Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Special Bulletin: Debate Update!

It's official: Mitt Romney crushed Barack Obama in the first debate.  Mitt was strong, personable, had complete command of the facts, and radiated leadership.  Barry looked stressed, petulant, gave rambling and seemingly meaningless answers, and spent a lot of time making unhappy faces while staring down at his podium (he was clearly afraid to make lasting eye contact with Mitt).

And if you think I'm cheering Mitt's performance just because I allowed myself a sip or two of scotch when it became clear which way the wind was blowing, just check out Chris Matthews' apoplectic meltdown in the minutes immediately following the debate. I guarantee you that he needed to change his adult diapers at the next commercial break.



Anonymous said...

Chris melted faster than my sabbath candles last Friday night.

From "empty chair" to "empty lectern".

Sadie (not really anonymous)

Necron99 said...

And the crazy internet libtard dumbo-crats are out in force on youtube declareing 0 the winner, LOL

Not too surprising that they would consider defeat a victory, when these are the same idiots who consider illeagal aliens citizens, a higher deficit saving money, islam the religion of peace, & Rosie O'Donald talented... LOL

It boggles the mind.

BS Footprint said...

Didn't watch, so I can't comment. If Romney did well, good on him. If Obama didn't, well, what did you expect?

John the Econ said...


Dear Romney campaign: Please contact me. Your candidate needs a way to express what Obama and his crony capitalists have done to America in a way that the "undecideds" can relate to. They need to understand that inflation as a result of printing dollars to fund deficit spending is already taxing the poor and middle class far more aggressively than Obama is promising to soak the rich.

And I was right; he was too gutless to bring up the WARN scandal; a prime example of the fascist strangulation this administration is putting on our country. Stop debating the theoretical, and start attacking what's actually happening!!!

FlyBoy said...

Matthews says that they (MSNBC) "Have the knives out and go after the facts". So apparently the heap of steaming lies that Barry drops doesn't bother them a bit. I also liked when Matthews tells Barry that he needs to "watch MSNBC", which would bring it's viewership up to what?; maybe 38 on a good night. By putting the linky up there to Matthews' meltdown, Stilt has probably brought in more audience than MSNBC has had in a couple of years.

Seeing Matthews' mental meltdown was almost as much fun as watching Mitt bitch-slap Barry.

Sarah Rolph said...

What a relief! SUCH a strong performance.

I said to the husband yesterday when we were feeling nervous and cringy about the prospect of watching the thing that I didn't think Romney would have much trouble coming across as more presidential than President Obama.

But I was quite pleasantly surprised at just how strong the contrast was.

I didn't expect Obama to be as bad as he was. I was hoping Mitt would make him mad, since Obama has such a thin skin and looks like such a dunce when he loses it. But it didn't take hardly anything to throw Obama off his game, it was like he showed up with his tail already between his legs.

Wasn't he supposed to have been practicing? He sure hasn't been practicing keeping a straight face. Will Valerie have the guts to tell him he has to learn to do that? Blink-blink-blink-blink, I'm dying here, says Obama's face.

Our child president just does not know how to show up as himself. He stumbled right out of the gate with that lame reference to his anniversary; he didn't even manage to sound sincere about that. Romney rescued the reference for him! That was amazing, and set the tone right from the start. Mitt came across as a real person who happened to be on stage for a debate. Obama came across as an actor without a script.

Love, love, loved it.

Emmentaler Limburger said...

I watched it with my two high-school age kids. I was, for the most part, quite pleased. Romney did much, much better than I had expected. But, too: so did Øbama. I expected far more stumbling, mumbling and incoherence than we got with him off the teleprompter (however, when he looked over his shoulder into the camera cubby behind the podiums, I wonder if he wasn't getting some prompting...).

Romney *did* bring up the cost increases resulting from Øbama's policies in the context of a tax that is "strangling the middle class". Perhaps not stressed enough, but the point was made, and was clear. He also brought up the sequestration layoffs, though I agree that the context would have been MUCH stronger had he also brought up the WARN pass/violation imposed by the Øbamanistas. Also absent from his points was the obfuscation of the Medicare impact via "experiment and demonstration" funds being used to delay the implementation of those cuts - but the number did come up repeatedly. All in all, I think Øbama was soundly thrashed.

I found Matthews comments absolutely scary and telling. How can this person defend his role as a newsman with such obvious, frothing, foaming at the mouth bias so blatantly poured out on national TV? I know his biased, tingling leg is no secret, but that was absolutely ridiculous. Thankfully, MSNBC (or whatever they call themselves now that they no longer have MS) doesn't have much of an audience anymore, but it still disgusts me that they claim to be a news organization when they are clearly simply an organ of the socialist democrats. (And it was soooo cute how it was pointed out that Romney had a debate just a little while ago, but all Øbama has recently "debated" was his seated, pet journalists. Any excuse. Personally, he'd be better off blaming his poor performance on the Bush administration...)

Chuck said...

Greetings from Germany.

I've had 3 Octoberfest beers (bieren) to build up my courage for the debate reviews and got what I needed to see right here! Leaving early in the morning for the mountains in Austria and will be there until next Friday and I don't expect to have access to the Internet, but I'll catch up here when I get back to Germany.

Now I can have a bier (beer) to celebrate! I plan to have at least one bier for each of you while I am gone, and hope all of you will do the same for me.

Colby said...

I absolutely loved Mitt's "I have five sons...' comments. It was about the closest thing to a zinger that happened.

After seeing this, I would bet my next paycheck if Mitt pushed just a little bit harder, Barry would come unhinged. I am hoping to see this in the next debate. If BO loses his cool in front of 50 million people I think it's game over.

I wish I'd have thought of the scotch. I was on pins and needles the whole time waiting for Mitt to go down in flames (which thankfully did not happen). A wee little glass of single malt would have made the experience much more pleasant.

Mike Porter said...

Stilton: I too imbibed, but long before the whole thing got started - I guess I was bracing myself for the worst, and couldn't bear to watch it all go down.

Now, the lady of the house is usually the first to smack the mute whenever she hears the flatulent sound of that jug-eared moron speaking, so imagine my surprise when I found her watching (and listening) to it. Her reason? Because she was enjoying the well-deserved beating. Needless to say, I then just had to watch too. Never let a good beating go to waste.

FlyBoy: I may be wrong here, but I believe all of those knives are needed to cut through all of the bullshit.

Sarah Rolph: He was practicing... his golf.

Emmentaler Limburger: I can only hope that he was looking over his shoulder at the looming prospect of defeat, which appears to be catching up to him. As to that frothing Mathews and smirking Maddow, I'm reminded of a line out of that movie ChinaTown: their days are numbered like the fingers on the hand of a leper.

Necron99 said...

I'm hoping Romney is holding WARN and Fast & Furious as trump cards to play in the next round of debate.

As for msnbc..., those clowns almost, repeat, almost make we wish there was a modern Joe McCarthy to come after them and their ilk.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Sadie- There's something really satisfying about watching Chris Matthews' enraged misery. I'm going to be watching that clip repeatedly today. (By the way, when you post a comment, rather than checking the "anonymous" button, just check the one that says "Name/URL" and you can enter your actual name).

@Necron99- The only way libs could consider their candidate the winner last night is if they assume that everything Romney says is a lie, and everything (no matter how nonsensical) Obama says is received wisdom from God. Again, I think the Chris Matthews clip makes it clear who won.

@BS Footprint- What surprised me is that Jim Lehrer lost control of the format early on, which allowed Romney to respond to Obama's misrepresentations - and then give Obama more time for followup. And Obama couldn't followup; once Mitt had negated his earlier arguments, all Barry could do was fall back on a patchwork quilt of pre-scripted talking points about other subjects. It was deliciously embarrassing.

@John the Econ- A quick poll from Frank Luntz suggests that Romney did sway undecideds last night. While I'd love to see the WARN scandal shoved down Barry's throat, I didn't hear the right moment to bring it up last night (and there are more debates to come). I thought Mitt landed quite a few body blows on Barry, and by the end of the debate "loser" was leaking out of Obama's every pore. Mitt didn't say everything that could be said, or even needs to be said, but I didn't see any evidence of "gutless" behavior.

@Flyboy- Matthews was obviously personally offended that his hero was so inept - pointing out that attacking Mitt was "like first grade stuff" for the hosts of MSNBC with their "knives out" (there's a phrase Edward R. Murrow never used). And what an egomaniac - suggesting that this country could be run better if the president tuned in to Matthews on "Hardball" every night to learn something.

@Sarah Rolph- I think the main think that derailed Barry was the debate format (or lack of format, once Lehrer dropped the reins). Rather than having short, defensible soundbite moments, Obama had to expound at length (and couldn't), and get immediate counterpunchs from Romney (virtually all of which landed), and then make a defensive statement (and couldn't - so he'd change the subject).

And I loved the body language - Mitt never taking his eyes off Obama, and Barry staring at his shoes and sulking.

@Emmentaler- While I would have liked to see Obama actually stammering and swallowing his own tongue, I didn't expect it to happen (and it didn't). But he fell back on lofty and meaningless phrases, and a tendency to string together his prepared remarks in an absolutely random way - moving from taxes to medicaid to hiring teachers in a space of seconds. It's like all he had in his head was 140-character tweets.

@Chuck- Enjoy your time away, and here's hoping that Chris Matthews rant puts you in the mood for some yodeling.

@Colby- There were a few nice little zingers which felt natural and not prepared. And they were deftly delivered, integrated into Mitt's larger points.

And yes, the Scotch helped - though I only broke it out when I realized I could actually enjoy the way the debate was going.

@Mike Porter- I can't stand to hear Obama's voice either, but last night there was a new element: an opponent on stage who was challenging Obama's words - and occasionally making him eat them. And as a bonus, we could enjoy Barry's miserable body language!

Irene Peduto said...

Romney for President! Luntz said he has never seen such a change from a group.
Loved Chris Matthew's rant - knives?
I was worried about Romney but I was so wrong - Obama was a beaten man. Oh, and the left is saying he'll be better prepared next time - how? He doesn't have the teleprompter to assist him and he surely doesn't have the info in his head. Looking forward to Ryan's debate and Stilton's reaction to that one!

George said...

Stilt, you had me at "change his adult diaper at the next commercial break." :) I did not watch the debate last night, but H&C is my first stop this morning hoping to get a taste of what went down. Thank you. What a very sad and pathetic group of pundits on that network. BTW, is Rev. Al on Jenny Craig???

Necron99 said...

Ryan vs. Biden? More like "Joe vs. The Volcano". LOL

That my friends is going to be a bloodbath! If Biden's smart (I know that's a stretch of the imagination) he'll call in sick the day of the debate.

I just wonder how John Stewart's going to handle it when he crosses the hall from Comedy Central's studio to msnbc's studio and dons his drag costume to go on air in his less humorous "daily" persona of Rachel Maddow. LOL

CenTexTim said...

Yeah, but...

I can't help but think it might all be a setup. Next debate obama will do better (he can hardly do worse) and the media will proclaim that he bounced back, he trounced Romney, he has momentum on his side, ad nauseam.

Enjoy the moment, but there's still a long way to go.

Unknown said...

In the words of my favorite character, Tyrone T. Tyrone, "It was a Bad Butt Beating". But I regress. Perhaps it's was as the comment from Micheal Moore indicated: "What can you expect when you have John ('Winter Soldier','I co-opted/corrupted the Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans for political gain')Kerry as your debate coach. Alas, dear Micheal, I'm afraid that while the Kerry plan of just standing there and looking French Haughty might have contributed (though to me, he looked more like a whipped weasel), it was obvious from the first smack-down that Obama hasn't a first clue about micro/macro economics, let alone anything else. Add actually having to face tough questions without a pre-scripted teleprompter and media, having an opponent that would bring it back into your face instead of fading in your snarky response, and a moderator who lost control and was not able to throw you a lifeline when you begged to change the subject, provided a perverse view of a person totally unsuited for the position of chief community organizer let alone President.

That said, prepare for an Obama 'October Surprise' as Sarah Palin predicted, for his campaign will not allow The One to be trounced into the deserved dust of obscurity without out slinging some major s***.

All that said, 'git-er-done' Mitt.

Unknown said...

Side note - I just read AARP has told the Obama Campaign to keep their name out of it - I guess all those returned member cards may finally had there intended effect. Add also that when I was talking to United Healthcare yesterday and they attempted to offer me a supplemental product, I informed them that the only reason I was talking to them was because they were my company's healthcare provider, otherwise I would not buy a single thing from any company that associated with AARP.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Necron99- I think Romney will unleash WARN, Fast & Furious, and Benghazi on Obama next time at bat (the "foreign relations" debate). Assuming that Mitt doesn't first have a hit-and-run accident involving a huge, black bus.

@Irene Peduto- I don't think Obama can "prepare" for another debate and come off better if he sticks to facts or his record. I think the "preparation" is more likely to be some bizarre attack on Mitt personally, like accusing him of fathering a child with one of the slaves who work his cotton fields.

Regarding the Ryan/Biden debate, I wouldn't be surprised if PETA protests against it as being cruel to a dumb animal.

@George- Even Mrs. Jarlsberg chose not to watch the debate live, just in case things went into the dumper. So I'm delighted to be the bearer of good news.

And my jaw sort of dropped looking at Reverend Al - he looks like he weighs about 75 pounds. I wouldn't have recognized him if it wasn't for the angry stupidity coming out of his mouth.

@Necron99- I think the biggest challenge Ryan will have on the debate stage is holding himself back enough that he doesn't appear to be beating the hell out of a senior citizen just for the fun of it.

@CenTexTim- No question that there's still a long way to go, and surely some huge dirty tricks in the offing. But I think last night was a "must win" for our team, so there's an honest sense of relief that Mitt did so well.

@SeaDog- Great analysis. And I'll bet that AARP was in a panic last night that Mitt would reveal that they sold out seniors (by promoting Obamacare) because they'll make BILLIONS off their insurance products once Barry has knocked off their competition. No wonder they want their name out of the debate!

Necron99 said...

@Seadog, AARP..., I know, right?

And the reason libtards think we're supposed to care so much about Romney's money is because its an attempted smoke screen to distract us from what Obama does with our's...

Its killing the Lazy Grashoppers that we Industrious Ants don't want to fund their welfare/gubba-mint hand out lifestyles or buy into their cool-aid communism idiology.

Jim Hlavac said...

I can report that my charming 3rd generation Mexican-American social working Democrat for life (she inherited it, she said,) neighbor invited me over towards the end to inform me that Obama is an idiot. And that perhaps this Romney fellow is not the bad guy she had believed. She had a bright look in her eyes; like she was awakened. Perhaps it was the scotch, I don't know. But as I left, she looked at some of the neighbors and said "Those bums should get a job." Don't know folks, but the local poll of 1 looked good. She can't be the only one, can she?

Unknown said...

Just to play devil's advocate, is there a possibility Obama flubbed this on purpose, knowing they didn't have a real economic solution to stand on, defering to the second debate (foreign policy) where they are banking the mother-lode of their cookies, and so the fawning MSM can say 'Oh Look! The One is back, he's right on target'. 'Course, one 'AlQueda is dead' comment to draw "Oh? What about our dead Ambassador?". A number of questions arise about why Romney didn't use the WARN bribery, the 'Racist" tape, etc., I think he's holding those back in preparation of the 'Obama Surprise' in October, because I don't think Obama will win the 2nd or 3rd debates either.

Colby said...

@Irene Peduto,
BO has LOTS of info in his head. His problem is, half the info contradicts the other half. It's tough to tell a string of lies and also keep up with which whopper you told when and to whom. I really do think Mitt was on the verge of putting the little socialist over the edge. maybe the next debate will show us what happens when you make up entirely new lies to cover the lies that were covering previous lies about distant lies from the past. I really, really want to see Mitt push turd-eyes to the breaking point where he starts sounding like his preacher of 20 years; spewing hate and flinging spit!

@Jim Hlavac,
I firmly believe your neighbor is one of thousands, maybe millions. At least I pray so!

I'm not so sure Lehrer lost control last night. I sort of get the feeling he just decided to let it roll. Perhaps if he would have kept a firm grip, it would not have been nearly as good.

SusieBee said...

Maybe next debate we'll get to see Chris Matthews' head spin around! Seriously, Mitt needs to put on the pressure until BO cracks. It won't take much, at this point.

Cookie said...

The funniest thing I've heard about the debate was on several news casts. One blogger said " It wasn't a debate, but Mitt took the president on a cross country road trip and had Obama strapped to the top of his car "

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Necron99- Speaking of AARP, my giddy mood has taken a bit of a nosedive today with the arrival of a letter saying that my health insurance is going up another 14% (thanks, Barry!). So I'm looking at online services which help identify insurance plans for those who have a bit of silver in their hair (well, if they still HAVE hair) and saying I won't even consider any plan affiliated with AARP. Damnit.

But back to the debate - Obama offered up nothing other than redistribution of wealth last night. That may play well with the Occupy types, but I think it's wearing a little thin among the millions of people who would actually like jobs again.

@Jim Hlavac- What a delightful story! I think a lot of Dems have never really heard Mitt speak until last night, and were only familiar with him as some cancer-causing rich guy who hates autistic kids. And I think they were probably surprised to see a smart, personable guy who had a lot of details while Obama sputtered and ran off the rails. I'd like to think that Mitt woke up a lot of people last night.

@SeaDog- I've heard some libs saying that Obama is using a rope-a-dope strategy, letting Romney beat the living stew out of him so Mitt will lower his guard next time. And I find this assertion beyond laughable. I think Mitt knew he couldn't work in EVERYthing last night, and so just kept pounding away without trying to drag in other issues. But I'm betting we hear them before this over.

@Colby- Barry made me think of the old "Magic Eight Ball" toy; lots of short little bits of "wisdom" which floated up at random with no relation to whatever was said last, or even what the topic was.

And frankly, I think Lehrer did an awesome job whether he meant to or not. He let both men show themselves fully - although that was only good news for one of them.

@SusieBee- I think if Mitt pushes just a little harder, he can get Barry to start nervously rolling ball bearings in his hand while he describes his method for finding out who stole the strawberries (per Captain Queeg's amazing meltdown in "The Caine Mutiny")

PRY said...

Flyboy...I enjoyed Matthews' meltdown more than anything..

Centex...I considered the setup myself, but actually, the left has nothing to crow about, so I expect pretty much the same from all the debates, plus a good whacking for Biden this next Thursday!

Unknown said...

@Colby: Actually, the reports coming out is that Lehrer actually spoke longer, had more words, and interrupted more that he has done in the past, and more than most moderators do. 'Course, they're the ones asking the 'hard' questions.

Emmentaler Limburger said...

@Stilton: the Magic 8 Ball on my desk - that sage counselor I use in most management decision - was offended by your comparison. He says he is infinitely more "on story" with his limited selection of quotes than Øbama is with his, and demands an apology. You're safe though: I asked him if I should just stick him in the corner and ignore his outburst, and he replied with "WITHOUT A DOUBT".

I think Lehrer's performance was stellar, and I wish more debates were formatted so. He tried to direct the candidates in the way he framed his questions; however, when he saw that as being pointless, he allowed them to pretty much exhaust each subject - who cares if every point on the agenda wasn't discussed! I found the debate very revealing and somewhat invigorating. (Though I'm sure the libs don't see it similarly.) And, to settle Gore's concerns, Hempstead NY is only slightly above sea level...

John the Econ said...

So, Obama's only brilliant at sea level?

Al Gore blames altitude for Obama performance:

The GOP should immediately submit legislation requiring that the President not be allowed anywhere above sea level for the sake of the nation. No more Air Force One for him. After all, the cabin altitude of a 747 is 8000 feet, 2000 feet higher than Denver.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@PRY- There's no way Obama decided to take a huge flop in the first debate just so he could win the "most improved" ribbon in the future. Then again, he also thought it was a good idea to announce a troop surge and troop withdrawal date at the same time, so "strategy" isn't really his strong point.

@SeaDog- I thought Lehrer did a helluva job. We actually saw something halfway real last night.

@Emmentaler- Glad to hear I'm not behind the eight ball, so to speak.

And I loved the way Lehrer asked the candidates to respond to each other rather than letting anyone just get away with an unanswered attack. Obama can't handle that sort of give-and-take.

@John the Econ- I think Gore's claim that Barry was oxygen-deprived is the funniest excuse I've heard yet. But there may actually be something to the theory of Barry's competence being related to altitude: it would explain why he's so comfortable taking the low road, and so unfit for high office.

Emmentaler Limburger said...

@Stilton: I'd swear I heard a rim-shot when I read that last one...

Queso Grande said...

@Stilton Jarlsber &@Sara Rolph......IMHO, it happend to the Wan early on; he lost his 'mojo' at the introduction. I watched the bloodbath on C-Span-love the silence- and Lehrer had just told them both that the audience was instructed to be silent-no clapping, cheering whistling etc..-and then introduced the Presnidebt.
Barry did the traditional thankyewverymuchesesfor havingme bit and segued into an attmepted human moment with his anniversary greeting to the Mrs. His humor was met with silence. As a classic narcissistic personality who's staff had stacked the house as best as possible, to be met with no adulation was difficult, and to get it sans prompter was salt in the wound.
BUT it got far far worse for him when Romney did his bit......."and you get to spend your anniversary with ME!" the crowd laughed. Laughed!
It was a dagger in his heart, should he have one.
I actually thought I saw the light leave his eyes....
And then I laughed and laughed.......for 90 minutes more.

Ciao!! to all a great weekend!

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Queso Grande- That's an excellent observation. I think Obama is so used to cheering crowds that it threw him off his game not to hear adulation (and, in fact, hear criticism).

Trevor Nielson said...

after having seen the debates your "obamo" needs to add the square for "uh".
holey crap! he was stuttering and stammering so much even i wanted to take his lunch money!

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@nielson.trevor- I'm surprised Barry's debate coach didn't at least teach him not to say "uh" just because his brain has gone blank. Between that and the blinking eyes, it really seemed like Barry had run into the wall without his helmet a couple of times too many.

Trevor Nielson said...

Apparently being beat repeatedly with the facts can cause a concussion...clearly it impaired the great ones speech centers.
I'm surprised his holiness didn't have to spend some time in a hyperbolic chamber after the debates since the chance in altitude was so detrimental to his health and cognitive abilities. I'm sure Johnny O. can recommend a hospital for Barry O.

Anonymous said...

Gallup............. (see #3 below)



3. The State that did NOT "report" its unemployment numbers to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: