politics: debate shenanigans

I was deliberately avoiding the debate last night. I had spent the day grading papers and discussing the nature of absurd humor in my classes. I'd also watched Death at a Funeral the night before, so I could tell one of my students if it would work for her paper. It does and it's awful. I just didn't want to deal with anything absurd. So, I went by the bookstore on my way home and spent a gift card. Since I was driving from Fort Worth, I managed to get home 45 minutes into the thing. My brother was cleaning and mad. Mad, mad, mad. He was outraged at how Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopolus were conducting the debate. Me, I was trying to find something to watch that wasn't a reality show. Then it hit me, as my brother came and told me around 8 CT that they had finally turned to policy-esque issues, ABC had deliberately front loaded the debate with the "silly" season questions because at 8 the debate was up against American Idol. I haven't found the ratings for last night yet, but I suspect there was a shift to Fox at 8.