presidential debate two, live!

Obama’s shot over the stern: fire those execs!

John’s plan: I would completely cripple the government’s ability to do anything by not collecting any taxes!

No, actually, I don’t think there are a lot of Americans qualified to be the Secretary of the Treasury. Really, I don’t. And that’s okay, let’s just be honest about specialized skill sets and all.

John: please tell me you aren’t reminding us that you suspended your campaign like that was a good thing.

There can be only one (letter).

This is really not all that interesting without crowd reactions.

Does John really believe this ‘I’ve been a reformer’ nonsense or is he just a totally craven power-hungry loon? Also, how does ‘taking on the leaders of your party’ become a metric for being a good lawmaker? If the leaders of your party are not insane and promote a set of ideas and proposals that are good for the general public, why do you need to take them on? Yeesh.

My friends! I was wrong, I thought they’d focus-grouped that phrase out of his lexicon.

Since when have the Republicans’ good friends the Saudis been ‘terrorist organizations’? Bizarre.

And I get to use my graph again:

Ye olde Visual Aid.

Dude, WTF? ‘Eliminate agencies,’ that’s your sacrificing? We’ll just have to git along without that thar Department of Education, that’s what! Or maybe Health and Human Services? How about the FDA? I notice that The War Of A Hundred Years is not on that elimination list.

That’s right, Person With Health Insurance, I’m not going to tell you that you have to wait: you’re going to have to start paying taxes on that benefit now!

Mr. Obama: I refer you to my Visual Aid. But, you know, thanks for pointing out that it’s conceivable we could conserve energy in our own homes. Also, I do like your service corps idea, probably because it was my idea years ago (not that you took it, I’m just saying that a civil service of infrastructure laborers has long been a pet fantasy of mine, except that mine includes mandatory not voluntary service).

Herbert Hoover? That’s all you got? Oh no, you also have small business scare tactics. (My friends! Point 2!) Oh and: I am not in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy, I am in favor of permanently extending the tax cuts for the wealthy that I have already voted for in the past. Wha?

I am enjoying this little ‘words mean things’ and ‘parts go into a whole’ breakdown by Obama on the tax plan debate.

Wow, am I the only one who finds his ‘look, my friends’ and ‘it’s not hard to fix social security’ schtick annoying and condescending? Also, whoa with the ‘great Ronald Reagan!’ nonsense. (My friends!)

You must be desperate indeed to be name dropping the Lieb into this mess. Let’s go nuclear! Also, you know, safety — something like that *hand wave* Um, that was kind of crazy looking, John, rein it in!

Dude, nothing is sponsored by ‘Bush and Cheney,’ they’re the Executive Branch. Also, please to be referring back to the Visual Aid above with regard to offshore drilling!

I love the ‘generally pretty supportive of Republicans’ about the US Chamber of Commerce: that may be the understatement of this Q&A session.

Note: efficient. Not effective. Not comprehensive. Not fair. That is the telling point. Also, there are lots of things we don’t go across state lines for in many places. Raw milk. Wine. Et cetera. And, I think we all know by now that the 5k is not for you, it’s for the health insurance companies.

No cheap shots at the Joe, John! It’s hardly in your best interest to start either a physical ability or a vanity mud-slinging fest.

Another relatively obscure legal question sees the light in these debates, that of the lax incorporation laws that lead to all the banks being headquartered in Delaware. Also, way to drop the deregulation hammer on the old dude, Barack!

‘The greatest force for good in the world’? Arrogant much? (My friend.)

The whole bit about the US spending billions per month in Iraq while ‘the Iraqis’ have 79 billion in reserve must be playing well with the audience insta-dials, because he keeps using it.

Steady hand is what you’re looking for, and it’s hard to argue a policy that’s based on assessing the ability to ‘beneficially affect the situation’ right after you’ve talked about not giving up on a war without end unless you can WIN.

First Reagan is your hero, then Teddy Roosevelt? Who’s next, Rambo?

Ok, there is just too much one thing right after another here with the foreign policy stuff, I am falling off my chair with the laughing which makes typing hard. ‘The same strategy except different but basically the same which was successful which was getting the people on our side.’ Um, the Iraqi people are on the side of the occupation now? When were we greeted as liberators that I somehow missed?

‘I know how to get him!’ Well, for the love of the baby Jesus, John, tell someone else so that he can be gotten!

‘Hey, veteran friend, I got a good one for ya: let’s start another war! Ha ha ha ha ha!’ I swear, this man sounds certifiable when he talks about this stuff. When did that happen? I don’t remember him sounding this weird in the past.

I admit that I was live-chatting with an old college buddy just now, but it seemed like McCain did not make a single lick of sense in that whole rambling bit there about Russia and no new cold wars and moral support and victory and honor. What did I miss? (That Putin name drop was for you, btw, Ms. Wolf-Shooter!)

Obviously, after Iraq, the US will wait for no nation when it comes to military aggression.’ Oh good lord are we back on the negotiating-without-precondition crap again? No one likes that approach, John, pay attention when your staff brief you on the insta-dial readings. Oh, ugh, again with the second Holocaust schtick. A war does not become a Holocaust just because the people in the country at war are Jews (or any other ethnicity). Unless we are arguing that invasions and wars equal genocides, in which case we’re perpetrating an enormous one in Iraq. Crazy illogic logic, you make my brain hurt. Feh.

Nice shout out to the wife there.

Nice dodge and redirect of the question by both candidates, and nice attempt to horn in on the single-mom sympathy train there, John. (But good job getting the ‘steady hand on the tiller’ corrected there.)

And there you have it, folks, live on Tuesday night. Good night, and good luck.

presidential debate two, live!

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