What we're seeing from the health care town halls and what we've seen from the "birthers" is essentially what I call the Tyranny of the Tantrum, which many parents encounter during the "terrible twos."

Notice that the insurance industry-funded opposition to reform is well-managed enough to not send shouters and swastika sign-wavers to the town halls you are scheduled to appear at.

Town Halls -- perhaps they should be renamed "Town Hates" -- have become the front lines of an anti-government revolt by various groups, including health care reform opponents.

We have witnessed a spate of violent bullying and psychological assault, moods of hostility and derision which have stooped to levels that defy any clear intention to act for the greater good.

This is not about the pros and cons of the health care debate. That's politics. This is about the ethics of a "debate" which has deteriorated into an Us vs. Them shouting match.

Obama has erased lingering doubts that he is ready for the Prime Time Presidency, while McCain raised more doubts that he has the energy or interest in the job.

Planetaria show us the beauty and grandeur of the Universe, and shouldn't be cynically relegated to being a political bludgeon used to score cheap points.

In the course of the debate, McCain was outclassed, outgunned and outrun, time and time and time again. Obama's performance was so commanding that he barely noticed a petulant McCain.

My God, does he realize how much gas it will take to drive to the moon?! — michael

It's time to back off the precipice, Ms. Palin and Mr. McCain.

Obama's answer to the first question of the night was fine -- anodyne, uninspiring, reasonable, and utterly uninspiring.

If the people of this nation cannot tell the difference between presidential behavior and a sick and angry little man, then we're in more trouble than we are with Bush. Get a grip John. You're boring.

We all know about the difference between the responses of those who listened to the first Kennedy-Nixon debate on the radio versus those who watched it on television. I did both last night and the same was true.

It was clear tonight that Barack Obama has a far superior understanding of the moving parts of government and American society than John McCain ever had.

Boooring. Yawn. Anything new? "That one?" That's the big controversy of the night? Do we miss Sarah Palin so soon?

If the question of the first debate was whether Obama would pass the threshold on national security (he did), the reality of this debate is that McCain didn't pass the threshold on the economy.

Well, for a town-hall meeting, I sure didn't see a whole lot of 'town." A couple dozen of over-lit, under-whelmed people who got free tickets. As a comic, I have to say, that really looked like a tough house.

Why are these debates so incredibly boring? Is it McCain telling us constantly he is our friend while he grimaces in a way that is friendly to no one? Or is it Obama keeping his cool despite all the idiotic lies and provocations?

Obama missed an opportunity to explain that the health of our nation's citizens cannot be held hostage to a corporate profit motive.

For me, the more worrisome moment of the debate came when McCain told a young, black questioner, "You've probably never heard of Fannie Mae."

This was supposed to be the "domestic policy" debate. Yet there we were once again talking about raids on Pakistan and defending Israel. Brokaw and the organizers let down the American public.

At the end of the debate, Brokaw asked McCain to get out of the way of his Teleprompter. He might as well have been speaking on behalf of the future: Senator McCain can you please get out of the way so we can get on with it?