DEBATE + WINE=FUN FUN FUN!
This will be the first of three--count 'em, THREE posts--coming this weekend. Tonight, I'll share a few thoughts about the ongoing debate in between sips of tasty wine. Enjoy!
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7:05-7:31 p.m. - It's obvious that the debate organizers shoehorned the global financial crisis and the Wall Street bailout into the planned debate on foreign affairs and that neither candidate had enough time to really compose their thoughts and offer anything remotely substantive about the crisis. Neither McCain nor Obama are at their best here, although I do think I know the moment that John McCain might have lost Iowa. At 7:29 he said, "I would do away with ethanol subsidies." Great--there goes the only economic incentive for living in Iowa.
SIDEBAR: Tonight's wine is a lovely Ironstone California Rose circa 2007. A nice blend of a Syrah, a Cabernet Sauvignon and hint of Reisling. Tasty!
7:44 Senator McCain keeps hammering away with subtle jabs at Senator Obama's lack of experience by suggesting that Obama "doesn't know the difference between a tactic and a strategy" and that Obama also didn't spend any real time in his foreign affairs subcommittee taking up the issues of Iraq and Afghanistan. So far, Obama has deflected most of the jabs well, but he looks weary and a bit exasperated. McCain is the one that supposedly has the temper but I wonder if Obama isn't about to slap ol' Grandpa in the mouth. (Now THAT would be an entertaining debate.)
8:03 Moderator Jim Lehrer marvels that each candidate is even on their allotted time. Maybe Lehrer should run the Wall St. bailout!!
8:10 McCain can't pronounce Ahmendijad and I can't spell it without Googling it. Iran is the topic--both agree that Iran is becoming a nuclear threat but they disagree on how to sanction and control Iran. Senator Obama says that if we don't alter our strategy, Iran with nukes could lead to a "Middle East arms race." Hmmmm...something I've never understood is why it's okay for Israel, Pakistan and India to have tactical nuclear weapons, but not everyone else in the region. Don't we already have a Middle East arms race?
8:14 For the 94th time tonight, McCain calls Obama either "naive" or "confused" or suggests "he doesn't understand". I wonder what the talking point is there?
8:15 Things are finally getting heated. McCain says Obama is parsing words when he talking about preconditions in discussions with American antagonists like Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. He mentions several times that he's been a friend of Henry Kissenger for 35 years and "I know what his positions are and he'd be very interested to hear Senator Obama's understanding of his statements." Translation - I'm old and if I'm president, me and my old Cold War buddies are going show you whippersnappers how it's really done! To be honest though, this part of the debate is the weakest Obama has looked all night--McCain scored some points.
8:21 Time for another sip of wine. For some reason, it's getting harder to follow the debate. They're talking a lot about Russia and the Georgian invasion. McCain has a funny line about how he looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin and he saw "a K, a G and a B". I wonder how that will play in Moscow? If McCain is president, I don't think there will be a whole lot of glasnost.
8:26 Another question goes first to McCain. (About the likelihood of another terrorist attack like 9/11). This should be a strategic debate advantage to Obama, but he doesn't seem to be taking full advantage of it. By the way, is reaching out to Joe Lieberman really "reaching across the aisle"? He's more of a Republican than John McCain is.
8:29 Obama says al-Qaeda is now operating in sixty countries. I wonder what it's like to start up an al-Qaeda cell? Is it like opening a McDonald's franchise? "Yes Ahmed, may I take your order?" "Hmmm, yes, praise Allah, I would like a suitcase nuke, an IED and some sarin gas to go." "Very well, would you like two tickets to a flight school with that?" "Oh no thanks, that will be all." "Very well, please drive up to the next window and pay in cash." There's something wrong with me.
8:32 Obama is starting to regain his footing a bit. He's making a strong point about the difficulty of pouring so many troops and so much money into Iraq thus weakening our stature and ability to defend around the world. I wonder if McCain will Obama "doesn't understand" again.
8:34 Yes, McCain says it again. Sigh...
8:36 Will this debate ever freakin' end? It's time for a Klondike bar.
8:38 Oh shit, it's over! Did they hear me?
MY TAKE: So who won? People didn't expect quite as much from Obama in this debate as they did from the "foreign policy expert" McCain. As a result, what I would consider merely a passing performance from Obama on the foreign policy questions is being treated by the hoi polloi as a small victory. What's interesting is that in the CBS coverage I watched (I'll pick a different one of the Big Three networks to watch for each presidential debate), the 100 uncommitted voters sequestered in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (sans wine apparently) were much more impressed with Obama's debate performance, especially on the question of Iraq. If this is a common feeling among viewers across the country, then it really is a win for Obama who will amp up the momentum his campaign has picked up in the last week or so.
All in all, not as dry a debate as I expected, but nothing super juicy either. On to Round 2 -- if we ever sort out what to do about the financial crisis.
Peace.
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7:05-7:31 p.m. - It's obvious that the debate organizers shoehorned the global financial crisis and the Wall Street bailout into the planned debate on foreign affairs and that neither candidate had enough time to really compose their thoughts and offer anything remotely substantive about the crisis. Neither McCain nor Obama are at their best here, although I do think I know the moment that John McCain might have lost Iowa. At 7:29 he said, "I would do away with ethanol subsidies." Great--there goes the only economic incentive for living in Iowa.
SIDEBAR: Tonight's wine is a lovely Ironstone California Rose circa 2007. A nice blend of a Syrah, a Cabernet Sauvignon and hint of Reisling. Tasty!
7:44 Senator McCain keeps hammering away with subtle jabs at Senator Obama's lack of experience by suggesting that Obama "doesn't know the difference between a tactic and a strategy" and that Obama also didn't spend any real time in his foreign affairs subcommittee taking up the issues of Iraq and Afghanistan. So far, Obama has deflected most of the jabs well, but he looks weary and a bit exasperated. McCain is the one that supposedly has the temper but I wonder if Obama isn't about to slap ol' Grandpa in the mouth. (Now THAT would be an entertaining debate.)
8:03 Moderator Jim Lehrer marvels that each candidate is even on their allotted time. Maybe Lehrer should run the Wall St. bailout!!
8:10 McCain can't pronounce Ahmendijad and I can't spell it without Googling it. Iran is the topic--both agree that Iran is becoming a nuclear threat but they disagree on how to sanction and control Iran. Senator Obama says that if we don't alter our strategy, Iran with nukes could lead to a "Middle East arms race." Hmmmm...something I've never understood is why it's okay for Israel, Pakistan and India to have tactical nuclear weapons, but not everyone else in the region. Don't we already have a Middle East arms race?
8:14 For the 94th time tonight, McCain calls Obama either "naive" or "confused" or suggests "he doesn't understand". I wonder what the talking point is there?
8:15 Things are finally getting heated. McCain says Obama is parsing words when he talking about preconditions in discussions with American antagonists like Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. He mentions several times that he's been a friend of Henry Kissenger for 35 years and "I know what his positions are and he'd be very interested to hear Senator Obama's understanding of his statements." Translation - I'm old and if I'm president, me and my old Cold War buddies are going show you whippersnappers how it's really done! To be honest though, this part of the debate is the weakest Obama has looked all night--McCain scored some points.
8:21 Time for another sip of wine. For some reason, it's getting harder to follow the debate. They're talking a lot about Russia and the Georgian invasion. McCain has a funny line about how he looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin and he saw "a K, a G and a B". I wonder how that will play in Moscow? If McCain is president, I don't think there will be a whole lot of glasnost.
8:26 Another question goes first to McCain. (About the likelihood of another terrorist attack like 9/11). This should be a strategic debate advantage to Obama, but he doesn't seem to be taking full advantage of it. By the way, is reaching out to Joe Lieberman really "reaching across the aisle"? He's more of a Republican than John McCain is.
8:29 Obama says al-Qaeda is now operating in sixty countries. I wonder what it's like to start up an al-Qaeda cell? Is it like opening a McDonald's franchise? "Yes Ahmed, may I take your order?" "Hmmm, yes, praise Allah, I would like a suitcase nuke, an IED and some sarin gas to go." "Very well, would you like two tickets to a flight school with that?" "Oh no thanks, that will be all." "Very well, please drive up to the next window and pay in cash." There's something wrong with me.
8:32 Obama is starting to regain his footing a bit. He's making a strong point about the difficulty of pouring so many troops and so much money into Iraq thus weakening our stature and ability to defend around the world. I wonder if McCain will Obama "doesn't understand" again.
8:34 Yes, McCain says it again. Sigh...
8:36 Will this debate ever freakin' end? It's time for a Klondike bar.
8:38 Oh shit, it's over! Did they hear me?
MY TAKE: So who won? People didn't expect quite as much from Obama in this debate as they did from the "foreign policy expert" McCain. As a result, what I would consider merely a passing performance from Obama on the foreign policy questions is being treated by the hoi polloi as a small victory. What's interesting is that in the CBS coverage I watched (I'll pick a different one of the Big Three networks to watch for each presidential debate), the 100 uncommitted voters sequestered in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (sans wine apparently) were much more impressed with Obama's debate performance, especially on the question of Iraq. If this is a common feeling among viewers across the country, then it really is a win for Obama who will amp up the momentum his campaign has picked up in the last week or so.
All in all, not as dry a debate as I expected, but nothing super juicy either. On to Round 2 -- if we ever sort out what to do about the financial crisis.
Peace.
Labels: debate
posted by Reggie E. Scott at 6:57 PM
2 Comments:
Love him? Hate him? How do YOU feel about our soon to be former President? Take part in a chance to immortalize your views in book form by visiting http://goodbyegeorgew.com/ and letting your opinion be read!
Check out the following article about http://goodbyegeorgew.com/:
NEW WEBSITE SEEKS CLOSURE TO 8-YEAR NIGHTMARE OF GEORGE W. BUSH
After eight long years of George Bush lying to the American People the Republican Party has been evicted from the White House. Don’t let Bush off the hook so easily. Visit http://www.goodbyegeorgew.com to send your message to George W. Bush by writing an honest letter to let him know what you really think of the job that he has done mis-leading the country.
This web site was created with the singular intention of launching a movement to take back America by promoting an honest expression of opinion on the nightmarish 8 years gone by with Bush and Cheney at the helm.
Although Bush is leaving the quagmire of devastation that he wrought remains. The economic depression is only in its opening days with 1 out of 10 Americans depending on food stamps to eat.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will continue to take the lives of U.S. soldiers for the foreseeable future. The number of people with a deep hatred for the United States with nothing to lose is the direct result of the Bush wars. A vast army of terrorists for coming generations appears to be the main output of the U.S. escapades in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Yes, it is time at least try to pick up the pieces. This will not be easy for the new Administration or for the American People. But it is time we had some closure.
The new website http://www.goodbyegeorgew.com was created to make that closure happen and in a small way to help restore a practice of democracy in which the American people have a voice. The main purpose of this website is for Americans and citizens throughout the world let their opinions be known to the departing President Bush.
The thousands of letters being written will be published as a book that sets the record straight on public opinion about the Bush Presidency that failed America and wreaked havoc around the globe.
With only weeks remaining before George W. hightails it out of D.C. and retreats to a life of hunting and fishing, untroubled by the mess he leaves behind, it is time to let him know what we honestly think.
Perhaps he can at least grow a conscience though alas there is little hope of justice. Justice could come by Barack Obama signing off on the International Court of Human Rights and offering up Bush and Cheney for fair trial.
That scenario is not likely to be coming soon. But at the very least we can go, everyone of us, to http://www.georgew.com and let George W. Bush know that the whole world has watched as he has brought shame and destruction down on humanity.
so this site hasn't really been updated in a while...I'll fill in the gaps:
1. obama was elected president
2. everyone was happy and it was like a block party
3. he tried to pass some crazy bills filled with monetary favors for some of his old buddies
4. he bought GM
5. america started to get mad
6. obama's approval rating has now dropped below 50% and it doesn't look like he'll be re-elected.
any thoughts?
-thrive blog author
http://thrive.today.com
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