The Weekend Warriors

For once it was OK to be home on a Saturday night in front of the television. The big problem was deciding whether to watch the back-to-back debates or back-to-back football.

Can anyone tell me what happened in the debates?

Just kidding. Through the magic of digital video recording, I was able to watch all four of those sporting events, and the night certainly produced its winners and losers

First of all, I live in Washington and I've lived in Pittsburgh. Guess which teams are out of the playoffs.

As for the second round of the presidential playoffs, we have to wait until Tuesday's New Hampshire primary to see if any of the remaining players are eliminated. Probably not.

Was it me, or did Mitt Romney suffer from looking like the prissy kid on the playground as everybody kicked his ass? If so, he has a bit of a perception problem, doesn't he?

But let's be complete here. Isn't John McCain, the one who repeatedly hammered Romney for switching positions ("I just wanted to say to Governor Romney, we disagree on a lot of issues, but I agree you are the candidate of change"), the same guy who bitterly criticized religious conservative leaders as "agents of intolerance" in the 2000 campaign and is now pandering to them?

And there's also that annoying habit he has of calling everybody "My Friend." I am probably the only person alive John McCain has not called "My Friend." As Hillary Clinton put it, "My feelings are hurt."

Speaking of Hillary. What did they add to her water bottle? She came across as an actual human being last night. It was Barack Obama who so often bordered on boredom even as he took his best shots. He really seemed to need the help of his wingman, John Edwards. That made it much easier for Hillary to play the woman card, although she had Bill Richardson out there protecting her back. He was taking the place of her husband.

Back to Edwards, he was the lone white male on the Democrats' stage. If you wanted just white guys you watched the Republicans.

There you could witness still more of their bickering over "illegals" That's when Romney wasn't giving the equivalent of his "some of my best friends are immigrants" lecture.

I was also bewildered by Mitt's defense of the pharmaceutical companies. Am I being naive?

For the Republicans, it wasn't totally a squabble. They all supported the Iraq war and all the rest of President Bush's battles with the world (President WHO?).

Well, all of them did but Ron Paul. I gotta tell you, though, that sometimes Paul sounded nuttier than a fruitcake. It must be me. No one who was bonkers could raise so much money and be so wildly popular on the Internet. Could he?

One other note: Charles Gibson and ABC put on a remarkable event. Gibson epitomized class, as always, and his network provided brilliant coverage. The shot selection and direction were were well thought out, the work of broadcast professionals. The usual distracting and pretentious gimmicks were absent. What few there were added to the show, which was all about the candidates.

The one that really worked was that gathering of all the participants from both parties on the same stage between debates. It was just the right touch and fascinating to watch them schmooze. It was just like seeing football players do it, when the game is over, after beating each others' brains out.

Of course, this game is just beginning, after a long, long pre-season. It's anything but over.

Except for my Redskins.

Follow Bob Franken on Twitter: www.twitter.com/frankenb

Comments

[elkabong]

Republicans show an acute understanding of the intersection of economics and politics. They have realized, quite correctly, that it's much more cost effective to make everyone hate Mexicans than it is to stop hiring them.

[realpolitic]

Romney is such a phony. He would only be comfortable in a private club among other multi-millionaires.

Obama must be careful he does not get too cautious now. He must keeping speaking directly to the people. It is what he does best.

[UNCLEJOE]

How come with all the brains in this blogosphere, no one realizes that the root of all our problems stem from an internationally owned and controlled private company called the Federal Reserve System that exists legally based on a Congressional Charter issued a couple of days before Christmass in 1913 when the majority of Congressmen were on a vacation with less than a quorum present in session? Which actually makes it an illegal entity that is controlling the very air we breath, with their power of the monetary system?

[Vajara]

You're right about his appearance, but we didn't have kids like him in my public school experiences. I doubt that he even knows what kids like us went through with his family history. People are really dumb if they vote for such a person who lives and acts like a king and we are all his servants.

[antiwardoc]

Bob,
These were very good debates. Much better than the Fox-sponsored fiasco in Florida.

On the Republican side, with regard to Dr. Paul, basically he was group-tackled by Giuliani, Romney, and smirking McCain, making it difficult for him to explain his positions.

These are:
1) The Iraq war is not legitimate
2) Most foreign entanglements are counterproductive (e.g., Pakistan) - where our CIA meddles, tries to pick winners, support dictators. What is needed is to remove the motivation of terrorists to attack us. Dr. Paul's point is, that the motivation is due to us being over there, bombing their cities, killing their children, supporting their secret police and dictators, sounds reasonable.

3) The Fed
Another issue that I am still trying to get around is this issue of the Fed printing money when needed. It is unclear to me how this benefits the private banks who make up the Fed. It is clear that it gives the U.S. an easy path, by printing more money, to fund such foreign entanglements without raising taxes. Just like when a stock splits, the more stock, the less it is worth. Increasing the money supply by 60% (which is what has happened over the past 5-6 years, as I understand it), will result in a 60% devaluation of the dollar. Some prices don't reflect this, but overall, this "hidden inflation" targets poor people and all those with savings and those on fixed incomes.

Funding for the Empire, and foreign bases and wars, adds to this.

All of the other Republican candidates seem like more of the same. And they are taking advantage of a temporary lull in hostilities in Iraq to further embrace a failed foreign policy.

If we want more of the same, then we can choose among Romney, McCain (brrr), Huckabee (scary, also), Giuliani (scarier) or Thompson.

To those interested in Dr. Paul's positions, they are best explained in 30-min and 1-hr interviews, and not in a debate format, where he is under duress and under snickering attack.

[Snakeback]

Nice...except one thing. I live in Washington. You live in DC.

Guess which one is going to the playoffs (big smile).

[bobba2k]

Nobody is able to explain how we can borrow 2 billion dollars a day, lower taxes and support an empire. It truly is the issue.. our Country's health depends on sound money or we will collapse. If we, as citizens, borrowed $200 dollars a day without a means of paying it back.. we would be considered criminals. I know the "war on terror" has cost my family over $45,000.. maybe I should start borrowing money from the Govt. to pay it off and see how that goes.