WTF Is It Now?!?

Massachusetts libral vs drunken, stroked-out, maniacal chimp
More debate reviews are in, via AlterNet (mostly):

Nina Burleigh: If there was any doubt left in anyone's mind that pResident Bush has only three weeks left to enjoy the perks of office, tonight ended it.

Lakshmi Chaudhry: In a night more memorable for the sheer volume of data than one-liners, the last presidential debate marked less a clear win for John Kerry than a decisive failure for George Bush. Though more articulate and less defensive than in the past two debates, Bush simply failed to sound convincing in his attempts to either tag John Kerry as leftwing loon or to defend his own abysmal record.

Don Hazen and Jen Nix: The question about flu vaccines caught Bush way off guard, Lakoff said. He remarked on the irony of Bush first blaming the shortage of vaccines on Great Britain, America's steadfast ally in the Iraq war, and then saying the vaccines could be bought from Canada – a country whose drug imports Bush has tried to block becuase of his concerns about safety.

Tim Russertt: Dick Cheney's daughter is a lesbian? No shit?

Laura Flanders: On education, would it have been impossible for Kerry to derail the President's endless repetitions? Sure, failing kids were being shuffled through schools before the passage of No Child Left Behind. But now they're being encouraged to drop out so that schools don't suffer from low scores. Bush said his education plan is a jobs plan - it is, but mostly for those, like his brother Neil, who work in the testing industry.

Steve Cobble: After four years in office, the president of the most powerful nation in the history of the world could not offer a health care plan for the 45 million Americans without health insurance; blew a direct question asking what he would say to someone who lost their job; ducked the delicate issue of Roe v. Wade (but with code words for the far right); didn’t know whether homosexuality was a choice or not; and refused to take any responsibility for the mess in Iraq, the current lack of flu vaccine, record job losses, declining wages, assault weapons, huge deficits, or the divisiveness in our politics. And this was his “best” debate. Which Kerry won (again).

Garry Bauer: I don't know which left me more disgusted - Bush's insane grinning or finding out that Dick Cheney has a lesbian daughter.

Silja J.A. Talvi: The battle was hardly as fierce as the last one, but it was memorable. The President was, apparently, either successfully medicated or adequately coached so as not to lose his cool this time around. Still and all, there were some precious utterances this time around. My personal favorite was President Bush’s statement about how he wanted to see a realization of a “culture of life.”

David Gergin: What the holy fuck was with Bush's face? And with Dick Cheney of all people having a lesbian daughter?

Alastair Paulin: First, God bless TiVo. There is no more satisfying way to watch a presidential debate than to hit "pause" after some Bush howler, or Kerry groaner, and swear loudly at the frozen face (which in Bush's cases, I noticed, was usually stuck in a shit-eating grin.) Or was that just the beta-blockers he was on? Whatever the cause, Bush did manage to control some of his tics and scowls tonight and channel his folksy charm. When he was dealing with a softball, such as the question about the role of faith in his presidency, he smacked it with authority and resisted the impulse to follow it with a gloating smirk.

Sean Hannaty: I wonder what Dick Cheney's gay daughter thinks of her mom's lesbian novel?

And from William Rivers Pitt: In the end, it comes down to values. When Schieffer asked Bush at one point about the problem of health care for America's seniors, Bush burst into a fit of laughter. If there was ever a moment, in any of these three debates, that let people know exactly where Bush's head and heart and priorities lay, that was it. He laughed.