Debate night. We are a pretty polarized nation these days. I wonder what happened to statesmanship, cooperation, and compromise. Was there ever any such thing? Was Benjamin Franklin a statesman? Have our forefathers seen what was right for the country and done it even when their own constituents saw it another way. Or has that never happened? Have the rich always controlled the legislature and executive branch? Has the judiciary always been partisan?

Have polarizing issues always galvinized groups so that one issue became their only issue? Abortion, guns, prayer in school, the ten commandments, gay marriage, tax relief, welfare reduction.

It appeared to me that both debate candidates got to say the buzzwords they wanted to say. Mr. Bush seemed bewildered at times when trying to think of something to say. He also spent most of his time making sour faces when he wasn't responding to a question. I saw partisan groups on TV cheering or booing against what one candidate or the other had to say. Mr. Kerry was definitely a cool debater. He didn't get flustered and always had something to say. I was most amused that Bush had sort of blondish hair instead of his normal gray. That was cute.

I wish the president could put words together and make sentences that made sense. That clarity would seem to serve a president well. For the folks who were looking for incisive clarity on positions from Mr. Kerry, I thought he gave it, chapter and verse.

I was expecting it to be a close contest from what I had heard about Mr. Bush, but all in all, I thought the president got his ass kicked in this one. He looked bewildered and incompetent. If America wants to make our way in the world alone, living in our own little fantasy world, Dubya Bush is our man I think. If we want to rejoin the community of nations and realize that other voices must join with ours for right, truth, and freedom, in order for us to be successful, then Kerry seems to be the guy.