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Gwen Ifill (debate moderator): "Sen. Biden, the following questions go to you.

"Let's begin with your approach to diplomacy. During the primary campaign last year, you criticized Sen. Obama's pledge to meet with the leaders of states such as Iran and Venezuela as 'naive,' particularly if such meetings were held without preconditions.

Joe Biden meets with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Sept. 26.

"You also noted that when you met Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s, you did so on condition 'that no press would be available,' and you added that 'I'd only meet him in his office late at night, and I wouldn't dignify being seen with him.'

"Having said that, senator, do you think that as president, Barack Obama would be 'dignifying' Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by meeting him? Or do you agree with Sen. McCain when he argued in last week's debate that 'if without precondition you sit down across the table from someone who has called Israel a "stinking corpse," and wants to destroy that country and wipe it off the map, you legitimize those comments'?"

Ifill: "Senator, you have been a stalwart supporter of Georgia during the recent crisis with Russia, and you've described Georgia as a 'worthy candidate' for NATO membership, along with Ukraine.

"Do you think it is in America's national security interest to extend a military guarantee, via NATO, to Georgia, particularly if it risks direct confrontation with Russia?"

Ifill: "In 1991, you voted against giving the first President Bush authority to use force to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. You argued then that you opposed an 'impetuous and ill-considered rush to war.'

"Eleven years later, however, you supported the resolution to give the current president the authority to invade Iraq. You said, and I quote, that while Iraq did not pose 'an imminent threat,' it did pose 'an inevitable threat,' and, furthermore, that 'we are either going to have to react, if not tomorrow, we will have to in the next five years.'

"Leaving aside how the war was handled or mishandled, do you still believe Saddam posed an 'inevitable' threat to the United States?"

Ifill: "Further on Iraq, senator. In 2006, you were at the forefront of urging the 'soft' partition of Iraq into three de facto independent states. You also opposed President Bush's surge of U.S. forces in Iraq, saying the surge wasn't going to work 'either tactically or strategically.' Given that Barack Obama now says the surge 'succeeded beyond our wildest dreams,' do you stand by your support for partition and your opposition to the surge?"

Ifill: "Please turn to Iran. Sen. Obama and you have promised to conduct direct, presidential-level diplomacy with Iran to try to persuade it to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons. You have also promised to 'step up economic pressure and political isolation' if Iran fails to do so.

With experts forecasting that Iran is anywhere between six months and two years from acquiring sufficient quantities of fissile material to build a bomb, the time for either option seems short. Will you set a deadline for giving diplomacy a chance to work? And what kinds of sanctions, beyond those that are already in place, do you think could alter Iran's calculations in a short span of time? Would you favor, for example, a gasoline embargo on Iran?"

Ifill: "Let's talk about energy policy. In Ohio recently, you told a supporter that you and Mr. Obama were 'not supporting clean coal,' and that you would rather have coal plants built in China, if at all, than in the U.S.

"Back in May, however, Mr. Obama was running ads touting his support for 'clean Kentucky coal.' Has his position changed, or do the two of you differ on the issue?

"Also, former Vice President Al Gore has suggested transitioning to '100% zero-carbon electricity in 10 years.' Given that the U.S. gets 50% of its electricity generating power from coal, but only 2.3% from renewable sources such as wind and solar power, is Mr. Gore's timetable plausible or desirable?"

Ifill: "Turning to economic policy, you have supported $25 billion in loans to the auto industry. That's in addition to the $700 billion financial bailout to which Sen. Obama has given at least tentative support. Is there a troubled industry in America that an Obama-Biden administration would not bail out?

Ifill: "Finally, senator, something from the more distant past. In 1981, at the outset of the Reagan administration, you took the lead in cross-examining William 'Judge' Clark for his confirmation hearings for deputy secretary of state. Mr. Clark's job was explicitly intended to be managerial, not policy oriented. Nevertheless, you asked him for the names of the prime ministers of South Africa and Zimbabwe, both of which were second-tier posts in presidential systems.

"In the same spirit, Sen. Biden, and as a longstanding leader of the Foreign Relations Committee, can you give us the names of the prime minister of France and the president of Germany? Just to be clear here, senator, I am not referring to President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel."

from Brett stephens in the WSJ.

and run off the stage.

She repeatedly--REPEATEDLY--let Palin off the hook. When she wasn't letting Biden spin, she was letting Palin simply not answer. More than a half-dozen direct questions to Palin over a 90-minute span, and she answered TWO of them (one about energy and one about Iraq). TWO!!!

One of Palin's non-answers included this gem in regards to her thoughts on deregulation:

I may not answer the question the way you or the moderator want me to answer, but I'm going to talk to the American people and about my record also.

And that's EXACTLY what Palin did all night. No substance. NONE. And guess what? Even the Fox viewers saw through her vacuous bullshit.

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...Palin or Biden?

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Shhhh...don't let on.

Stop by chat and wreak a little havoc.

I have disabled java on this machine.

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...of wearing a robe.

(Unfortunately for him, sheep can hear a zipper from a mile away)

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...picking on the infirmed.

what they write. I bet 99% of their e mail were insulting or baiting. I'm here for civil dialog with occasional light heart ribbing. I'm here for dialog with the 95% of good guys that post here.

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So at this point I'd say your not on the list...

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and you can't respond lest you give away your disingenuous nature........hehehehehehehehe

I don't think he's offensive at all.

I would like to see a poll on the % of humans that think that using the ignore feature is a real pussy move.

Sidebar: Too bad his wife likes oats, so much.

BTW, is it kinda strange that Viva has me on "ignore" over here but continues to visit my site?

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I have a serious problem with rasmussenreports.com. That site is like cocaine to me right now. The state-to-state trends are fascinating. Thank God ND is playing and the Colts' bye week is over, so I can concentrate on something else for a couple days.

If Indy loses at Houston, consider me on suicide watch.

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Leroy apparently needs to find another hobby. Damn, that shit was funny.

Nah....nevermind.