REFLECTIONS ON THE FIRST OBAMA/ROMNEY DEBATE

I refused to watch or listen to this so-called “debate” because it only included the two faces of the dominant political machine. Voting for either of these clowns is playing into tyranny. A real debate would have included at least the one other candidate on the ballot in all 50 states (Gary Johnson) and the Reps and Dems would ave both lost because it would be clear they are both big-government statists with nothing but window dressing to tell them apart.

My take: Obama was under-prepared and got absolutely crushed. I have been trying and trying to come up with an explanation for his body language. We know that the man is an incredibly charismatic speaker. Even if he was under-prepared, one would expect him to deliver a lot of sizzle with his lack-of-steak. But no. Looking down. Closed body language. What was it?

My best guess is that he is personally contemptuous of Romney, and simply could not bring himself to look at the man, nor to engage with him as a peer.

I didn’t watch the debate, or any of the Presidential campaign ads, since it only raises my blood pressure and stress levels to listen to Obama, and most other politicians lie to me repeatedly.

What worries me far more than the debates, however, is all the phony and tombstone voters Obama’s people have registered, who will vote for him, most likely more than once, further compounded by the Electronic Vote counting groups that are owned and controlled by Obama Supporters.

With all the over 900 Executive Orders Obama has issued, it looks to me as if he is ready to simply take over the US, either by controlling the voting or by force, if that is necessary?

Radio vs. TV debate myth challenged:

http://mediamythalert.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/1960-myth-ricochets-around-the-media-in-advance-of-obama-romney-debate/

I think you nailed it, Mas. Though you probably have the added benefit of some police-oriented training on reading body language, even the rest of us hoi polloi should’ve been able to pick up on the vast differences between the two in the debate.

Don’t personally think my stomach could handle the debate three times via watching (sound on), then reading transcription, then watching again (sound OFF), to compare the differences as comprehensively as you, though. Being exposed to Zero that much would ruin my appetite. =P

I am a lot more in favor of Romney now than I have ever been. If he firmly and unequivocally declares that he is against abortion and ANY taxpayer-forced funding thereof, he will have earned my vote.

A few minutes into the debate I told my wife that Romney was absolutely dominating. To add to my enjoyment, I have a firm belief that Ryan will crush Biden in the VP debates coming up this week.

When someone cannot talk to elementary-school kids without a teleprompter, he’ll do VERY poorly in any debate with anyone at all articulate – particularly if his undeniable record is poor.

I hoped that sooner or later Obama’s lack of substance would be revealed; now it has.

@Matt: r.e. Obama and the elementary school teleprompter. Obama used the teleprompter to make a prepared speech to reporters after he talked to the kids impromptu. http://www.aolnews.com/2010/01/25/what-the-obama-school-teleprompter-photos-really-show/

@Paul: Obama has not signed anywhere near 900 executive orders. Obama has issued 139 executive orders so far. In a comparable amount of time in their presidencies, President George W. Bush signed 160 executive orders, while President Bill Clinton signed 364. You can see a complete list here: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/executive_orders.php

Regarding tombstone voters, every study I have heard of on the issue has concluded that voter fraud, such as you are describing, is virtually non-existent. If you have evidence (note: not supposition) to the contrary, you’re welcome to present it.

Look, folks, we are all entitle to like the politicians that we like, and dislike the ones that we dislike. But please, I beg you, set down the rhetoric for a minute and judge people based on true facts and not propaganda. @Paul, you’re insinuating that Obama may declare martial law, for goodness’ sake, and it’s based on a premise (900 executive orders) that I was able to definitively debunk with, like, literally 30 seconds of Googling. Aren’t we better than that?

… and before anyone accuses me of being partisan, please be assured that I would be just as fast to correct un-truths being spread about Romney. There just haven’t been any of those here yet. But I’ll give you one for free: the reporter who wrote the “why don’t the windows on the airplane open” story later indicated that Romney was obviously joking when he said that, and that didn’t come through in the perfunctory wire-release. So Romney is not an idiot who thinks airplane windows should open.

Even Barney Fife could win a boxing match with Richard Simmons! I’m voting for the one endorsed by the NRA; (Mitt).

Can I play pyschiatrist here? Mitt got into Barry ‘s head. The Pres had a commie whore mother. He is unsure of who his father is. Raised by folks overseas then by grandparents. Mitt is almost 20 years older. Well educated, successful in life and business. I propose Mittt takes on the wished for and missing father figure to Barry. He was getting a dressing down from Dad and Barry ‘s body language showed it.

Ron Paul 2012

Josh, I agree with you. I get bucket loads of crap emails from my aunt and others with utterly ridiculous accusations about Obama. There are enough valid reasons for me to dislike Obama without all the made-up garbage that gets sent around. Google can be your friend.

What Bryant Johnson REALLY says, is, hey, I’ve given up caring one way or the other, and the gun taker can have it…shame on you!

It was an amazing thing to watch! God Bless Mitt Romney for kicking Obama’s butt! I just kept thinking “Oh, now I see why this guy Romney is so amazingly successful”. That man is sharp, and Obama was and is simply outclassed!!!

This is ridiculous Mas. Your column is moving dangerously close to the gutter by moving away from guns, and even the debate question your posted and allowing random insulting and damaging comments to be associated with you.

I’ve heard kids as young as ten on the range pretending to shoot Obama, and calling him all sorts of foul, disparaging names including the N word. And it was encouraged by the adults!

That kind of damage is how the Taliban brainwashes the next generation.

I spend quite a bit of time in Washington DC and it feels somewhat unsafe lately in the tourist venues because there are so many clueless and unhinged angry people walking around ready to explode, yet they either have no real knowledge about the issue they are so riled up about, or they just pretend that things are happening and then act as if their what they think is true.

Just the other day I was on an airport shuttle and the driver had a NRA sticker on his clipboard. I struck up a conversation with him and since we were in a big city, and I was from Montana, he wanted to talk hunting. For the next 20 minutes we exchanged stories. At the end, he asked me what I did for a living. I said I worked as a researcher at a university. He was shocked. He thought all university types were anti-gun! WTF? I told him that hunting is used to attract professionals to Montana (however, the joke that often follows is that given the pay up here, you have to hunt).

In addition to a tip, I gave him the latest gun rag I read on the plane. It was an issue devoted to assault rifles. He was stunned. I wanted read him the riot act about his stereotypes, but instead encouraged him to travel around more.

So Mas, please keep your blog and comments above water. Attracting the bottom feeders is easy. But they just mess up the place when you want to be taken seriously.

Thanks!

Romney won this debate hands down. Obama looked lost and kept looking down and at his watch. Romney looked much more presidential.

Lets hope Romney wins the election we cannot afford another four more years of this direction.

I have to go along with BJ, the first comment;we are offered a choice between different corporate shills.

I can’t get myself to vote for a lying empty suit like Romney but unsupervised drone wars all over the world, “Executive Signing Statements” that take away habeas corpus, no punishment for corrupt mega millionaire Wall Streeters, allowing the Fed to continue punishing the prudent and cheapen the currency..jeez, I can’t vote for that guy either.

As the late George Carlin suggested, I’m sitting this out. Keep in mind, only the dumbest Americans, the undecided ? Six percent, are actuallydeciding the election. that’s comforting.

My first exposure to the science of body language was when I went to school on the G.I.. Bill to be a drug and alcohol counselor. I’ve been a student of body language ever since. I like your work on the subject as it applies to gauging human intent to attack and the subsequent defense of the attack. Thanks.

I like Mitt Romney, and he is certainly a fantastic businessman. I will vote for him. But the future still looks bleak. America is committing suicide. Too many voters refuse to educate themselves. We are probably past the point where even a Ron Paul / Pat Buchanan ticket could save us. They would have to have dictatorial powers in order to “bind the federal government down with the chains of the Constitution.” Can the dollar be saved? How long can God continue to bless this nation when so many have turned against Him for so long? I guess we only look good when compared with other nations. But our direction is still down, not up. We are reaping the bad harvest of the bad things we have sown.

I think Dennis Miller summed it up best:

“Obama better hope that Obamcare covers an ass-kicking”

To me, it was like watching an Obama puppet with no strings attached…

I usually stay as.far.from these political bouts as possible… but I really wanted to see what Obama had to say about his lack of performance in his first 4 years… what I saw was pretty much what Mas has said.

He (Obama) clearly got his butt handed to him on a silver platter.

The scariest of all this is that he is likely to be re-elected because half of this country is still are victims of his nonsense and the electoral college makes it a near impossible act for Romney to win even though he is clearly the right candidate for the job.

Get out and vote people… this may very well be the most important election we ever see.

OK, so assume that the debate won over 100% of the undecided. Even with that will Romney have enough to counter the dead voters, the multi-voters and the illegal alien voters that will be trying their hardest to be able to perpetuate the government handouts that they are voting for themselves?

L.I. Mike, you might well be on to something here. It’s an angle noone else has put forth and makes good sense to me.

It was pretty obvious to me that Obama was missing his teleprompter. I initially thought that Romney was too eager, it seemed he was almost stumbing over himself, to explain his positions. But as the debate wore on he solidified and then started acting like a Raptor in Jurassic Park. At one point, on the split screen Romney was making a point, looking at Obama and Obama was looking down, frowning. I had the distinct impression that emotionally, Romney was drooling and saying to himself, YUM YUM YUM. I went to bed at 10 after an hour of it. It wasn’t going to change my vote and 4AM comes early.

It’s oddly appropriate that the generation of Americans who can’t communicate without texting voted in a President who can’t communicate without a teleprompter.

Sparring with Richards Simmons for an Ali fight! Holy Crap Is That Funny!!!!!!

As a Conservative Republican, I will admit I watched the debate anticipating Romney to completely wuss out like John McCain did 4 years ago. I think Obama was thinking the same thing I was thinking, as he was grossly unprepared to debate. I feel like I finally saw a glimpse of the candidate I’d been hoping for since 2008.

My granddaughter does a facial expression, something we call lip face. Watching Pres. Obama, I saw a lot of lip sucking, darting eyes and the constant looking at the clock or Leher like can I go home now? Oh well it had its moments.

Your Kerry / Simmons comment made me laugh out loud!

Just was at local Wally World here (North Carolina). For first time ever (years), they stocked AR-15s, riot shotguns, and 9mm semiauto tactical carbines!

Geez Doc Martin, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, including Mas. You sure don’t have to read it if you feel unable to process his opinion without personal trauma.

What Jack Zeller really says is: “Hey, I have amnesia and therefore am excused of my ignorant remark since I completely forgot Romney made the AWB permanent in Massachusetts while Governor, not to mention created Obamacare, likes open borders, and is in all ways identically liberal in the actions of his political career.”

No, shame on YOU, Jack, for listening to what a politician has said in the last 90 days instead of his actions from the past 20 years!

Bryant: There are more and more like you every election. I’m (obviously) one of them.

Keep shooting.

@Joshua

Well, regardless of how few, or how many Eos Obama has issued, what really counts is exactly which, and how many, Illegal and Unconstitutional Powers has Obama given himself, over the American Citizens Private lives, and our Government and Private Sector Industries, and Public Sector Infrastructure?

Further, you seem astonished that anyone, let alone Obama, might seize the reins of absolute power.

Consider, that Obama does not think, or act, as any President before him has done.
He is completely Anti-American, Anti-White (or whatever you wish to call the main stream way of American life and Government), and he absolutely needs a second term of Office, in order to finish his destruction of what he views as the US Colonial Power and Oppression over the rest of the world, particularly the African and other third world countries.

Given this, if he should somehow manage to loss this Novembers Election, what exactly will he have to lose, by attempting to remain in Office, by implementing the powers he has given himself, via those Eos, whether they number 139 or over 900?

• Joshua Says:
October 6th, 2012
@Paul: Obama has not signed anywhere near 900 executive orders. Obama has issued 139 executive orders so far. In a comparable amount of time in their presidencies, President George W. Bush signed 160 executive orders, while President Bill Clinton signed 364. You can see a complete list here: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/executive_orders.php

Regarding tombstone voters, every study I have heard of on the issue has concluded that voter fraud, such as you are describing, is virtually non-existent. If you have evidence (note: not supposition) to the contrary, you’re welcome to present it.

Glad Romney did well, even with the media bias. I agree with others that Ryan’s performance will be even better.

Regarding Romney’s AWB, I read an interesting article on it and that at the time the Democrats had the House and Senate. So Romney signed the AWB with some pro gun amendments rather than letting the House/Senate override his veto and remove the pro gun amendments. Not sure how accurate this is but it certainly paints a different picture. I’m taking my chances with Romney rather than worry about another four years of Obama and a liberal Supreme Court.

Regarding Voter Fraud:

http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/search/label/VoteFraud

Democratic Congressional Candidate caught voter fraud.

NAACP official Lessadolla Sowers charged with 10 counts of voter fraud.

Drug dealers buying votes as well.

Paul Edwards: “Well, regardless of how few, or how many Eos Obama has issued, what really counts is exactly which, and how many, Illegal and Unconstitutional Powers has Obama given himself, over the American Citizens Private lives, and our Government and Private Sector Industries, and Public Sector Infrastructure?

Further, you seem astonished that anyone, let alone Obama, might seize the reins of absolute power.

Consider, that Obama does not think, or act, as any President before him has done.”

Translation: I was dead wrong in my argument…but that doesnt matter because I am still right. My arguments dont matter because I just know…

If Obama declares martial law (not likely) its because most Americans want him to. The belief in big dramatic events coming that will justify your position is the refuge of the mentally lazy.

I’m in a completely different camp. Since I’ve already made up my mind who I’ll vote for (Romney), I have no interest in seeing the two candidates duel it out. For me the question is how many undecided voters watched it and as a result, are closer to making up their mind. So I’m glad if Romney did well. But did it change voter’s minds? That’s the question to get answered.

Not being able to see the body language I guess I remember things a little differently. I think part of what we saw was extremely high expectations for Obama coupled with modest expectations for Romney. Obama did middling to poor while Romney displayed confidence and fire in the belly. Romney’s outperforming expectations with Obama underperforming in the face of his previous energetic displays magnified what was more of a minor win for Romney in my eyes.
Obama still landed a few hits, the most telling being how he tied Romney to his health care program. He also pretty firmly established that Romney’s future economic plans are more guidelines than real blueprints.
That said, I almost fell over when he said that social security is structurally sound. I think Romney did what he’s been doing all along. He kept advancing while pounding out his message. In contrast, Obama certainly didn’t sound emotionally committed to the process or ready to play the part of the idealistic crusader. That contrast left him having to debate policy rather than character.
By extension Romney came across as a legitimate presidential candidate at least on Obama’s level if not above. That’s going to hurt, because the party line so far has been that Romney isn’t presidential material. He continued to sell half truths and some outright falsehoods, but by in large, he established himself as a contender. The continued character attacks and attempts to downplay his credentials (that shtick with big bird being the most recent) are simply pointing out how desperate Obama is right now.
I don’t like either candidate for a host of reasons. That said, Obama’s campaign has gone from attempting to discredit Romney to playing the part of the angry child who can’t stand that someone else is playing the game competitively. Winning the debate didn’t win Romney the election. It did get him to a place where undecided voters can take him seriously. Now he has to play the game straight for the next 28 days.

@Paul: “Well, regardless of how few, or how many Eos Obama has issued, what really counts is”

I see. Well, at least you are now being honest that the facts you were spouting earlier were wrong, and that you were not being honest when you acted as though your suspicion of Obama was based on the number of executive orders he had signed.

@Joshua: All you really need to know about whether there has been vote fraud is the level of activity by the Democrats trying to stop implementation of photo ID for voting.

The Dems know that if photo ID for voting is put into place all their vote fraud activities would be greatly dimished.

At Hanza,
I think you’re ascribing criminal intent to something that has a very different purpose. Every study I’ve seen on the subject says that large—scale voter fraud is a myth. It is out there, but not in the quantity some would have us believe. Instead, the reason voter ID gets thrown around is because democrats believe that they hold a larger portion of the poor and economically disenfranchised than republicans. This segment of the population is disproportionately more likely to lack a valid picture ID. The result is that republicans hope that by institutionalizing voter id laws they can cut out a large part of the democratic voting base. This is akin to gerrymandering by socio economic status rather than by district.
The better question is perhaps at which point we view adding requirements to vote as attempts to restrict people’s ability to participate in the democratic process rather than as common sense safeguards. There are lots of people who think that a FOID card is also a reasonable safeguard against illegal gun acquisition. Both represent an attempt by government to pursue an adjenda through regulation. Both have the distinct potential to infringe on individual citizens’ ability to exercise their prerogatives.
In my opinion, nobody should be required to get an ID. Register to vote? Sure. But the physical ID requirement feels more like an attempt to keep undesirable voters from voting rather than limiting fraud. Your intent and mileage may vary, but that’s been my experience.

@MD Matt- I might be wrong but I imagine it’s pretty hard to get by WITHOUT some kind of ID.

Cars- Driver’s License. Most people drive. Some people take the bus, heck I used to before I could afford a car. But a big majority of the US population drives.

Apartments- Most apartments require valid ID (Driver’s License or State ID etc). If you need a place to stay, chances are you need a photo ID. If you own your own home, see below.

Banks- A far as I know, all banks require some kind of ID to open an account.

Alcohol/Tobacco- Yeah yeah you can have someone else buy them for you. But if you’re of age, I’d think it’d be a lot easier to just get some ID and buy it yourself…

So while I imagine you can get by without an ID. I’d venture to say most people probably do. It takes a single trip to DMV and I think 10 bucks out here. Not nearly as painful as a FOID or even most CCWs.

@MD Matt said: Every study I’ve seen on the subject says that large—scale voter fraud is a myth.

Even *one* instance of voter fraud is one to many.

Several elections cycles ago the current govenor of Washington State was elected through voter fraud.

Ballot boxes had been removed from a storage room for counting. During the counting process another ballot box was “discovered” in that previously empty room. There was a suite against allowing the ballots in that box to be counted but the judge ruled that they could be.

There were enough votes in that box to just barely give the Dem candidate the election.

At Tim,
Not disagreeing with anything you said. I’m legally blind and still have a State ID, even though I don’t drive. My concern has more to do with the precedent voter ID seeks to establish then any practical objections.
My reasoning runs like this. Citizens should be able to vote. Citizenship doesn’t require one to have a state ID. So providing the state ID requirement is a small hurdle now, but one that could morph into something much larger down the line. See the original gun control movement pushed between the 1950s and 80s. Per the documents and reports I’ve seen, those laws were never intended to apply to the population at large. They were intended to be selectively enforced against those undesirable groups who were thought to represent the seeds of civil unrest.
Nobody thought then that upstanding Americans would lose their rights. Those laws were meant to apply to “those people” and not “my people.”
I see some parallels with the push for voter ID and that makes me nervous. It also frankly bothers me to hear each party state that their desire is to protect the system’s integrity when their intentions are so clearly self-interested. While there may not be that much actual voter fraud out there, when you see the Democratic Party fighting for those without IDs, it’s hard not to question their intentions. Likewise, when I see republicans trying to limit who can vote, the sinic in me has to question whether or not they might be more interested in keeping legitimate voters from casting opposing ballots than truly protecting the system.

At Hanza:
I’m not sure where you’re going with this. I think we’re talking about two different things. Voter fraud, the process of signing up non-residents, dead people, and fictional identities to vote is different than election fraud, directly screwing with the vote counting process.
Election fraud is a legitimate problem and will be as long as one person hopes to get one over on the system.
Even so, I don’t see voter ID laws stopping the kind of situation you’re talking about.