lol......I responded before reading down the thread.
You had the same comments I did.
The "smirk" comments always tell the true intention of the poster.
Not that it is very relevant or informative, but how do you account for the smirk? Or do you even see it as plainly as it is there?
During his debates with Mondale, my beloved RR looked bewildered at some points, I remember that, yet I never held it against him, despite the fact that I realized it meant he was not as tuned in as would be opportune. An occasionally bewildered RR was vastly superior to Mondale completelt lucid.
W has a smirk. Any rational person would see that it is out of place. My own personal opinion and complete speculation, is that the smirk means he is an unserious person, except as an issue pertains to himself.