"Last spurts from the Master Debaters"
The two most interesting things about the third and final presidential debate were the utter contempt McCain displayed for Obama and that some GOP shill known as “Joe da Plumber” became the highlight of the first half.
This was the closest thing we were going to get to direct confrontation with these candidates and frankly it did get rather confrontational. McSame, who’d promised for weeks that he was gonna get all street on Obama’s ass, came out swinging…like a girl. A little girl with long, skinny arms and sharp nails.
The best part was that his crabby, condescending, overly emotional responses were captured on split-screen the entire night. I thought Al Gore was the worst possible scenario eight years ago with his sighing and eye rolling. He came off as a pompous, intolerant prick and it helped shrink his lead. The Supreme Court took care of the rest but let’s move on!
McClone bristled with rage at every word uttered by Senator Obama as if he was literally prepared to strangle him at any moment. His tongue flicked out like a lizard’s, his eyes were bloodshot and dancing around the room like Gene Kelley, and his smile was filled with hostility and disgust.
By contrast, Obama kept his facial expressions neutral, showed brief amusement when disagreeing with McCain’s comments, and maintained his cool no matter what was said. By insisting on focusing on the issues that affect the average American, he effectively neutered McPain’s ability to throw allegations at the wall until one stuck.
This was a different style of debate from the previous ones. Candidates had more freedom to interrupt each other and the moderator could pursue questions in a more aggressive manner. That poor moderator. He tried so hard to get McCrone to answer a direct question.
The so-called “real star” of the night was the man who has been dubbed “Joe the Plumber.” No, he’s not some hired mob hit man, but I can understand why you’d think so. Joe was a regular…joe…who just happened to find a moment to walk up to Obama during a rally and start accusing him of planning to tax him as a small business owner. Well, Joe doesn’t own a business yet, he is “thinking about it.” And since he knows this business would net 250,000 per year, he is hesitant based on what he has referred to as Obama’s plan to redistribute wealth.
Obama, to his credit, did not deny the claim that those in the top 5% of the nation would face higher taxes. He also told Joe that even if he didn’t get his vote, he would still work hard on his behalf if elected. That’s not what neo-cons wanna hear, Barack! What’s your problem? You’re supposed to say, “Well, too bad rich people! We are lazy and want your money and we shall have it Nyaaa haaa haa ahaa haaaaaa.” You need to grow a mustache so you can twirl it.
We all know the rich don’t believe they should have to pay taxes because they tend to provide jobs. If they do pay them, they don’t believe they should be taxed higher than the middle class and the poor. Rush Limbaugh even had a “tax the poor” initiative he tried to convince Americans was a good policy. It’s interesting how a middle class person must pay more taxes the more they make, but those rules don’t apply to someone who is making more than 95% of the rest of the nation.
Joe the Plumber’s Helper spouts off neo-con rhetoric with the best of them. Every time he’s seen, he speaks in Republican talking points, most notably their code phrase for forcing the wealthy to pay taxes, “redistribution of wealth.” Robin Hood is alive and well and in the Democratic Party.
The fortuitous and impeccably timed arrival of Joe the Plumber afforded McCain with fodder for discussion for what seemed an eternity. This was such an obvious desperation move on the part of the Republicans that it doesn’t even matter that there are stories already surfacing about how Joe doesn’t have a plumber’s license, a union membership, and just might be related to a high-ranking GOP official.
McInsane didn’t refer to Obama as “that one” this time, but he sneered and coughed and shifted around in his seat so much that the previous debates seemed tame by comparison.
The truly frightening moment came when our friendly neighborhood moderator asked each candidate why their VP pick would be better at running the country should anything happen to the president. Obama cited Joe Biden’s length of time in the Senate as well as his extensive foreign policy experience. McCain said Sara Palin stood up to oil companies and Joe Biden sucked.
Seriously, all McBush did was talk about how nervous he would be with Biden as president because he’s been “wrong” on certain foreign policy issues. Naturally, because we’re dealing with Rambo’s chipmunk-cheeked brother here, his bone of contention with Biden was the fact that he opposed the Gulf War and the surge in Iraq. Those were BAD DECISIONS??? The Gulf War was a farce and the surge was the result of a wrongheaded occupation! Typical military mindset: If something eventually works out, it was the right decision!
Obama allowed for the possibility that Palin might make a good president given the chance. Wow! How gracious was that? Caribou Barbie has spent her whole time at the podium ridiculing this man for his community activism (i.e. helping poor people of color) and his perceived lack of experience. Unlike John Kerry, Obama knows how to avoid mud slinging and negativity while still appearing strong and able to defend himself. McCain, by contrast, finally stands revealed as the unstable wack-job I have always known him to be.
His one “high-point” occurred when he said to Obama, “Senator Obama. I am not George Bush. If you wanted to run against George Bush you should’ve run four years ago.” Not exactly a Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle moment, but not bad either. Sadly, it was not only too little, too late, it was also easily disproved. McCain has voted with Bush far too many times to be anything but a toady of the outgoing administration.
When the debate was over, they actually shook hands and congratulated each other. McCain seemed to be suffering form an overload of adrenalin, like a solider that had pumped himself up for a battle that never happened.
Hopefully whatever adrenalin he has remaining will pump him up for a presidency that never happened either~
*Scroll down for a "bonus post*"
Yet another one of my heroes has been exposed as a fraud. Joe the Plumber, the man we all looked to for guidance in the arena politic, is not a plumber at all! He has no license! How can this be? Wait, it gets worse: The business he wanted to buy actually makes 1000,000 per year and would actually fall under Obama’s protection. And Joey owes back taxes, so he doesn’t even pay them to begin with! Oh, and he made 40,000 last year.
Why, Joey, why???
Oh, right. You’re a plant. Never mind then...
I guess I'll just ask the REAL Joe the Plumber:
http://www.joelaratheplumber.com/
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6 comments:
It would be a sad state of affairs if McCain becomes McPresident in a few weeks.
I don't think that's likely to happen, though because I think the American people are tired of eight years of a Republican President, just as they were tired of eight years of a Democratic President before that and twelve years of Republican Presidents before that, etc., etc., etc.
green,
I think w eneed balance but balance to me is defined as viable third parties.
bluezy,
I'd like to think I could come up with something better than that.
you'll never get a viable third party with this forever red and blue state mentality.
Actually, I think we already have a few but they aren't sllowed to speak at events that involve more than ahandful of people.
This was a much better rendition than actually watching the debate.. Had I known you would write about it, I would have skipped it. I enjoyed your version much more. WHY exactly didn't anyone say anything about how ridiculous McPalin looked batting his eyes and shifting around all Tourette's-y like in his chair. You should have spared me the drama.
Wow, my head just swelled to ten times its normal size!!!
yes, the head you think!!!
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