Somnambulant Brian Williams Self-Deports During Debate

Self-deportation.

"The night opened with Brian Williams, who was apparently off for the evening, telling the crowd to be sure not to make too much noise. This turned out to be like warning the nursing home not to throw too many orgies. . . . 'Cane sugar hides behind beet sugar,' Newt Gingrich noted at one point, in what was actually one of the more interesting lines of the night. This tells you how the rest of the evening went. Maybe for the next debate, just to spice things up a little, they’ll all stand together for two hours watching grass grow — or sugarcane. I hear that’s an important Florida constituency." Alexandra Petri Wash Post

The night ended with Brian Williams interviewing NBC's 2012 class of political embeds, suggesting they are using their NBC gigs to self-deport to the "mother company" -- and at the same time getting in product placement for MSNBC's Morning Joe sponsor Starbucks.

Williams (grammatically correct but awkward): "What is the number one consumer product on the road without which you cannot do?" 

Chick embed: "Absolutely coffee!  Preferably Starbucks. Uh, you know, Grande Skim No Water Chai."

Williams:  "I thought you were going to say an iPhone or something."  And with that Williams flung it back to David Gregory before astral projecting to DC for Obama's SOTU.

"I don't think it's going to change the fact that the momentum is all in Gingrich's favor." NBC's Andrea Mitchell

NYP

NYDN

$45 mil income over two years. Invested in Freddie and Fannie.  Paid only $6.2 mil in taxes. NYT

Business Insider:  $42 mil income, 13.9% 2010 taxes. The Hill:  $6.2 mil in taxes on $42.5 income.

Related:  "Romney ditches laid-back persona" NYDN
"A new Mitt meets a new Newt"  E.J. Dionne Jr. Wash Post
"Romney Unleashes Attack With Gingrich Sole Target" NYT
Newt post-debate Tuesday:  Romney "desperate guy."  Politico 
"Boy, was it a mistake."  TIME's James Poniewozik on Brian Williams muzzling the audience. 

Update:  NBC's Rock Center debate ratings ploy pulls best numbers since Halloween debut. TV by the Numbers