Respek yo' self, Sister!

Yesterday was the most rediculous day. After class, our last class before exams, about half the class went down to a local pub to celebrate. This was at 1 pm. We didn't leave until 7 pm. That was simply uncalled for. But this one guy, Khaled from the United Arab Emirates, is a relentless drinker. Every time you turn around, he's bought a new round of pints for the entire table. I went home after that, ate some food, took a shower, and then headed out again. It was my friend Dave's birthday, so I had to meet up with him. We hung out at a pub for awhile and then ended up going to Club 5, which is a very posh and expensive pub. Fortunately, I know people who know people, so we got in free and got treated like royalty.

While we where there, I saw this one girl who made out with like 7 guys. Later, she found her way upstairs to where we were hanging out. Somehow, she started talking with us. I asked her if she wanted some water (because she was trashed - i mean, barely standing). Apparently, she didn't want any water, but she did propose, quite unexpectantly, that quote "I want to take you home and fuck you because you're so sweet". Needless to say, I declined.

Later, after we had left, we ran into the girl again with her flatmate. They were trying to hail a cab. It was the wrong time for a cab, though, so it took awhile, but I finally hailed a cab for them. During this time, the drunk girl was making out with my friend Evan on the street (who was also completely trashed). As they were getting in the cab, I couldn't stop myself from telling this girl's flatmate that she needed to teach her friend to "Respek herself" (Ali G style). Seriously, this girl did not respect herself. No one that gets that trashed and makes out with 8 guys and propositions at least one fellow for sex can respect themself.

At any rate, I really didn't have that good of a time. On the other hand, I spent less than 20 pounds for the entire day, which isn't bad since I drank more than my share. My friend Victor at the club kept buying drinks, which was absurd because I didn't want or need any more. He wouldn't let me buy drinks either, which I can only assume has something to do with Mexican machismo.

I'm watching the debate from last night right now on www.washingpost.com and I have to say, I really think that Bush is a flat out liar. I'm not really doing much fact checking for what Kerry says because I'm more attuned what Bush has to say. Just this week a final report was issued that stated that the inspections in Iraq worked prior to the war and Saddam not only had little capacity to build WMDs, but also had no interest because he was focusing on the regional security threat that is Iran. Kerry mentioned this in the debate and Bush's response was something like, "That report showed that inspections weren't working." There's no situation in which what he said was true. It was the most clear and bold lie I've heard out of him so far. That's not just spin, that's just completely untrue - the final conclusion of the report was that inspections DID work. Not only that, I'd like to hear John Kerry ask the President something like, "If the inspections weren't working, where are the WMDs?" Of course, the only response is that Saddam would have gotten them inevitably, but it's a nice rhetorical device.

I also think that Kerry really skewered Bush on the tax cut. He made a couple arguments that I thought were very strong, namely that 1% of the richest Americans received most of the tax cut, that he's the only President to give a tax cut during war, and on the policy specifics (child tax credit, etc).

For the most part I thought Bush was trying to play up his homey Texas style. At times he appeared gruff and combative. He also continued his blinking problem. Those that missed the first debate may not realize that Bush has a serious blinking problem. He blinks non-stop, especially when Kerry is talking. Real World thinks that the blinking is related to Bush lying - it's a well known tell. But I think it's more likely that he so angry and pissed off underneath that he's blinking so much in an attempt to stop from jumping up and strangling Kerry. In general, I don't think the President is a likeable guy. He came across to me as a real jerk.

Overall, I'd say that no one really won this debate, primarily because American's aren't great on substance. Substantively, there wasn't much new on International Relations - Bush pretty much repeated his litany of lies, half-truths, and complete fantasy. Kerry pretty much skewered him on those issues and offered little in the way to solve, aside from bringing the allies to the table. Domestically, I thought Kerry was way ahead on the economy and the budget. It belies credibility to suggest, as Bush did, that Democrats aren't fiscally conservative. Over the last 30 years, the Democrats are the ones that swallowed the tough medicine to balance the budget, not the GOP. The GOP likes to believe that they stand for balanced budgets, but that's because they always use wildly optimistic estimates for tax revenue 3 to 5 years down the road - which, as we all know, doesn't always work out because things like recessions crop up and revenues go down.

I really don't like the way Bush just asserts things as if they are self evident. For example, he said something like 90% of businesses are S-type corportations and "they just are". It shows a very surface level of knowledge and he uses those phrases all the time. "Axis of Evil" for example, was another use of that type of communication. North Korea, Iraq, and Iran are just evil because "they just are". That type of thinking is antithetical to problem solving and completely ignores the real considerations of those nations to prolif.

Finally, I think this debate helped Kerry. Those that are really paying attention know that Kerry did well. But those that aren't really that clued in saw a resolute Kerry and an irritable President that didn't knock Kerry down. A draw only helps Kerry. Bush needed a win and didn't get it.