Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos took a giant crap on democracy tonight and then had the gall to ask Barack Obama why he doesn’t wear a flag-pin on his lapel, as if this were an issue of interest to Democratic primary voters in Pennsylvania. As early as 1:23 pm this afternoon there was a diary at Daily Kos detailing how George Stephanopoulos was going to use his time to fire off right-wing attacks against Sen. Obama.
George spent time yesterday taking Notes on Sean Hannity’s Show
When Hannity asked about the first question below about Ayers and whether George had plans to ask such a question, George replied, “Well, I’m taking notes now Sean.” It did actually sound like he was pausing to take notes. And Hannity continued to feed him more:
- Ask Obama about his relationship with Ayers and WeatherUnderground and Axelrod’s comments, “They’re friendly”
- Ask Obama why he attended the Million Man March
Later Steph went on a lesser known show (at least to me) and was asked these questions. Here’s the Audio
Same Question
[For Obama] William Ayers is a man who was head of the Weather Underground, a radical group in the 60s and 70s, set bombs at the Capitol, set bombs at the Pentagon, and was quoted in the New York Times oddly enough, ironically on September 11 before obviously the events of that day, saying that he didn’t go far enough, and he doesn’t regret it at all, and he wished he could have done more. Your campaign has described your relationship with William Ayers as “friendly.” How could a man running for the presidency of the United States possibly have anything to do with, or have anything but disdain for a man who did what he has done to this country?
Stephanopoulos responsed to the last query: “It’s a damn good question.”
But it wasn’t a good question. Asking him about agricultural subsidies would have been a good question. Asking him about his vision for NASA would have been a good question. Hell, even asking him why he likes orange juice more than coffee would have been a better question than asking him why he has ever associated with a professor of English at Northern Illinois University.
For the first fifty-two minutes of the debate all discussion was devoted to right-wing attacks that each candidate will have to contend with in the fall. They never got around to asking any questions that were specific to Pennsylvania. Because they wasted so much time pushing Sean Hannity’s talking points, they never got around to discussing education or health care or the environment or the price of gasoline or the housing crisis or loss of jobs. They didn’t discuss the global food shortage or unrest in Haiti. They didn’t discuss the president’s admission that he authorized torture or the upcoming FISA renewal fight or Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker’s recent testimony on Iraq.
Charlie Gibson actually used a question to misleadingly advocate for lower capital gains taxes, rather than asking for the candidates’ opinions on them.
There was no disclosure that Stephanopoulos worked on Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign and served in his administration. Nor did they disclose that he was getting his questions from right-wing radio shock jocks.
For all the talk of elitism, the most elitist thing of all is to fail to use debate time to try to educate the public about policy and why it matters. There is nothing so condescending as to deny the public facts and then assume they will base their decisions on trivial issues like whether a candidate knows someone who knows someone that did something embarrassing sometime in the distant past.
This was the single worst example of political journalism that I have ever seen. It was also one-sided, as the vast majority of the first hour was dedicated to attacking Obama for the sins of people other than himself.
But I care less about any unfairness to Obama than I do with just how vapid and useless the debate was. It was a disgrace and it is truly a great justice that the moderators were lustily booed at the end by the studio audience.
We should all boo, and boo so loudly that no network ever dares to do a repeat performance. Call ABC News at 212-456-7777 and tell them what you think of tonight’s debate.
While I was watching the streaming debate, I was on the phone with the insurance company during most of the debate. I caught most of it and was very disappointed. Now my husband is rewatching it and I’m getting pissed all over again.
What ABC gave us is the reason people are turned off of politics. It’s all this unimportant bullshit. They spend the week telling us that Obama is out of touch with the “small town PA voter”, yet they didn’t ask a damn question important to that PA voter. They didn’t ask a damn question important to me and I’m in Los Angeles. If I wanted vapid, I would visit Perez Hilton’s site. I could have gotten more info about the candidates from the comment section on YouTube and most of those people are 11 years old.
Charlie Gibson and ABC are not unintentional. This is exactly what the oligarchy wants. No incompetence.
I have the west coast feed of the debate running on the teevee now and it’s at the point where the clip in the previous thread showed booing of Gibson from the audience. I could be wrong, but I think they edited out the undesirable audience feedback.
I spoke too soon. They just got to that part. They just showed it.
I really, honestly think the MSM is dying. We’re entering into what looks to be a period of serious economic disruption, and they’re treating it as business as usual. Or, worse, they’re ignoring it entirely. The problem is that Joe and Jane Average can’t ignore it entirely. They’re getting squeezed on food prices, on fuel prices, on housing prices, on medical prices. They’re choking on polluted air and watching their friends die in Iraq. They’re worrying about whether they’ll have their jobs in six months.
The more out of touch the MSM gets with Joe and Jane Average, the less they’re going to pay attention to it, and the less influence it’ll have. Their political opinions will be shaped more by their friends and associates than by network talking heads. And that’s where the Internet comes in. The real Internet, not the gated amusement parks erected by the MSM.
The times, they are about to get interesting.
When your idea of a relevant question on the economy is making sure you won’t have to pay more in capital gains taxes, you’re so far out of touch you aren’t even on the same planet most Americans are living on. When you think firefighters are making over 95,000 a year, you’re totally clueless.
I am offended by that mess last night on so many levels. If I were trying to make a decision who to vote for on Tuesday, the only good decision I could have made would have been to turn off the teevee.
Thank them for working for Karl Rove.
Peter Salinger (THE MAN IN CHARGE OF ELECTION COVERAGE) Director, Special Events & Sports 212.456.5105 peter.salinger@abc.com
Cristi LandesManager, Programming 212.456.5107 cristi.d.landes@abc.com
Wayne Fisk Director, Programming 212.456.5327 wayne.fisk@abc.com
Jeff Fitzgerald Executive Director, Operations 212.456.5554 jeffrey.t.fitzgerald@abc.com
Heidi Oringer Executive Director, Entertainment 212.456.5541 heidi.b.oringer@abc.com
Jon Newman News Coverage 212.456.5100 jonathan.m.newman@abc.com
Joyce Alcantara Assignment Manager 212.456.5106 joyce.a.alcantara@abc.com
Jim Kane Deputy D.C. Bureau Chief 212.222. 6604 james.f.kane@abc.com
Andrew Kalb Executive Director, Programming 05.567.2269 andrew.l.kalb@abc.com
Robert Garcia Executive Director, News & Sports 212.456.5103 robert.garcia@abc.com
h/t la urracca
Thank you for this info. I just added it to Democrats Disgusted With ABC over at Face Book.
That was the worst fucking debate I have ever watched.
That is all.
This was the worst debate I think I’ve ever seen. And most lately have been REALLY disgraceful – and not just this year.
Remember when The League of Women Voters used to host most of the debates? Those were the days. In fact, the BEST debate I’ve EVER seen was in 1992 on Phil Donahue’s daytime talkshow. He had Bill Clinton and George Bush (41) sitting across a table from each other with himself in the middle. He would direct them to a general area of debate and just let them debate each other on the subject for several minutes without his intervention.
Now it’s all gotcha shit. It’s a real shame.
Tom Shales at Washington Post clearly agrees with us. He wrote a blistering review of ABC’s performance in last night’s debate. Page 1 of the Style Section.
Wow, what a debate. I fell asleep three times. And speaking of elitism, that go around about capital gains tax rates was the height of elitism. How many people worry about about these rates other than the one percent of the population that owns over half of stock?
ABC = abominable, beastly, crapacious reporting. Memo: avoid this network like the plague.
I called the ABC number and got lost in a forest of menus. Why am I not surprised?
The neo-cons have raised selfishness to an art form.
Send ’em an email. The link above works.
I have never paid a capital gains tax in my life. I wouldn’t know how. I barely know what they are, except to say that they happen to people who have a lot more money than I do.
It’s simply really. Buy some mutual funds on your own, outside of your employer. Sell it at a profit.
Pay 15%.
Somehow I can’t help but feel that the “profit” part would elude me. My version of the famous Underpants Gnomes equation would end at “3. ?????” before I ever got to “4. Profit!”
I didn’t watch it. One too many for me. ABC News as the Daily Enquirer is no surprise to me though. In early March, 2003, I was back in the country from overseas house hunting and our hotel had Good Morning America on doing a week-long Pre-Iraq war dance. More unpalatable than the breakfast menu which was 2 steps down from airline food. ABC News though is several dimensions lower than the network news I grew up with in the 60’s. Walter Cronkite, where are you?
Wow. I just caught the last ten minutes, and what I saw looked like a plantation owner and his overseer questioning and humiliating a slave. I think despite his supreme confidence, Barack might have found out just how black he is in the USA.
I certainly intend to send some strongly worded letters about this and pray I never have to see such a scene again.
i watched some of the debate, but it was so horrible I switched to law & order criminal intent.
My daughter switched to a movie on Hallmark. I guess she’d rather look at Lou Diamond Philips than watch a slow-motion train wreck, but hey, who wouldn’t?