Hello, everybody. Well, the first Presidential debate between incumbent Barack Obama and Mitt Romney was the only thing that headlined this week's news. And oh, man, did Romney give Obama a lynching or what?

Or...despite all of the congratulatory "Romney deserves this debate fair and square" babble from the lamestream media, was it really the other way around? Okay, so the president (and on the 20th anniversary of wedded bliss with Michelle, nonetheless) wasn't really at his best while Romney shook off the cobwebs stemming from that hidden camera video released the other week and his "47 percent" complaint.

Now I know a lot of you have been X-raying the facts during the debate, though Jim Lehrer's head should've been X-rayed as well. He has been moderating these debates since 1988 (when the just established Commission on Presidential Debates took over from the League of Women Voters) and you could tell he was getting sick and tired. Obama and Romney talked and talked while Lehrer did his best to do what those NFL replacement refs couldn't: Keep things under control. Wish they got Bernard Shaw out of retirement instead.

But who was the real winner? Has to be PBS, thanks to Romney saying that as President, he will eliminate funding for it. That remark has made one certain "Sesame Street" character flapping his wings in anger: Big Bird! 

Sesame Workshop in response said that as the non-profit organization also behind "The Electric Company", "3-2-1 Contact", "Square One TV", and "Ghostwriter", they receive very minimal funding from PBS and that"We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. We do not comment on campaigns, but we’re happy we can all agree that everyone likes Big Bird!"

PBS themselves went on the defensive: "The federal investment in public broadcasting equals about one one-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget. Elimination of funding would have virtually no impact on the nation’s debt." 

Like most of you, I grew up with PBS, even if their "Downton Abbey" won only one measly Emmy this year. How are we going to live without "Nova", "Antiques Roadshow", "Austin City Limits", "Arthur", "Nature", "PBS Newshour", or even Bob Ross (though he's been dead for dozens of years)? We don't want to be stuck with Honey Boo Boo as one of the new alternatives; the only ones that can help prevent Romney getting his grubby hands on PBS are, you guessed it...viewers like you! (Thank you.)

Anyway...Obama's wounds from debate #1 were quickly healed with his approval rating up to 54%, the highest in three years. That would be followed by the unemployment rate now at 7.8%, the lowest since he took office. Heh, so much for Romney's claims about 23 million out of a job when it's actually 12.5 million.

He may have had his butt handed to Romney on Wednesday, but come the second debate on October 16, Obama will come out swinging like never before. But before that, we have Joe Biden vs. Paul Ryan in the one and only Vice Presidential showdown this Thursday. With virtually one month to go now and early voting already underway in several states including the make-or-break Ohio, something's got to give. And in debates like these, the only thing that would aid you to either an additional four years' paid rent at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or an unfortunate upset by the man who vows to end PBS as we know it is not a teleprompter, but your brain. So long and stay strong.