Bush didn’t wet himself last night, which I guess means that he didn’t lose. But I don’t think he won. The meme that seems to be developing is that Bush was, well, a bit angry. I don’t think it was enough of a gaffe to bring Bush down in the polls, but I think Kerry still has the momentum in his favor.
I’ll leave you with this metaphor:

Oh, and can someone tell me where to find these other “internets” the President mentioned? I only get one internet on my computer. Do I need a special decoder box or something?

It’s that time of the year when everybody starts freaking out over the flu. The likely vaccine shortage will raise the freak-out quotient a bit more than usual. I’m not worried because my employer will be offering free flu shots and I’m considered a high-risk candidate for flu complications. However, about five years ago I did get a shot and still came down with a nasty flu bug that landed me in the hospital for a week. Medicine offers few guarantees, but I’ll still get vaccinated because my odds of avoiding the flu are better with it than without it. I know that I have to check out of this life at some point, but I’ll be damned if a microscopic strand of RNA is going to do me in.
WBAY, a television station in my hometown of Green Bay, mistakenly ran an AP report on its website claiming that Bush won the election. The station apologized for the mistake, but does the AP know something we don’t?
If you buy me the book pictured at right, you’ll be my bestest friend ever.

My day trip to Duluth was enjoyable. My colleague Beth and I delivered a good presentation on employment and disability issues for a mixed audience of social workers, service providers, and even a few students. We had lunch at Grandma’s, a Duluth landmark. I wish I had more time to check out the city, but I did get the opportunity to sit on the shores of Lake Superior before I headed back to Minneapolis. Here are a couple pictures from my excursion.


It was good to get out of the office and see some of Greater Minnesota, something I need to do more of now that I’ve lived here almost ten years. We Minneapolitans tend to think of the rest of the state as a vast expanse of farmland sprinkled with resorts. That kind of attitude isn’t fair to the people who live outside the metro area. Maybe a place that doesn’t have a dozen Starbucks in a six-block radius should be commended rather than denigrated. Of course, I’m sure people in rural Minnesota have their opinions about us cityfolk, but that’s a topic for another entry.
Now I’m going to plop myself in front of the TV and watch the VP debate. The Republicans are acknowledging they got outspun last Thursday and are preparing to play hardball. To which I say: Bring it, bee-otch. There’s always a chance that Cheney could outplay the newbie Edwards, so I’m hoping John-Boy has his Litigator’s A-Game ready.

I said that I wanted to see Kerry close the gap in the polls and I got my wish. In the latest Newsweek poll, Kerry holds a small lead over Bush. It’s only one poll, but it will hopefully contribute to a more general meme that Kerry has the momentum.
I saw Shaun of the Dead with a friend last night. It’s a slacker version of 28 Days Later, combining humor with some effective scares. If you liked Evil Dead 2, you’ll like this movie. It also has one of the most…er…vivid disembowelment scenes I’ve seen in a horror movie. I usually don’t react much to blood and gore, but this scene elicited a respectful “Dude!” from me.

One of the best comments I read about last night’s debate was in the Boston Herald:
He reminds me of Fredo in `The Godfather.’ I can hear him saying: `I’m smart. I know things. I’m not stupid.’ ”
And while we’re at it, there’s this from the LA Times:
But words continually fail Bush. Mostly because he doesn’t try very many. With the TV cameras trained on the stripped-down debate stage, his bare-bones communication style sometimes played as monotonous rather than resolute.
Want some comments from the right? Here’s what some right-wing bloggers are saying:
But, candidly, I don’t think it went that well for the President. I think Kerry helped himself tonight. He came across as a credible candidate, and he was usually on the offensive. Powerline.
ONE LINE ON THE DEBATE: Kerry won. Hands down. By a lot. That’s all for now Oxblog.
Kerry did well in terms of his persona; I went in expecting a pompous windbag and he wasn’t one. Bush did less well in persona; fragmented, repetitive…” Winds of Change.
The pro-Kerry post-debate spin seems to be firming up. Will it be enough to give Kerry the Big Mo going into October? Hard to say. But we need to step up our ground game. Voters need to be registered. Rides on Election Day need to be arranged. To borrow a phrase from the President, getting a Democrat elected is hard work. Let’s do this thing.
My sister is taking the LSAT tomorrow, ten years after I took the damn thing. The exam is supposed to measure one’s ability to “think” like a lawyer. If being an attorney was all about solving logic puzzles, I would have turned in my license a long time ago. So send her some good karma, if you believe in that sort of thing.
Man, I’m tired. With all the excitement last night, I stayed up way past my bedtime. I should work on the book tonight, but I’m beginning to question my ability to string sentences together. Perhaps I’ll update the sidebar…