I can’t believe I lost two hours of my life watching that debate. Nearly an hour of questions rehashing the nonsense that’s been passing for news in the election. I learned nothing about the candidates and watched both fumble around with uncomfortable questions about people not involved in this election.

The second half was a little more reasonable, though still embarrassing for ABC. Gibson was the most outrageous, sounding like a panicked stockbroker when grilling the candidates on whether they were going to raise capital gains taxes. Stephanopolous didn’t seem to have much to contribute either.

Both Obama and Clinton had a fairly rough time, with Obama facing numerous questions about various people who had some sort of association with him (some more than others) and Clinton essentially having to admit she flat out lied about what happened in Bosnia.

Clinton did seem better prepared, however. Her answers were firm and confident, while Obama was clearly shaken from the first hour.

Overall, not a productive use of the time. Maybe there’s only so much more to add if you’ve already had 20 debates. We’ve past the point of diminishing returns.