertion of Russia's role in Europe, with some of the mischief that they seem to be causing in supporting Iran's nuclear ambitions, for example, it's imperative that we begin to have a more realistic and effective strategy toward Russia. But I have no doubt, as president, even though technically the meetings may be with the man who is labeled as president, the decisions will be made by Putin.
She just looked so darned pleased with herself. I was wide-eyed in horror at her lack of diplomacy.
Though Obama didn't seem entirely sure there WERE elections going on in Russia, he at least decided discretion was the better part of valor--He recognized both Putin's continued power AND Bush's role in the current US/Russia tensions. He came across as calm and reasonable, willing to see both sides of the issue. He took the opportunity reassert that he values our allies in NATO, something that can't be said enough after the last 8 years of "US as Vigilante."
I think he proved his point that judgment outdoes experience. I am now terrified at the thought of Clinton talking with world leaders.
So, not a shining Barack performance, but I don't think he was going for that. I think he was avoiding saying anything Hillary could use as ammunition, being cautious and keeping things low key. This wasn't a case where he NEEDED to take risks--Hillary needed to do that and pull them off. She didn't.
Moreover, He managed to score a couple points and came out at least even with her...a bit ahead in comparison--by not being grating or menacing other countries.
***
Regarding the plague. Rob is pretty much recovered. I'm a couple days behind him and have spent most of the day sitting on the couch, coughing and drinking hot beverages.