The debate: in case you were napping

During tonight's debate, I think we all should have played a drinking game: everybody takes a drink every time McCain patronizingly says "what Senator Obama doesn't seem to understand."

No, wait-- then we would all have been dead from alcohol poisoning by the end.

Senator Obama clearly understood absolutely everything he spoke about, and in tremendous depth and detail. While Obama discussed the facts and what he would do, McCain repeatedly resorted to vaguely chanting about how experienced he is and what he, the experienced [read: insider] candidate can do, and relating anecdotes that he and his campaign calculated would appeal to the gut reactions of the right.

What Senator McCain doesn't seem to understand is that folksy stories aren't what we need. We need a president who knows the nuances of policy, of international relations, of economic checks and balances, that are vital to getting the country back on track-- not a president who pouts and stamps his feet and refuses to engage adversarial nations. The silent treatment has been proven a failure again and again and again, not only with North Korea, but throughout the Cold War and broader history.

What Senator McCain doesn't seem to understand is that he's stuck in a nationalist / adventurist / shoot-first mentality that will be the death of this republic if allowed to continue to saturate the actions of an Imperial White House.

McCain showed once again that he's an idealogue who bases decisions on presumptions. Obama proved once again that he's a pragmatist who studies the issues and crafts a policy based on a calculated outcome.

Some of the pundits are saying this was a tie. Apparently, they were watching a re-run of a previous election's debate.

For anyone who gauged the outcome on how much we learned about how each of the candidates thinks, and what actions they would take on various issues... well... Barack kicked the old man's ass.