Just another magic Monday

So, after a Zicam-assisted sickness avoidance, I managed to put a full weekend under my belt, including watching some less-than-exhilarating presidential debate and a trip to the Big E in Massachusetts. The debates really didn't spur much in the way of new thought about either of the candidates. I pretty much felt exactly the same by the end as I did in the beginning. It seemed to me the greatest value that was extracted from the debate was that it appeared to be the first time the candidates had ever really expressed their opinions in front of each other. Neither appeared to have any previous grasp of what the other thought going in, so I suppose it was a growing experience for them, and hopefully when one of them inevitably loses come November, they will be able to part as friends and there will be no hard feelings. The glossy eyes of McCain and the marionette-like movement of his arms make me wonder if he's actually just a robot prop, replacing what used to be a decent guy with pretty respectable values with a Bush-esque old man who doesn't even know what he stands for anymore. The debate appeared to be more of a lesson in public speaking, with Obama occasionally flashing a knowing smile in spite of McCain's rambling, increasingly frustrated responses to Lehrer's cues. It did not appear McCain was really prepared to speak with someone else there to contradict whatever fell out of his mouth. That said, I can't say they really expressed a lot of their ideas to the public, thus the lack of any real value for the audience (i.e. the country). Hopefully the next one will have more substance, less sputtering semantic arguments over the meaning of "preconditions".