On the heels of last Wednesday's debate—during which President Obama failed to call out Mitt Romney for the numerous lies he told—many Democrats began this week on a decidedly low note; there was much gnashing of teeth, rending of garments, and clutching of pearls.
But, by week's end, those same Democrats had a reason to smile.
Thursday night, in what would be their only face-off, Vice President Joe Biden repeatedly drove his proverbial Trans Am right over Congressman Paul Ryan.
This frontal assault was exactly the stuff that Obama's supporters were pining for.
If the president can learn from Biden's winning performance, it'll take more than a glass of water to keep Romney's dream of living in the White House from going up in flames.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central); Roundtable: Virgina Gov. Bob McDonnell (R); Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (D), Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos and Tom Brokaw (NBC News).
Face the Nation: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA); Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD); Roundtable: Romney Campaign Adviser Bay Buchanan, Katrina vanden Heuvel (The Nation), Republican Pollster Frank Luntz, David Corn (Mother Jones) and John Dickerson (CBS News).
This Week: Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH); Delaware Attoney General Beau Biden (D); Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Martha Raddatz (ABC News), Former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Presidential Historian Richard Norton Smith and Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile.
Fox News Sunday: Obama Campaign Senior Adviser David Axelrod; Romney Campaign Senior Adviser Ed Gillespie; Roundtable: Brit Hume (Fox News), Radio Host Laura Ingraham, Bob Woodward (Washington Post) and Jeff Zeleny (New York Times).
State of the Union: Obama Campaign Senior Adviser Robert Gibbs; Romney Campaign Senior Adviser Ed Gillespie; Former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL); Former Chairman of the Florida GOP Al Cardenas; Jim Acosta (CNN); Susan Page (USA Today); Grover Norquist (Americans for Tax Reform); Bill Burton (Priorities USA); Reliable Sources: Keli Goff (TheRoot.com); George Washington University Prof. Steve Roberts; David Frum (Daily Beast/Newsweek); Candy Crowley (CNN); Buzz Bissinger (Vanity Fair).
The Chris Matthews Show: Andrew Sullivan (Daily Beast/Newsweek); John Heilemann (New York Magazine); Nia Malika Henderson (Washington Post); Liz Marlantes (Christian Science Monitor).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Bill Keller (New York Times); Singapore University Prof. Kishore Mahbubani; Former CIA Officer Tony Mendez; Filmmaker Ric Burns; President of Harvard University Drew Gilbin Faust.
Up with Chris Hayes: Nate Silver (New York Times); Founder of Staples Thomas Stemberg; Sarita Gupta (Jobs with Justice); Josh Barro (Bloomberg News); David W. Moore (iMediaEthics.org); Maya Wiley (Center for Social Inclusion); Fordham University School of Law Prof. Zephyr Teachout; New York University School of Law Prof. Monica Youn; Alec MacGillis (The New Republic).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on the Syrian civil war (preview); report on a creative new program in Texas which is offering returning veterans who are are getting into trouble with the law an alternative to standard justice (preview); and, an interview with actor Daniel Craig (preview).
On Comedy Central...
Jon Stewart ran the numbers on the right wing's BLS conspiracy theories.
The Daily Show
Monday: Author J.K. Rowling
Tuesday: Documentarian Eugene Jarecki
Wednesday: Nate Silver (New York Times)
Thursday: President Barack Obama
And Stephen Colbert argued that Stephen Colbert was fooled by Mitt Romney's debate performance.
The Colbert Report
Monday: Author Evan Thomas
Tuesday: Newark, NJ Mayor Corey Booker (D)
Wednesday: Actor/Director Tyler Perry
Thursday: Musicians The Killers
Elsewhere...
The Wall Street Journal took issue with the use of the term "liar" in reference to pathological liar Mitt Romney.
"Liar" is a potent and ugly word with a sleazy political pedigree. But "liar" is not being deployed only by party attack dogs or the Daily Kos comment queue. Mitt Romney is being called a "liar" by officials at the top of the Obama re-election campaign. [...]
The Obama campaign's resurrection of "liar" as a political tool is odious because it has such a repellent pedigree. It dates to the sleazy world of fascist and totalitarian propaganda in the 1930s. It was part of the milieu of stooges, show trials and dupes. These were people willing to say anything to defeat their opposition. Denouncing people as liars was at the center of it. The idea was never to elevate political debate but to debauch it.
The purpose of calling someone a liar then was not merely to refute their ideas or arguments. It was to nullify them, to eliminate them from participation in politics.
Meanwhile...
A worker in Romney's Bedford, VA campaign office shared his plan to reduce America's entitlement culture with a freelance journalist.
"I'll tell you what really need to do with these illegitimate families on welfare — give all the kids up for adoption and execute the parents."
I stare at him and blink in a glaze of shock.
Just to be sure I heard him right, I ask him to repeat it, twice.
"Yes, I mean it. Get rid of all of them, give the kids up for adoption, execute the parents, and you get rid of the problem." (When I call him back to revisit the issue, he elaborates: "put the children up for adoption and execute the parents, and word would get out soon" that poor people shouldn’t have kids.)
And, finally...
Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) was back in the news, this time for casting doubt on the legitimacy of evolution.
During a Tea Party meeting on Thursday, Akin said, "Well, I've taken a look at both sides of the thing. And it seems to me that evolution takes a tremendous amount of faith."
"To have all of a sudden all of the different things that have to be lined up, to create something as sophisticated as life, it takes a lot of faith," he added. "I don't see it as even as a matter of science, because I don’t know if you can prove one or the other."
"So, that's one of those things — you know, we can talk about theology, and all kinds of science things, but I'm basically concerned about, you've got a choice between Claire McCaskill and myself. My job is to make the thing there. If you want to do theoretical stuff, we can do that, but I think I better stay on topic."
The stupid, it burns.
- Trix