"Kerry 1, Bush 0, no doubt about it" (Attention Will Pitt!)

[TahitiNut]

Kerry 1, Bush 0, no doubt about it

ANTONIA ZERBISIAS

U.S. President George W. Bush may have been sending "mexed missages" during his debate with Democratic contender John F. Kerry last Thursday night.

But most of the pundits weren't.

Not even the usual Bush cheerleading squad could muster up a feeble 2-4-6-8 for its boy. It had to admit debate defeat — as in da feet in Bush's mouth.

How it must have hurt them to see, just after midnight, the Kerry campaign website (http://www.johnkerry.com) post a series of positive blurbs from the right. It included praise from neoconners Jonah Goldberg ("The Bush campaign miscalculated ..."), Bill Kristol ("Kerry ... was forceful and articulate") and Fox News' Mort Kondracke ("Kerry looked like a commander-in-chief").

<snip>

---

Oh... about the Will Pitt alert?? It's the last paragraph:

As online columnist William Rivers Pitt predicts: "Watch for his campaign to reach for the chicken switch before the weekend is out ..."

So, Will's now quoted internationally ... again. :silly:

[NMDemDist2]

1. ahhh what's a "chicken switch" ??

great article tho..

[TahitiNut]

2. It's what they call the political panic button.

Flip it and Smirk goes down the bunny hole in Nebraska. (In a fighter, it's what you use instead of bending over and kissing your ass goodbye.)

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. And apropraite for teh chicken hawks

I think they will call the debates off... as soon as they realize just how deepp the bleeding is...

I mean you could almost see it now... or hear it

Start paying attention to the word on the street... I think you will see what I mean

[radfringe]

7. seems they are (at the least) on stand-by with the 'chicken switch'

video clips and reading various articles about bush* stumping on Friday leads me to believe - he was getting prepped all night AFTER the debate

he had his 'script' memorized, written down, teleprompted and/or 'ear-fed'

although the debate was not a debate in the true sense and the candidates had the questions in advance -- responding without notes, teleprompters or off-stage coaching via an 'ear-feed' is a skill

just my humble 2-cents -- a leader must be able to think on his/her feet and respond to any given situation. bush*'s sitting in the classroom for 7 minutes, followed by a 20-minute photo-op on September 11 shows how he reacts to an emergency.

on a related item - during the debate bush* said he (paraphrased) knows that alot of people disagree with his decisions, but he makes a decision and sticks too it

this could be interpreted two ways:

It restates the 'theme' that he is resolute and steady

on the other hand - it could be interpreted as "who cares what you think - I'm going to do it my way...."

[monarch]

9. Just one correction.

Jim Lehrer stated that he selected the questions himself and that nobody else had the questions beforehand.

[ima_sinnic]

4. that's what you throw when you want to "chicken out" (nt)

[4morewars]

3. It's a shame....

that we have to go to a foreign country for "fair and balanced" journalism.

Nice post, though, thanks !
:hi:

[Dogmudgeon]

6. Antonia Zerbisias is also published in Truthout

And on top of that, every wingnut "warblogger" out there with a digital thesaurus hates her guts.

Which is good enough for me!

--bkl

[lebkuchen]

8. I thought CBS had declared the debate a tie

That will always help CBS's credibility ratings. :)

[Moderator]

10. Fantastic article

But not Latest Breaking News.
It will stay up longer in Ed. and Other Articles.

[0007]

11. I would hope that one who reads this great article would check

out all the links.

"Still, so bad was Bush's performance that Vanity Fair media critic James Wolcott (jameswolcott.com) wrote: "I pity the fools who have to prep Bush for the next debate. Because they're sure going to have one pissy pupil on their hands."

If he shows up."

As online columnist William Rivers Pitt predicts: "Watch for his campaign to reach for the chicken switch before the weekend is out ..."

"The chicken switch" will soon be a new dance this fall

[Paradise]

12. as an aside...

* saying "mexed missages" may be a sign of a disturbance of the ability to use language, namely dyslexia. this disorder would be most evident when replying to specific questions rather than speaking off-the-cuff.