Final Political Debate of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney

Final Political Debate of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney

Two days ago, I had the privilege of watching the Final Presidential debate. In comparison to the last two debates, this one was a bit more toned down. Both Obama and Romney seemed to get along with each other. They where conversing civilly. However, there were a few shinning moments of inspiration on Obama's part.

What I found humoring in the post debate was the attention wasted on Obama and Romney's expressions. The TV guys almost seemed to utterly ignore the message and just focus on who looked more entertaining. Thus, I saw a lovely highlight of Obama's forced smiles and Romney's stiff neck and anger veins. I found it interesting that in the end, Obama and his Michealle met Romney's family. However, their children did not interact with Romney's family. It gives me a lot of food for thought.

Well, none of the above is of any importance. Phi Stars aims to focus on the message and not on the presentation. Any solid gold actor can give a convincing argument, even if they are arguing with an empty chair. However, it takes true wisdom to defeat someone with words alone, not with charisma. Argument wise, it seems ,for the most part, that Obama won. Charisma wise, both candidates where peachy.




In any case, the Final Presidential debate focused on foreign policies. It took place in Boca Raton, Florida. This debate took place in Florida because it is one of those key states that either makes or breaks the election. If you ask me, they are giving popular vote too much credit. In the end, the electoral college will do whatever it feels like. That is how Al Gore won in the popular election, but lost in the Presidential election. For this reason, I am in favor of direct elections. Well, that is a subject for another blog.

Well, the first "question" asked about the middle east. It asked each candidate how they would handle Islamic Extremism. Obama's says that the US needs to focus. He claims that Romney is all over the map, making enemies of anything that moves. He said the US needs to help the Middle East help themselves. He said he did everything for Libya. However, he was not planning on sending US troops for every conflict in the world. Mitt Romney said something around the same line. Overall he agreed with Obama's points.

Obama saw his opportunity to strike a low blow. He brought out Romney's Russia paranoia. He told Romney that he was glad he finally recognize who the true enemy was. I think that was a brilliant move on Obama's part. I realize that Romney was using the Russian thing to combat Obama's little conversation with the President of Russia. It is obvious that Obama saw this from a mile away. He counter it in such a way that made Romney look foolish and uniformed.

Obama also went a step further. He showed how Romney's opinion in Russia was misleading, i.e Marakey. Its a good thing Obama avoided the malarkey incident. In a nutshell, he said in a few sentences what was summarized in the word Malarkey. Looking at it well, this is the same strategy as the second debate. In the second debate, Obama tried to make Romney look misleading. The US citizens, ever since the Vietnam War, have been paranoid about Government deception.

Thus, this was a good method to cast a shadow of doubt over Romney's promises.  This strategy would have worked in the second debate. However, that cursed Malarkey ruined it. In this early stage of the game, Obama returned to the second debate strategy. Yet, this time he was more aggressive and less flamboyant. If you ask me, that whole scholarly Harvard rhetoric was what ruined Obama's first speech. In the end, it proved best to just get the point across. Nothing more, nothing less.

Romney responded to Obama's Malarkey attacks, by telling him to play nice. He did not disprove Obama's arguments. Rather, he agreed with Obama's foreign policies again. Plus, he took this chance to throw more rocks at China and the Russians. Also, he recognized that Iran really was true enemy of the US. Seeing himself cornered, Romney took out the "Obama's flexibility with Russia after the elections" card. Communications failed after this card was played by Romney.

From then on, they kept mutually interrupting each other. It almost seemed that they were about to fist fight. In this little skirmish, it was Obama who had the last laugh. He told Romney to look past the fighting capabilities of the Middle Eastern countries. The US needs to help those countries get solid public education, equal rights for women, a stable economy, ect. He also took care to affirm that those countries needed to help the US fight bad guys. Plus, they had to stop ganging up on Israel. Score board so far : 1 Point for Obama, 0 for Romney.

The pity is that Romney has good reasons to worry about Russia and China. I hate to break to you guys, but the US did not win the Cold War. The Russians lost on their own. They screwed up the minute they made an enemy of the Muslims. They were not too humored by the whole Communism thing. Unlike the rest of the world, the Muslims really love their religion. They did not like Islam being compared to the "Opium of the Masses". The rest, we know, is history. When the Soviet Union dissipated, in order to keep themselves afloat, the Russians started selling off their nuclear weapons. Many where purchased by the Chinese and Venezuela's Chavez.

It seems the Russia government is hoping to sell just enough weapons to get back up on their feet. Between the failed Muslim Conquest and the MAD strategy, the Russia economy crumble. It is naive and foolish to imagine that the communist sentiment dissipated with Soviet Union. Some Russians are nostalgic for the order that came with the communist regime. There is also the matter of the KGB. They may not be officially still active. However, there are still remnants of their presence. For example, President Putin was an "former" KGB officer. Plus, the last Russian election was fraudulent. I fear they are turning back to their old ways.

Well, let us return to the Presidential Debate. The second question focused on the conflict with Syria. It asked them if they should change their stance regarding that place. Obama took this time to reaffirm his current, proxy methods. This proxy war is a carry over from the Cold War. Instead of sending good Americans to die, the US simply trains the Syrians allies, mobilized the moderates,  and sent humanitarian aid. It seems that ,for the most part, it is the Turks and Israelis who are doing most of the fighting. The US is still trying to figure out who are the rebels. They want to avoid giving arms to the Taliban.

Romney's response was again agreeing with Obama. However, he again threw more rocks at the Russians. He said that the US should be leading not the Russians. It seems his main strategy is to attack those that cannot respond to him on the spot, like the Russians, the Chinese or an empty chair...  Obama took this chance to  strike another deadly blow. After this, they went on agreeing with things for a little while. Obama made the grave error of spitting on his own face. He admitted to having neglected the US economy because he was focuses on helping Iraq develop its own economic prowess. The sad part is that Romney did not jump at this opportunity. Instead, he finished this small section by agreeing with Obama in issues with Egypt and Syria.

The Third Question asked them to state what was the US role in the world. Both gave roughly the Super Man answer. You know, save the damsels in distress, fight for world peace, ect. Romney took this chance to ask for a stronger army. He critique Obama for ignoring the Green Revolution in Iran. This was an interesting rise of protests in Iran. Its called the Green Revolution because they choose the color green. He used this and the taking the Missiles program from Poland to show that Obama was not standing up for the US allies.

Obama keenly dodge both accusations. He clothed them in fancy rhetoric. He diverted the question to the education. Obama gave Romney a lure he knew he could not resist. Romney should have kept pressing on the Poland and Iran issue. He had actually caught Obama in a mosh and did not realize it. Instead, he chased after the education and economy mambo jumbo. What a pity... Somehow, this debate turned into a fight about systems of education. In this train of thought, Obama pointed out to Romney that he was taking credit for the coalition started by his predecessors. Massachusetts did not score high on math because of Romney. Thus, Obama managed to show that Romney's success in his state was nothing, but malarkey. hehehehe....

After they finally got out of the education argument, the conversation reared into military spending. Romney wanted to cut 5% of the army discretionary spending and then give them more money. So, he wants to both add and take money from the army... Weird? He then took the opportunity to throw more rocks at Obama Care. He wanted the states to handle Medicare. He used both Arizona and Rhode Island as prime examples of how the States handle Medicare.

Obama responded by saying that Romney's math did not add up. His plan was too ambiguous for us to believe that it would work. Romney countered with silly army stats. Obama tramped over Romney's argument in a most ingenious, ironic fashion. He told Romney that just as we had fewer ships today, we also have fewer horses and Bayonets. Obama gave a little lecture on the US military prowess. This essentially crippled Romney's so called military expertise. Obama also took this chance to remind the veterans that he is on their side.

I found interesting the candidates train of thought. They really went on a tangent with the whole education thing. It took the moderator's presence to put them back on track. Even then, they still did not return to the original US role in the world Question. Well, the next question was about the US promise to help Israel should they get attack. Both said roughly the same thing. They both support Israel. There is not question on that issue. The second part of the Question referred to Iran. Romney wanted to get in there and kill everyone. Obama was more into the whole "crippling sanctions" strategy.

Yeah, those sanctions worked well in Cuba. So, well that the Castros are still in power, after 50 years of experiencing similar Crippling Sanctions. In the end, they both agree that military action was always a last resort. Still, I agree with Romney. Sometimes military action is the only course to take. The debate got a bit annoying after that. Obama brought out several times, the "I slew Bin Laden" card.  Obama claimed that sometimes his decisions where unpopular, yet they where the right thing to do. He also took this chance to show that Romney's diplomatic policies where "all over the map".

Later, the moderator asked about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Romney was annoyed that the Moderator did not give him a chance to respond to Obama. We should not be surprised. The media has been in love with Obama since day 1. Both roughly agreed on the training of the Afghan forces. Obama showed some concern about Pakistan's involvement with the Taliban. He did not like their arrest of the doctor who led the US to Bin Laden's hiding place. This implies that Obama intends to do "something" about them in the near future. Traditionally, the US has taken betrayal rather violently. Let us not forget what happened to the Japanese during WWII. If the Pakistanis are not careful they might be wiped off the map. Still, Obama does not want to divorce Pakistan for the time being.

The next question asked both candidate about the drones. Both are in love with that technology. When it comes to spying on the US enemies, they agree that it must be done with whatever fancy technology the US has available. I like the drones. They are funny little airplanes. Did you know that the Iranian Cyber Army hacked one of the US drones? The media sorta swept that embarrassing incident under the rug. Now the bad guys can make drones and nukes. Man, this is not going to end pretty. I really do not think crippling sanctions are going to work on the bad guys.

You see, even before these crippling sanctions, Iran's economy was in the pits. They are already used to a terrible lifestyle. Thus, they got nothing to lose and everything to gain. For this reason, I really think crippling sanctions are not going to get the job done. The drones are a good step in the right direction. Still... they have been hacked by the enemy. People forget that in the end, a brute force attack of millions of computer always gets the job done. That drone incident proves it. The US should not put so much faith in Machines. In the end, it is the humans who win wars.

Well, the next question asked about China rising power. Obama said the same old, same old. He threw more rocks at the bad guys. He also mention education and how he had once stood up to the Chinese. Romney responded by saying the same old, same old. You know, about government not creating jobs. He also toned down his attack on the Chinese. He simply wanted to label them as currency manipulator. A slap in the wrist and the US can go back to being pals with the Chinese. I was under the impression that Romney wanted to divorce the Chinese. It seems that his attacks on the Chinese was nothing more, than Malarkey. hehehe... He is right about the Chinese Hacking US computer. Their hacking division is called Titan Drop. Can you guess who is the Titan they are trying to bring down?

Following, the moderator asked the candidates if they wanted to start a trade war with the Chinese. Romney went back to throw more rocks at the Chinese. You know, complaining about prices, globalization (or shipping jobs overseas) and counterfeit US products. Obama took this chance to tell the audience that Romney was familiar with this state of affairs because he had invested in a company that shipped jobs to China. After hearing this, Romney got mad. The conversation reared again into the Economy.

Obama complain about Romney wanting companies to undergo Bankruptcy. This entails firing and rehiring everyone (at a lower wage). They also argued about cutting off funds for the US research department. Romney said he liked research, but in the University. The irony is that he plans to remove government assistance from failing schools. Well, for all schools in General. Romney is into private schools. You know, where everyone has to pay the price. This really does not humor me one bit. The ancient Republicans loved public education. Now, this guy wants to go medieval on education. Frankly, I think that is a very bad idea. Well, the conversation ended with Obama, Romney and the Moderator agreeing that we all love teachers.

Well, now for the closing argument. Obama finished his debate by alluding to Bush. He equates Romney's strategy to the Bush mess. He said the same old, same old, about standing up for Veterans and families. The END. As for Romney, his closing was more simplistic. He did one of those cheap "I am good, he is bad" little mini Speech. He ended by saying that the US is the hope of the earth. You know, the Super Man argument. Yet, I remember that most of the time Super Man's clumsy way of fighting made things a lot worse. In conclusion, this final debate did not end well for Romney. Most of the time he was agreeing with Obama. Romney could have defeated Obama. However, he fell for the Obama's economy irresistible lure. It really is quite a pity.

As for Obama, he was always in the offensive. Most of the time, he took all of Romney's remarks in a most ironic, patronizing fashion. From all his statements, I liked best his Bayonets and Horses comment. It really was the creme de la creme of this debate. Still, many of his arguments were flawed. Had Romney know a bit of history and hacking he would have dismantle Obama really easily. Overall, the debate was quite humorous.  Obama may have won the battle, but in the end it is up to the electoral collage to decided who wins the war. It is anyone's game, at this point. In any case, both candidates are 5 star worthy. If it was up to me, we would have both candidates as presidents. Romney would take care of the Economy and Obama would chase after the bad guys. Ah... It is fun to dream.