Who WON'T be watching the debates?

[no name no slogan]

I won't. Why?

First of all, they're hardly "debates" at all. They're little more than compressed, blow-dried infomercials reiterating the same old crap each candidate has been saying in their stump speeches for the past 18 months.

There's no "debate" at all. It's a moderator asking canned questions and the candidates reciting the same canned answers we've all heard a brazillion times before. It's all heat, and no light.

The debates are little more than a sitcom, with the MSM providing second-rate armchair quarterbacking so the masses know who "won" and who "lost".

Screw that. I'm watching COPS instead. At least I know the crook is going to jail at the end of that.

[MadBadger]

1. From what I've read here, candidates can question each other for 15 minutes.

[babylonsister]

2. They're on now on ABC. If you want to feel more confident about our

Dems, watch the rethugs! :rofl:

[Cha]

25. No thanks! I get enough

of those pukeheads just readin' about on DU~

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. Charlie Gibson just asked all of them (except Paul) why they are Flip-floppers.

It's moments like this that I watch them for. :popcorn:

[no name no slogan]

5. FINALLY, a moderator with BALLS

And it sure as hell ain't Gwen Ifill.

Charlie is one of the few mainstream journalists I respect.

[NYCGirl]

6. Charlie Gibson, not Charlie Rose. And he's really surprising me. NT

[no name no slogan]

9. Hmmm..... I may have to check this out

but it IS cutting into my valuable COPS-watching time...

GET ON THE GROUND
QUIT RESISTING
Hey where'd my pants go?

Damn I love that show!

[NYCGirl]

14. LOL! This means I don't get to TiVo "Are You Being Served?" on my local PBS

station. Once in a while, I love those old-fashioned cheesy, double-entendre British sitcoms.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

24. fixed. Thanks!

[WorseBeforeBetter]

4. Can't say I'll be watching COPs...

but I won't be watching the debates for the reasons you mentioned. They're so controlled and packaged that I don't even bother. Instead, it's the Battle of Algiers...

[no name no slogan]

7. That sounds really cool actually

what channel?

I'm a history buff so I eat that stuff up. Unfortunately I've only got piss-poor basic cable which does not have the History Channel or anything good. Unless you consider MSNBC good... :puke:

[WorseBeforeBetter]

10. I Netflixed it.

History International is one of the reasons I keep my cable. MSNBC is good from about 8-9 p.m., Eastern. And maybe from 9-9:10 p.m., if Joan Walsh is taking on that loudmouth Pat Buchanan. :-)

Do you have Netflix? I went with the super-cheapie deal and it's only about $9 per month. One rental at a time, but that suits my sked just fine.

[no name no slogan]

12. I've been flirting with the idea for awhile

I could swing $9/month. Of course, I'd probably leave the house less than I do know, but it's winter here in Minnesota and usually a good time to hibernate anyway...

"Battle of Algiers" sounds good though. IMHO, the US could learn a lesson or two from the pasting the French took there.

[Desertrose]

15. I love Netfix...have seen more movies & documentaries since I joined

than I have for YEARS!

[WorseBeforeBetter]

20. I'm jealous.

I'm in NC and just heard 70 next week ... blech. OK in May, but not January.

I haven't had any problems with Netflix. I mail it back and another red envelope arrives within two or three days. Then again, I'm not signed up for many new releases ... there's nothing I need to see that badly that I can't wait weeks or months.

The US needs to go back to ancient times to learn a lesson or two, providing it really wants to "learn."

[mcscajun]

28. Netflix works for me.

I dropped all my premium movie channels, signed up for the two-at-a-time unlimited @14.99 (whatever plan you choose, you get "Watch Instantly" hours equal to the cost of your plan; so for the $9.99 plan, that gets you ten hours of WI. Lots of documentaries available there.)

I still look at the cable listings to see what's interesting, and then I just add it to my Netflix list, which includes just about every movie I can recall 'missing' in the last several years, indie films that don't get much airing, even on cable, classics I may have never seen, and cable series that I never picked up on. With a queue close to 400 items (they allow you 500 in the queue) I won't run out of interesting things to view anytime soon.

It's worth trying. :hi:

[Kucinich4America]

18. "Unless you consider MSNBC good..."

Compared to Corporatist Numbskull News and FAUX, yes. But not by much, except for Olbermann. And when Rachel Maddow smacks down Tweety.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

21. Oh yeah, that was a thing of beauty.

Caucus night would have been so much better with just KO and Rachel, but Tweety provided so much entertainment value ... for all the wrong reasons!

[sallyseven]

23. Does anyone know when she is

going to get her own show? I cannot stand Tucker and sometimes Tweety. I wouldn't miss them. I do like Dan Abrams a little . KO is the best.

[Infinite Hope]

8. I will. We'll get a chance to watch our candidates that have a chance.

I've defended the right of Kucinich to join debates in all other situations, but it's down to the wire election-wise and it's important to hear from those who are realistically still in it. I wouldn't have been opposed to him being included, but I'm not opposed to him being excluded. Color me indifferent on the issue.

[no name no slogan]

11. Even when DK's in, they never give him any airtime anyway

Which means he doesn't get any coverage, which means he doesn't raise any money, which means he doesn't make any appearances, which means he doesn't get any coverage....

Public financing of ALL campaigns is long overdue. If we had it, we'd actually have REAL debate, instead of three brands of Velveeta to choose from

[Desertrose]

16. Velveeta? LOL I thought it was American...

:evilgrin:

These are NOT debates in ANY sense of the word....just longer soundbytes filled with the SOS.

Public financing....yup....be a kick to see how well they all did with the same "allowance", wouldn't it?

[no name no slogan]

17. Yeah, American prolly woulda been better!

The only cool moment I ever remember from ANY Pres/VP debate was from Bentsen/Quayle in 1988.

I was watching it in the basement of my college dorm, surrounded by Republicans, when Lloyd B. said "you're no Jack Kennedy" to poor J. Danforth. I've never seen so many pissed off Young Republicans at once!

[Occam Bandage]

13. They're asking tough questions here. They're answering the question, "Why can we afford war but not

healthcare" at the moment.

[no name no slogan]

19. Yeah, but on cops they're arresting a shirtless guy with no teeth for DUI

you can't compete with that. Unless you show nekkid bewbs.

[bigwillq]

22. I am not.

I am at work. I would've probably watched them if I were home though.

[emilyg]

26. I'll watch both debates.

[no name no slogan]

27. Okay, I watched part of it-- AND IT WAS PAINFUL

Cripes, what is this, a pingpong match between Obama and Clinton, discussing the minute details of their plans which are BASICALLY THE SAME DAMN THING?

Screw it, I'm going to go yank my toenails out with a pliers. That would be less painful than watching this pathetic "debate".

[LWolf]

29. I didn't.

I've heard all I need to hear at this point, and the only one of the bunch I'm interested in tuning in for wasn't there.

Why bother?