On Last Night's Obama Triumph in the Second Presidential Debate

The British have a great expression - "face like a well-slapped arse" - which describes Mitt Romney's face to a tee at the end of his debate last night with Barack Obama.   Romney looked tired, drained, flustered, slightly desperate.   As well he should have after his 90-minute encounter with Barack Obama, back in top form, getting the best of every encounter with Romney, and looking much better in the bargain.

In the first debate, Obama let Romney have the last word in almost every exchange.  Not so last night, as Obama challenged just about every one of Romney's distortions and lies, with zest, power, and style.  A signal moment came when Romney tried to badger the President to admit that he and his administration took 14 days to recognize that the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi which killed our ambassador was a terrorist attack.  Romney brazenly challenged the President on his statement that he mentioned terrorism the day after the attack.  Obama coolly let Romney finish his rant, then calmly let moderator Candy Crowley school Romney on his error - Obama had in fact mentioned terrorism in a Rose Garden statement the very day after the attack.  This was also an honorable, admirable moment for Crowley - it couldn't have been easy for her to correct Romney, and the American people owe her a debt of gratitude.

Obama's mention of terrorism was not the only aspect of foreign policy in which he schooled Romney before the American people last night.  Obama took the discussion of the Libyan attack as an opportunity to show how foreign policy should be conducted during an election - not as an occasion to make political points, as Romney and the Republicans sought and are still seeking to do, but as a time to stand up for our people in the field.

Romney tried again and again last night to dominate the discussion with his deceptions and distortions.  And again and again, Obama stopped him cold.   When Romney appealed to moderator Crowley, she schooled him on what was his proper time to speak during the debate.  In the first debate, Romney walked all over moderator Jim Lehrer, as Obama just looked on.  Last night, Crowley as well as the President stood up to Romney's bullying.  You could see and hear the result, as Romney's started whining about his time to speak, and as he reverted to Romney-speak with his talk about "binders full of women".

So now we have a split in the Presidential debate results, with one more to go.   Obama has now done a good job highlighting the differences between him and Romney of most domestic issues, including health care, women's rights, immigration, and the economy.   The exchanges on Libya last night promise a good third and final debate this coming Monday as Obama and Romney discuss foreign policy.

See also On Last Night's Obama Disappointment in the First Presidential Debate and On Last Night's Biden Success in the VP Debate

Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman Cites Asimov's Foundation Series as Inspiration

A great moment on the PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer tonight, when new Nobel Laureate in Economics Paul Krugman was asked by Lehrer what inspired him to become an economist. Krugman replied it was reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation series as a teenager, and seeing how social scientists saved galactic civilization.

That's the second reason I'm really happy that Krugman won the Nobel Prize - and even more important than the first, which was that Krugman is on the honor roll of guests insulted by Bill O'Reilly.

The Foundation series is much more important. Written as a series of short stories for Astounding Magazine in 1940s (later and presently Analog Magazine), expanded and published as the Foundation trilogy in the 1950s, this has easily been my favorite reading of all time - since the days I first read it at age 12, and ever since. I list the Foundation trilogy among my favorites on Facebook, MySpace, and all the online places I hang my hat and can list my favorite books (actually, I rarely wear a hat). I included Asimov among the four thinkers who most influenced my work in my 1997 The Soft Edge: A Natural History and Future of the Information Revolution - mostly because of the Foundation trilogy. It also inspired me to think and write science fiction.

And its story is: The galactic civilization looks good on the outside, but is already crumbling within. Hari Seldon develops "psychohistory," a way of mathematically mapping all trends in human behavior, and using the equations to predict the future. He sets up two Foundations, at opposite sides of the galaxy, to further refine and take advantage of psychohistory to shorten the galactical dark ages. Of course-

No, I won't tell you any more, in case you haven't read it. Suffice to say, I've read it at least three times. Asimov and others wrote sequels, and some of those novels were excellent. But none as riveting as the Foundation trilogy.

Congratulations Paul Krugman - on winning the Nobel Prize, and on your great taste in science fiction...

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See also, for a little deeper reading, my The Invigoration of a Philosophic Issue in Science Fiction: How Pierre-Simon Laplace’s Demon Finds a Stage in the Foundation and Dune Trilogies.  It was first published as a  Google "knol" but was reprinted here after the knol system was shut down. It does have spoilers.