Gol' Darn It, Joe

Well, it wasn't the trainwreck I thought it could be. I kind of thought this would happen--only mediocre gaffes and the refusal to answer any of the questions. No giant hyperbole about reading all the newspapers in the world or the Great Depression.

Nevertheless, a tip of the OBYCB hat goes out to Sen. Joe Biden. I'll be damned if he didn't inspire the hell out of me last night. Even DadGrace called from the truck at one point (he drives trucks on the overnight shift) to laugh about a Joe Biden comeback. It was classic. I recalled myself going "oh snap!" more times than I can remember.

Of course the media is saying Palin won the battle against herself just by keeping her cool. While that may be true, keeping cool while regurgitating memorized speeches is not the same thing as participating in a debate. Next time, the GOP better program its robot better.

You can read my blow by blow comments on my twitter feed to the left.

Here are some other observations:

1. SP's bangs really get in her eyes and it bothers me.
2. Don't question Joe Biden on being a single parent. Ever.
   
3. That flag pin of SP's was really distracting. I'm like a cat when it comes to shiny things.
   
4. The colloquialisms were off the chart. It was such an overt attempt by SP to connect to rural America that it was transparent as hell.
   
5. The 90 minutes felt like 30 tops.
   
6. My favorite part of the whole night was JB's speech about how McCain isn't a maverick when it matters. Pure brilliance.
7. I kept picturing Jenny From the Block Granholm practicing with JB.
   
8. It's a sign of weakness not to admit any weaknesses. It's a sign of strength to admit to your shortcomings.
   

You can read the transcript here. But really, all you need to read is this from JB in response to SP's mentioning of the term "maverick" for the five-millionth time:

Look, the maverick -- let's talk about the maverick John McCain is. And, again, I love him. He's been a maverick on some issues, but he has been no maverick on the things that matter to people's lives.

He voted four out of five times for George Bush's budget, which put us a half a trillion dollars in debt this year and over $3 trillion in debt since he's got there.

He has not been a maverick in providing health care for people. He has voted against -- he voted including another 3.6 million children in coverage of the existing health care plan, when he voted in the United States Senate.

He's not been a maverick when it comes to education. He has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college.

He's not been a maverick on the war. He's not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table.

Can we send -- can we get Mom's MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester? We can't -- we can't make it. How are we going to heat the -- heat the house this winter?

He voted against even providing for what they call LIHEAP, for assistance to people, with oil prices going through the roof in the winter.

So maverick he is not on the important, critical issues that affect people at that kitchen table.

Maverick he is not, indeed great Jedi Master JB.