Debate Live-blogging
Aha! I'm in the right country AND near a computer!
6:09: Okay, I didn't follow that at all. Did McCain just say that small businesses pay 50% of all small business taxes? 50% of all taxes? Didn't make a lot of sense, or I'm easily distracted by nachos. Either could be true.
6:10: I'm very sad to discover that Obama is acknowledging that "Joe the Plumber" is in fact a real human being and not some sort of collective expression of the Republican unconscious.
6:11: Oh god, does McCain really want to talk about "class warfare" on the verge of Great Depression, Part the 2nd?
6:12: "Nobody likes Texas." Finally, we can all agree on something. Oh, wait, Taxes? Never mind.
6:13: Somebody really needs to tell McCain that Ireland is not the world's business capital, and every single person watching is aware of that fact.
6:14: Okay, we're officially 0 for 4 for debate moderators who understand the importance of deficit spending in a recession. I officially want to weep for my people.
6:16: ...and Obama finally introduces the concept of "investment" as a way to spend less money in the future.
6:17: Shorter McCain: "I don't like this question. Let's talk about the last one some more." Wait a second: did McCain really just talk about the importance of investing billions in long-term alternate energy resources? Then he went on to say, "Fuck you, Iowa. I'll get my ethanol FROM SUGAR CANE FROM BRAZIL!"
6:20: McCain: "I'm gonna explain how to balance the budget in four years... Senator Obama voted for a tax increase." Apparently "tax increases" increase the deficit? I don't follow.
6:23: ...and Barack Obama may have gotten the first chuckle from the crowd I've ever heard at a Presidential debate.
6:24: After being accused of supporting Bush's economic policies, McCain launches into a laundry list of topics on which he's opposed his party... none of which have anything to do with the economy, and half of which he didn't actually oppose his party on. Le sigh.
6:26: ...Does McCain seriously not understand the insult he received from John Lewis? He honestly doesn't seem to be lying here... he actually seems to think he was accused of being a segregationist?!?
6:31: Does anyone else think it's sort of weird that John McCain keeps listing specific complaints about negative things other people supposedly did, like Lewis accusing him of being a segregationist, but Obama is actively avoiding doing the same--because the last thing he wants to do is repeat the accusation that he "pals around with terrorists."
6:33: Er, never mind.
6:33: I hate to be a douchebag, but God McCain is such a douchebag! Obama complains about people saying "off with his head" at Palin's rallies, and John starts going off about how this is an insult to WW2 veterans and women everywhere and WTF?
6:35: Okay, McCain finally grew a pair. Obama laughs.
6:36: Holdonholdonholdon, ACORN is "a front organization" that is "on the verge of destroying Democracy"? WTF?
6:37: You can totally see the look on McCain's face right now... "Oh shit! The facts? How did he know my secret weakness!"
6:39: McCain seriously needs to pull out his flowchart of news clippings explaining how Ayers & Obama conspired With ACORN to steal this election back in the mid-90s, because I'm seriously not connecting his dots here.
6:40: This may be the least tire swing question I've heard in this entire sequence of debates.
6:43: GODDAMMIT AUTISM IS NOT ON THE RISE! If McCain didn't already not have my vote, he so would have just lost it.
I would also like to point out that having had a Down's Syndrome baby for all of 4-5 months--especially when your family makes a quarter mil a year--does not grant someone special insight to special needs families.
6:45: Although I technically agree that Joe Biden's "partitioning plan" was "cockamamie," I would like to A: applaud McCain's use of the word "cockamamie," and B: respectfully point out that ethnic cleansing has basically carried out the plan for him.
6:48: We now have three people in the audience, so you get crazy dialogue like:
TOMMMY: "Man, they've been really going at it."
MAL: "Yeah, McCain's totally ready to punch a bitch."
TOMMY: "Somebody get this man a bitch!"
6:51: Seriously, Obama, we don't need to bitch about South Korean trade agreements. We do not care about nuts and bolts of policy that much.
6:51: WE CANNOT DRILL OFF SHORE RIGHT NOW! IT WILL TAKE TEN YEARS TO BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURE! YOU'RE LYING! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUU
6:52: When Obama decided to spend Spring Break studying instead of hitting Tijuana, who would've thought it would come back to bite him at the third presidential debate?
6:55: MAL: "But don't you just want to sex him when you see that smirk? That grin is going to put him in the White House by Barry Whiting half of America!"
6:58: Sake just obscured Obama's health care plan. One must have one's priorities.
7:00: Obama pleasepleaseplease point out that McCain has never had private health care in his entire life!
7:02: Obama needs to just ask for a do-over on explaining McCain's health care plan. "Can we just show the Biden clip? HE was so good at it!"
7:03: It's official. If I ever meet Joe the Plumber, I'm totally gonna KICK HIS ASS.
7:06: Obama: "Even the Chamber of Commerce is on my side! BWA HA HA HA HA!"
7:06: I would like to applaud Schieffer for being less tire swingy than initially suspected.
7:09: Why do we always ask this question? Everyone always says, "Of course I'll never apply a litmus test" and then hints to the base as strongly as possible that OF COURSE they'll apply a litmus test, which they will then go on and do. Maybe we can just repeat this once a decade or something instead of every four years?
7:10: LILY LEDBETTER! SWEET!
7:12: Is a debate really the place for red meat, McCain? And really: does anyone actually care about partial birth abortion outside of the far right of the GOP?
7:14: Obama: "...communicating that sexuality is sacred"??? WTF? Oh, God...
7:15: McCain: "Women's health" is the extremist pro-choice position? O RLY?
7:18: MAL: "Hey, we get paid to be in the sciences, bitch! Admittedly, poorly... Ahem"
7:18: McCain, education is the civil rights issue of the 21st century? Do you really want us to start thinking about your party's history on civil rights?
7:20: There's a program that encourages soldiers to go directly into teaching without any education or certification whatsoever? The room, in unison: "OH MY GOD THAT'S A HORRIBLE IDEA!"
7:22: Obama: "I don't think America's youth are an interest group. I think they're our future." Good line.
7:24: McCain doesn't know the difference between autism and Down's Syndrome? AWESOME!
6:09: Okay, I didn't follow that at all. Did McCain just say that small businesses pay 50% of all small business taxes? 50% of all taxes? Didn't make a lot of sense, or I'm easily distracted by nachos. Either could be true.
6:10: I'm very sad to discover that Obama is acknowledging that "Joe the Plumber" is in fact a real human being and not some sort of collective expression of the Republican unconscious.
6:11: Oh god, does McCain really want to talk about "class warfare" on the verge of Great Depression, Part the 2nd?
6:12: "Nobody likes Texas." Finally, we can all agree on something. Oh, wait, Taxes? Never mind.
6:13: Somebody really needs to tell McCain that Ireland is not the world's business capital, and every single person watching is aware of that fact.
6:14: Okay, we're officially 0 for 4 for debate moderators who understand the importance of deficit spending in a recession. I officially want to weep for my people.
6:16: ...and Obama finally introduces the concept of "investment" as a way to spend less money in the future.
6:17: Shorter McCain: "I don't like this question. Let's talk about the last one some more." Wait a second: did McCain really just talk about the importance of investing billions in long-term alternate energy resources? Then he went on to say, "Fuck you, Iowa. I'll get my ethanol FROM SUGAR CANE FROM BRAZIL!"
6:20: McCain: "I'm gonna explain how to balance the budget in four years... Senator Obama voted for a tax increase." Apparently "tax increases" increase the deficit? I don't follow.
6:23: ...and Barack Obama may have gotten the first chuckle from the crowd I've ever heard at a Presidential debate.
6:24: After being accused of supporting Bush's economic policies, McCain launches into a laundry list of topics on which he's opposed his party... none of which have anything to do with the economy, and half of which he didn't actually oppose his party on. Le sigh.
6:26: ...Does McCain seriously not understand the insult he received from John Lewis? He honestly doesn't seem to be lying here... he actually seems to think he was accused of being a segregationist?!?
6:31: Does anyone else think it's sort of weird that John McCain keeps listing specific complaints about negative things other people supposedly did, like Lewis accusing him of being a segregationist, but Obama is actively avoiding doing the same--because the last thing he wants to do is repeat the accusation that he "pals around with terrorists."
6:33: Er, never mind.
6:33: I hate to be a douchebag, but God McCain is such a douchebag! Obama complains about people saying "off with his head" at Palin's rallies, and John starts going off about how this is an insult to WW2 veterans and women everywhere and WTF?
6:35: Okay, McCain finally grew a pair. Obama laughs.
6:36: Holdonholdonholdon, ACORN is "a front organization" that is "on the verge of destroying Democracy"? WTF?
6:37: You can totally see the look on McCain's face right now... "Oh shit! The facts? How did he know my secret weakness!"
6:39: McCain seriously needs to pull out his flowchart of news clippings explaining how Ayers & Obama conspired With ACORN to steal this election back in the mid-90s, because I'm seriously not connecting his dots here.
6:40: This may be the least tire swing question I've heard in this entire sequence of debates.
6:43: GODDAMMIT AUTISM IS NOT ON THE RISE! If McCain didn't already not have my vote, he so would have just lost it.
I would also like to point out that having had a Down's Syndrome baby for all of 4-5 months--especially when your family makes a quarter mil a year--does not grant someone special insight to special needs families.
6:45: Although I technically agree that Joe Biden's "partitioning plan" was "cockamamie," I would like to A: applaud McCain's use of the word "cockamamie," and B: respectfully point out that ethnic cleansing has basically carried out the plan for him.
6:48: We now have three people in the audience, so you get crazy dialogue like:
TOMMMY: "Man, they've been really going at it."
MAL: "Yeah, McCain's totally ready to punch a bitch."
TOMMY: "Somebody get this man a bitch!"
6:51: Seriously, Obama, we don't need to bitch about South Korean trade agreements. We do not care about nuts and bolts of policy that much.
6:51: WE CANNOT DRILL OFF SHORE RIGHT NOW! IT WILL TAKE TEN YEARS TO BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURE! YOU'RE LYING! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUU
6:52: When Obama decided to spend Spring Break studying instead of hitting Tijuana, who would've thought it would come back to bite him at the third presidential debate?
6:55: MAL: "But don't you just want to sex him when you see that smirk? That grin is going to put him in the White House by Barry Whiting half of America!"
6:58: Sake just obscured Obama's health care plan. One must have one's priorities.
7:00: Obama pleasepleaseplease point out that McCain has never had private health care in his entire life!
7:02: Obama needs to just ask for a do-over on explaining McCain's health care plan. "Can we just show the Biden clip? HE was so good at it!"
7:03: It's official. If I ever meet Joe the Plumber, I'm totally gonna KICK HIS ASS.
7:06: Obama: "Even the Chamber of Commerce is on my side! BWA HA HA HA HA!"
7:06: I would like to applaud Schieffer for being less tire swingy than initially suspected.
7:09: Why do we always ask this question? Everyone always says, "Of course I'll never apply a litmus test" and then hints to the base as strongly as possible that OF COURSE they'll apply a litmus test, which they will then go on and do. Maybe we can just repeat this once a decade or something instead of every four years?
7:10: LILY LEDBETTER! SWEET!
7:12: Is a debate really the place for red meat, McCain? And really: does anyone actually care about partial birth abortion outside of the far right of the GOP?
7:14: Obama: "...communicating that sexuality is sacred"??? WTF? Oh, God...
7:15: McCain: "Women's health" is the extremist pro-choice position? O RLY?
7:18: MAL: "Hey, we get paid to be in the sciences, bitch! Admittedly, poorly... Ahem"
7:18: McCain, education is the civil rights issue of the 21st century? Do you really want us to start thinking about your party's history on civil rights?
7:20: There's a program that encourages soldiers to go directly into teaching without any education or certification whatsoever? The room, in unison: "OH MY GOD THAT'S A HORRIBLE IDEA!"
7:22: Obama: "I don't think America's youth are an interest group. I think they're our future." Good line.
7:24: McCain doesn't know the difference between autism and Down's Syndrome? AWESOME!