Back Talk

CNN hosted the recent Republican Presidential debate and, true to their precedent set in the last debate, arranged to have several plants sprinkled among the questioners. The questions to the candidates were transparently formed to embarrass the panel or to show conservatives in a bad light. Rather than placing emphasis upon serious questions on the war on terrorism, social security, tax reform, and our porous southern border, the CNN plants wasted the opportunity with questions out of the mainstream of public concern such as gays in the military, corn subsidies, and that all-consuming anxiety over flying the Confederate flag. At least nine of the 34 questioners were linked to anti-Republican organizations such as The Council on American-Islamic Relations and a pro-Democrat labor union. A homosexual retired soldier asked about the "don"t ask, don"t tell" policy of the military; it turned out that he is associated with Sen. Clinton"s campaign. CNN has long since joined the ranks of the press with partisan, agenda journalism. Some pre-television pundit nailed the issue of trust in the media with the following statement: “I read the newspapers avidly. It is my main form of continuous fiction.”