Friday, September 26, 2008

Live-Blogging(ish) the Debate

So the first Presidential debate is on, after all the strange happenings of the week, and I'm planning to jot some thoughts up here as we go... hopefully it will be somewhat coherent, maybe even interesting.

Here we go!

9:02 PM - Wow, the subjects of the questions are so secretive, Jim Lehrer's eyes so dark and mysterious!
9:07 PM - Um... speaking of eyes, John McCain's eyes (left most especially) are kinda freaking me out.
9:10 PM - Me Too! Me Too, says McCain! I warned about this too! What about responsibility? Interesting response after that, where he makes reference to WWII and then somehow he makes reference to his recent crazy headhunting where he called to firing a guy who most people that seem to know a bunch about this are saying isn't responsible for all of this.
9:13 PM - THEY WILL NOT FOLLOW DIRECTIONS! Talk to eachother? Huh? No! Neither presidential candidate knows how to do that!!! Stop trying to make them talk to anyone other than that guy with the beard behind the camera, Jim Lehrer!!!
9:20 PM - UPDATE!!!!! Obama talks to McCain! Johnny Mac still refuses to talk to Obama!
9:29 PM - Nice line, Mr. Mac, the "It's hard to reach across the isle from that far left." Even Obama chuckled at that one.
9:32 PM - Will Obama be attacked for claiming he invented Google, given that he just talked about setting up a, "Google for government"???
9:34 PM - Jim Lehrer says, "Can I possibly get either of you to answer my question"??? Tip here, Jim: No, You can't.
9:36 PM - Can someone rewind and see if John McCain's "recipe for an... er eh um stable er uh... economy" was even vaguely coherent???
9:38 PM - Why does John McCain keep taunting Sarah Palin for being elected Miss Congeniality???
9:49 PM - Why say Patraeus and Bin Laden are the same in any way? That seems warped and strange to me.
9:56 PM - Oh NOES! Obama just called out Johnny's awkward kareoke moment. We all thought that was behind us.

10:00 PM - OH NO!!!! No, Barack, "I've got a bracelet too" is such a bad line (caption: the photo above is Brian Williams sporting a Stephen Colbert 'WristSTRONG' braclet)!!
10:02 PM - Did John McCain start a war in Waziristan while I wasn't looking? Can someone comment with a link to a map of Waziristan? I'm sorry if I sound like a stupid douche asking this question.
10:04 PM - YES! CALL IN THE LEAGUE OF DEMOCRACIES!!!
10:05 PM - Distraction: just noticed: PHILLIES WIN! Go Phils!!!
10:12 PM - Wow! Obama twists the Spanish knife! Pow! Damn, that's cold, my friends. Oh, wait, "my friends" is Trade Marked by McCain. Crap.
10:15 PM - The best and testiest moment of the debate has just passed us, and it was... well... testy and... crap, I already forgot what was happening, but there was a lot of what movie makers might call, "Cross talk"
10:19 PM - Did John McCain just admit that Putin gives him halucinations? He sees letters in peoples eyes... hmm... This section of the debate is very compelling, however. I keep thinking of a movie favorite, Spies Like Us with Chevy Chase and Dan Akroid (spelling??)!
10:22 PM - Wow, based on Matt's comment, I just flipped from CBS where I've been watching the whole debate to CNN... I'm completely overstimulated by all the doohickies on CNN. Lines, score cards, Brazile, Borger, I'm literally overwhelmed. Things are "boiling over" according to Obama but I can't make sense of anything. Breathe, John, Breathe!!!! Ok, petrodollars, and we're back. Hmmmm... need to post more about petrodollars. Petrobux? Petrodollar$$$?
10:25 PM - McCain likes None Lugars... He's a big fan of the lugies.
10:26 PM - McCain talking about Liebermann, I tuned out... not a fan of Ole' Joe. While I was ignoring Libertalk I found out Waziristan is a region of Pakistan. McCain is at war with NW Pakistan.
10:29 PM - WTF? Obama is pro-missile-defense? Orly? For realz? Ayeee. Ok, over it.
10:31 PM - Damn, CNN, your lines are tantalizing.
10:32 PM - Wow, Obama is popular across the isle when he talks about how evil China is. Fascinating. Also, why does this Castellanos grade everything while nobody else seems to be using their score cards in the Analyst dept. @ CNN?
10:37 PM - Gosh, in conclusion I had almost nothing to say, until I realized it's interesting that their mics stayed on after the debate "ended" so that we heard Obama say, "Good job, John" to McCain as they shook hands, and, "How are we doing, honey" as he walked over to Michelle.

And now it's Anderson Cooper time! Or Keither Olbermann Tweety Matthews time depending on your preference... or you know... whoever the heck is on Fox, I dunno.

Nice liveblogging experience everybody. Thanks to the commentors! You both rock my friggin world!

39 comments:

Matt said...

Can we please ban the "wall street" versus "main street" cliche?




PLEASE?

Matt said...

McCain looks so nervous it's not even funny.

Matt said...

No, they will not follow directions to talk to each other. Lehrer is going to have to go up there and force their heads together.


By the way, we're watching CNN with it's little Democrats/Republicans/Independents tracking lines to show how positive or negative they are feeling. The independents are swinging around like crazy!

Matt said...

Miss Congeniality? Didn't Palin win that?

Matt said...

+5 to McCain for use of the word "festoon"!

Matt said...

Good question Lehrey! Can't wait for somebody to talk about cutting NASA.

Matt said...

Obama <3 NASA. +10


-2 for his shabbily knotted tie.

Matt said...

We liked ti better when Obama was looking at the camera in the beginning. No he's dropped that. McCain has never looked at the camera.

Matt said...

Apparently McCain is a big Sandra Bullock fan.

Matt said...

Let me hit you with some knowledge:

$10 billion per month in Iraq
from 2003 to 2008 (60 months)

= $600 billion

That'll but me a lot of WaMu stock!

Matt said...

It's interesting that McCain is always looking up, smiling, laughing while Obama talks. Obama is generally looking down and taking notes while McCain is talking.

Unknown said...

love the live blogging!!

Matt said...

So now Obama's going to use the word "strategic" as much as possible in this debate. I bet McCain relished using that line about the difference between strategy and tactics.

Matt said...

Stupid debate is making my wife drink.

Matt said...

YES! Welcome other commenters!

Matt said...

Why don't either of them pronounce "Pakistan" like a normal person?

Unknown said...

i like when mccain says "obama said this..." and then obama says "i actually didn't say that" and then mccain talks about something random.

pahkistahn.

Matt said...

Did somebody straighten Obama's tie? Am I on crack?

Matt said...

Hey, serious question: does McCain have problems raising his arms? I know that he had some serious injuries in Vietnam. I've just been noticing lately that he can bend his elbows and hunch his shoulders, but he never really puts them up.

Matt said...

It looks like Jim Lehrer is sitting inside a giant barrel.

Unknown said...

"McCain’s movements — walking, using his arms — show signs of a battle he fought long before the melanoma. A Navy fighter pilot captured by the Vietnamese when his plane went down over Hanoi in 1967, McCain broke both arms and hurt his right knee. The injuries were never properly cared for and worsened by torture during his more than five-year imprisonment.

As a result, McCain has a slight limp, cannot raise his arms above his head and has arthritis."

Matt said...

Did McCain just suggest a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Can Connery even vote in an American election? Why is McCain sucking up to him?

Matt said...

"My name is Obama! Every time I say Pakeestahhhn it makes people's pinkie fingers pop out as they hold glasses!"

Matt said...

Arugala!

Matt said...

What our military needs is Connery, a werewolf, a vampire, and Huck Finn!

Matt said...

Is McCain doing origami while Obama talks?

Matt said...

Here we go Marlins, here we go!

Matt said...

I have to say it: McCain is looking sexy tonight. Is it the $5000 makeup session or is just his animal magnetism?

Unknown said...

support the poles!

Matt said...

We are no longer listening to the debate. We just watch CNN's blue/green/red lines and laugh at them.

Matt said...

Oh shit I forgot Poland!

Matt said...

McCain is omnipresent. He's flown eeeeeeeverywhere.

Unknown said...

america needs bifocals!

Unknown said...

thanks for the company, friends! phew! can't wait for oct. 2!

Matt said...

I love our talks.

Venice said...

Dude, the comic version of League of Democracies is way better than the movie version. It doesn't include the lame Finlandman character that was just thrown in as a love interest for that German woman.

Matt said...

I need to read more comic books. I'd consider that one and I'm thinking I need to pick up The Watchmen before the movie comes out because that preview really confused me.

Stamford Talk said...

Fun reading the post and all the comments. I didn't watch the debate yet- combo of knowing it would enrage me and falling dead asleep on a couch in another room- but I'm sure I"ll catch a ton of highlights.

Cool to hear what Obama said afterward. So did my Obama come out looking good, and McCain bad? Because that's all I care about.

John said...

If you ask me, Obama looked good, looked Presedential, although I heard some talking heads on the teevee afterwards saying that he should have been slightly more forceful, should have kind leaned in a bit more. McCain, especially early on, looked a bit twitchy and his left eye kept doing funny stuff.

Later on in the debate his voice got kinda scratchy almost to the point where it seemed like he had a slight lisp.

Beyond looks and sound, Obama seemed pretty on his game, while Johnny Mac was a little um... incoherent at times.

Unfortunately, I can share one interesting piece of input on the debate from my mom (I'm home in Philadelphia this weekend) who said, as she was going to bed, "Argh! I can't keep watching this, they keep talking about the same stuff over and over." She also said that while she agrees with Obama she was having a hard time listening to him because he kinda speaks in these short sticato bursts, while John McCain's voice has more of a calming quality to it. Interesting, I thought. Anyway, there you go!