"Are we watching the same debate? Does NO ONE see a huge risk in allowing all of Skerry's lies and distortions go unchallenged???"
Relax! Kerry wants W to follow him into the swamp of refuting lies. Then the debate becomes an hour of "Yes it is" and "No it isn't!" about one question.
That's what got GWB into trouble in the first debate. There isn't enough time to refute all the lies. With the short-answer format, you've got to encapsulate your position. The Kerry team knew this, and that was their strategy in the first debate ... keep Bush on the defensive trying to answer every one of their lies.