Pocket-Gate Is The Stupidest Scandal EVER

Okay, I was going to let this one go, until my mother started reading the story to me off of the Drudge Report as though this story actually had any import at all. The story goes (and you can skim the other Blogs for video that has been painstakingly combed from network broadcasts) that in the first few seconds Senator Kerry came to the podium, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out, and placed it on the podium. The debate rules specifically outlawed the bringing of any tangible object to the podium, including cards, pens, etc. The Conservative and/or Wacko political Blogs have been screaming that John Kerry obviously cheated on the rules by bringing in cue cards or some other memory aid.

Well, now apparently the Fox News feed has shown that Kerry brought...GASP! A black pen! Oh, no! I am sure this will also be challenged and both real and doctored uh, I mean enhanced footage will be trotted out to prove some point. But let's be honest, this story has no point to it. Even if Kerry brought a card on it to the podium, if it was small enough to be hidden from Jim Lehrer, it could only have held a reminder like "Don't forget to smile" or "Theresa loves me just the way I am" or etc. Even assuming the worst, does this make John Kerry less eloquent (or less flip-floppy) or George W Bush less tongue-tied (or less firm in his convictions)? Nope.

For once, the wacko left is right on this one. It is just an attempt by right-wingers to change the subject from a poor showing at the debate. And with good reason, it is probably what I'd do in their position. But lets those of us with common sense realize this really is a nothing story. It is just an attempt to fill the dead air until the VP debate tomorrow night.