TONIGHT'S REPUBLICAN DEBATE

I know, I'm a glutton for punishment. I did have to turn to another channel now and then when the blowhard jive became too unbearable.

But now and then one of them would actually say something true to score on another and if you were listening carefully and had the capacity to actually hear without the echo chamber of rightwing propaganda and media incompetence, they sometimes ended up defending Obama's policies and presidency, without intending to of course.

Like the drumbeat that Obama's new proposal for a leaner more efficient military in which costs were commensurate with national needs, Ron Paul pointed out it was actually just a call to stop defense department  increases. And when Rick Perry suggested sending our troops back to Iraq (!) because Iran was taking over Gingrich pointed out that the smarter thing would be to change the leadership in Iran and then went on to say that if you wanted to stop Wahabanism and not have to cow tow to Saudi Arabia anymore we needed to be free of the burden of depending on them for their oil.

And there was more. But the disheartening thing about the debate as always, was the way the moderators, in this case Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopolous, and a third guy whose name I forgot, allowed the candidates to say one untrue thing after another about Obama or themselves or our government, without challenging their facts or calling them on their lies. They seemed more interested in getting them to admit they'd said the nasty things they'd said about their opponents, which for the most part, of course, the avoided admitting.

All in all I wished I'd watched a movie instead. But what can I say, election year debates are to me like what sporting events are to most men, compelling drama in which I feel I have a personal stake.