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Debate, Declaim, Debacle
NY Times ^ | October 16, 2004 | DAVID BROOKS

Posted on 10/15/2004 9:16:39 PM PDT by neverdem

OP-ED COLUMNIST

SCHIEFFER And our first question goes to Senator Kerry. Sir, your spending plans will cost over a trillion dollars. Your combined tax plans will cost $500 billion. How are you going to balance the budget?

KERRY Bob, I'm glad you asked me that question, but before I dodge it I'd like to thank you for moderating this debate, I'd like to thank Arizona State University for being such wonderful hosts and I'd like to thank Dick Cheney's daughter for being a lesbian - in case anybody didn't know.

Bob, as you know, this nation is on the brink of an apocalyptic catastrophe. Civilization as we know it is hanging on by a thread. Our culture has collapsed, our economy is in tatters, the human spirit is extinguished, children never laugh, God is dead, and families like Dick Cheney's are ashamed of their daughters, one of whom is a lesbian. All of this is because of George Bush.

Did you know that right here in Arizona the average share of the national debt on a per capita basis is rising faster than the inverse of the median lost wages ratio of the typical swing voter in Ohio, Missouri and Florida combined?

Bob, when I'm president, we're going to have a president as gloomy as this country should be. But the difference is that I have a plan to balance the budget. In fact I have seven plans. Seven and a half if you count the one I was working on in the limo, not even counting subclauses. When I'm president, our country is going to marry a really rich country, which will pay for everything. Thank you.

SCHIEFFER Mr. President?

BUSH You need a plan. I know that. I'm president. I wake up every day looking for a plan. In fact, I supported Mitch McConnell's plan. But my opponent voted to raise taxes 1,500 gazillion bazillion times. He even voted for some of my budgets, which have created deficits as far as the eye can see! He's a liberal!

The first thing we need to do is cut back. I'm not going to have a flu shot this year. I'm not even going to take a Tylenol. I'm going to have a root canal right here on this stage without Novocain. But we also need to declare an international war on deficits.

I'm excited about 19-year-old girls in Afghanistan who are voting in favor of the line-item veto for the first time ever. I'm excited about the millions of Iraqis who have been liberated from Saddam's Hussein's trial lawyers and their frivolous lawsuits.

SCHIEFFER According to the prearranged rules of this debate, each candidate will now have two minutes to spew forth sentimental blather in order to connect with the American people.

KERRY Thank you Bob. I'm a Catholic. I was an altar boy. In Nativity plays I was usually cast as one of the posts holding up the manger. I know that a lot of people are tired of politicians who just tell them what they want to hear. America, I want to look you in the eye and pledge I will never pander to you.

Spirituality is important to me. I've always felt that we humans are insignificant maggots scuttling across the muck of the universe, and that life itself is just a meaningless moment of agony between the suffocating stench of the womb and the foul decay of the grave.

SCHIEFFER Thanks for that uplifting message. Mr. President?

BUSH America, we've been through a lot together. Imagine how bad things would be if I'd made any mistakes. But we've come through it.

We haven't enforced the Dred Scott decision. And what about my timber company? Can you believe the networks? Oh, never mind. Do you want some wood? How late does this go, anyway? I'm losing it.

SCHIEFFER As I was driving in tonight one thing occurred to me: All three of us are surrounded by strong women. What the hell are we doing up here? Why aren't they running the country?

KERRY Bob, it's true that I am married. She's my second wife, to be precise. Can't recall her name at the moment, but she's fully funded. And I've got two beautiful daughters. Heterosexuals, both of them.

I want to tell you about my family unit and what it means to me. We're in the 79th percentile in most demographic categories. Our compatibility fitness score is within the standard deviation for median households worldwide. ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Arizona; US: District of Columbia; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bush; davidbrooks; debates; kerry; satire; schieffer

1 posted on 10/15/2004 9:16:41 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem
This piece is VERY FUNNY!!
2 posted on 10/15/2004 9:19:36 PM PDT by NutCrackerBoy
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To: neverdem

good for a laugh


3 posted on 10/15/2004 9:19:42 PM PDT by Texas_Jarhead
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To: neverdem

Lol.


4 posted on 10/15/2004 9:20:50 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: neverdem

It feels good to laugh. And I'm thinking we better laugh all we can because the post-election lawyer debacle will be worse than last time.


5 posted on 10/15/2004 9:23:53 PM PDT by sockmonkey
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To: NutCrackerBoy

6 posted on 10/15/2004 9:25:05 PM PDT by Danno (the Dems have poop in their pants...)
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To: neverdem

This is great. I love political humor when it skewers both parties equally. I could just imagine President Bush saying he was going to have a root canal right there on the stage. I laughed out loud!


7 posted on 10/15/2004 9:27:25 PM PDT by AaronInCarolina
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To: neverdem

"In Nativity plays I was usually cast as one of the posts holding up the manger."

Classic


8 posted on 10/15/2004 9:29:38 PM PDT by BushIsKing
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To: neverdem
Did you know that right here in Arizona the average share of the national debt on a per capita basis is rising faster than the inverse of the median lost wages ratio of the typical swing voter in Ohio, Missouri and Florida combined?

This is so close to what he would actually say during a debate. His real performance almost approached the absurdity of this lampoon.
9 posted on 10/15/2004 9:30:30 PM PDT by AaronInCarolina
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To: AaronInCarolina

Well worth the read...


10 posted on 10/15/2004 9:32:36 PM PDT by IllumiNaughtyByNature ("How do I know people are praying for me? I can just feel it." - Pres. GW Bush 10/13/04)
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To: neverdem

lol


11 posted on 10/15/2004 9:33:19 PM PDT by boycott
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To: neverdem

This is the actual debate transcript, right?


12 posted on 10/15/2004 9:40:53 PM PDT by Califelephant (50 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq now have the chance to live in FREEDOM)
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To: potlatch

Satirical ping


13 posted on 10/15/2004 9:41:30 PM PDT by ntnychik
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To: neverdem

I didn't know David Brooks was so funny. I've never seen this side of him when he opines beside Mark Shields on the Lehrer News Hour. There, he comes across as fair-minded, insightful, circumspect, and guileless. (As opposed to the sleazy, ever-so-sly and self-satisfied demo hack Mark Shields).


14 posted on 10/15/2004 9:43:42 PM PDT by Prince Caspian (Don't ask if it's risky... Ask if the reward is worth the risk)
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To: neverdem

Hilarious! Could be an SNL script tomorrow!


15 posted on 10/15/2004 9:55:46 PM PDT by Dems_R_Losers (Proud to be a Reagan Alumna!)
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To: Squantos

ping


16 posted on 10/16/2004 12:06:44 AM PDT by neverdem (Xin loi min oi)
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To: neverdem

Too kewl !

Thanks for the ping !


17 posted on 10/16/2004 12:11:37 AM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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To: neverdem

I barely got my coffee cup safely down on the desk~..keyboard saved!..


18 posted on 10/16/2004 6:39:32 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry has been AWOL on issues of national security for two decades)
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To: neverdem

David Brooks' portrait of Kerry is just too good to be true. He really is a French Poodle at heart. (laughing)


19 posted on 10/16/2004 10:17:38 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: neverdem

Wow... though I like Brooks's work generally, this has gotta be the first time I've found him genuinely funny (that is, when he was trying to be). And what conservative can't enjoy the little jab at, "He voted for my budgets--he's a liberal!!"


20 posted on 10/16/2004 4:27:29 PM PDT by ash-housewares
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