Reruns of the Last Debate

(Arthur comments on tonight's debate between Biden and Palin, and strangely feels compelled to mention someone named "John," as if that mattered to anyone. But, as usual, he speaks the truth.)

While I was trying to watch the Biden/Palin debate tonight I kept getting calls from John, who clearly was falling down drunk, unable to hear or see clearly what was on the television screen six feet in front of his eyes.

This debate was an exact rerun of the Obama/McCain debate. The only difference was that McCain snarled a lot, Palin was her irritating and pointlessly perky self. On substance, there was no a whit of difference. Both she and McCain emphasized the importance of "not looking back" but instead looking forward. One could translate to "Forget what we did for the last seven plus years, we've decided not to do that anymore. Honest.

The debate was essentially a draw, in terms of energy and oomph. Sarah Palin certain is the "Oomph Girl", isn't she? Perky, little winks, funny way she screws up her mouth, irritating voice, willingness to make things up and repeat discredited lies... in short, she is a wonderful Republican candidate.... for Governor of Alaska. Dip-lo-macy? with Ackdemina-jad? Bad, bad, bad and Ba-Rack O-Bama wantstuh do that thing. Bad, bad Ba-Rack. You don't actually TALK with bad people, instead you demonize them and turn them into boogey-men so you can scare and control the American people. Who wields power in Iran? the President or the religious leaders. The answer is (b) the shadowy guys who control Iran and have since the Revolution. McCain should know better, Palin doesn't have a clue. We saw the sum total of her world knowledge tonight, and what a sad little display of colored rocks and shiny shells it was.Wait for the polls. AT BEST it was a draw. I suspect, as in the case of Obama/McCain, on substance and on revulsion to the Bush record, Biden will come across as the winner. He was careful, respectful and he let Palin hang herself. Just like Obama did with Gramps McCain. You can't beat the stuffings out of an old guy or a lady and come out looking good. It takes a lot of diplomatic skill to hold your tongue, hold your temper, not rise to the bait, even when Palin began raving about the "white flag of surrender". In diplomacy you need to deal with some pretty tough customers, with powerful personal skills. What we saw in Palin was ego, what we saw in Biden was seasoned professionalism. Let's face it, Palin is a cracker. Not a nice person, not a thoughful person, prone to personal vendettas and histrionics.

Is that too harsh? Wait. On October 10th (eight days from now) the Alaskan special prosecutor is going to release his initial report. That will include documentation that Todd Palin followed his ex- brother in law around with a camera to try to gather incriminating photos to prove he was not disabled. Palin also pressured the review board to pull his disability, which they did. The bro in law appealed, supported by the Union, he WON and received disability and support to send him to California for a back operation. Now he is back on the job and Palin is about to be pilloried in public. In eight days. Union members all across America are not going to like what they hear.

But mostly, Sarah Palin is a gimmick. She panders ceaselessly, but no one is buying it anymore. She is playing to her imagined audience of Cracker Women, but women are turned off by her. Many of them may have read the recent National Enquirer that detailed her affair with Todd's business partner. Now that is a principled politician!

But in the end, though Palin was determined to tell us that up was down and mavericks are bitchin' and she is so excited don'cha know, that we can just trust her, she sounds nothing more nor less than an updated and sex-changed version of George W Bush, complete with the bad grammar. Been there, done that. We now know that talking like a hick is not a qualification for high office. We know that being clueless and determined is not a substitute for knowing her ass from a hole in the tundra.

Biden won. 57% to 38% with the rest either drunk or undecided.

And I am 110% confident that Uncle Bob agrees with me.

Arthur