Finally

Tonight was the third and final presidential debate between Obama and Speedo. Frankly, I'm glad to have the debates behind me. I felt a social obligation to watch them, but since Speedo gets at least half the 90 minutes, maybe more, I get really bored really fast. That old coot lost me long ago, around the time I saw that picture on the internet of him with his arms wrapped around W, seeming to be lost in sexual bliss.

As I've written repeatedly, I had almost reached a state of peace with the idea the country would put this damned old fool in office. Then Ace forced Palin onto the national scene, and I realized he was dangerously irresponsible. I've been in a quandary: on the one hand, I hate to see Obama in the hopeless situation of cleaning up behind The Worst Goddamned President Ever, but on the other, I can't swallow the idea of a clown like Palin possibly being within reach of the red telephone. In common parlance, this is known as The Shits.

Tonight I watched the show on MSNBC, the place I go after I've been in the car listening to short bursts of Limbaugh or Hannity. There's something about Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow that purifies me after I've been swimming in the cesspool of conservative talk radio. Rachel Maddow in particular has grown on me. She's smart, funny, and attractive. I've read that she plays on the All Girls Team, but I still have a small crush on her. Last night, she even made a cameo appearance in my dream.

As for the debate: Obama established conclusively that he is Mister Smooooth, without doubt the coolest dude who's run for president in my lifetime. He'd look cool anyway, but sitting next to Speedo just amplifies the effect. Speedo is the exact opposite of cool and seems to understand that if he doesn't constantly pander to the lowest common denominator in the conservative GOP base, he'll be roadkill in November, maybe roadkill at the Dukakis level. To keep the race close, he constantly throws out all the rightwing codewords, while still trying to persuade the sane people that he's The Maverick who isn't like all those other Republicans. It's schizophrenic to put it mildly, and is unsettling to witness. Obama tolerates him and treats him as gently as he would a crazy old uncle, and never lets the insanity get to him.

Based on the post-debate analysis, most people think Obama won the debate, with Ace getting the nod from the usual 30-35 percent who fall into the beyond help category. Tonight Ace relied on the traditional Repub solution to every problem: more tax cuts, heavily tilted to the high income crowd. Maybe it'll work again, maybe not. We'll see. Three weeks to go.