Political Coverage, a Step Forward

I agree with Mike: best to think of tonight’s debate “event” as concurrent press conferences that just happen to have been negotiated to take place on the same stage.

I agree with Mike: best to think of tonight’s debate “event” as concurrent press conferences that just happen to have been negotiated to take place on the same stage.

You’re right. What I wonder is why the news media don’t scream bloody murder about the CPD rules [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4052162]. It seems the public’s “right to know” about the intimate details of the Peterson trial is a higher priority than learning what our presidential candidates think.

The Associated Press has psychic powers, they have already covered the debate-

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040930_1184.html

Ah shucks, it ain’t no debate …

It’s shoot ’em out at the OK Cortextual speedway …

My Brain By-passers will whizz right by your Mighty MIT Mind power …

Watch this one: Terro-Iraqi Scare Sauce.

Took less than 3.0 seconds to mix up that there Iraq word in with the Terrorism scare one and has a nice flavor to it, don’t you think?

Now before you answer that last one (yer 30 secs are up), it wasn’t a question, that was an order soldier. Don’t ya think. period.

Yee hah … Mission accomplished.

What’s that Senator? Yer still drooling out yer 10 minute long flip flopping articulations? Yawn, my thinkin’ brain is going fast asleep. Now there you go again, trying to make the American people understand complex stuff, when its plain folk simple: my psych ops people make poo poo out of yours. Give it up for the professor folks. Yee hah.

Here is what is going to happen at the debate :

– Your flipflopper will flip and flop and break into sweat while the president grills him
– Around halfway through the debate one of the president’s men will come and whisper something in the president’s ear
– The president will then announce that he just heard that Osama Bin Laden has been killed
– The whole auditoriom will erupt in cheers and rush to the podium to shake hands with the president
– Your flip-flopper will slink out through the back door and catch a flight to france which will grant him exile
– America will never again have a Liberal/Democrat president
– World will respect and fear America

Want to know just how phony these debates are? Consider that the terms of the “debate” enjoin the candidates from having a debate anywhere else during the campaign. Really. Have a look:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4052162

Here what’s gonna happen after the Texas Crawfish wins again:

1. The USA will be labled a rogue nation for being the last hold-out on the Kyoto Global Warming pact (apparently Russia agreed to sign today)

2. Gorge-Nero Bush will fiddle on the deck of an aircraft carrier, singing “Mission Accomplished, Part Deux” while the planet burns

3. Other nations will bypass the USA in technology and economic power as we out-source everything but the kitchen sink to them

4. Your children will be “free” : They will work for less than 1 penny an hour in a garment sweatshop here in the USA, but owned by a foreigner who is collecting on the debt that America owes him to pay back for money borrowed to fund our war for “Freedom”. An FBI agent will shoot your son (compassionately) after hearing he might have been engaged in “liberal-demo” talk about forming a union and securing something called, “inalienable rights.” After all, if the Higher Father had wanted low lifes to have rights, He would have put those in the Bible. All books by George Orwell will be “Forgottenized” (a new word invented by the Son of the Higher Father). The End.

No….Here what’s gonna happen after the Texas Bulldog wins again:

– The Bible will not be banned
– We won’t have traitors running down our soldiers
– Marriage will be restricted to men and women as god intended it to be
– Terrorists will lose
– People will keep more of their money they earn
– The abomination that is Roe v/s Wade will be overturned
– All you liberals will have to live in spider holes like Saddam did

Reading the coverage tonight and tomorrow? Forget that, I’m reading it *now*. (http://atrios.blogspot.com/2004/09/oops-i-missed-it.html) ABC evidently not understanding that The Daily Show is a satire, not a guidebook.

Just remember, for Bush an “impressive” interview is one where “The president did not receive the questions in advance, nor were there any restrictions on what I could ask. Again, that’s impressive. Even if you don’t support Mr. Bush, you have to admire his willingness to discuss the issues in a venue like this.” ala Bill O’Reilly.

Have to have a pretty big trencher to dig the hole to set the bar so low.

< p>If you are a Bush supported, do you actually know what his positions are on major topics? Polls suggest you might not (http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Pres_Election_04/html/new_9_29_04.html)

And tonight, do keep an eye out for Bush’s tells- the wink, the pursed lips to the side… (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/30/92827/4437 and http://www.southknoxbubba.net/skblog/archive_2003_02.php#982)

Bush should be fired for the prison scandals alone. Wether it was ordered or not, you dont let an organization you are in charge of make that big of a mistake without being held responcible. We lost what litle credibility we had there. These people were RAPED with clubs and humilated. If your the manager of a department and you employees mess up, you are held respincible. not to mention its basically been proven that the pre war inteligence was tailored by the administration to drag the world into this conflict. There are no weapons, no deployment systems, no nothing… osama is still at large, so how has any of this made anything safer? It’s all about oil, and money for Halliburton. This is all documented! Rice had an oil tanker tha was named after her – until she had it changed (She’s from a big oil family.)

I’m so sad that anyone could see any reason to vote for Bush. he has lied to us all and should be put in jail. The man was a coke user and an alcoholic until he was in his 40’s! Do some research people.

The bible will never be banned. nor should it be. I think personally think its a cute book of fairy tales with a spiritual bent, but I respect that to others it is a guiding principle in their lives. What if I’m a muslim? Am I wrong? Should the Koran be banned?

Traitors running down our soldiers – yeah, Im sure anyone would support that. Kerry is all about our soldiers being killed by traitors – thats right…

SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. The radical muslims want their state to be of their god too.

Terrorists arent going away and Bush isnt going to magically make them all go away – wake up and get out of dream world.

There is no proof of sound fiscal policy on this administrations part. Our currency is at its lowest rate is decades, our deficit is exhorbant and it was pretty much elimated a few years ago by one of those ‘evil’ liberals – who Bush loves to blame for his economic woes.

A women has a right to choose. You do what you want with your body. Get out of other peoples lives. SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.

Liberals arent going anywhere. And we won’t hide. Sorry, I live in America where I’m free to live my life as I see fit not goverened by the beliefs of others or religious dogma.

The Bush Doctrine of using our millitary might to maintain our dominant position (This is the academic definition – look it up.) is outdated and more suited to Soviet Russia or Rome. America is not going to be the dominant leading nation for long. Again, this academic. Its a question of when, and wether we step down gracefully. China will have a bigger GDP than us by 2010. And, if the EU continues as it is we may see the displacement of the dollar as the world reserve currency. Talk about problems. I dont see any of this addressed by Bush.

I coudl go on for hours. The environment, personal privacy, the economy, the war, the steps backwards in civil liberties for domestic religios fundamentalist who I see as dangerous as any religious fundamentalist, the growing anti-americanism. If nothing else, I would like another president just so the rest of the world might begin conversations with us again about the course of this war.

Yes Justin –you may go on for hours.

Alas — our Klever Kerry signed up for prior restraint of his free speech. He gets no more than 2 minutes (120 seconds) to respond to “any” question, no matter how complex the question is.

It’s not about intellect –it;s about testosterone.

Is Kerry man enough to rip the contract up on stage and say it violates the US Constitution? Doubt it.

Dean would have done it … and with an eee-hah screech attached to work up any patriot’s adrenaline.

Bush needs no more than 30 seconds for each of his pre-packaged Brain Busters:

1. Flip-flopper, flip-flopper, nanna na nanna !!!
2. Liberal, Liberal, lose your lips
3. THEY WHO are the ENEMIES of FREEDOM and HATE OUR way of life are waiting at the edge of the VILLAGE ready to snatch our soccer children. (Yes Hillary, it does take a moron on strings to run a village full of idiots.)

“Proud Conservative”=TROLL

And why, oh trusty troll, would John Kerry, a Catholic, ban the bible?

Why not save the website the trouble of banning your silly troll cave’s IP and go back into your dark underground bunker…

I’ve come to a sad conclusion – John Kerry does not want to become President.

Why would a champion debater, head of his debate team at Yale, possibily, POSSIBLY agree to this sham of a debate?? All year I’ve been eagerly waiting for this debate as the moment when John Kerry would FINALLY be able to beat George Bush. Bush does not have the intelligence to debate. That John Kerry ever agree to this rediculous and phony sham is beyond comprehension.

Well, it may not be a full out debate, but there definitely seems to be quite a bit of back and forth to me…

I take it back. Kerry kicked ass tonight. 🙂

I’m surprised and disappointed by the statement by Dan and others that “it’s not a debate.”

The debates have all of the elements of traditional policy debates except for cross examination. Each candidate has the chance to directly rebut his opponent’s answer to the question, and many times an extra minute is given for further rebuttals. (Usually Bush chose to spend the first 5 seconds giving an actual rebuttal and the rest of the time repeating himself, giving Kerry another 30 seconds to more forcefully make his case.)

I have noticed that die-hard Democrats tend to complain about the format of the debate because they think it favors Bush; however Kerry took many opportunities to refute and question Bush, and it was quite obvious when Bush was avoiding Kerry’s questions.

Michael, I don’t think the dems are complaining about the debate format any more. The result kind of answers the question, why the Kerry campaign would agree to a “debate” with such onerous restrictions. The answer being that any forum under any rules, that put
s the two candidates side by side in real time, with no earbug for Bush, is a huge advantage for Kerry. And ya know what? Being able to think on your feet and articulate is a rather relevant presidential capability.

Here’s predicting Terror Alerts cancel the next two presidential debates. Watch for a trial balloon.