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mygif

Aw yeah here we go

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Jilliterate said on October 3rd, 2012 at 9:08 pm

Did Romney just hit on Obama? Could love be blooming on the campaign trail?

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JCHandsom said on October 3rd, 2012 at 9:09 pm

We have learned something new in this debate: Romney-Tron has received an upgrade to his humor software!

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mygif

Boy, Clinton really gave the President a roadmap for this debate at the convention, didn’t he.

I do sort of wish Obama had stuck the shiv in when Romney mentioned the Supercommittee, seeing how his VP killed the committee’s recommendations.

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mygif

Q: Mister Romney, what is your plan?

A: I’ll tell you what my plan isn’t!

Honestly, the President seems intelligent, collected, and reasonable. Mitt Romney seems like he’s getting ready to turn into the Incredible Hulk.

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mygif

I think we’re, what, 0 for 3 on the practiced zingers. Although I do want to see Big Bird walk on stage right now and kick Romney’s ass.

Jesus, the look on Romney’s face when Obama mentioned Romney’s answers during the Republican clown car debates the face of a man who know he’s lost.

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Jilliterate said on October 3rd, 2012 at 9:51 pm

Holy cow, I think Romney has spent as much time debating with Jim Lehrer as he has with Obama. “No, no, let’s keep talking about what I’m interested in!”

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mygif

Appropos of nothing, does anyone know how I can contact Jim Lehrer? I think I just found his balls lying out in the yard, and I assume he’d like to get them back.

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mygif

I’m loving it.

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mygif

Romney really things his Death Panels dog whistle is a winner.

I know I’m not remotely objective here, but Romney looks really shifty, while Obama seems really relaxed. Romney’s all nervous energy, drifting eyes, and rapid speech. I guess Romney decided he was going to come out punching, and keep jabbing throughout.

I wonder if Romney’s bulling of Lehrer is going to reinforce his general reputation as an asshole.

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mygif

Romney compares himself to Reagan. Obama compares himself to Lincoln. Guess who wins that comparison?

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mygif

I love how Romney essentially said he was going to fuck Sesame Street. I’m sure that plays real well with middle America.

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CanukistaniJohn said on October 3rd, 2012 at 10:20 pm

Well, according to Deadlands, Lincoln was an asskicking zombie hero. Where my own youthful remembrance is of Regan being just a gassy zombie, so….

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Jilliterate said on October 3rd, 2012 at 10:22 pm

John 2.0: Absolutely. My boyfriend just walked in the room and was like, “God, Romney just seems shifty.”

For the first 15 minutes or so, it seemed like Romney was more focussed (Like a laser beam!) and Obama seemed a bit sleepy. Then Romney kind of spun out of control and now seems like he’s sweating into his hair, whereas Obama has stayed almost eerily calm.

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mygif

Let’s grade our schools so parents can choose which schools their kids go to.

THAT’S NOT HOW PUBLIC SCHOOLS WORK!

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mygif

Romney will probably get a bump overall, but it’s hard to say what the long term effect will be.

At least that’s what I tell myself as I pour the wine.

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mygif

Okay, I’m watching MSNBC, and Chris Mathews is having a stroke and the rest of the team is screaming that Obama was playing Prevent Defense. I know they wanted blood (and I would have liked some pushback on the $716 billion cut to medicare bullshit too), and that really didn’t happen.

Maybe it’s that I’ve had too many debate beers (the Sam Adams IPA is pretty good, by the way), or maybe I’m trying to put a positive spin on things, but I can see a dozen or so 30-second ads coming out of this debate. I think Romney lied, abandoned just about every position he’s taken so far, or at least contradicted himself on every major policy point.

Was this an off night, or rope-a-dope, or something else? No idea, but I hope the next debate has a bit more structure to it.

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Mitchell Hundred said on October 3rd, 2012 at 11:04 pm

I don’t know, I kind of think that Romney came out on top of this one. People tend to perceive him as a wooden speaker, but he really engaged Obama’s points and arguments in a lively manner. Obama came across to me as more wooden, like he was just handing out canned responses.

Of course, most of the stuff that Romney talked about falls apart if you think about it or do some research. But like you said, MGK, the only people being swayed by this are those who are convinced by bullshit. If Obama’s going to win this (and I really do want him to), he’s going to have to step up his game next time.

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Soulless Merchant of Fear said on October 3rd, 2012 at 11:13 pm

The media will hype that Romney won, if slightly, because they need for it to be that way. (I’d score it that it was a tie for style, but in substance, Romney shit the bed. Fortunately for him, substance barely enters into this.)

The media mantra for the next month: “Now it’s a horserace.” Because they’re fucking dying for it to be a horserace. They’re bored off their asses and they want the ratings of a tight, exciting race.

Plus, Romney’s getting exposure, which will help his numbers anyway.

Obama’s lead will drop by two or two and a half points until the next debate.

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mygif

Really? Only listened to it, and I’d have to say, Romney owned it, at least on appearances. Not even if what he was saying was accurate, he at least had the appearance of being concise and aggressive. Obama stumbled all over the place and stuttered, and was just a lot more boring to listen to. Not to mention Romney just barreled over Lehrer, who did a terrible job of moderating and holding them to their time and topics.

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mygif

I’m baffled as to why the media is saying that this was a win for Romney. Granted, he did a good job, being dynamic and going on the attack a lot. And Obama did seem more conversational and laid back in his approach, which looked weaker compared to Romney’s “feistiness”.

But the thing is this they weren’t auditioning for the role of president, they were DEBATING. And Obama clearly had him pegged in terms of substance, repeatedly calling out Romney’s bs’ing and vaugeness while pointing out the strengths of his policies and their specifics.

I suppose when the bar is that low for a candidate it is hard not to succeed.

P.S Should Obama have gone after the 47% figure? Seems a bit like mudslinging but everyone in the media is saying he dropped the ball.

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mygif

Very enjoyable and accurate. I would point out the over-rehearsed feeling about Romney with his sheath of cue sheets which he constantly checked and his fixed smile? flashing his sharp teeth and empty eyes and his interspersed”heh heh”s and his rather obvious attempts to get in all his pre-packed”zingers” which were not nearly all picked up especially his “Drill, baby drill” series.Very good rehash of the whole thing on your part

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Les Fontenelle said on October 4th, 2012 at 12:54 pm

The media’s best-case scenario would be a shouting match, which would’ve been ratings gold. They want/need a tight race, otherwise it’s anticlimactic.

Romney was more aggressive because he HAD to be, in order to cover for all the ground he lost to his own mouth. Obama apparently tried to “take the high road” and ignore Romney’s jabs, but on a strictly superficial level (which is what most people operate on) it made it look like Romney had him on the ropes. Romney continues to flip-flop furiously as needed at any given time, and it’s impossible to discuss policy with someone whose policies are shrouded in secrecy. Which parts of Obamacare will Mitt repeal and which parts will he keep? He’ll only say after the elections. Which social programs will he cut? The answer is “no spoilers”! Which parts of the financial regulations will be repeal or preserve? The Shadow knows! Obama pointed out Romney’s complete lack of substance once, but it was far from enough. It was like wrestling with vapor, any reference to Ryan’s budget or promises Romney made during the primaries was answered with “nuh uh, that’s totally not what I’m gonna do”.

If Romney “won” it was on style and not on substance, because he refuses to have any substance at all. He’s in favor of the constitution and likes Big Bird, that’s all the voters need to know!

I hope Obama is less passive next time, and it would be nice if the next debate’s moderator had a spine.

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mygif

This article basically boils down to “Fuck Mitt Romney,” from what I can see.

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mygif

Probably because America has a big old question to ask itself and “Fuck Mitt Romney” is the correct answer.

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mygif

I really enjoy reading your blog, and agree with your political viewpoints and, mostly, opinions on comic books. As a fan, I really wish you wouldn’t use the word “retard” in the way that you occasionally do. I can’t imagine that, in a published setting, you would say “f*ggot,” or use the n-word, or even lighter slurs. Why, then, is calling someone a retard acceptable? I’m not trying to get on a high horse about it- Lord knows it took me quite a while to filter the word from my vocabulary. But I did, and I think that it’s an important thing to do, as a means of combating (or, at the very least, not actively adding to) prejudice and ableism.

Hopefully something to think about.

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mygif

Romney is all flash and histrionics, but sadly so very very thin on specifics. I prefer my leaders to be calmer and actually have a grasp on reality.

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highlyverbal said on October 4th, 2012 at 5:49 pm

@Wesley B: “Why, then, is calling someone a retard acceptable?”

“Retard” and “retardation” are very complicated words… they arose originally as more pleasing ways to avoid ableism embedded in terms like “moron” and “idiot” and “imbecile” which actually had distinct, pseudo-medical definitions. In other words, the appellation “retard” arose not out of an attempt to harm or slur those groups, but to help them.

The other words you mention are in no way analogous. In fact, your examples both represent the spearpoint of an entire edifice of societal prejudice. Kinda the opposite. Further, there are lots of reasonable ways to use “retard” in conversation and when you aren’t talking about intelligence, it seems fine. (e.g. smoking cigarettes as an adolescent can retard growth)

===========

I personally waffle on the word, and am most likely in the process of abandoning it. There are interesting linguistic questions about the nature and origin, and perhaps inevitability, of intellect-based pejoratives hidden in there. Your analysis is very wide of the target.

(Bonus Prediction: next word to become a slur due to well-meant attempts to avoid “retard” as a pejorative is “special.” Then, after that, we lose “exceptional.”)

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Michael Weiss said on October 4th, 2012 at 8:41 pm

The media will hype that Romney won, if slightly, because they need for it to be that way. (I’d score it that it was a tie for style, but in substance, Romney shit the bed. Fortunately for him, substance barely enters into this.)

The media mantra for the next month: “Now it’s a horserace.” Because they’re fucking dying for it to be a horserace. They’re bored off their asses and they want the ratings of a tight, exciting race.

Yeah, Soulless Merchant basically called it.

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Jack Barton said on October 4th, 2012 at 9:17 pm

I’m still fairly certain that Romney didn’t show until about a half hour in and that up until then, they just played footage of Bogart’s incoherent stammering at the end of The Caine Mutiny on a loop.

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mygif

As a fan, I really wish you wouldn’t use the word “retard” in the way that you occasionally do.

I understand, and honestly, over the last year or so I’ve tried to avoid using it. Liveblogging just tends to cause me to backslide a little because I have to write so quickly.

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mygif

hv: “Retard” and “retardation” are very complicated words… they arose originally as more pleasing ways to avoid ableism embedded in terms like “moron” and “idiot” and “imbecile” which actually had distinct, pseudo-medical definitions. In other words, the appellation “retard” arose not out of an attempt to harm or slur those groups, but to help them. … Bonus Prediction: next word to become a slur due to well-meant attempts to avoid “retard” as a pejorative is “special.” Then, after that, we lose “exceptional.”

Euphemism treadmill at work. Trying to come up with increasingly sugary words for a terrible thing leads nowhere; any such word turns into a slur because the thing they describe is undesirable and words cannot mask that fact.

I personally improve the world by phrasing everything in the most hurtful way I can. This will hopeful lead to people being less upset over every little thing.

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Lister Sage said on October 8th, 2012 at 10:32 pm

Scott:
Let’s grade our schools so parents can choose which schools their kids go to.

THAT’S NOT HOW PUBLIC SCHOOLS WORK!

Do you really think Mitt Romney knows anything about public schooling?

As a fan, I really wish you wouldn’t use the word “retard” in the way that you occasionally do.

Webster’s dictionary defines retard as ‘the slowing or stopping of progress’. As an American conservative, Mitt Romney is the dictionary definition of retard.

I realize that MGK may not have been thinking that or meant it in that way, but that doesn’t make it less accurate.

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