The Debates- 2012

[PM_Mama00]

A FB friend just posted this status:

Really,with all the crap going on in the country you people are focused on Big Bird? How many of you have actually donated to PBS? Sad, sad, sad.

She's right. Our fire and police forces are shrinking. There's so much corrupt activity in our governments. Detroit is falling apart second by second. People are losing their jobs. Soldiers are losing their lives. People are going broke trying to pay for healthcare and people are dying who can't afford healthcare.

And the country is worried about Sesame Street. I'm a fan of PBS. A Phi Mu is/was the President. I loved Sesame Street growing up and I like the concerts they show. No, I have never donated (I won't get into that). But the fact is, it's a cost that can be cut. If there are enough people in the country who really care that it's on the air, they'll donate. Hell there are enough celebrities making MILLIONS firing off about it. Why don't they donate enough to keep it afloat without government help? I don't know how much money it takes to keep PBS around, but I'm sure that money can be used elsewhere to help mankind.

That's just my rant on that topic. I understand that it adds to the "evilness" of Romney and it's somewhat symbolic on his stances, but come on. Fight and preach about something more important. Big Bird will find another way to live on. The person living under the overpass on I-75 because he lost his job and is too old or inexperienced to find another one won't.

[FSUZeta]

Brava!!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

A FB friend just posted this status:

Really,with all the crap going on in the country you people are focused on Big Bird? How many of you have actually donated to PBS? Sad, sad, sad.

She's right. Our fire and police forces are shrinking. There's so much corrupt activity in our governments. Detroit is falling apart second by second. People are losing their jobs. Soldiers are losing their lives. People are going broke trying to pay for healthcare and people are dying who can't afford healthcare.

And the country is worried about Sesame Street. I'm a fan of PBS. A Phi Mu is/was the President. I loved Sesame Street growing up and I like the concerts they show. No, I have never donated (I won't get into that). But the fact is, it's a cost that can be cut. If there are enough people in the country who really care that it's on the air, they'll donate. Hell there are enough celebrities making MILLIONS firing off about it. Why don't they donate enough to keep it afloat without government help? I don't know how much money it takes to keep PBS around, but I'm sure that money can be used elsewhere to help mankind.

That's just my rant on that topic. I understand that it adds to the "evilness" of Romney and it's somewhat symbolic on his stances, but come on. Fight and preach about something more important. Big Bird will find another way to live on. The person living under the overpass on I-75 because he lost his job and is too old or inexperienced to find another one won't.

I think your FB friend is completely missing the point. Being worried about Big Bird, Sesame Street or PBS funding isn't the point at all. I think the point is that when Romney was asked what he would cut as non-essential in government, one of the few specifics he could name was PBS, which gets a relatively infinitesimal share of government funding. That he said "I like Big Bird, but . . ." gave it a hook.

I think the "Save Big Bird" hoopla isn't really about PBS at all. (I'll admit, though, that some over-eager Romney-is-Evil folks might make it about PBS.) It's a stand-in for what some people perceive as Romney's lack of specifics on what he would do or how he would do it. It's not that with all the crap going on in the country, people are worried about Big Bird; it's that with all the budgetary crap going on in the country, one of the only concrete solutions Romney could give was to stop funding Big Bird, which would solve nothing.

[AGDee]

Tony- I get the point of it. I don't think it is effective. I think it is old and tired.

MC- I agree. I see the T_witter trending and Facebook comments about Big Bird to be more facetious than anything.

I do donate to PBS every year and think that it is important to have a public broadcasting television service that doesn't pander to advertisers. They are a breath of fresh air and the ONLY station I can get in when my cable is out. I do see a lot more spending on other things that I think is unnecessary.

I also think it was symbolic of the "war" on teachers and health care reform and all these things that are only there for the betterment of our society as a whole.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

i'm glad I'm not the only one who thought he had that smug smirk way too much.

It must be a partisan thing..

Honestly I didn't notice Romney smirking any more than Obama did (when he wasn't staring down ). They were both equally doing it while the other was speaking.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

It must be a partisan thing..

Honestly I didn't notice Romney smirking any more than Obama did (when he wasn't staring down ). They were both equally doing it while the other was speaking.

It didn't seem like Romney's expression ever changed at all.

My other thought on the Big Bird thing is... I posted a Big Bird picture with a caption "Big Bird is Sad" on my Facebook. For the most part, I'm trying to keep my own Facebook posts election/politic free because I don't want to argue with friends and family. That felt like an innocuous way to make a statement though. Making pro-choice, pro-Obamacare, pro-women's rights, pro-gay marriage comments all lead to heated arguments. Big Bird? Not so much.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

It must be a partisan thing..

Honestly I didn't notice Romney smirking any more than Obama did (when he wasn't staring down ). They were both equally doing it while the other was speaking.

I don't know that's it's a partisan thing necessarily. I thought Romney often had a smug smirk, I thought Obama often had an annoyed smirk. At this point in election seasons, I tend to watch things like debates as sport, so even if I'm pulling for "my team," I can also be pretty hard on my team.

It wasn't that Romney was smirking more, it was that AGDee was one of the first people who I heard mention him smirking it all, so my response was more along the lines of "okay, maybe it wasn't just in my imagination."

I frankly think one of the most challenging things about debates like these is looking composed and having facial expressions that respond appropriately when the other guy is talking. Romney did better than Obama, but I still thought Romney could have been better at it.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

It must be a partisan thing..

Honestly I didn't notice Romney smirking any more than Obama did (when he wasn't staring down ). They were both equally doing it while the other was speaking.

Originally Posted by AGDee

It didn't seem like Romney's expression ever changed at all.

Personally, I couldn't tell whether Romney was smirking during the whole debate, or if that's how he looks all the time.

Either way, they were in the middle of a debate - not in Happy Pony Rainbow Land. It's supposed to be aggressive and you're supposed to look like you think the other guy is an idiot.

What I'm curious about is the fact that Obama really never looked at Romney the entire time. Was that because he was stumbling and searching for words, or was that meant to be an insult to Romney?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Either way, they were in the middle of a debate - not in Happy Pony Rainbow Land. It's supposed to be aggressive and you're supposed to look like you think the other guy is an idiot.

There's a line there, though, or you risk coming across looking arrogant or something else likely to turn off voters you're trying to woo.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

There's a line there, though, or you risk coming across looking arrogant or something else likely to turn off voters you're trying to woo.

Exactly. And I'm not sure either of them excelled in that area.

[AGDee]

My son posted this link on his Facebook page... Mitt Romney debating himself. Interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPgfzknYd20&sns=fb

[ZTAngel]

I turned off the debates halfway through. It was partly because Obama would not challenge Romney on any of the lies he said. But, most of all, I could not stand how Romney kept interrupting Lehrer and always had to have the last word. It was annoying to the point I couldn't watch anymore. In my opinion, you need to be a little more dignified and play it cool to deal with some of the more antagonistic heads of state (I'm looking at you Ahmadinejad). Romney's approach would get us into a whole lot of trouble.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by ZTAngel

I turned off the debates halfway through. It was partly because Obama would not challenge Romney on any of the lies he said. But, most of all, I could not stand how Romney kept interrupting Lehrer and always had to have the last word. It was annoying to the point I couldn't watch anymore. In my opinion, you need to be a little more dignified and play it cool to deal with some of the more antagonistic heads of state (I'm looking at you Ahmadinejad). Romney's approach would get us into a whole lot of trouble.

The difference is that Lehrer actually made an effort to stop Romney from talking and never seemed to do the same to Obama. Obama spoke for 4 and a half minutes longer than Romney did.. I don't blame him for trying to get in a few extra points.

Either way, Lehrer never really had control of this debate. Bring on a new moderator.

And saying that Romney's approach in a debate would get us in trouble with world leaders is a bit of a stretch, and you know it.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by ZTAngel

I turned off the debates halfway through. It was partly because Obama would not challenge Romney on any of the lies he said.

I blame Obama's unwillingness to challenge Romney all on the lack of a readily available TelePrompTer.

[Ghostwriter]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I blame Obama's unwillingness to challenge Romney all on the lack of a readily available TelePrompTer.