GAME ON – AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  The first presidential debate of the season is on tonight.  It should be entertaining, could be decisive if Romney is on target.  The real entertainment, though, will come with the punditry that follows.  TV outlets must fill air time, pundits must say the things that will get them invited to the right Washington parties. 

Most of the "analysis" will disappear, like fog, very quickly.   You may even see it rise and float away.  Howie Carr, a very astute and funny Boston columnist and radio host, has it right:

You know what everyone on every network except Fox is going to say. Comrade Chris Matthews’ leg is going to be tingling out of control. Sgt. Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow will be breathlessly reading phony stories from the Internet about dissension in the GOP ranks.

On CNN, “Republicans” Alex Castellanos and David Gergen will compare Barack’s closing statement to the Gettysburg Address and the Sermon on the Mount. David Brooks will swoon as he notes the perfect crease in Obama’s trousers.

All of these trust-funded parrots — the pundits, the bow-tied bumkissers, the throne sniffers — will agree that it’s all over and Mitt might as well throw in the towel.

Talk about marching in “lockstep,” to use a favorite word of both U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Granny Warren on Monday night in Lowell.

But don’t let the Democratic agitprop get you down. Just watch the debate on C-SPAN and then, as soon as it’s over, flip over to a radio talk show, or the Internet.

COMMENT:  Or, you can come to Urgent Agenda, where we'll play it straight.  The only thing important about a modern presidential debate is who comes out with additional votes.  We're not talking Lincoln and Douglas here. 

Lincoln couldn't be nominated today.  Awkward.  High-pitched voice.  No TV presence.  Uses words like "fourscore."  State legislator, maybe.

October 3,  2012