WASHINGTON - President Bush smirked and winked and chuckled to himself. He jumped from his stool, chopped at the air and interrupted the debate moderator. As he fought to keep his emotions in check in a testy, personal debate with Sen. John Kerry, the president asserted, "That answer almost made me scowl."
Several answers brought Bush's emotions to the surface, for better or worse, as he sought to curb Kerry's momentum.
The question the hung over the second of their three debates was whether Bush's aggressive, hyper style was an effective tool or a damaging habit — an extension of his disastrous first debate performance. Reviews were mixed.
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so let me get this straight... on Planet Bush there are at least two internets, perhaps many. He proposed ("invented?") the hydrogen automobile. He does not own a lumber company, but if Charlie Gibson needs wood, then George is the man to see. The President wasn't happy when we found out there wasn't WMD weapons in Iraq, but Bush kind of dropped all talk of a "coalition" after Kerry gave the line about Missouri being the third largest contributor of troops, if it were a sovereign nation. The President also knows it's wrong to own slaves in the U.S. but likes the current Supreme Court because they "vote for him". My personal favorite was: If my opponent was the President Sadaam Hussein would still be in power andTHE WORLD WOULD BE A SAFER PLACE.
Gaffe of the night: Talking about environmentalism:
"The forests haven't yet been harvested."
ON REVIEW: BUSH "wood" lie cost him
Scoring each round of the debate, Keith Olbermann over at MSNBC had given Kerry a victory in almost every round, but then inexplicably scored a tie at the end -- subject to verification on Bush's "wood" comment.
Well, Olbermann let the fact checkers do their thing, and now that the truth of the matter has emerged, he updated the scoring:
The Scorer's Table, having taken two hours to let the Blogosphere complete its due diligence (and to permit the scorer to retreat to a corner of the room, don cold compresses, and moan quietly), can now quote the truth from "Factcheck.Org": "President Bush himself would have qualified as a 'small business owner' under the Republican definition, based on his 2001 federal income tax returns. He reported $84 of business income from his part ownership of a timber-growing enterprise." Brooks Jackson's marvelous site noted that the timber interest was listed under "royalties" in his 2002 and 2003 returns, indicating The Texas Thunderbolt still has an interest in said concern.
The point awarded to Mr. Bush in the thirteenth round is hereby withdrawn and awarded to Mr. Kerry, for the latter's enterprising hoisting of his opponent on said opponent's own petard.
Mr. Bush is also penalized three points for a truth foul. Mr. Bush is further penalized two points for getting snarky while in the act of being factually incorrect.
The thirteenth round, originally scored 2-0 for Mr. Bush, now reverts to a 1-1 draw, and the rounds awarded total now changes from 12 Kerry, 4 Bush, 3 Drawn, to 12 Kerry, 3 Bush, 4 Drawn.
The final points scoring is now adjusted from Kerry 15, Bush 12, to Kerry 16, Bush 6. The Scorer thus designates the outcome as a Kerry victory outside the margin for statistical error.
The scorer's table reproaches President Bush for not knowing when he has wood.
Even Bob Dole knows when he's got wood.
Having a President who won't correct mistakes...
...is like driving in a car with someone who refuses to use his brakes.
