It would be interesting to see if SNL would spoof Obama's wandering, bored performance. Probably not. You and I care about PBS, but most people in this country couldn't give a rat's ass about it. That's the hard reality, which is why I doubt your meme has any traction.
Oh, it's not a personal thing for me. I like PBS and NPR, it is true. But I don't necessarily think the federal government should still be subsidizing it. My point was that in a 90-minute debate there was very little substantive to take away from it. Little to spoof besides Obama's aimlessness (as you point out) and Romney's manicness (which might have been the theme had Obama showed up at all). There were no major "No Soviet Domination of Eastern Europe" gaffes or "You're no Jack Kennedy" zingers. Romney was very disciplined and on message. The Big Bird thing was about all that stood out for a lot of people (during the debate Big Bird was getting 17,000 tweets a minute after he said it). I am starting to hear it get into the news reports. And PBS has responded on its web page (and the traffic to the statement crashed the site for a while). And don't forget what happened when Gingrich tried to kill Big Bird back in 1995--there was a huge outcry and he had to back down (which makes Mitt's choice to zero in not only on public television but specifically mentioning Big Bird kind of odd). Aside from calling his sons liars, it was really his only misstep of the night. I could be wrong and it might not get any spoofing from Colbert, Stewart, the late-night hosts, and SNL. But I think it will. Time will tell.
"The Church is authoritarian, tribal, provincial, and founded on a loosely biblical racist frontier sex cult."--Juggler Vain "The LDS church is the Amway of religions. Even with all the soap they sell, they still manage to come away smelling dirty."--Some Schmo
Equality wrote:Oh, it's not a personal thing for me. I like PBS and NPR, it is true. But I don't necessarily think the federal government should still be subsidizing it. My point was that in a 90-minute debate there was very little substantive to take away from it. Little to spoof besides Obama's aimlessness (as you point out) and Romney's manicness (which might have been the theme had Obama showed up at all). There were no major "No Soviet Domination of Eastern Europe" gaffes or "You're no Jack Kennedy" zingers. Romney was very disciplined and on message. The Big Bird thing was about all that stood out for a lot of people (during the debate Big Bird was getting 17,000 tweets a minute after he said it). I am starting to hear it get into the news reports. And PBS has responded on its web page (and the traffic to the statement crashed the site for a while). And don't forget what happened when Gingrich tried to kill Big Bird back in 1995--there was a huge outcry and he had to back down (which makes Mitt's choice to zero in not only on public television but specifically mentioning Big Bird kind of odd). Aside from calling his sons liars, it was really his only misstep of the night. I could be wrong and it might not get any spoofing from Colbert, Stewart, the late-night hosts, and SNL. But I think it will. Time will tell.
I'm sure it will get some attention, but I don't think it's an important issue or will become one. Romney framed it quite skillfully as a matter of priorities, I thought: We love Big Bird, but should we be borrowing money from the Chinese to keep him on the air?
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
I'm sure it will get some attention, but I don't think it's an important issue or will become one. Romney framed it quite skillfully as a matter of priorities, I thought: We love Big Bird, but should we be borrowing money from the Chinese to keep him on the air?
Yes, another lie from Romney. We are not "borrowing money from China" to fund PBS. That's just so dumb. UPDATE: it's now on the front page of nbcnews.com: Obama says finally someone is going to do something about Big Bird. (Can't figure out how to link to the video)
"The Church is authoritarian, tribal, provincial, and founded on a loosely biblical racist frontier sex cult."--Juggler Vain "The LDS church is the Amway of religions. Even with all the soap they sell, they still manage to come away smelling dirty."--Some Schmo
I'm sure it will get some attention, but I don't think it's an important issue or will become one. Romney framed it quite skillfully as a matter of priorities, I thought: We love Big Bird, but should we be borrowing money from the Chinese to keep him on the air?
Yes, another lie from Romney. We are not "borrowing money from China" to fund PBS. That's just so dumb. UPDATE: it's now on the front page of nbcnews.com: [url=http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbc-news/49292969/?__utma=14933801.1737835655.1342478417.1349374898.1349386833.95&__utmb=14933801.2.10.1349386833&__utmc=14933801&__utmx=-&__utmz=14933801.1345474343.40.4.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=(not%20provided)&__utmv=14933801.|8=Earned%20By=msnbc%7Ccover=1^12=Landing%20Content=Mixed=1^13=Landing%20Hostname=www.nbcnews.com=1^30=Visit%20Type%20to%20Content=Earned%20to%20Mixed=1&__utmk=184127910#49292969]Obama says finally someone is going to do something about Big Bird[/url]
We are borrowing from China to finance our deficits. As I said, framing it as a matter of priorities was politically very astute. Even if it gets traction, a smart Romney campaign will talk about priorities and debt when asked about it.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
If the Democrats don't handle this correctly, Romney can just say that, rather than focusing on the big problems we face and the need for jobs, Obama is obsessing about Big Bird.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
Bob Loblaw wrote:If there's going to be a meme, here's my suggestion:
I agree. While the plan to be Teflon Obama would have been sound allowing Romney's kitchen sink of attacks to slide off him and stick back, being Asleep Teflon Obama was a fail. Fortunately for Obama this was the first debate and not the last. Romney has plenty more chances to screw the pooch.
Whatever appears to be against the Book of Mormon is going to be overturned at some time in the future. So we can be pretty open minded.-charity 3/7/07
MASH quotes I peeked in the back [of the Bible] Frank, the Devil did it. I avoid church religiously. This isn't one of my sermons, I expect you to listen.
If you think about it, this has already taken Obama "off message." Before he was talking about Romney's disdain for the poor and middle class, his intention to give the rich big tax breaks, and his plan to take us back to Bush-era policies. Now he's talking about Big Bird. Somehow, I don't see this as a win for Obama.
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
"Obama got Bin Laden, Romney in response targets Big Bird" -
But yeah let's get back to talking about Romney giving himself a huge tax break and calling 47% of Americans, including students, senior citizens, and the working poor, lazy for not paying income taxes.
Whatever appears to be against the Book of Mormon is going to be overturned at some time in the future. So we can be pretty open minded.-charity 3/7/07
MASH quotes I peeked in the back [of the Bible] Frank, the Devil did it. I avoid church religiously. This isn't one of my sermons, I expect you to listen.
Bond James Bond wrote:"Obama got Bin Laden, Romney in response targets Big Bird" -
But yeah let's get back to talking about Romney giving himself a huge tax break and calling 47% of Americans, including students, senior citizens, and the working poor, lazy for not paying income taxes.
Exactly. Obama has spent too much time making Romney look evil and greedy. Why on earth would he let Romney frame the discussion about priorities by taking this bait?
"It doesn't seem fair, does it Norm--that I should have so much knowledge when there are people in the world that have to go to bed stupid every night." -- Clifford C. Clavin, USPS
"¡No contaban con mi astucia!" -- El Chapulin Colorado
