When did random UFO sightings turn into fodder for political discussion here?

[Bicoastal]

I'm really confused here...shouldn't all this be beamed over to the Lounge or something?

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. When Russert brought it up in a debate

[Basileus Basileon]

2. When a presidential candidate told a loon,

a loon told the media, a debate moderator brought it up to turn that candidate into a punchline, and that candidate happily agreed.

[trashcanistanista]

3. Dennis started it.

UFO's are fair game now in politics. I'm actually pleased at how much this issue has been covered by MSM lately because it lends credibility to anyone who has spotted a UFO.

[99th_Monkey]

4. The "Latest" isn't always the "Greatest"

I actually think it's kind of fascinating in that it shows how the Little Guy from Ohio can field even
such a weirdo "gotcha" question adroitly with clarity. Some feel he should have just refused to answer
such a stupid question, and I could see him doing that too, but I don't think he did himself a disservice
with his answer to Russert.

[Basileus Basileon]

5. Adroitly? How?

He said, "Yes." And then claimed more people have seen a UFO than support Bush, which is not true. He sort of recovered at the end by making Russert repeat the 14% figure, but that's still a sizable minority, and belief in UFOs is not something that endears you to most people. Obama, in the very next question, showed DK how he should have answered that: We know there's life on Earth, and we know we have problems here. Let's worry about those for now, okay?

(It wasn't a "weirdo gotcha" question. The MacLaine-says-DK-saw-a-UFO business had been in the news the week prior)

[99th_Monkey]

10. Actually a full 34% "believe in UFOs" ..

The poll was by Opinion Dynamics Corporation ... Which is probably the figure he was citing .. which actually
squares vis-a-vis Bush's approval rating.

I hate to use FauxNewz as a source on that 34% but it's the only one I could find on short notice.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99945,00.html


As for Obama's quote, that was an appropriate answer for Obama who apparently hasn't had that same experience,
but for Dennis to answer that way (given as you point out, that it had been reported widely before the debate)
would have been disingenuous and evasive. I was proud of how he handled it. If he's going to refuse to answer
it, he should just say that, not evade the question.


BTW - this Reuters article today didn't hurt Dennis a bit either:
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1248419720071112?rpc=24

[Basileus Basileon]

13. Believe, not "have seen."

It would have been evasive, yes. And that's what he should have done--it was a bullshit set-up question, and he walked right into it. My response, if I'm DK?

"That's a private matter between a friend of mine and myself, and I can't say I appreciate it being dragged into this forum. I'm not going to respond to that, because that has no place in a Democratic debate. We're here to talk about how we're going to lead this nation. Which is most important to you, Tim? Healthcare for Americans? The war in Iraq? Social security? Or little green men?"

Or, another, if you want him to say "yes."

"Tim, all of us have seen things we haven't been able to identify. I'll tell you right now that I can't tell a Boeing 767 from a 777 at a glance. But I don't think what I can or can't see is what we're here to talk about. I've come up in front of America to talk to you about the quality of my vision for America--not the quality of my vision at late-night social gatherings."

[99th_Monkey]

14. Your reflective hindsight "responses" are great. I love 'em.

I'm not saying that he couldn't have answered it better, given a chance to reflect on it awhile, but given
the bizzaro "gotcha" curveball Russert threw at him under the heat of that moment, I thought he did fine.

As for making a big difference between "believe UFOs exist" and "have seen" .. well, to me it is not a big
deal. Given what passes for "tough questions" to the "front runners" esp.

[napi21]

6. Dennis asked for that one! HE was the one who told some loony tune

writer that HE SAW a UFO! A Presidential candidate being quoted in a book as seeing a UFO is automatically fodder for politics!

[Lasher]

7. Saint Ronnie got by with it.

But then again, Saint Ronnie got by with a lot of things.

[99th_Monkey]

12. Not to mention Jimmy Carter

[splat]

8. When top brass and former pilots met about it yesterday?

UFOs are no joke, group says

WASHINGTON (AFP) — UFOs may be fodder for comedians but there was no joking Monday when a group of former pilots recounted seeing strange phenomena in the sky and demanded the US government reopen an investigation into unidentified flying objects.

Several pilots offered dramatic accounts of witnessing UFOs -- including a transparent flying disc and a triangular craft with mysterious markings -- as they insisted their questions needed to be taken seriously more than 30 years after the US file was closed.

"We want the US government to stop perpetuating the myth that all UFOs can be explained away in down-to-earth, conventional terms," said Fife Symington, former governor of Arizona and air force pilot who says he saw a UFO in 1997...

[B Calm]

9. I never have seen a UFO. Does that make me weird?

Many notable people have seen UFO's, including astronauts.

I also find it hard to believe we are the only planet with life!

That said, I don't think the question should have been asked.

[mrdmk]

15. Well, I have seen some strange things in the sky, all you have to do is look

and be aware of your surroundings.

Several fellow students and I were leaving class and heading toward our cars to go home. There was this round thing with lights darting around in the sky. It was not an airplane because airplanes do not fly back-wards. A helicopter can change direction quickly but not that quickly. Was it somebody with some outlandish remote control flying craft? Good possibility in Irvine, California. Was it a saucer with little green men? Truthfully, I nor anybody else saw little green men. What was it, well (thinking, :think: thinking real hard) I think it was an Unidentified Flying Object, that is what we will call it a UFO!

Question back at you, does that make me weird?

p.s. I nor anybody else was not beamed aboard and had some sexual experiments done to us in the name of alien science.

p.s.s. Nobody was reported missing in Irvine, CA from that point on.

p.p.s.s. Fuck-you Russert!

[TomInTib]

11. When it came out of the sky and landed just a little south of Moline...

My apologies for J Fogerty