And the Debate Winner is – Lemony Snicket

Special to FreeRepublic ^ | 29 September 2004 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[Congressman Billybob]

Comments are in the article.

[Arkinsaw]

Mr. President, what do you admire about John Kerry?

Senator Kerry, in what ways does George Bush suck?

They could have just asked those two questions to capture the flavor and then let us watch something else.

[Taxman]

Taxman Bravo Zulu!

A most excellent piece of work, BillyBob!

[Weirdad]

Very great article and writing. Thank you.

[jokar]

Thank you

[buzzsaw6]

John,

Kerry seemed scattered and negative and BORING as hell. UGH! I could barely watch the thing (which I did start to finish).

That said, the President seemed tired and peeved for a lot of the debate, particularly toward the end. He did shine when he schwacked Kerry about the "global test" and when talking about the widow.

I couldn't believe that Kerry wanted to give the "moohlahs" nuclear fuel and "see how they handle it". Is this guy nuts!

Talley Ho!

[FreedomSurge]

Brilliant analogy to Lemony Snicket. I first encountered him when he was reading from his book to assorted children on the CBS morning show. The children were enraptured. I was extremely impressed with how he never underestimated the intelligence of his young audience and was never once condescending.

Bush I consider to be exceptionally flawed but, perhaps, the best candidate we could hope to actually elect. Kerry is evil incarnate. Lemony Snicket is highly entertaining. You convinced me, I am going to write in Lemony Snicket for president.

[goldstategop]

Over the next few days we'll see how it goes. People got to compare and contrast the qualities and resume the two candidates bring to the job. Kerry needed to KO Bush to have a chance to change the dynamics of the race. He didn't succeed. Unless there are other things that influence public opinion to turn against the President, Bush looks set to be re-elected in November.

[Constitution Day]

Congressman Billybob's latest!

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NC *Ping*

Please FRmail Constitution Day, TaxRelief OR Helms if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.

[spacewarp]

Of COURSE Bush looked peeved. He looked like he wanted to mix it up but because his people agreed to a restrictive format, he didn't have the gloves off enough to go after all the lies that Kerry kept putting out there. At one point, Kerry made a statement, specifically denying saying that he'd EVER given a 6 month timeline for removing troops. Other than the fact that it was all over the headlines for several days as a way to prove that Kerry "has a plan" which the media was desperate to do, I was able to find NUMEROUS quotes of it from his interview on NPR in under 1 minute. The man opens his mouth and lies every time.

And then I turned on the morning spots and found they were gleefully orgasmic about the fact that Kerry didn't fall flat on his face. CNN had a crew of people watching Kerry doing fact checking and another watching Bush. During the immediate post-debate coverage, they asked the Bush guy. "Well, we watched and checked all his facts. The one glaring issue, Kerry brought up immediately." They were thrilled that they found something that, while true, Kerry believed was false, so they jumped on it. The guy in charge of watching Kerry rattled off 8 items as if they were nothing.

Kerry was VERY Clintonesque in at least one of his accusations. And Bush missed a great opportunity. Kerry jumped in and stuck both feet in his mouth when he said that Iraq had nothing to do with the War on Terror because the 9/11 commission concluded they had nothing to do with 9/11. Bush should have said "That's because it's a War on TERROR, not a War on 9/11."

Paul

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I want to let everyone know about this great resource:

The ultimate John kerry Ad

Contains John Kerry's actual statements in his own voice covering both sides of major issues!

Turn your speakers up!

Just outstanding!!!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Snicket is his pen name; Daniel Handler is the writer of “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” a 13-volume series about the efforts of the evil Count Olaf to get his hands on the “enormous fortune” of the Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. The books are funny, serious, outrageous, educational, and exceptionally well written.

Thanks for the excellent writup and the above information. Might make some good Christmas gifts for my younger grandkids.

[califamily4W]

Ah Billybob,
I pondered what your response to the debates might be, remembering a past post of your personal experience with Kerry's debating style and form.
Low and behold what do I find? Lemony Snickett! Do I know the man? Well, I have a gaggle of girls and one particular LS fan who "suckered me" into the trek of a lifetime last fall. None other, a Snickett book signing.
We arrived at about 3pm. The line wasn't too bad and I made the choice (oh that choice) to sit up front and very close to the author, all along knowing they would start the signing from the back of the auditorium but worth the center stage experience.
Kept convincing myself this will go smoothly and yes quickly. Wrong!!! Two hours passed and we were still in our seats! It was 10pm before we made it to the author's table.
Hundreds before us and that tired man still had it in him to leave me feeling ...grateful for the honor of his encouraging presence.
Reminds me of our president. Hundreds of hugs, smiles and words of compassion to the battered folks in Florida before the debate and that tired man still had it in him to leave me feeling ...grateful for the honor of his encouraging presence.

All in all save the debate points for a club tally card. Kerry is a schmoozing talker, the President is a soothing talker.
As a mom I'll take soothing any day for I cannot be schmoozed (unless, it's one of my own Lemony Snickett fans and that man decides to come to our town with his new book...ugh)!

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you for your reply. Your experience with this extraordinary writer confirms our reactions. Plain, simple and honest beats complex, slick and dubious every time. Well, almost every time. Thank you for your post.

Billybob

P.S. I have a personal reason, too, for liking Snicket/Handler. I am equally schizophrenic as Billybob/John. LOL.

[My2Cents]

The one point I will concede to Kerry’s handlers is that they broke him of the habit of pointing at people like Ichabod Crane, with his bony finger of doom as he recounted American “failures.”

Man, that is a great line! Your comments are tremendous.

[My2Cents]

You know what's funny?....My wife and I didn't watch the debate (truth be told, we had a couple of friends over last night and we were actually in fervent prayer during the entire 90 minutes...we didn't wrap-up for another 30 minutes after the debate), but we could hear the *tone* of Kerry and Bush coming from the other room as our daughter watched the debate. Bush's tone was normal, like a neighbor talking to you over the fence. Kerry's tone was lecturey, ponderous, pompous, detached. I'm sure those distinctions weren't lost on most viewers.

[califamily4W]

My pleasure sir.

As I see this election Kerry is only the front thrust in my fear for this nation. The true blow comes from a protective liberal media.
There boy is a bubble bound candidate with millions in free media, who should have hit the ground for his past and present whacked out antics.
Yet, he floats along, leaving me to trust the American heart.
I'm confident my trust is well placed!

[Democratshavenobrains]

Bush needs to not exhaust himself the days of the next debates. He also needs to stop reacting so damn emotionally whenever Kerry says his usual Michael Moore inspired talking points.

[TASMANIANRED]

btt

[scoastie]

thank you, Congressman BillyBob...I felt for President Bush last night, trying his hardest to counter Kerry's lies..and how frustrated he was at the slick performance
to undermine President Bush's accomplishments. I have been feeling down over Kerry' supposed 'win' and felt the President, through slips and distractions, let Kerry off the hook...I am so worried about this country under a Kerry presidency and how this nation would suffer catastrophic losses under his watch..we are at the precipice looking down...and there is no going back...
there are so many people who hate this President and that is a powerful force...negative but powerful....it is so oppressive...