I watched the debate last night, Wine and Nyquil and homeade chocolate chunk cookies make it all do able. I think Jesus would have had some wine and cookies with me.

I woke up this morning with a fresher set of eyes about what happened and what was said, and you know what? Nothing was said! Instead of addressing the serious questions, they all tried to out do each other, almost as if this race was between themselves, and not for the most important position a person can hold. It was mean, contentiuos and lacking substance.

There were some great questions. One of my faves was in regards to the Death penalty, and whether Jesus would have supported it. Huckabee, after not answering the question was cornered by Anderon Cooper about that finally said: Jesus was too smart to run for office".

Fred Thomson will only make a pledge to the American people in regards to taxes. (to which I ask, how about the United States of America there Fred, or maybe a pledge to uphold the Consitution?)They all barely touched on the economic agenda instead either saying that they would cut taxes or make a pledgee to Grover -- no one mentioned the deficit or how we got to 9 trillion dollars in debt. There was no economic plan at all. Everyone wanted to out untax each other.

Immigration was the big topic. HUGE. Some people had answers. Tancredo was happy to be out Tancredo'd. (How nice it must be to see people trying to look even more intolerant than you Tom...) Being a liberal type of person, I was not real fond of too many of them. I heard the word Sanctuary City, a rather new word for me in this lexicon of catch phrases. (perhaps that should be added to the debate drinking games!) And Rudy took a beating for this issue, saying that NYC was not, and that under certain circumstances, which he laid out, undocumented immigrants were reported to the federal government. I don't think the undocumented immigrants of NYC would say they felt any sanctuary under the Giuliani...

When the issue of hiring undocumented immigrants came up, Rudy said Mitt should better vet his employees I got a nice chuckle out of that one. (hello pot, meet Bernie Kettle)

I must say I was rather disgusted by Mitt Romney's response to a wonderful question regarding "Black -on-Black" Crime. And the question was great. A father and a son from Atlanta, Georgia wanted to know what the candidates would do about it because, as the child said 'it feels like the Taliban is right outside my door'. Mitt, he dropped the ball big time, instead saying how nice it was to see a man with his son. We heard nothing from the candidates about what they would do to help the people in THIS country. Mitt's answer was simply to say that we need to stop single parenthood. This was an opening to talk about crime in our nation, as well as the racial tensions that exist. This was a chance to talk about civil rights, a chance to address people of color.

McCain and Romney argued about torture. And I must say McCain came out looking alright. Mitt, well, he would say if Waterboarding is torture, he only said that he would listen to Cofer Black and what his recommendations on torture would be. I was surprised he mentioned Cofer's name at all. But Mitt is glad that Gitmo is still opened and he doesn't want *those* people in OUR justice sytsem. How very constitutional of you Mitt.

The rest was very typical fear mongering and 911™ branding. Ron Paul said he would like to get rid of the department of education, among other things, when asked. Most people wanted to cut SS or over haul, but in all reality no one knew what programs they would cut. (once again no economic plans there) It was brutal, it was mean and it was a rather depressing look at the upcoming election cycle. I found myself missing Bob Dole last night, dammit!

2 important things to note: Fred didn't fall asleep. although he was caught fidgeting. Mitt seems to have dyed his hair again...

Alrighty then..... Fair Coffee and Tea are over at the caffeine bar. Fresh Bagels have been brought in from Murray's in NYC. Donuts are from Tim Horton's today.... I will see you inside.