The Analysis You Won't Hear About Last Night's Presidential Debate

Trey Smith

Last night I shared with you a brief snippet of Glenn Greenwald's pre-debate column in which he featured three questions he didn't think you'd hear -- he was right -- at the last Presidential Debate. As the debate got going, Greenwald provided updates throughout it. Below are a few of his keen observations.

9:27pm: It's 27 minutes into the debate, and so far the two have agreed on far, far more than they've disagreed. In fact, I'm not certain that they have actually disagreed on anything yet.

9:34pm: Both candidates are eager to ignore the topic of this debate - foreign policy - in order to talk about the economy because they perceive, accurately, that this is what most voters care about, and because they don't really have much to disagree in the foreign policy area. And so they are now dispensing with any pretense and regurgitating their economics debate.

But US foreign policy actually does have a significant relationship to the economy- namely, the massive military, the constant aggression, war and occupation, the hundreds of military bases around the world all drain resources away from far more constructive purposes - but neither of these two candidates will dare to question any of those imperial premises, so they can't actually address the prime economic impact of US foreign policy.

9:43pm: Obama boasts of the massive amount of military spending under his presidency. Romney then says he wants to spend more. It is inconceivable that anyone would suggest that spending almost more than all other countries on the planet combined is excessive. That is the election in a nutshell.

9:58pm: Romney and Obama just had a very stirring debate over who loves Israel most. Romney pointed out that Obama skipped Israel on his Middle East trip. Obama pointed out that he visited Israel and saw a Holocaust museum and visited towns where Hamas was shooting rockets.

I think it's fair to say that they both love Israel very, very, very much.

10:02pm: Obama just mocked Romney for saying, in 2008, that he would have asked for Pakistan's permission to use military force to get bin Laden. That's quite redolent of the mockery of John Kerry in 2004 by Bush that he wants a "permission slip" from the world before using military force.

Obama then told a story about how he talked to someone at Ground Zero whose father died on 9/11. That is quite redolent of everything that happened in 2004.

10:06pm: Almost every question moderator Bob Scheiffer is asking is a challenge from the right: will you stand by Israel if they're attacked? Will you still pull out troops from Afghanistan if the Taliban are strong, etc.?

10:12pm: Romney was just asked about drones, and he said: "I support that entirely, and feel the president was right to up our capabilities there, and we should continue to use it to go after those who pose a threat to this nation and our allies."

More fundamental agreement! It's so moving.

10:22pm: A primary reason this debate is so awful is because DC media people like Bob Scheiffer have zero interest in challenging any policy that is embraced by both parties, and since most foreign policies are embraced by both parties, he has no interest in challenging most of the issues that are relevant: drones, sanctions, Israel, etc.

10:34pm: That was just a wretched debate, with almost no redeeming qualities. It was substance-free, boring, and suffuse with empty platitudes. Bob Scheiffer's questions were even more vapid and predictably shallow than they normally are, and one often forgot that he was even there (which was the most pleasant part of the debate.)

The vast majority of the most consequential foreign policy matters (along with the world's nations) were completely ignored in lieu of their same repetitive slogans on the economy. When they did get near foreign policy, it was to embrace the fundamentals of each other's positions and, at most, bicker on the margin over campaign rhetoric.

Numerous foreign policy analysts, commentators and journalists published lists of foreign policy questions they wanted to hear asked and answered at this debate. Almost none was raised. In sum, it was a perfect microcosm of America's political culture.

Feel better?

We now return you to our regular programming...