CRUCIAL QUESTIONS

Two crucial questions are before the nation for Monday night's final Presidential debate of the 2012 elections. The answers to these questions will determine for years to come who we are as a people. The answers may well impact the future of humankind on this planet. It is impossible to overstate the importance of these questions.

First, will Bob Schieffer restore respectability, even a bit of machismo, to the male side of the journalistic profession? Jim Lehr did not do a horrible job, but he was definitely not in charge at the debate he moderated. He pretty much let two domineering politicians, or at least the one domineering politician who was fully in attendance, run all over him. In contrast, there was no doubt who was in charge in the two succeeding debates. Martha Raddatz in the Vice Presidential debate and Candy Crowley in the second Presidential debate had, in their respective arenas, the largest cojones on the stage. Bob, it's time to man-up.

Second, will the debates trump Monday Night Football? For over forty years, Monday Night Football has been an institution integral to the American way of life. It is enshrined in the Constitution as "the Pursuit of Happiness." Or maybe that's the Declaration of Independence. In any case, it is surely covered by the references in the Constitution's Preamble to forming "a more perfect union," promoting "the general Welfare," and securing "the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." If a mere Presidential election attracts more attention than Monday Night Football, the days of American hegemony are numbered.

The answers to these questions will be determined Monday night. The stakes could not be higher.