Yes, I watched about 20 minutes of the debate before I couldn’t take it any more. For a drinking game that doesn’t put you in the hospital, you should drink every time Obama says (paraphrased except for the inflection): “Here’s a point where I think it is important to look at the record.” As in, there are points (and they are many!) where he would prefer we not look at the record. He is making a big mistake in not squelching this natural inflection. He should just say “Look at the record!” and leave it at that. (Yes, I tried combing the C-SPAN video to find a specific instance, but couldn’t take the mind-numbing horror long enough. He said it at least twice in the short portion I watched last night.)

Even Dancing with the Stars was reasonably lame this week, starting with the laming of Misty May-Treanor, who popped her Achilles tendon (ow ow ow ow!!) in rehearsal. She and Maks have withdrawn for the season and nobody else was eliminated last night, though my strategy of using all my votes on Rocco apparently didn’t have many co-actors, as he and Karina would have been eliminated last night if not for Maks and Misty’s absence. COME ON, PEOPLE. Cloris Leachman. Susan Lucci. I cannot believe people are voting for these women, although I will say that Lucci’s jive showed more energy than I thought she could muster, even if her footwork was off in several places. The Rockettes, however, almost made up for last week’s results-show horror. Keep kicking, ladies.