Mitt Romney is one rude guy. It's not that he's a bully, it's that he is impervious to anything and anyone around him. It's all about him. And when he doesn't get his way, he stomps his foot like a spoiled brat.

He's rude and impatient. Which is a sign he doesn't play well with others. He thinks he knows best. Would he even listen to his own advisers, or would we be in for four years of Mitt knows best?

He was awful tonight. He may be one of the most unlikable politicians to come along in a while.

Mitt Romney needs to go to charm school. I bet he didn't have many friends as a kid.

Update: Romney just f*cked up big time. Candy called him out on being wrong about what Obama said in the Rose Garden about the Libyan attack. That may be the moment of the night. Romney spins a tale and gets caught red-handed.

Obama killed him in this debate. Will the media agree?

First, the good news, USA mens soccer team leads 3-1 over Guatemala. Look good to qualify for the next round. But Germany blew a 4-0 lead today so, as Yogi said, it's not over till it's over.

My Yanks? Ah, my Yanks. Do you believe in miracles? Here's hoping we can beat the best pitcher of his generation, Justin Verlander, while mired in a team wide slump. Hope springs eternal.

Meanwhile, in other news, there is a debate tonight that could very likely decide who will lead our country for the next 4 years. But other than that, no big deal. Live blog to commence at 9. It'll be on the flip once the debate starts.

One hour from now, the second debate begins between President Obama and Mitt Romney. It's a town hall, will someone ask about marijuana? Will it be the only thing they agree on all night, that it must stay illegal, or will one or both pander for the youth vote and pretend they aren't dead set against it?

Which Obama will we see tonight? Hopefully not the professor.

Here's an open thread for your thoughts before it begins.

I'm too nervous to blog about anything. I will do a live blog of tonight's monumental presidential townhall debate.

Talk amongst yourselves until the debate tonight.

Open Thread.

I'll be back today flying solo on Daily Kos Radio from 11 to noon Eastern today. Discussing tonight's debate.

How to Listen to Daily Kos Radio:

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Open Thread.

Here is yesterday's show (skip the first minute, technical difficulties):

The 11 Show October.15.2012 by Netroots Radio

I want to be a Macho Man:

Romney aides told BuzzFeed their polling indicates that Obama's biggest vulnerability among Hispanics is that he's viewed as a "weak leader." In much of Latino culture, they explained, political leaders are expected to demonstrate a macho bravado[.]

Mitt Romney was not a businessman; he was a master financial speculator who bought, sold, flipped, and stripped businesses. He did not build enterprises the old-fashioned way—out of inspiration, perspiration, and a long slog in the free market fostering a new product, service, or process of production. Instead, he spent his 15 years raising debt in prodigious amounts on Wall Street so that Bain could purchase the pots and pans and castoffs of corporate America, leverage them to the hilt, gussy them up as reborn “roll-ups,” and then deliver them back to Wall Street for resale—the faster the better. - Former Reagan Budget Director David Stockman

David Stockman was the former Reagan budget director. He went to a life of LBO "artist." He first becme well known for telling the truth about Reagan's voodoo economics and was 'taken to the woodshed' for his frankness.

In this article, Stockman puts together Mitt Romney's 'great' business career with the polices that allowed for it and which he wants to double down on. Stockman wrote:

How it's done.

If you love Bill Murray (and I do), you have to love this:

The next time you instantly erase 114 minutes of your life by getting sucked, once again, into the vortex that is a cable viewing of Road House, rest assured that Bill Murray and his idiot brothers are out there somewhere, watching with you. At least that’s the story from Road House co-star Kelly Lynch, who, in a frankly awesome interview with The A.V. Club, says that Murray calls her husband, Mitch Glazer (co-writer of Murray’s 1988 Christmas Carol redux Scrooged), whenever the movie is on TV during one scene in particular:

Every time Road House is on and he or one of his idiot brothers are watching TV — and they’re always watching TV — one of them calls my husband and says [In a reasonable approximation of Carl Spackler], “Kelly’s having sex with Patrick Swayze right now. They’re doing it. He’s throwing her against the rocks.” [Away from the receiver.] What? Oh, my God. Mitch was just walking out the door to the set, and he said that Bill once called him from Russia.

Open Thread.

In the George Zimmerman case, Mark O'Mara has filed two fairly explosive motions. You can read them here and here.

In addition to withholding the report on the analysis of the phone found at the scene alleged to have been Trayvon's, it turns out the records given to the defense by the investigator who downloaded the information from the phone's sim card don't match those turned over by the State.

Also check out Officer Joseph Santiago's chronology of events concerning the phone.

There's lots more in these motions I don't have time to get into now like issues regarding the Dee Dee (witness 8) interview. O'Mara says he will depose the Martin family lawyers and public relations adviser. Diwataman has a summary of the motions.

If the state has been playing fast and loose with its discovery obligations as alleged by O'Mara, and it seems he has the documentation to back it up, the state has some serious explaining to do.

I'll be back today flying solo on Daily Kos Radio from 11 to noon Eastern today. Discussing THE WEEK of the campaign.

Also this and this article on Obama and Clinton. Tune in today. I think you'll like it.

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Open Thread.

Last month, Amendment 64, Colorado' proposal to legalize small amounts of marijuana for adult use had a 51 to 49 lead. This week, after the pot warriors came to town and took out ads, the lead is down to 48 to 39%.

This bill is an impoortant one to pass. Right now, possession of under an ounce of pot carries a hundred dollar fine --and a criminal record. You have to disclose it when applying for jobs. If you are in college, your will lose your loan for a while. Paying to expunge it later is expensive, and given the number of records on the internet, some will likely stay there. It can affect your ability to rent an apartment or apply for some kinds of professional licenses.

If the law isn't on the books, the state can't charge, and you are free of that pesky criminal record. Same goes for your kids, where a record could hurt their chances of getting into or staying in college. [More...]