Who Won the Debate Tonight: Biden Looks Like the Adult in the Room Against Paul Ryan

It's hard to pick a "winner" when Democrats and Republicans debate, but Vice President Joe Biden looked much more mature and responsible than I expected him to be while Congressman Paul Ryan looked annoyed and uncomfortable.

Every time Ryan spoke, I couldn't help but think Ryan must live in a bubble of conservative talk radio and/or FOX News talking points. I would know; I spend most of my day at work listening to the radio, flipping back and forth, and Ryan literally sounded like Hannity and Levin on almost every issue.

When it came to foreign policy (in my opinion, the most pressing issue), Ryan sounded reckless, bloodthirsty, and borderline psychopathic in his desire to drop more bombs and more missiles on third-world countries. He spewed the lies behind the Iran war propaganda and criticized Obama-Biden for being "weak" on foreign policy. Talking points, talking points, talking points.

Biden, to his credit, dismissed Ryan and slapped him around on foreign policy. And that's saying something, because Biden is also pretty horrible on foreign policy.

But Biden actually sounded like the adult in the room. While Ryan was promoting an even bigger empire with baseless talking points, Biden sounded rational (at least compared to Ryan). Perhaps it's because he's been serving under Obama for the last few years and knows more than most about these issues or because Ryan and the neo-con Republicans are just that bad on foreign policy. It's probably a little bit of both.

On economics and domestic issues, Biden and Ryan were bickering back and forth about false caricatures of each other, accusing one another of things that will undoubtedly fire up their base. "See, our guy is better ... and different!"

Predictably, there was no mention of the Federal Reserve, monetary policy, the NDAA, the creeping police state, assassination of U.S. citizens, extension of the PATRIOT Act, etc. The reality is, of course, that they both agree on all of these issues (in the favor of more state power and less individual liberty).

The winner: Biden. By default. Ryan truly is a monster, who sounded unprepared and nervous. Biden had no gaffes and sounded reasonable by comparison. The real winner, of course, is the establishment status quo, central banking, empire, and fiat money. The American people, and anyone who values individual liberty, peace, and a free economy, lose.

This is a post-debate recap from my live blogging of the vice presidential debate tonight.