Slouching Towards Tampa (Blab Four edition)

[JeffR]

Read the full article on the blog.
The absurdity is still compelling, but I just don't find the Republican primary battle much fun anymore. I miss Michele Bachmann. I miss Rick Perry. I miss Herman Cain. I even miss Jon Huntsman, since it was always enjoyable to watch him standing onstage with his rivals while I hummed "One of These Things Is Not Like the Others" to myself.

Sure, there are still some laughs to be had. Last Wednesday's CNN debate from Mesa, Arizona, for instance, provided a few. The first came 10 minutes before the debate got underway, when former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer, playing pundit, said something to the effect of: If Rick Santorum can look presidential tonight, he could blow this thing wide open. Comedy gold, right?

And the candidates themselves did their best to turn my frown upside-down, beginning with Santorum accusing Romney of adopting Occupy Wall Street's rhetoric. Even the live audience at the Mesa Arts Center tried to keep me amused, as when they reacted to moderator John King reading a viewer question asking which candidate believed in birth control, and if not, why, by booing lustily. It was a vivid snapshot of the Republican zeitgeist, AD 2012, and – hell, yes – I laughed.

Santorum characterized Iran as the "most prolific proliferator of terror in the world" and Gingrich described himself as "cheerful" and Romney placed the blame for ObamaCare squarely on Santorum's support for former Republican Arlen Specter and Ron Paul shoved libertarianism through the looking glass with some ominous blather about changing people's morality.

Beyond that, though, it wasn't even as much fun as administering eye drops to a beagle (which is how I spent one commercial break). It was essentially two hours of the Blab Four reprising their greatest hits at a mostly anemic tempo, frequently mangling trademark riffs and stumbling over lines that even the least astute of their adoring fans know by heart.

[SeattleGirl]

the "most prolific proliferator of terror in the world"

[jaxx]

Yep Jeff, the thrill is gone. The 4 leftovers are snarling and hoping to hold off the mean old questions while they spout their talking points and say rotten things about President Obama.

Best line: Ron Paul shoved libertarianism through the looking glass!
I did have that feeling of falling down the rabbit hole as I watched them posture on stage.

Thanks!