Who's On First
It’s hard to decide whether to laugh or cry. I was channel surfing news broadcasts this morning and there on MSNBC was Joe Scarborough talking on the phone to Howard Wolfson of the Clinton campaign who claimed Clinton gave “a winning debate performance last night” and called it “a game-changing" moment. While Wolfson was speaking there was a box at the bottom of the screen showing debate winner statistics: Obama 68%, Clinton 22%.
I watched what ABC stretched-credibility-to-call-a-debate last night and for the first hour felt like I was caught in a butter churn. Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos shamed themselves and insulted the public by going round and round about Rev. Wright, Obama’s “bitter”, comment and flag pins. Finally, perhaps noticing how one-sided their “gotcha game” was, they threw in Hillary’s sniper-fire-in-Bosnia lie. There was no mention of her self-aggrandizing claim about her part in bringing peace to Ireland which Ireland itself sniggers about.
I also went on-line at ABC and MSNBC and read the comments and winner scoring. My last check on ABC’s comment site last night had over 8700 comments with at least 90% of them blasting ABC, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos calling the debate embarrassing, shameful, a farce, and other less polite negative names. The comments were over 15,000 by this morning but the percentages remained the same. The polling which last night had over 24,000 respondents was running 68% for Obama, 24% for Clinton and 7% for a tie. The respondent numbers climbed to over 57,000 by this morning but the statistics did not change.
So what happened this morning? The pundits spent their time talking to each other about the butter churning topics, while the public continued to post comments declaring their total lack of interest in these things and expressing disappointment and frustration because the “debate” wasted their time on such subjects. Never has it been so clear how totally out of touch the MSM is with what the public thinks and wants. While they stroke their own egos telling us what we think, they are totally clueless and out of touch with our reality.
If you are interested in reading an in-depth analysis of Clinton and Obama and how they compare and contrast, check out the article in the current issue of The New York Review of Books entitled "Molehill Politics" by Elizabeth Drew. It's online at http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21231.
Drew defines Molehill Politics as “making a very big deal in the press about something that’s a very small deal” an apt description of last night’s debate and this morning’s coverage of it.
Comments
Trish, you are right on the money. The ABC "debate" was a shameful display of mediocrity and immaturity at its worst. Like you, I did some web surfing, and the vast majority of comments I've read about the "debate" show anger with ABC, with Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, and with the MSM in general. Shame on ABC for this ridiculous, shallow, "National Enquirer" moment.
Posted by: Renee G | April 17, 2008 04:48 PM
First off Trish, Joe Scarborough fits the definition of Republican Prostitute in my humble opinion. I see him blathering on cable news almost every day, and there's a definite pattern. He goes even further than Pat Buchanan in refusing to chastise the GOP for its governmental incompetency, and not allowing himself to say anything good about the Democrats.
I also watched the ABC "debate" last night and pretty much concur with everything you have mentioned. I thought it was a debacle, and a waste of time. Gibson and Stephanopoulos not only turned it into a "defense fest," but also simply covered the same stuff we've heard over and over again. Very poor performance.
It would appear some of the pundits don't agree with the thousands of Americans who have written in. I listened to two shows on MSNBC tonight and heard most of them stating Hillary had won. That sure wasn't my perception. I rated it a tie. One pundit even said Obama was put on the defense!. Well DOOOOOH! Ya think? Was he not supposed to answer to the stuff being thrown at him?
The media in this nation has become terminally mediocre. I did hear one talk radio host on KGO today, who used to work for ABC, and said he liked the network and Gibson and Stephanopoulos, but last night they made Wolf Blitzer look like Edward R Murrow. Yes, they did!
Posted by: Stephen | April 17, 2008 04:51 PM
Can’t resist passing on something I heard on the radio this afternoon. After hearing some of the comments from people who objected to the questions about Wright, the “bitter” comment, and the flag pin, there was a response by George Stephanopoulos. He said, “Well it’s our job to ask the hard questions.”
Hard questions? Since when is making a mountain out of a molehill considered a hard question? It is obvious the man totally misses the point and only further showcases his ignorance. How is it possible that George and his ilk have monopolized our TV and radio talk shows for so long when they clearly know so little. Makes us look ignorant too for keeping them on the air.
Posted by: Trish | April 17, 2008 06:06 PM