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George Bush has been himself in the first two debates and he held up well in all three, though his performance in the first was very boring, but not deceitful. Al Gore has been accused of being too nasty in the first and too nice in the second; inexplicably, he went way over the top in looking vicious and out of control in this one!
PRE-GAME
On MSNBC's Equal Time with Oliver North and Paul Begala, The Bagman viciously attacked and lied his way through an interview with former Representitive Bob Livingston, who has more integrity in his little toe than the entire DNC including Paul Begala. Invoking all the lies he has exspoused over the last few weeks, which have all been accurately debunked in full, he tried to distort remarks by George W. Bush on what amount of money was spent by Texas on health care. When are these morally relativistic democRATS going to learn that they can attempt to parse the words of their own morally bankrupt political party members from obvious lies into just blatant distortions, but it stretches even a diehard liberal's intelligence to misleadingly attempt to parse the words of someone else, who is telling the truth, into lies, as only real mindless sheep fell for their parsing of the polygraph twisting words from the POTUS, VPOTUS and FLOTUS over the last seven years. Why must the liberals mangle and parse the truth so much in an effort to paint their perceived enemies as the liars they themselves are? The answer is that they have had so much practise twisting their own lies into a phoney semblence of the truth dealing with the Clinton/Gore scandals, that they just can't help themselves! Paul Begala is a real piece of work as he smiles nervously and lies like a reptile that, " Bush may well have committed insider trading ". I guess you have to parse this one to see that while Begala sounds like he knows something and is making an accusation founded on some fact, he is actually just flapping his abundantly truth challenged jowls to hear himself squalk. Another guest was the appropriately named Democrat Representitive, Anthony Weiner, as all he did was whine in agreement with the former paid White House s(p)inmeister ( liar ), Begala. The Bag closed with, " I am a bit of a smart ass ". This is possibly the closest thing to the truth that I have ever heard come out of his mouth, though I believe he is selling himself short, in not giving himself enough credit ( only " a bit "? )!
Closer to debate time on MSNBC, Senator Alan Simpson ( possibly needing a crash helmet made by the company of his last name ) was assaulted ( whined at ) by the ChrisMatthews/MichaelDukakis Gestalt Beast. Dukakis whimpered ( his normal tone actually ) that Gore was not reinventing himself weekly, saying, "That is not a different personality; you do it differently in a different setting ". Yeah, sure pal, whatever you say? Simpson responded with his criticism of the Claymation Gumby version of Al Gore, whom we have been seeing very recently as, " sighing like a furnace ". Using language in a rhetorical question which you can allow kids to hear, he aptly described Gore's performances in the first two ( no ) contests, " Look at this hamburger; what the heck is he doing "?
DEBATE
This debate, a townhall stlye meeting, was moderated by the ever liberal PBS master of left wing propaganda, Jim Lehrer. The supposed audience of undecided St. Louis voters, though more resembling a DNC fundraiser, was treated to a kiss blowing and hand waving Al Gore ( this was the warmest he would be, immediately turning into the school bully in regards to Bush ), while George W. Bush showed the assembled ( partisan? ) crowd the respect which it ( they? ) probably didn't deserve by standing there smiling, and upholding the debate rules. Both candidates had agreed that no follow-up questions would be asked by the individual audience members and the candidates themselves would refrain from asking questions of each other or the audience. Gore blatantly ignored these rules entirely and had to be chastised by the moderator, on the numerous occassions on which Lehrer chose not to just let him go on and on ad nauseum, in true DNC uber alles style!
HEALTHCARE
Though proceded by Jim Lehrer taking a pre-debate shot at Bush through a contrived non-apology on the Gore Campaign calling Bush a " bumbler ", when it was just DNC HACK Fabiani spewing his bile; Al Gore got the first question, but he seemed to forget the question referenced and he just began to hit on one of the many planned out debate/campaign buzz words which his handlers must have advised him to stress, saying, " children...children ". Like how many times can you say the word CHILDREN in two minutes? Gore, really morphing into the Gore/Pinnochio Gestalt claimed ( lied ) that George W. Bush didn't support a patients bill of rights. Gore then began the first of many mentions of a bill pending in the House of Representitives, which has yet to be finalized; the Dingle/Norwood Bill; he claimed that he supported it, but did not offer any specifics? I am really tired of hearing how some GOP politician doesn't support this or that, just to find out later that the Democrat lied, and the GOP politician just didn't support some liberal democRAT version of a bill that either was defeated or hasn't even been finished or crammed full of amendments yet!
Bush responded to the first of many direct lies thrown about by a desperate Al Gore, trailing in both the polls and obviously in his own mind, with a simple, " That isn't true ". He continued, " We are one of the few states which allow you to sue the HMO ". Bush was short and sweet, and the quick score of debate points made Gore visibly irritated!
Gore put on a phoney high school bully routine and walked right over to Bush, getting in his face; he interrupted/said, " What about the Dingle/Norwood Bill "? Gore looked incredibly silly, stupid and immature; sadly, this was one of his wrongly perceived high points, I bet? Gore then got so spooked by the negative reaction of both the audience and the moderator that he broke into the old " I WILL FIGHT FOR YOU " routine. Later, it would become abundantly obvious that the FIGHT ROUTINE from the DNC Convention over the summer would be Gore's model for this debate! He kept playing the politics of helping to keep the hopes of Democrats running for the House alive with that faux issue of " The Dingle/Norwood Bill ". Repeating it over and over again, even at this early time in the debate, it still made me ask the question ( the first of an uncountably numerous number of times ), HOW MANY TIMES CAN YOU SAY, " The Dingle/Norwood Bill ", in two minutes ( or in Al Gore's sense, two minutes plus how much extended time Jim Lehrer was willing to give the VPOTUS without verbally interrupting him like Gore was doing to both the moderator and Governor Bush )?
UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE
Both candidates were against it. To everyone but my surprize, Al Gore laughingly did the " Dingle/Norwood Bill " routine again. Talk about being desperate, Gore looked like he was about to lose control! Quietly, Bush reminded everyone about the failed, attempted federalization of the nation's private healhcare sector by the Clinton/Gore administration in, Hillarycare.
EDUCATION
Bush preached, " If you can't meet the standards, there must be consequences ", while Gore did the pie in the sky, promise everything to everybody. Is there anything left which he is not going to promise? Gore continued to attack Bush's voucher proposal, playing extremely fast and loose with the truth. Bush finally had to say to Lehrer, " We can't just end, when he ends with an attack like that ".
Gore wanted to FIGHT some more, and in the HOW MANY TIMES CAN YOU SAY FIGHT IN TWO MINUTES vein, claimed that he, " wanted to FIGHT to make sure there are no failing schools ". Gore showed his big government, tax and spend, liberal, all controlling central government ideals with, " It is not enough to leave it up to the local school districts ".
Bush could only repeat his education mantra of, " one size doesn't fit all ". He talked about " teacher protection ", something a liberal ACLU member doesn't understand. He was firm, saying, " I would worry about federalizing the school system ". Finally, Bush said to Gore, " This is a big spender ".
WHY DID C-SPAN KEEP CUTTING TO GORE WHILE BUSH WAS TALKING, BUT RARELY CUT TO BUSH FOR A REACTION?
Gore then said something he may wish he could take back, " It is not about Governor Bush or me; it is about you ". Funny, I thought the debate was about getting to know the two candidates? I could barely believe it myself, but THE GORE did THE FIGHT ROUTINE AGAIN. Gore kept interrupting and going on ranting and raving, looking like a complete lunatic!
ISRAEL ( and foreign policy in general )
Bush had a " clear vision " of operating foreign policy from a position of " credibility ". He again firmly said, " Israel is our friend; we have to stand by Israel ". He reinterated two ideals from the second debate, saying that we, " can't dictate the terms of peace ", and, " don't worry about the polls ". These two concepts seem to be missing from Al Gore's vocabulary!
Gore began, " I see a future where we are at peace ". He then repeated seemingly one of his favorite misleading statements, that we have, " the strongest military in history "? He invoked his voluntary service in Vietnam, but this time he included a disclaimer which intimated that he didn't stay there long ( protracted tour of duty ) or go anywhere dangerous( the front lines )!
Bush finished with, " I readily admit I would not grow the size of government like he ( Gore ) would ", vowing to, " make our military lighter, harder to find and be more lethal ".
GUNS
Here, Jim Lehrer threw in a real hit piece question from an obvious DNC plant who claimed the Bush Campaign was running a poltical advertisement saying, " the National Rifle Association was going to be writing legislation ", if George Bush won the election. This puny partisan planned hit by Lehrer was way out of line, though not as out of line as Gore wandering the stage, getting in Bush's face and glaring like a maniac. I remember seeing this reference, and it was from a Democrat hidden camera, dirty trickster who taped some NRA meeting someplace where they were puffing. There really isn't an ounce of integrity in the entire DNC!
Gore lied through his gun confiscating teeth with, " All of my proposals are focused on gun safety ". Right, sure Mister VPOTUS, I guess you can think the country would be real safe if we keep making various types of firearms illegal to own and license the remaining owners? This sounds like gun-grabber talk to me; ask the people of Austrailia how they like their rising violent crime rate since their own government seized the vast majority of the civilian population's firearms!
FAMILY FARMS
Sheesh, Gore lauched into the, " I want to FIGHT for you ", routine again ( Use notepad to view source and count how many times the word FIGHT appears in this article and it pales against how many times Gore actually said it last night! ). He then found a new buzz word, INTERNET and described how the internet could help the family farm. How many times can you say the words FIGHT and INTERNET in two minutes?
Bush was for increasing " exports ", instead of letting the fields go fallow in times of low prices. He then hit on a real difference between himself and Gore, the tax on family estates after the death of the head of the household, commonly called the DEATH TAX, saying, " I am for getting rid of the death tax; President Clinton shouldn't have vetoed that bill ". Bush continued to steal a bit of Gore's thunder, preaching, " Every day is Earthday, when you own the land ".
Gore sheepishly promised to make them " exempt " from everything you can think of?
MORALITY ( in television, movies and music )
Bush thought, " Government ought to stand on the side of parents ". He hit on such topics as, " family hour ", " filters on the internet ", " teaching children values ", and " talking plainly to the Hollywood moguls ".
Gore began, " Parents think they have to compete with modern culture ". He then astonishingly implied that he invented rating emblems on record albums? He tried to avoid calling attention to his running mate's flip-flop on the issue, closing with, " Joe Lieberman and I gave them six months to clean up their act ".
APATHY
WOW, GORE ACTUALLY TRIED TO DO THE BILL CLINTON LIP BITING THING?
Gore tried to bring up campaign finance reform but he was not believable. I could barely believe my ears when he did the " Dingle/Norwood Bill " routine yet another time. I guess this guy really has no shame!
Bush didn't mince words, beginning, " They say one thing and do another ". He still felt like he could, " set aside partisan differences ". Hitting the nail firmly on the head, he said, " It's not the issues that turn them ( younger voters ) off, it's the tone ". Touching on the character issue he closed with, " You need someone in office who will tell the truth "!
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Bush said, " I want a diverse administration ", though he, " rejects quotas "; calling his own version of affirmative action sans all quotas, as, " affirmative access ".
Gore thought, " Our future as a nation depends on breaking down barriers ". Gore went long in his answer and wouldn't stop pontificating even after coaxing from a reluctant Lehrer, finishing with an off hand reference to his mistake ( or lie ) about Texas lacking a hate crimes law, when it has had one on the books since before Bush was elected governor, " I am for a federal hate crimes law; Governor Bush is not ".
After enduring the ranting, raving and interruption of this madman long enough, Bush said directly to Gore, " Evidently rules don't mean anything to you "!
TAX RELIEF
Gore did a promise everything to everybody routine where the government matches funds for personal savings accounts, then Bush pointed out the falacy of this program and how much money it would cost, that we don't have to spend.
EVEN JIM LEHRER SEEMED TO BE GETTING VISIBLY DISTURBED AT GORE'S POOR PERFORMANCE?
Sensing Gore was losing this thing big time, Jim Lehrer threw Bush a curveball in the guise of anothe DNC hack/plant. This time the dig was in reference to the second debate, or an anti-Bush biased concoction of a perceived answer, the audience questioner saying/asking, YOU SEEMED HAPPY THAT TEXAS LEADS THE NATION IN CAPTIAL PUNISHMENT. Bush responded that it is one of the " hardest moments " for a governor to okay the final application of the death sentence. Gore began his reaction, " I support the death penalty ", but he ended with a " wrong guy " routine, which may have been directed at Texas executions of the past.
PROMISES
Gore said, " I am a person who keeps his promises ". He then broke into the old tired promise everything to everybody hack and gag, but this time more list-like and to objective observers infintely laughable. He then played incredibly fast and loose with the truth in an all encompassing, yet fictious, personal attack on Bush. Bush kept his cool and calmly pointed out, " That's an old high school debating trick; answer the question and then attack your opponent "
GORE LOOKED VERY STUPID AS HE CHANGED THE SUBJECT TO DEFEND HIS LIES.
CLOSE
Gore tried unsuccessfully to shed the campaign finance scandals via verbage, with, " We need campaign finance reform ". He mentally listed more of his mantras with, " I keep my word ", and, " I volunteered for Vietnam ". This time he was, " FIGHTing for the middle class ". He banged out the old FIGHT routine with new found vigor, assumably because he knew the debate was over and he could run home with his tail between his legs. How many times can you say the word FIGHT? He closed with, " You ain't seen nothing yet ", and I realized that NOTHING WAS WHAT GORE WAS REALLY OFFERING!
Bush closed by clearly pointing out the difference between he and the Vice President as the, " difference between big federal government and someone from outside Washington ". He reinterated once again, that any real surplus was, " not the government's money, but the people's money ". He ended with a tough in cheek plea, " for those fore my opponent, please only vote once ".
POST
On FOX, Morton Kondracke pointed out THE BIG GORE LIE, " The pharmaceutical companies spend more on advertising than research ". GOP candidate for Vice President Dick Cheney opined, " He didn't answer many of the questions ". Cheney went on that Gore, " represents most of the qualities people dislike in politicians today ".
On MSNBC, I couldn't believe Tom Brokaw allowed Senator John McCain to say, " The President and Vice President have debased the White House ". To make up for that little bit of sanity, the Democrat candidate for both Vice President and United States Senator, Joseph Lieberman had to spin, " He ( Bush? ) kept saying we are for bigger government, but we are not ". Huh? Everyone knows that in general liberals are for bigger government and conservatives are for smaller government, so why the big deal for Lieberman to get on the spinmeister stump and defend the indefensible?
Later on FOX, even Michael Barone, no Bush supporter by any means, criticized Gore for the FIGHT ROUTINE!
Back on MSNBC, the Matthews Beast had a moment of lucidity, or was he just another rat leaving the sinking ship, with a debate description of, " The difference between someone who wants government to grow and someone who does not ". Somebody must have told Matthews that if he wanted to keep his job, he better lose the DNC uber alles baloney?
I THOUGHT IT WAS PINNOCHIO AND I WAS RIGHT, THOUGH THE TEXT BELOW THE PICTURE READ, MARK FABIANI?
Closing out the night on MSNBC, Alan Simpson described the debate as, " Al Gore in full flight ", while Bill Krystol asked a rhetorical question, " You saw Al Gore tonight; do you want that in your living room for four years?
The choice for my vote for President of the United States is now simple, and no longer a choice between two negatives. Al Gore obviously still wants to FIGHT, while George Bush wants to REACH OUT. There no longer is a choice for me, but your choice is yours and YOU SHOULD GET OUT AND VOTE!
- Bongo ( Give me the hook? )
Updated ( 10-18-2000 )
(c)2000 Bongo.