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Live Blogging the Veep Scrimmage 2012

It’s just me this time. And I’m sort of doing a stealth ninja blogging of the VP debate. Hopefully this will keep our server up and humming along happily, and not crashing from traffic. Feel free to chime in down there in the comment section, and make it a party!

Buckle up, Mudflatters… It’s gaffe-prone Uncle Joe vs. the smug Punk Upstart.

Let’s hope this one is better than the last.

Get your popcorn, wine box, pillow, helmet, and whatever baked goods will get you through the next hour and a half.

Let’s get ready to rumble!

*************************************

5:01pm – OK Rachel Maddow just said Sarah Palin was not consulted for the VP prep by Ryan, but Dan Quayle was? Um. OK. Am I the only one thinking of Lloyd Benson?

Shaking hands with arm grabbing.

Was the attack on the consulate in Benghazi an intelligence failure?

Biden agrees Libya was an intelligence failure. Finger pointy we’ll bring the men to justice who attacked the embassy. Ryan is taking notes already.

He’s going for the jugular already, attacking Romney about stating he wouldn’t move heaven and earth to get Bin Laden. “The last thing we need now is another war.”

Ryan:

If we’re hit by terrorists, we’re going to call it a terrorist attack. Saying Obama just kept talking about a YouTube video. “Now they’re trying to blame the Romney Ryan ticket for making this an issue.”  (Gee, I wonder why?)

He’s talking about the troops over and over to make up for Romneys gaffe of omission. Even a shout out to Bo Biden.

Moderator is asking about the premature statement from Romney. Bla bla bla…

Biden:

“With all due respect, that’s a bunch of malarkey.”  Ryan is actually blushing. Biden is owning this round. Ryan looks chastised.

Biden is saying the assessment is only what they were told. “Usually when there is a crisis we pull together as a nation.”

Ryan:

Should the US apologize for burning Qurans, and urinating on Taliban corpses.

“Oh gosh yes, but we shouldn’t be apologizing for our values.”

Conservatives and Teapartiers across the nation just cringed… Saying we should apologize for ANYthing made heads explode. Or they’ll just ignore it. I’ll be interested to see what traction this gets.

Moving to Iran

Ryan: Iran is four years closer to nuclear capability. Administration was blocking sanctions.

Biden is laughing at him.

I never noticed his weird speech thing… “Adminishtration”. This is going to bug me for the rest of the debate.

Biden:

“It’s incredible” he says shaking his head and laughing at Ryan. He’s been waiting for this for four years because nobody let him take Palin to the mat.

They are a good way away from a nuclear weapon. “All this bluster I keep hearing, all this loose talk… What are you talking about?”  Asking if Ryan is planning on going to war.

Ryan:

They’re moving faster and “spinning centrifuges faster.”  He just looks out of his league. Martha is taking him to task too. Biden is like a pig in slop.

Biden:

“Bebe (Netanyahu) has been my friend for 39 years.” (Implied: when this jamook was in diapers) “I don’t know what world these guys are living in.”  “Facts matter. All they need is fissile material and they have a weapon? Not true.”

I should note that both men have flag pins, but Ryan’s has a larger surface area.  And also, whoever told Ryan to wear a red and purple tie should be fired.

Biden:

“War should always be the last resort.”  Jabbed at Romney saying he thinks he approves of sanctions, but not sure because he changes his mind so much.  ZZZZZING!

Can you get unemployment under 6% and how long will it take?

Biden:

We can. Don’t know how long. He’s doing a summary of the economy and how it’s improved. Contrasting with Romney wanting GM to go bankrupt, and he mentioned the 47%!  Ryan says 30% are takers. “These people are my mom and dad.” “I’ve had it up to here with this notion.”

Biden is on an epic rant. This is what everyone wanted Obama to do. POW!

Ryan: 

Scranton unemployment is 10%. When you guys came in it was 8.5. This is what’s happening all across the nation.

Biden knows what the unemployment is in his hometown, but doesn’t let Ryan get away with saying it’s happening like that across the nation.

Don’t raise taxes on job creators. Mitt Romney is a “car guy.” Personal anecdote about kids paralyzed in car crash, went to Mitt’s church, on Chrismas Mitt paid for their education. Mitt Romney is a good man, gives to charity.

“As he knows, sometimes the words don’t come out of your mouth the right way,” speaking of Biden’s gaffes.

“Green pork?”  Ewww.

Biden:

But I always say what I mean. Calls out the 47% remark and says if you think it’s a mistake, he’s got a bridge to sell.  “I know he had no commitment to the auto industry.”

Calling Ryan out for asking for stimulus money. It’s such a bad program and yet his words say it will create growth and jobs.

My heart feels happy.

Ryan:

Was it a good idea to borrow all this money from China?

Biden:

Set the conditions to grow again. Better batting average than investment bankers.

Ryan:

Choice and competition in medicare. They are trying to scare you.

Biden:

“I heard that death panel argument from Sarah Palin.”  ZING.

Talking to the viewers. Follow your instincts on this one. Imagine where all those seniors would be if their money was in the market.

Ryan:

They got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Says to Biden, “I know you’re under duress..”

Biden laughs his head off.

He’s acting like a snotty kid. Just did a giant eye roll.

Biden is talking directly to seniors. Eviscerating voucher programs and privatizing of Medicare.

Ryan referred to “younger people like myself” and Biden is owning his senior status. In the Medicare debate, I think the latter strategy wins.

Ryan just accused Biden of not having a record to run on and trying to scare people. Huh?

If your ticket is elected, who will pay more, who will pay more?

Biden:

Middle class less, $1 million or more slightly more. Bush tax cuts should be allowed to expire. Calling out the Republicans for not allowing a vote on taxes for wealthy, and for middle class.

Ryan:

Entire premise is to grow the economy and create jobs. Gov’t taking 28% of income is enough. Obama thinks you should be able to take 44%. There aren’t enough wealthy people and small businesses to pay for what they want.

Waiting for the fact checkers on this Ryan rant.

Martha R is pressing Ryan if he has specifics. She asks again. And if he guarantees that the math adds up.

Biden is truly impressive. He’s quoting the studies Ryan cited. He’s got the numbers.

Ryan cites Kennedy. Biden – Oh now you’re Jack Kennedy?

Classic.

Biden is talking about mortgages, student loans, and is getting passionate about people. Ryan is looking smarmy and uncaring.

Martha R. is pushing the issue and asking how it adds up.

So far, before fact checkers get a hold of this, Biden definitely appears to believe what he’s saying. Ryan sounds like he’s parsing, and twisting.

Ryan is schmoozing troops again. Now he’s talking about Native American troops. Interesting. Obama is winning big with Native Americans, so I’m sure that little mention was supposed to address their lack of consideration to this point.

It’s 6:04, and nothing yet about social issues or the war on women. *stares at watch*

Paul Ryan can pronounce Afghan stuff. Joe Biden has been there 20 times.

Good exchange in which Biden points out that Ryan just said we should be sending more Americans into the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan.

Great Tweet:

Michael Skolnik @MichaelSkolnik

Joe Biden knows this information like the back of his hand, Paul Ryan knows this information like the back of an index card.#FactsMatter

Ah, here we go. Finally women’s issues.

Ryan:

Cannot separate faith and politics. Because of reason and science, and partly Catholic faith. Saw the ultrasound, baby in the shape of a bean. Nicknamed their daughter “Bean.” Respects people who don’t agree, but policy will be to oppose abortion with the exceptions of rape, incest and life of mother.

And now he launches off about impinging on religious liberty, forced abortions.

Biden:

Catholic. Accepts in personal life, but have no right to tell other people what to do. Won’t challenge Supreme Court.

Biden:

The next administration will get two Supreme court nominees.  Invoking Scalia, and repeal of Roe v. Wade.

Krystal Ball @KrystalBall1

That deep breath from Paul Ryan said it all when asked whether people who support legal abortion should be worried in Rom/Ryan admin

Closing statements coming now.

Does someone have a raw steak for Paul Ryan’s eye?

Biden:

My whole life has been devoted to leveling the playing field for middle class people.

Biden oozes love of people. Ryan oozes smugness.

Biden was looking at a human when he delivered his statement. Ryan is looking at the camera.

And that’s a wrap.

Ryan just popped gum or something. Ma;ybe a chewable anti-depressant.

At least this one had a moderator. Fox is complaining about her “aggressive style.”

Call the Waaaaaambulance!

 

Comments

comments

Comments
58 Responses to “Live Blogging the Veep Scrimmage 2012”
  1. Forty Watt says:

    If you know any fence sitters, this might get them off their bums – http://austinisafecker.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/joe-bidens-debate-performance-why-it-was-a-big-fcking-deal/#comment-4238

    And there will be a sequel. 😉

    • Lacy Lady says:

      Increase Trillions in defense spending? And would we borrow from China for this?
      And how many more tours of duty would our men and women have to serve.
      Rommney/ Ryan are idiots.

  2. Zyxomma says:

    Apropos of nothing, Jeanne, that’s one good looking spouse up in the corner.

  3. StElias says:

    I am somewhat disillusioned at the wimpy reaction of some fellow progressives and Democrats to their analysis of the two recent campaign debates. (Not here on the “Mudflats”.)

    The leading criticism for Obama’s lackluster performance centers upon his perceived acquiescence to Willard’s staccato style verbal attack. Apparently the President put looking presidential over assertiveness as his first priority. Obviously, most of us shouting at the T.V. screen wanted to see a “Fire in the Belly” demeanor not one of nice guy forbearance. Whatever the reason, it is obvious that the Obama team wasn’t prepared for an onslaught of “one liner” statements consisting of fabrications, falsehoods and outright lies. That was a huge mistake. Most polls indicated Romney was not going to change his methodology for the debate as his entire campaign has been one of gross distortion. What were they thinking?

    Now comes Uncle Joe. He delivers a shellacking and takes Ryan apart. And Ryan is even a better B.S. artist than is his running mate. Exactly the performance many of us wanted. And no, Biden was not condescending or rude. He used a genuine smile and called Ryan a “friend” with sincerity. Under these most difficult political debate conditions where one side’s performance is loaded with multiple untruthful accusations it is exceedingly challenging to deal with pertinent nuance without coming across as a babbling idiot. What Biden was able to do effectively was hit back so hard that he had Ryan shaking in his boots, which diluted and limited the Congressman’s standardized modus operandi dissertation style since he knew every time he uttered another myth a verbal knuckle sandwich awaited.

  4. mike from iowa says:

    It’s officially official-“It reminded me…..of watching a musk ox run across the tundra with somebody underfoot. And in this case,when it came to style,it was Paul Ryan underfoot because of the moderator allowed one candidate to absolutely run roughshod over the conversation,over the opponent.” Sincerely,Snowdrift Snookie. For the love of god did you know that Barack Obama personally attended Martha Raddatz’ wedding in 1991? How could people not know back then that he would be Potus and she would moderate a debate with his veep in 2012? What an unfair advantage for crying out loud!! I am now gonna hold my breath until I turn blue to protest this seemingly corrupt use of personal friendship to derail democracy.

  5. tigerwine says:

    Ooooh, it’s good to recap the debate with all the Mudpups!

    Speaking of drinks, did anyone else notice how many times Ryan took a drink during the debate? And then seemed to rinse his mouth out, not just swallow? I don’t remember Biden drinking at all – he just kept grinning and showing Ryan up.

    I know, picky, picky – and it certainly has nothing to do with the serious aspect of the debate, but it did seem a lot!

    • zyggy says:

      He didn’t have much else to do, Biden was going after him. =) Twiddling thumbs would not have been accepted. =)

    • Lacy Lady says:

      When a person is nervous, their mouth gets very dry.

  6. Hubby didn’t want to watch and won’t watch the rest of the debates. Since we are on the road we are sharing a TV and I had to watch the debate on the computer. It worked well, except I would have liked hearing the folks on MSNBC afterwards.

    Still, for the debate – I was so pleased with our Vice President. He was tough when he needed to be and sometimes a bit dismissive – when appropriate for Ryan’s lies and repeated standard lines. I loved that he was so engaged throughout AND that he interrupted now and then to call Ryan out on his lies or goofy ideas. I’m glad there was a split screen so we could see his every reaction. Ryan looked like a deer caught in the headlights – wrinkled forehead to keep his eyes open and tight smile/smirk or whatever that is he does with his mouth.

    Way to go, Joe! 😀

  7. HoboJohn says:

    Back to driving the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile for Ryan.

    Zingers….. you sound like Palin, so now you’re Jack Kennedy.

  8. flex gunship pailn says:

    joe every time ….and I was in the room = kid you weren’t

  9. thatcrowwoman says:

    Thanks, AKM. Live blogging with you and the mudpeeps was a much better experience than last week just watching the debate all alone (sniff…Happy was at school, and I missed teh Mudkettle Live). I tried following the Pres. debate rules as I watched last week, but pretty soon I was hollering at Willard (He LIES!) and ready to throw something. Tonight, I just had another sip, let ‘er rip, and hit refresh. 🙂

    Well, I’m off to finish some “homework” (read: crawl in the bed with Neal Shusterman’s creepy novel Unwholly and spend some serious face time with my pillow.)
    Condensed Punditry can simmer without me until after school tomorrow. What? The weekend already?

    Sweet dreams, all.
    thatcrowwoman

  10. Alaska Pi says:

    Thankyou AKM and all here!
    And most especially, thank you Mr Biden!
    Yeehaw!
    Mr Ryan already has the lie of the year and a pants on fire from PolitiFact fact checkers.
    Way to go dude… hehehehe.

  11. hedgewytch says:

    Calling Biden the Happy Warrior!..HHahaha!

  12. Sourdough Mullet says:

    aaaaand …. it’s Mitch McConnell doing Damage Control!
    so sad…

    • Sourdough Mullet says:

      Think Faux News will also air the opinion of a staunch Democrat to balance the reporting? Yeahh… right. So much for the “biased Lamestream Media”….

  13. hedgewytch says:

    Aaannnd its PUNDIT time!

    • Beaglemom says:

      I wish the pundits weren’t allowed to say anything until 6 pm the following day. We the people should be allowed to ponder what we’ve heard without their points of view for a while.

      Hooray for Joe Biden! Remember early in the summer, just after he spoke out against the GOP conspiracy in Congress to bring down the president and the country? At that time, the Republicans and the media were insinuating that the vice president was “senile”! Not for a nano second! Joe Biden is smarter than all of the GOP combined; he is a master politician and he has been the best vice president in my lifetime which goes back more through 17 4 year-terms of office.

  14. Sourdough Mullet says:

    Martha Raddatz, can I buy you a drink? (or two?)
    You poor thing!

  15. thatcrowwoman says:

    Whew!
    So that’s that.
    It’ll be interesting to see what the debate next Tuesday brings.

  16. Sourdough Mullet says:

    Ryan:
    “Trickle Down Economics – it Works! Just like it did in 1980,, er, 1984… er…..I mean 2000-2008, errr…. well, never mind, just TRUST ME!”

  17. thatcrowwoman says:

    I’ve got something for Ryan’s eye, but it’s more of a sharp stick than a raw steak, there, AKM.

  18. Sourdough Mullet says:

    I think they’re both doing a good job at what they were tasked with, but the differences are SO stark. Biden is so sharp, so on-the-spot, that he’s able to speak from the hear and veer from the expected discussion points to well. He’s probably ticking off a lot of folks w/ his smirks, but he’s smirking at the same things I am.
    Ryan, on the other hand, is holding his own, but while giving the distinct impression that there’s a puppetmaster hand up his butt who is running his mouth on autopilot. He creeps me out.

    • Sourdough Mullet says:

      I meant “speak from the HEART,” and veer from the expected “so well”

  19. Jill says:

    Ryan…honesty?? Wow!!

  20. Jill says:

    Biden blew him away. Ryan cannot help but being a jerk.

  21. thatcrowwoman says:

    Social Justice Catholicism vs “Assault on the Catholic Church” Catholicism

  22. thatcrowwoman says:

    I can’t look at Ryan,
    ’cause I see this logo on his forehead, bless his heart:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataburger

    Uh, oh, Catholics and Abortion…

  23. hedgewytch says:

    I agree that the moderator needs to reign in this now and talk about women’s issues.

  24. Forty Watt says:

    Martha Raddatz is doing a great job. Maybe they should always have a reporter moderating.

    • thatcrowwoman says:

      Ms. Raddatz is a good role model tonight :professional reporter and moderator, also, too.

  25. thatcrowwoman says:

    Uncle Joe speaking out for the Middle Class.
    {{{{{Joe Biden}}}}}

  26. hedgewytch says:

    “Now you’re Jack Kennedy” ROTFMAO

  27. thatcrowwoman says:

    Irishgirl has a poignant poster up at her blog about that trickle down Malarkey:
    http://austinisafecker.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/trickle-down/

    Lyin’ Ryan, the little fecker, can kiss 47% of my @$$, eh?!

  28. Sylvia says:

    Step aside, Son. et me show you how it’s done.

  29. hedgewytch says:

    Took a double drink when Biden said “Palin”.

  30. thatcrowwoman says:

    Please pass Single Payer.
    Lyin’ Ryan can keep his vouchers.

  31. hedgewytch says:

    Repeating that same medicare $ lie!!

  32. thatcrowwoman says:

    Jobs?
    “Just get out of the way.”

  33. hedgewytch says:

    So how come you voted against the Jobs Act Ryan!

  34. hedgewytch says:

    Papa Joe is schooling the youngster.

  35. thatcrowwoman says:

    “Facts matter.
    Facts matter.”

    Amen, Uncle Joe.

  36. hedgewytch says:

    love how Biden is laughing at Ryan openly. After a while it will get to Ryan i’m sure.

  37. thatcrowwoman says:

    Malarkey!
    Tell it, Uncle Joe.

  38. thatcrowwoman says:

    Is it just me, or does Lyin’ Ryan remind you of Ernest P. Worrell?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_P._Worrell

  39. Forty Watt says:

    Thank you, AKM. I’m going with tea and a hot water bottle. And yes, a long flannel nightie. I know 🙁 But it works for me.

  40. thatcrowwoman says:

    popcorn?
    check
    cuba libre
    also, too

    here we go

    **Team Uncle Joe***
    🙂