Following his lifeless performance in the first debate, President Obama had a lot of ground to make up when he squared off against Mitt Romney this week; and from the moment the two men took their seats, Obama fought hard for every inch.
On issue after issue, including tax cuts, lady parts, energy, illegal immigration, college scholarships, equal pay, China, the auto bailout, gun violence, dinner time, and the size of their respective packages, he wiped the floor with Romney.
But the night's defining moment came when the topic turned to Libya, and the president used an old Jedi mind trick to convince his opponent to self-immolate.
And then, for the coup de grâce, Obama reminded everyone just how much of a dick the Romney boys' father is.
The moral of this story is: Don't bring binders full of women to a lightsaber fight.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL); Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH); Obama Campaign Senior Adviser David Axelrod; Roundtable: Former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, Republican Strategist Mike Murphy, Tom Friedman (New York Times) and Helene Cooper (New York Times).
Face the Nation: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL); Romney Campaign Senior Adviser Kevin Madden; Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter; Roundtable: Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal), David Sanger (New York Times), Joe Klein (TIME) and John Dickerson (CBS News).
This Week: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL); Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D); Roundtable: DNC Chair/Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Ralph Reed (Faith and Freedom Coalition), Former Green Jobs "Czar" Van Jones, Greta Van Susteren (Fox News) and Republican Strategist Matthew Dowd.
Fox News Sunday: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL); Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Frank Newport (Gallup); Roundtable: Brit Hume (Fox News), Liz Marlantes (Christian Science Monitor), Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard) and Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D); Former Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich (R); Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA); Former Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA); Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA); Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD); Dana Bash (CNN); Dan Balz (Washington Post); Reliable Sources: Nia-Malika Henderson (Washington Post); Roger Simon (Politico); Jackie Kucinich (USA Today); Jennifer Rubin (Washington Post); David Shuster (Current TV); Tina Brown (Newsweek/Daily Beast); Media Critic Jeff Jarvis.
The Chris Matthews Show: Andrea Mitchell (NBC News); Kathleen Parker (Washington Post); John Harris (Politico); Michael Duffy (TIME).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan; Evan Osnos (The New Yorker); FedEx Chairman Fred Smith; Sal Khan (Khan Academy).
Up with Chris Hayes: Former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA); Former Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department Anne-Marie Slaughter; Ali Gharib (Daily Beast).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on Colorado's medical marijuana industry (preview); an interview with Greg Smith, who publicly resigned from Goldman Sachs by writing an editorial in The New York Times (preview); and, an interview with director Steven Speilberg about his forthcoming movie, "Lincoln" (preview).
On Comedy Central...
Jon Stewart looked inside Mitt Romney's binders full of women.
The Daily Show
Monday: Comedian D.L. Hughley
Tuesday: Actor Gerard Butler
Wednesday: Medal of Honor Recipient Dakota Meyer
Thursday: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
And Stephen Colbert examined Romney's own Benghazi-gate.
The Colbert Report
Monday: Inventor Donald Sadoway
Tuesday: Author John Grisham
Wednesday: Author Anthony Everitt
Thursday: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R)
Elsewhere...
Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) explained why the life/health of the mother is never a valid excuse for getting an abortion, as only he can.
"With modern technology and science, you can't find one instance… There's no such exception as life of the mother. And as far as health of the mother, same thing, with advances in science and technology, health of the mother has become a tool for abortions anytime under any reason."
Meanwhile...
Glenn Beck, not content with all the various ways he's been fleecing his followers for years, decided to get in on the blue jeans racket.
Attention, America: Glenn Beck is now selling jeans.
That's right. Beck's line of denim — part of his clothing company 1791.com — went on sale Monday. The men's jeans are available in two cuts, classic and straight, and cost $129.99 a pair.
"Each pair of jeans has been painstakingly constructed by America's most skilled denim craftsmen to create an honest pair of jeans," the description reads.
And, in other right-wing "news"...
Neil Patel, co-founder of The Daily Caller, explained how they came up with the name for the website.
[Tucker] Carlson insisted it was vital this new media outlet be given a name that resembled a traditional news outlet. [...]
But as Patel recounted, "it's virtually impossible to find a domain name that includes words like the Times or the Tribune these days — unless you want to pay a lot of money for them."
So Patel started racking his brain for other name ideas.
And then he remembered the time Dick Cheney shot that guy in the face.
May the Force be with you.
- Trix