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Hot air and ill-informed banter

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Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

I really should read my own blog.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

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🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

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Come on, man.

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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2008 / Pre-Debate Open Thread

Pre-Debate Open Thread

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For debate drinking games and what not to get ourselves ready for the debate tonight.

Expectations for Palin are quite low. As long as she does not murder a puppy then potty herself on stage, the pundits will proclaim it a win. And, after reading this, not murdering a puppy and wetting her pants is a step in the right direction:

Katie Couric: What do you think is the best and worst thing that Dick Cheney has done as vice president?

Joe Biden: I’m not being a wise guy here … that I don’t know what he’s done. I mean, there’s not many things I’d pick that I thought he’s done that have been good. But I admire his strength. I admire his willingness to take positions that are completely contrary to popular opinion. But I think that what he’s done has been just, I don’t think Dick Cheney trusts that the American people can make judgments that are in the interest of the country. But the thing I think he’s really, really has done: I think he’s done more harm than any other single high elected official in memory in terms of shredding the constitution. You know, condoning torture, pushing torture as a policy. This idea of a unitary executive, meaning the Congress and the people have no power in a time of war, and the president controls everything. I don’t have any animus toward Dick Cheney but I really do think his attitude about the constitution and the prosecution of this war has been absolutely wrong.

Palin: Worst thing, I guess that would have been the duck-hunting accident, where you know, that was an accident. And that I think that was made into a caricature of him. And that was kind of unfortunate.

So, the best thing though, he’s shown support, along with George W. Bush, of our troops. And I’ve been there when George Bush has spoken to families of those who have suffered greatly, those who are serving in the military. I’ve been there when President Bush has embraced those families and expressed the concern and the sympathy speaking for all of America in those times. And for Dick Cheney to have supported that effort of George Bush’s. I respect that.

Just compare those two. One is an answer. The other is a diary at Red State.

Reader Interactions

174Comments

  1. 1.

    Martin

    Palin: "I think the best thing Dick Cheney has done is not have an abortion or perform an abortion on other people…"

    …

    Palin: "I think the best thing George Bush has done is not have an abortion or perform an abortion on other people…"

    …

    Palin: "I think the best thing John McCain has done is not have an abortion or perform an abortion on other people…"

    …

  3. 3.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    !http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z147/lauraw217/ItsYourColorDear.jpg!
    (last photo for the night, I swear. Maybe. No, really.)

    Man…that latest Couric contrast set up is the perfect lead in for tonight. She was forced to choose and give examples this time, and in juxtaposition to Biden’s thoughtful, intelligent answers…pissing in the wind. Or on herself.
    Please dear Shiva let that be an indicator of how tonight will go.

    $25 to Obama if anyone says "lipstick" or "pig".
    (sorry the foto’s so big. I’ll stop now. Love the edit option! Love the new site.)

  4. 4.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    If I were an evil man I’d start off with something like this:

    1 drink for every "literally"
    1 drink for every "ladies and gentlemen"
    1 drink for every valley girl "like"
    1 drink for every "ya know"
    1 drink for every reference to life in Alaska
    2 drinks for every mention of the PTA

    and

    Drain the bottle in the case of "Sarah, you ignorant slut."

    Others?

  5. 5.

    Will

    Hmmm…. Playoff baseball or Carabou Barbie? Tough call whether watching Palin’s sneer or a Dodgers win will be more painful.

  6. 6.

    Not My Fault

    Palin: Worst thing, I guess that would have been the duck-hunting accident, where you know, that was an accident. And that I think that was made into a caricature of him. And that was kind of unfortunate.

    She is more like Bush than Bush is. Reminds me of when Bush was asked about his best moment in office and he said catching a big fish

  7. 7.

    Comrade Incertus

    I’d say the best thing that Cheney has done, in all seriousness, is not disown his daughter for being a lesbian. Of course, his wife wasn’t above using her daughter’s openness about that as a political club, which pretty much makes her an irredeemable piece of crap, and he’s supported legislation which would keep his own daughter a second-class citizen, but he didn’t disown her, so that’s something.

  9. 9.

    South of I-10

    I have a bottle of elitist Pinot Noir ready to go. I imagine I will need the better part of it to make it through this debate.

  13. 13.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    You don’t include attributes in closing tags. Proper use is:

    <blockquote cite="url where you got it">Quoted Stuff</blockquote>

    You don’t need the citation, though.

  15. 15.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    I’ve got some fine Ontario microbrewery product (Creemore and Steam Whistle). And dumplings. Sweet, awesome leek and pork potstickers, because KFC is inadequate to absorb the volume of alcohol I’ll be consuming.

    Tomorrow is a work day. Theoretically.

  16. 16.

    tripletee (formerly tBone)

    Palin rambles incoherently, randomly inserting unrelated talking points = 1 sip

    Palin utters a F.A.I.L. (Fucking Awesome Insane Lie) = 1 drink

    Palin awkwardly shoehorns in a reference to a Supreme Court decision and/or a major newspaper or magazine = 2 drinks

    Biden refers to Palin as "clean and articulate" = rob a liquor store and stay drunk until Nov. 5

    OT: the new iPhone-formatted version of the site is spiffy and all, but it doesn’t have access to comments and there’s no way to load the full version of the site. Could we have a choice instead of being automatically redirected? I do a lot of reading on my phone and I can’t stand not being able to see the comments.

  17. 17.

    Stuck in the Fun House

    And that was kind of unfortunate.

    LOL, query for Madame Moose. Would being caricatured hurt as much as #6 Buckshot embedded in face and neck. Or as Mccain would say "sometimes life ain’t fair"

    And Jane Jug-wine. That image is really sick, and I love it!!

  18. 18.

    South of I-10

    @Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W):

    More than one would render me completely worthless at work tomorrow. I would like to continue to be able to afford elitist Pinot Noir in the coming apocalypse of financial ruin, so it is probably best not to piss the boss man off too badly.

  19. 19.

    Comrade Incertus

    I do a lot of reading on my phone and I can’t stand not being able to see the comments.

    Or do my own commenting. Yeah, I’m that pathetic. Want to fight about it?

  20. 20.

    Katherine

    John Cole and crew: Who are you? Do y’all mind adding a brief bio section? I’ll share mine if you share yours.

    Love the new site too

  21. 21.

    Mike S

    I am actually scared. This country has proven time and again that they will elect the biggest idiots out there.

  22. 22.

    Liz

    Dammit. Of all the nights not to be able to drink. Stupid cold. Maybe I’ll make myself some "hot toddies" or something. Or maybe I’ll wait tomorrow for the highlights. (Bad citizen…)

  26. 26.

    Tim

    Why in the hell does Biden not have any "animus" toward Dick Cheney? I mean, really, what would it take?

    Joe is a slimey slickster, a true Beltway good old boy ready to slap the back of the sleaziest republican war profiteer if he runs into him at a cocktail party.

    Gross.

  27. 27.

    uila

    And for Dick Cheney to have supported that effort of George Bush’s. I respect that.

    hmmm, what does that remind of….
    oh yeah, Hansel:

    I wasn’t like every other kid, you know, who dreams about being an astronaut, I was always more interested in what bark was made out of on a tree. Richard Gere’s a real hero of mine. Sting. Sting would be another person who’s a hero. The music he’s created over the years, I don’t really listen to it, but the fact that he’s making it, I respect that.

  28. 28.

    The People's Glorious Pantload of Studliness

    Since Bible Spice has been hearing Biden’s speeches since the days when she’d field dress her Bullwinkle doll and shove the remains in her EZ Bake oven, I’d looooooove to hear Ms. Ifill quiz her as to which of his speeches made the biggest impact on her.

    Expect something like, Well, in the long history of Joe Biden’s career, he’s made, you know, many speeches, that’s never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are those issues, again. So you know, going through the history of his career, there would be others but …

  29. 29.

    South of I-10

    @Liz:

    My hot toddy recipe:

    shot of bourbon
    1 tablespoon of honey
    2 teaspoons of lemon juice
    1/4 cup of water

    It really does make you feel better. Sometimes I add a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and/or cinammon too.

  30. 30.

    cyntax

    I’m thinking a drink* for every "you betcha" and I’m not making it in to work tomorrow.

    *Drink defined as a good swig of Racer 5 IPA.

  31. 31.

    jnfr

    We’re going to play Palin Bingo. I’ve fully stocked the wine rack and we’re ordering pizza so no one has to cook. It’s going to be a long, tough night, but we’re up for it.

  32. 32.

    schmedlab

    Since Bible Spice has been hearing Biden’s speeches since the days when she’d field dress her Bullwinkle doll and shove the remains in her EZ Bake oven

    WIN!!!

  33. 33.

    Martin

    It really does make you feel better. Sometimes I add a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and/or cinammon too.

    Don’t overlook the healing power of adding another 1/4 cup of bourbon, either.

  34. 34.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    So now the McCain campaign is saying that CBS left the good answers on the cutting room floor, and ran the answers that made Palin look bad.

  35. 35.

    Jeff

    So now the McCain campaign is saying that CBS left the good answers on the cutting room floor, and ran the answers that made Palin look bad.

    This is utter BS. Nevertheless, no amount of good answers could make up for the bad ones.

  36. 36.

    Martin

    The ticking-time-bomb on editing comments is really more stress than I can manage. I feel like I should do something, lest an opportunity be lost, even though I wouldn’t change anything.

    Oh God, it’s down to 1 minute!

  38. 38.

    Stuck in the Fun House

    John Cole and crew: Who are you?

    I am brilliant good lookin’ and funny. This is all you need to know. Can’t speak for the rest of these yahoos though.

  39. 39.

    SamFromUtah

    So now the McCain campaign is saying that CBS left the good answers on the cutting room floor, and ran the answers that made Palin look bad.

    Sounds to me like a challenge to them to broadcast the whole damn thing. Bring it, says I.

  40. 40.

    Comrade Incertus

    @Jeff: He supported the federal marriage amendment, or at the very least he didn’t come out in opposition to it. In recent years, of course, he hasn’t had a ton of influence on actual legislation, but he’s certainly not bucking his party vocally on the issue.

  42. 42.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    @Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака:

    Thank you! and DOH.

    @Fun House:

    Thank you! and I take no credit for the photoshop art. A pal does that for me. I do, however, take credit for the photos of my Annie and some of the creative ideas. I just place orders and she executes. Nice deal.

    Hey…I saw a sign behind Tweety that read:
    McFAILin
    It looked super slick and professionally made. I’d never seen it before, but I liked it a lot, and I think someone on this site surely must’ve created it.

  43. 43.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    What happened to the cool HTML formatting buttons for the comment editing box?

    We were bad so they took them away. Wait til you see the Black Screen of Censorship.

  44. 44.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Hey…I saw a sign behind Tweety that read:
    McFAILin
    It looked super slick and professionally made. I’d never seen it before, but I liked it a lot, and I think someone on this site surely must’ve created it.

    Don’t say that. None of us will ever be able to get on an airplane again.

  45. 45.

    ThymeZone

    Biden gave an answer and Palin wrote a Red State post.

    And if that is what happens tonight, that’s fine. Palin’s base will think she is "just like us" and be pleased.

    Obama’s base will think Biden is "prepared and informed" and be pleased.

    Then there are those poor souls who are "undecided."

    How do they react? I think they react largely in accordance with existing numbers, and go 60-40 toward our side.

    And so by this weekend, we have 12-13 point lead.

  47. 47.

    Jeff

    @Comrade Incertus: He actually said he opposed it; but, it was not his decision because the President decides the policy. I dislike defending Cheney, but I believe he was not completely silent. He was hypocritical about getting pissed at Kerry during the debates.

  48. 48.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    Completely off-topic, but what the hell happened to PC hardware prices? A $200 video card (9800GTX) today beats the shit out of a $600 video card (8800 Ultra) available six months ago!?!? What happened in the last six months?

  49. 49.

    JL

    Bio’s would be interesting. John was an old fashioned repub before they became the big spenders and social conservatives. It has been fun to watch the transformation. Of course some of us realized that the repubs died with Reagan’s firing of David Stockman.

  50. 50.

    Lab2112

    So what will you welfare-grubbing socialists do right after Palin indisputably demolishes Biden on live television?

    (Here’s a hint: the Japanese have this thing called seppuku. You might want to look into that and do the rest of us a favor.)

  51. 51.

    Keith

    Palin mentions Track and/or Trig -> 1 sip
    Palin mentions Bristol -> 1 chug
    Palin mentions Hillary -> 1 sip
    Biden says "Sarah, I know Hillary….you’re no Hillary" -> 1 chug
    Palin says "Gwen" more than 3 times in a single response -> 1 sip per "Gwen"
    Palin spews out an obviously pre-rehearsed and thus obviously out-of-place joke about Biden -> 1 sip
    Biden scratches his nose with his middle finger in response to a Palin crack -> chug
    Palin cries -> beer bong the rest of your booze

    OT, Dana Bash looks like something out a Tim Burton claymation flick on HDTV. Yeeeeeeesh. Too bad Ann Coulter doesn’t appear on CNN because that should be even worse.

  52. 52.

    JGabriel

    Politico:

    Sarah Palin plans to go on the attack in tonight’s debate…

    You can put lipstick on a pitbull, but it’s still a violent bitch.

    .

  53. 53.

    Comrade Incertus

    @MikeL: Oh the wingnuts are gonna love this.

    University of Idaho journalism professor Abubakar Alhassan told Conde Nast Porfolio that he didn’t see any ethical violations in the questions asked by Gibson and Couric.

  54. 54.

    DrDave

    @Not My Fault:

    She is more like Bush than Bush is. Reminds me of when Bush was asked about his best moment in office and he said catching a big fish

    She speaks with more confidence than Bush does. But–and this is the part about her that scares the living shit out of me–she makes him look worldly by comparison. She is either too stupid or too pompous or too naive to recognize how far out of her depth she is.

  55. 55.

    JL

    KO is talking about Palin’s answer about Cheney. I’m still curious why The Flintstones wasn’t her favorite movie. Afterall it was a show about ordinary folks living among dinosaurs.

  56. 56.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Completely off-topic, but what the hell happened to PC hardware prices?
    Any piece of PC hardware is obsolete and overpriced by the time you install it.

  57. 57.

    JL

    Now that John has a fancy site, he is going to attract more trolls. Just remember not to feed them.

  58. 58.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    the irony is that she doesn’t realize she has become a caricature.

    Acutally, I believe she does. Recall the Couric interview piece about "seeing Russia", was it? Palin started to say how funny it was that this bit about her foreign policy experience had become a…a…car…i…car…ica….
    and Katie offered: "MOCKED".
    (At least that’s how my memory stored it.)
    I thought she was about to say it had become a caricature of her but maybe didn’t know how to prounounce the word so held back.
    She knows.

    Lookit me, blockquotin’ all good and all. I feel like hollerin’, y’all.
    It’s too early to be +2.5. I’d better eat another Mooseburger.
    And now I am craving PINOT, thanks very much, South of I-10!

  59. 59.

    JGabriel

    A couple weeks ago there was a video clip of Joe Biden talking about Republicans, how they remind him of those mean kids who used to come up to you in school and say "Hey, nice shoes. Hand-me-downs from your brother?"

    I hope Joe remembers to use that story tonight when Sarah goes mean.

    .

  60. 60.

    PC

    Completely off-topic, but what the hell happened to PC hardware prices?

    What’s wrong with my prices?

  61. 61.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    Any piece of PC hardware is obsolete and overpriced by the time you install it.

    Yeah, but price vs. performance has been pretty much stable for the last year and a half. Did something special happen or were they just trying to weasel money out of people for overpriced hardware for as long as possible?

  62. 62.

    Dennis - SGMM

    So what will you welfare-grubbing socialists do right after Palin indisputably demolishes Biden on live television?

    We’ll do just what you do: believe in an alternate reality.

    As for seppuku, who will pay all the tax money to the Red states after we’re gone? Left to your own exertions, grinding poverty is the best you can do.

  63. 63.

    tagged45

    I second the call for mini bios on the site. I want to know who I’m getting my ill-informed opinion from!

  65. 65.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Did something special happen or were they just trying to weasel money out of people for overpriced hardware for as long as possible?
    The arms race between the game developers was driving hardware requirements for years. They may have reached the limits of DirectX whateveritis.

  66. 66.

    Stevenovitch

    Yeah, but price vs. performance has been pretty much stable for the last year and a half. Did something special happen or were they just trying to weasel money out of people for overpriced hardware for as long as possible?

    The 8800 was way over the usual price when it came out. It came out alongside Vista when all the enthusiasts were building new rigs to take advantage of Vista’s supposed performance boost. At the time, the 8800 was the only high end card that supported dx10. IIRC it took ATI a good amount of time to come up with a competing card. Given that they were the only ones in the market space, nVidia charged accordingly.

    Of course, nVidia released shitty drivers for it and stability was a huge issue for a lot of early adopters. Also, it turned out that Vista and dx10 was actually hurting performance more than helping it.

  67. 67.

    Svensker

    Now that John has a fancy site, he is going to attract more trolls. Just remember not to feed them.

    Oh, please, can we feed them? Please? Just some little bits of dried up, moldy bread? I’ve got ’em right here, next to the computer and everything. Please?

    I just get all hot and sort of tingly when I get called a socialist. It makes me feel so blonde and, well, svelte, ya know?

  69. 69.

    JGabriel

    Scrutinizer:

    So now the McCain campaign is saying that CBS left the good answers on the cutting room floor, and ran the answers that made Palin look bad.

    Theresa the CBS Cleaning Lady:

    DAY-UM! No wonder the editing room was so spotless this week.

    .

  70. 70.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    JL:
    See #13 with an assist from my NBF Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    I liked the little buttons because they offered me a vast variety of resources in one tiny little tidy package. All I had to do was choose one and click on. And then choose it again and click again. And such as. And all. Y’all.

  71. 71.

    Phoenician in a time of Romans

    Palin: Worst thing, I guess that would have been the duck-hunting accident, where you know, that was an accident. And that I think that was made into a caricature of him. And that was kind of unfortunate.

    Riffing on a recent video:

    Palin for Vice-President! If she shoots you in the face, you know she means it.

  72. 72.

    r€nato

    I would love to watch the debate – hoping for a righteous smackdown – but FSM I can’t stand to listen to that woman’s voice.

    I’ll be drinking too, just to take the edge off and get through it without flinging objects at the TV screen.

  73. 73.

    South of I-10

    And now I am craving PINOT, thanks very much, South of I-10!

    Sorry about that. There is still time to run to the store and endulge in the elitist snobbery of a nice Pinot. I am currently enjoying the Sebastiani Pinot. If the debate gets really bad, I have some High Life in the fridge as back up.

  74. 74.

    r€nato

    So now the McCain campaign is saying that CBS left the good answers on the cutting room floor, and ran the answers that made Palin look bad.

    Yeah, that is probably the audio slate she laid down at the beginning of the interview.

    (audio slate is where the interview subject says their name and spells it right at the beginning of the interview)

    It was all downhill from there, but technically I’ll give the McCain camp the benefit of the doubt on that one… though it’s nothing to be proud of.

  75. 75.

    Dennis - SGMM

    I’ve got it:

    Palin: (Holding pistol to her head) Either I win this debate or the bitch gets it!
    Media: Okay, okay. You win.

  78. 78.

    South of I-10

    No matter how this turns out tonight for Palin, I am embarrassed for my country.

    I am less embarassed than I am afraid. The thought of Palin in the White House scares the hell out of me. I don’t understand how seemingly rational people can think she is great – have they listened to a word she has said?

  79. 79.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    JGabriel

    What’s wrong with my prices?

    They’re higher than your momma’s!

    It really sucks when you laugh at 8:42EST and realize it’s the first LOL all day.
    But I thank you for it, anyway.
    Fucking politics. Sucking out all of my funny.

    (man I love the edit feature but I might need more help with my block quoting if this here edit doesn’t take.)

  80. 80.

    Keith

    Did something special happen or were they just trying to weasel money out of people for overpriced hardware for as long as possible?

    Part of it may be ATI (since bought by AMD) and nVidia were defendents in a class action lawsuit related to price-fixing of their cards. The $600 cards were pretty damn ridiculous, IMO, and I’m glad to hear the price/performance is so good at $200 now (my machine is pushing 4 years old).

  81. 81.

    Delia

    I have no idea how to use that frakkin’ html code to embed links. And last night I’d just figured out how to use the exclamation marks to embed images. Does still work? And I already know the screen’s going to turn black if the thread gets too long. Damn newfangled shit.

  83. 83.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    Delia, the !! for images works. See my Annie putting lipstick on Sarah pig above.
    I’m now struggling with blockquotes.
    But I am a total homo-t-l blockhead.

    Oooo…12 min till showdown.
    I hope they take potty breaks tonight!
    Surely they will, for Sarah’s sake, if not mine.

  84. 84.

    Tsulagi

    Are the "Palin won the debate!" ads out yet?

    I know it’s way to much to ask for, but I’m hoping she’ll slide into full Miss SC mode. Maybe propose building an oil molecule collider to unlock the secrets of fungible particles in job creation. That would be a lot better entertainment than if she comes out as an attack chihuahua.

  85. 85.

    JL

    @Delia: so do you miss the word press error, also? On KO they are now talking about how Palin has to show the depth of her knowledge. What knowledge does Palin have?

  86. 86.

    Louise

    South of I-10, I’m with you. I’m afraid. Afraid she’ll somehow come out of this debate alive and well and the press will decide "ok, we’ve been hard on McCain-Palin for a while so let’s steer things the other way." After all, only a close race sells advertising. And the polls will shift again and God Help Us, those two will be in the White House.

    I truly don’t know how I"ll get out of bed in the morning if that happens.

    I don’t think I can watch. I think I’ll just watch all of you watch.

  87. 87.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    John, I hate most of the new look of the site, hate the font, hate the alternating colors in the comments, hate all the fucking commenter pics, hate the giant calender-looking numbers on the comments, hate the overwrought blockquoting.

    I like the new Balloon-Juice header.

    Otherwise, it’s just too much trouble reading the site now. A situation exacerbated by the hideous amount of commenting crap that seems to be a by-product of easier site access.

    I’ll try to adjust to it.

    Nevermind, comment-editing compensates for all the bad stuff.

    And the comment-editing timer is a real plus. Otherwise, I’d prolly only be able to get one comment – heavily edited of course – in per day.

  89. 89.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    I’m not chugging tonight, but I don’t think I can get through this debate without a few sips at least.

    Here we go…

  90. 90.

    gex

    I don’t understand how seemingly rational people can think she is great – have they listened to a word she has said?

    A recent study found that conservatives are more likely to hang on to their belief in something that is untrue when presented with evidence of it’s untruth. Of course, I’m giving conservatives the benefit of the doubt on your qualifier "rational".

  92. 92.

    JGabriel

    Just Some Fuckhead:

    John, I hate most of the new look of the site, hate the font…

    JSF, the font looks much better if you turn on Clear Type rendering/aliasing.

    Frankly, I hate Clear Type so much that I do without and suffer the font as is. But if you have no particular aversion to Clear Type, you might want to try turning it on.

    .

  93. 93.

    Brian J

    There’s a post at TPM Election Central that talks about how Indiana and North Carolina are way too close for comfort for the Republicans. Have we gotten to the point where they are already lost for the Republicans, or are they usually so Republican in nature that it’s really not over until it’s over in these states?

  96. 96.

    Conservatively Liberal

    I expect to see Sarah burning up the 90 second clock by slowing down her responses so she says less with each response. She tends to respond quickly (without thinking) and I bet they have been working hard to throttle her back to reduce the chances for gaffes.

    It starts! Fore! ;)

  97. 97.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    I have a feeling the CNN "this is what you’re supposed to think"-meter will be fun tonight.

  100. 100.

    JGabriel

    I can call you Sarah
    And Sarah, when you call me,
    You can call me Joooe…

    (Apologies to Paul Simon)

    .

  101. 101.

    Delia

    On KO they are now talking about how Palin has to show the depth of her knowledge. What knowledge does Palin have?

    Palin has the esoteric knowledge of the college freshman who has neglected to crack a book for her midterm essay exam, knows nothing of the topic and is trying to bullshit her way through the exam.

    (And I still miss my html buttons.)

  103. 103.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    "I’ll betcha!" = swig.

    Shit. Wish the Beer Store delivered.

  104. 104.

    Doug H. (Fausto no more)

    Five minutes in and we have our first ‘betcha’.

    Damn, she really is Marge Gunderson’s sister.

  107. 107.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    Hah! The meter dipped as soon as she said "John McCain." Hell, it dipped every time she said "John McCain."

  112. 112.

    LiberalTarian

    Just some fuckhead.

    Why let the door hit you on the ass on your way out?

    I contributed … I feel pretty good about what we got.

    From the preview it looks like the old html works, which is good. I’m kinda slow on new stuff. But, I love being able to imbed pics, etc. And, being able to edit??? LOVELY. Goodonya John.

    Well, at least the edit works.

  115. 115.

    Doug H. (Fausto no more)

    Why am I hearing Don Henley singing ‘Dirty Laundry’ in the background?

  117. 117.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    "Darn right it was the predator lenders."

    Jesus. She’s two minutes from slipping in a chaw of tabbacky.

    EDIT: Joe Six Pack and hockey moms? She is just monumentally self-involved, isn’t she?

  119. 119.

    Chris Johnson

    Hey, my name links to a whole web-comic with all kinds of bizarre fiction writing and stuff. Plus I’m a socialist and so is my Senator. So I can say whatever the fuck I want, knowing that nobody will ever be compelled to take me seriously. You’re welcome :D

  121. 121.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    Wink Maverick Reformer.
    You Betcha’!

    My cringe factor is stroking out.

    Joe Six Pack!
    Hockey Mom!
    She’s blowing her circuits in the 3rd question.

    I can’t believe she winked.
    Hurtin’
    Heck of a lot
    Oh Lord my head is exploding.

  122. 122.

    kommrade jakevich

    I can’t do it. I can’t watch to that critter with the Pseudo-sota accent pretend she has any qualifications beyond a pulse to be anywhere near the White House as anything other than a tourist.

  123. 123.

    Comrade Kolkhoznik Jon H

    Hey BIDEN! Look at the goddam camera, dumbass.

    Thanks. (He just looked).

  124. 124.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    I’m listening from upstairs, can’t watch.

    Ooh. She’s slamming Barack about taxes. Joe is gonna kick her ass — kindly and non-sexistly.

  127. 127.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Joe: "Using those standards, McCain voted 447 times to raise taxes. You didn’t answer the question …"

    Now she’s arguing that she may not answer the way he or the moderator wants, but she’ll speak straight to the American people. Now bragging about how she eliminated taxes in Alaska — ARRGH!!

    Someone who gets CNN: what does the tracker show?

    And I think the series of shorter questions and answers is going to exhaust her.

    Shit, Wini: are they falling for the bullshit?

  128. 128.

    cain

    I’m watching on CSPAN.. I don’t want no talking heads. Sometimes, I have a hard time following Palin’s explanations…
     
    Overall, I find this kind of boring as it’s the same campaign talking points. She is charming though as we thought she would be.

    cain

  129. 129.

    Wini

    Someone who gets CNN: what does the tracker show?

    They like her. I don’t get it. And I’m an idiot who can’t use blockquotes.

  130. 130.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    The ticker shows male uncommitted Ohio voters in green and female uncommitted Ohio voters in orange.

  131. 131.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Christ, Biden is making me cringe. He looks and sounds tired. Pretty sure he should be napping on the train to Wilmington right now.

  134. 134.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Come on: did CNN go for Joe’s home run on health? They can’t be buying her nonsense, can they?

    God. I’m moving to Canada.

    Oh, shit. I’m already here. And if you guys fuck up the election, we get a dose of your shit, too.

    I just turned off the tv. I can’t take this.

  135. 135.

    cain

    Christ, Biden is making me cringe. He looks and sounds tired. Pretty sure he should be napping on the train to Wilmington right now.

    Yeah, there was some cringe-worthy stuff that. I wish Biden would fucking look at the camera and smile like Palin does.
     
    No more from me for awhile..
    cain

  136. 136.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    I think the reason why she’s getting higher meter readings that we would expect is that people are judging her on personality, not on policy answers. Biden gets some very high scores among women though. Palin is getting straight flat line on energy answer. Good!

  137. 137.

    dr. bloor

    She’s chopping her stump speech into small, time allotted bits that frequently have nothing to do with the posed questions. This will delight the base and fail epically with everyone else.

  138. 138.

    tavella

    They like her. I don’t get it.

    Remember, you are talking about people so disconnected that they still have no idea who they want to vote for. These are not people who are affected by facts or reality, they go off of emotion.

  139. 139.

    Wini

    On CNN, they’re liking Joe more now… maybe the Palin "charm" is wearing off? Plus, it’s only Ohio… so while important, not representative of all of us.

  140. 140.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    She did it she did it she did it!
    About 9:25EST.
    She blew her circuits on the BK question!
    98 talking point phrases strung together.
    I wanna see it in replay!
    Here she goes again…changing the subject.
    God this is way better than I’d hoped.

    I’m sure it’ll be spun tomorrow as patronizing, but I LOVE Biden’s big white teeth smile at her.
    He just keeps flashing her.
    I mean, what’s not to laugh at?

    Good Lord. She’s doing just what they said she would. Talking relentlessly, in circles. In poor grammar and crappy sentence structure.
    I’m so happy.
    pppppuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
    Oh no! Temp changes!
    I wanna see this on replay too.
    I wanna see the whole debate on replay. Day after day after day.
    Do you think McCain is needing a Depends change about now?
    Breathe, Sarah, BREATHE.

  141. 141.

    ThymeZone

    She is not one to attribute every activity of man to the change in the climate.

    A complete bunglefuck of the idea she made the other day, which I thought was a mistake of nervousness …. but here it was again.

    Okay, maybe she means it. Man’s actitivity is not due to global warming.

    On that, I agree with her. She’s right, doggone it!

    BTW, getting a "comments closed" and Word Press error when posting to top thread.

  142. 142.

    jcricket

    I am Tivo-ing the debate so I can watch it on fast forward later (my wife would blow a gasket watching 2 hours of politics). But I’m reading the live blogging here and elsewhere.

    I am so happy she’s not doing well. I don’t care if she comes out "unscathed" and gets some "kudos" for not calling Biden a "doddering old fool" or a "radical homosexual" or whatever. I just don’t want anything to change the narrative of Palin and McCain in free-fall.

  143. 143.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    I can’t stay away.

    I can’t even open BJ from IE: I eventually get the mobile version after several crashes, then it crashes again.

  144. 144.

    kommrade jakevich

    Marriage is between one man and one woman.

    Or one teen-aged girl and one fucking redneck boy.

    Christ, I can’t believe the Log Cabin Republicans are going for this crap.

  145. 145.

    jcricket

    Breathe, Sarah, BREATHE.

    No no no. Hold your breath while waiting to answer, and then spew out whatever comes to your mind. Please Sarah.

  148. 148.

    kommrade jakevich

    Eh John, what’s with the comments, or lack thereof in the next thread.

    Aaand, apparently soldiers and civilians alike will be happy to hear we have to stay in Iraq until Al Quiada, Sunni and Shite insurgents are gone, Iraq has a functioning government and the elusive victory pony is captured.

    Fail.

  149. 149.

    Conservatively Liberal

    I lost the ability to comment in the other thread. Wassup?

    Sarah is in over her head and flailing wildly.

  150. 150.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    Yeah, they moved the party to a new thread and locked us out.
    I don’t know what offends me more…that or Sarah.
    Jesus Christ I hope people see right through this crap.
    I don’t think I’ve ever hated her more.
    I don’t say hate a lot.
    If Obama were not tearing up the electoral map this week, I’d be figuring out how to move 4 cats and one dog to Italy tonight.
    ooooooooo…foreign affairs up now!

  151. 151.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    I think one of the updates killed the comments in the next thread. Bug, or did John hit the wrong button?

  152. 152.

    jcricket

    Christ, I can’t believe the Log Cabin Republicans are going for this crap.

    I’m actually acquainted with the guy who’s the pres (or was) of the log cabin republicans in WA state. He’s like Sullivan – anti abortion, anti-taxes and pro-war – so that trumps any rights for himself.

    He’s otherwise a reasonably smart guy, but I can’t get past his poor judgment as part of that organization.

    30 years ago? Maybe. But in the last 10 years? Not a chance a gay person belongs in the Republican party. They hate gays – tolerating them even less than Jews (who have to exist so the Rapture can occur).

    Gays who vote for Republicans are idiots, plain and simple.

  153. 153.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    (CNN tracking scores update? Do women still meh her and men still love her?)

    Bugs and stuff: the debate thread was up to 83 comments, then dropped to 81, before it got locked. I didn’t see anything odd posted and if it was an update, why does this thread still work?

  154. 154.

    AnneLaurie

    A couple weeks ago there was a video clip of Joe Biden talking about Republicans, how they remind him of those mean kids who used to come up to you in school and say "Hey, nice shoes. Hand-me-downs from your brother?"

    The female equivalent is "You are soooo pretty in that dress! I think it looks even better on you than it did when I wore it to last year’s prom!"

    Except that this debate is supposed to be about ideas, not fashions, and any useful ideas Palin may spout will have been stolen from members of the reality-based community, i.e., not-Republicans…

  156. 156.

    Delia

    Biden sounds like he really knows what he’s talking about on Pakistan. Then we get Palin who goes to her cliches.

    Nukular.

    Castro brothers. She can’t even stay on topic.

  157. 157.

    Conservatively Liberal

    Nook-U-lar…

    Now she is tossing out the dictators list she was given to show that she can pronounce funny sounding names!

    I’m sold!

  158. 158.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    Andrew Sullivan thinks Ifill is in the tank for Palin, and that Biden is dreadful. That’s just him, right?

  159. 159.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    (CNN tracking scores update? Do women still meh her and men still love her?)

    No, now pretty much everyone mehs her.

  161. 161.

    4jkb4ia

    I wonder if she was coached to say "nukular". The scriptedness of this last answer was transparent.

  163. 163.

    Wini

    I love that both Biden and Obama have corrected the Iran meme that Ahkmadinejad is in the ultimate in charge..

  166. 166.

    Delia

    Andrew Sullivan thinks Ifill is in the tank for Palin, and that Biden is dreadful. That’s just him, right?/

    Let’s just say that Sully can be eccentric.

  167. 167.

    The Moar You Know

    I can’t do it, guys. I can’t watch that stupid brain-dead simpleton up there, so supremely confident in her imagined competence as she spews out garbled talking points like a high-school drunk vomits up wine coolers. She’s a fucking idiot. I’m going to go take a shower and have a drink and then go to bed. It’s a goddamned insult to me, all of you, America, Joe Biden and Gwen Ifill for Sarah Palin to even be on that stage, and she should apologize to each and every one of us, personally, for wasting all of our time and energy. And so should the fossilized old lech that is reponsible for this insult to mediocrity being up on that stage, John McCain.

  168. 168.

    jcricket

    Andrew Sullivan thinks Ifill is in the tank for Palin, and that Biden is dreadful. That’s just him, right?

    Sullivan’s judgment is ridiculously bad. He’s about as good at political judgment as Jim Cramer is at picking stocks.

    Occasionally he hits something out of the park (his opposition to torture), but most of the time he’s just word-masturbating and promoting Platonic ideals of principles that no one in his party has ever lived up to.

    We listen to him because we think people with British accents sound smart.

    I don’t predict the public will see the debate as negatively for Palin as the partisan blogs are reporting, but unless it’s all about her glittering smile, it seems like this won’t change the narrative that’s already in people’s minds about Palin (vague, unprepared, but friendly).

  169. 169.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    Uh, oh. As I post this, I’m staring at comment number 163. As you gaze for long into an abyss…

    And, yet, there is no black censor bar. Fixed?

  171. 171.

    Jane Jug-Wine (aka Laura W)

    Post of the day
    #167
    (I read Sully and ran right back here. I can’t believe he is watching the same shit I am.)
    Really…I only dared hope she’d be this bad.
    I feared she’d be a little less bad.
    She blows chunks.
    I’m not gonna say one word about Biden that’s negative because she is just horrifying and like Moar says, I feel pity he has to share the stage with her.
    However, he needs to stop SIGHING so loudly into his mic.
    I’ve heard him do it 3 times, and he’s gonna get busted for it if he doesn’t start holding his breath.
    Then he can just stroke out and end this stations of the cross torture parade.
    (Catholic school girl flashbacks in progress.)

  172. 172.

    CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII

    You know, I keep hearing her say "what’s best for the people" but she never explains WTF that means! I’m pretty sure she and I would disagree on what’s best for the people.

  174. 174.

    charlotte

    Shorter Palin: "I’m proud to be dumb and also too inappropriate!"

    Somewhere in the America Tina Fey is winking straight into her mirror.

    I thought I detected one moment there where Biden struggled not to LOL. That man deserves a medal.

Comments are closed.