That would be, to quote Garfield, like swatting a fly with a Buick.

I would crawl on my knees naked through four miles of crushed glass just to listen, on a bad radio, to a debate between Bill Clinton and the zombie-eyed granny-starver Paul Ryan.

Naked through four miles of crushed glass....no. But I would pony up for pay-per-view for that debate.

Man, I think the only thing that's going to keep me sane this election season is the Esquire Politics Blog.

Yep. Steve Benen is good to if you want to vary it up.

I haven't watched the whole speech yet (since it's an HOUR FREAKING LONG), but could you elaborate? I'm curious what he said and why it was wrong.

He said that Obama had allowed undocumented young people to get a status that will allow them to join the military. The status he is giving them does NOT allow them to join the military. The military requires permanent residency. DoD could change the enlistment rules but they haven't at this point.

Some states, Arizna and Texas, have also been sort of assholes and won't let these kids get driver's licenses.

I am glad your Dr. was honest with you. I was so annoyed with my dentist because he implied that having my wisdom teech pulled as an adult was no big deal, and instead I could barely eat for 2 weeks right before Thanksgiving.

I am quite grateful that she didn't pull any punches and told me exactly what I was signing up for. Sorry about the bizarre dreams and ickyness, Sophia. Dreams should be more programmable.

The conventions are all about firing up the base; I don't think any minds are changed by them. Maybe the debates will change minds or influence the undecideds. In a completely biased assessment I have to think the DNC is doing a better job with firing up the base job, but I have no objective reason for thinking this.

There are some youth my colleague knows who will not apply for Dream status because the person figures when a Repub administration gets in they now have a database of "illegals" and could be tacked down and deported.

I don't think that perspective is wrong but it is a shame.

Unfortunately, I understand that concern, le nubian. I have physicians that won't apply for EHR incentives because they think the government is going to take their data and use it against them in some way. They are paranoid, but it isn't like they don't have plenty of cases of government abuse to point at as proof.

In a completely biased assessment I have to think the DNC is doing a better job with firing up the base job, but I have no objective reason for thinking this.

I think (some of) the GOP base has been "fired up" since November of 2008, when they realized that we'd elected a black man for President. The Democratic base has been slower to rouse, but this convention is sure doing its best.

le n, I think that is definitely a possibility. But I am heartened by the fact that these "kids" are the best and brightest of the undocumented population. Deporting them en masse would be extremely difficult and the more people apply, the more difficult it would be.