The Last Debate

One of George W.'s internets is all abuzz today.

Here are the most interesting debate tidbits posted so far:

He drooled spittle from the side of his mouth.*
He was probably taking propranolol -- a beta blocker. It is sometimes prescribed for people with performance anxiety. Side effect: excess salivation. It also can decrease ability to focus/concentrate.

It is prescribed for speaking anxiety. It decreases heart rate in the presence of sympathetic nervous system activation, the so called flight vs. fight response. Beta-blockers such as propanolol block norepinephrine from the beta-andergenic receptors in the lungs and heart.

It's pretty sad when the President of the United States has to take meds for performance anxiety before appearing in a debate. He has lost all self-confidence.

Has George W. had a stroke? The left side of his face drooped more and more as the evening wore on.

His memory is shot. He only met with the Congressional Black Caucus because they showed up at the White House and refused to leave.* He didn't remember saying that Bin Laden was no longer his great concern.*

He's either wired again or he's wearing a back brace. (I think it's a back brace. George W. obviously has an auditory perception problem; therefore, a listening device would be even more disastrous than his normal cocaine-addled responses.)

A lip reader claims that, after the debate ended, George W. asked Senator Kerry to meet with him privately. (Hmmmmmmmm.)

George W. actually acknowledged for the first time that some Americans might not believe in a god, and that's OK.

"Marrying up" only matters if it's morganatic, George W. ( This is my own personal take on the "Women in my life" question. Quick! Give the W. man a dictionary, for something's-possibly-out-there's sake!)

Bush could hardly talk. Not that this is terribly unusual for Woody, though. He was slightly pausing while trying to say simple words. This man is seriously stupid or he has some sort of a mental problem.

When George Jr. said, "It sounds like one of those EXAGGERATIONS,"* do you think he forgot who he was debating? Did he flash back to 2000? It seemed to me that he got his name calling mixed up.

Bush's religion statement really scared the bejeezus out of me. I believe that God wants everybody to be free. That‘s what I believe. And that‘s been part of my foreign policy.*

WTF??? Now GOD is dictating foreign policy in this country?? I was stunned NO pundits made hay of this, but just the opposite. They found it glorious. Sorry, but this is just BIZARRE.

Bush was lying his ass off last night ...
Bush slashed Pell grants and then put a little money into them in the latest budget so he could technically "not lie" about cutting them.
These guys are VERY pro-active about their half truths.

So, according to the shrub, the problem with jobs is not outsourcing...
...it's that we are stupid, and uneducated, and have been passed through the school system without learning anything.
But perhaps the best way to keep jobs here in America and to keep this economy growing is to make sure our education system works.
I went to Washington to solve problems. And I saw a problem in the public education system in America. They were just shuffling too many kids through the system, year after year, grade after grade, without learning the basics.*
So he is basically telling someone who is 53 years old, and has been working for the last 30 years, and just lost their job and pension, to someone in Calcutta, that they need to go back to school and learn a new trade. And that's assuming that the SOB does not do away with the JC system, or public schools completely if he is allowed to disgrace the oval office for another 4 years.
And people are STILL undecided about this guy?

Ah, Youth!

From a debating standpoint, George Bush was constantly on the defensive while Kerry, for the third time, acted as the more presidential of the two. Bush failed to provide significant backing for his statements, instead resorting to childish defensiveness against legitimate political attacks." (from Eric Perelman, 16, Spanish River High School)

Kerry presented a persuasive alternative to the spiral downward that the incumbent has (mis)lead us into." (from Bret Vallacher, 16, St. Andrews School)

"Overall Sen. Kerry stressed that he is working for the benefit of the majority of the American people. He stated what his plans for the country are and more importantly how they would be accomplished, which was exactly what he needed to do to further strengthen his position on domestic policy, whereas President Bush [spent] his time either slamming Kerry's plans or reiterating his plans that are already enacted and are proven not to work." (from Austin Siegel, 15, Spanish River High School)

And from the New York Times:

Yet even his smile was askew for about half the debate, marred by a glistening light dot at the right corner of his mouth. Viewers could be forgiven for losing track of his answers and imagining Laura Bush in the front row in frantic semaphore, wiping furiously at the corner of her own mouth.

Mr. Bush's face slipped into a frown late in the debate, as he struggled with a question on why the nation was so divided under his leadership. He began thumping one hand flat onto his lectern, knitting his brows as he segued to a defense of his management of the Iraq war.

But, in answering the next question, he recovered his balance as he described advice he received from his family, advice that was clearly much on his mind: "To stand up straight and not scowl." LINK

*Fact or exact quote