SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 7:45 P.M. ET:

MIDEAST FIREWORKS – Turkey fired artillery shells into Syria today after shelling from Syria hit a Turkish border town.  The border has been used by Syrian refugees fleeing their war-ravaged country.  Five Turks were reported killed.  The prime minister of Turkey, the Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is reportedly Obama's closest friend in the region.  It'll be interesting to see how the president reacts.  The war in Syria drags on, with no initiatives coming from Washington to end it.  Turkey is also a member of NATO, which could complicate things enormously.

IRAN VIOLENCE – Elsewhere in the Mideast, an area where Obama claims so many triumphs (name one), there was street violence in Iran, as Iranians protested the plunge in the nation's currency, possibly a result of international sanctions.  The last time there were disturbances in Iran, in 2009, when there was a chance of overthrowing the regime, President Obama pointedly refused for four days to comment, only then making a vague statement supporting democracy, but doing nothing to help the democracy protesters.  Look for a repeat performance.  Obama will do nothing to upset his re-election campaign.

LATEST POLLS – New polling, just before the debate tonight, shows the race tightening in the key battleground states of Florida and Virginia, although Obama remains solid in Ohio.  Romney could conceivably win without Ohio, although it will be difficult.  Overall, late polls show Obama up nationally by about three points, well within the margin of error.   And voting is more than a month away, several lifetimes in politics.

FRANCE TOUGHENS – One thing about the French, they're very tough on internal security.  The French government, which ironically is run by socialists, presented plans today for a new law that will allow prosecution of citizens who attend militant Islamic training camps in other countries.  Those who attend the camps could be punished by up to ten years in prison for "association with a terrorist enterprise."  That's the way to do it.

October 3,  2012