The second presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain in Nashville, Tennessee, was a bit of a bore, to which Tom Brokaw, the mediator, contributed a good deal. But Brokaw redeemed himself when he introduced the last question, which came via the Internet from a certain Peggy from Amherst, New Hampshire, which he said had a “certain Zen-like quality”: “What don’t you know and how will you learn it?” The audience burst into laughter. And Zen-like it certainly is, which is why both presidential candidates did their best to fudge it. They will surely remember it, though. As for me, I was quite delighted by the whole thing, as it gave me a feeling that America is on its way up, at last. And the Zen question marks the upturn.