For reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession
of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than
the citizens of America.
The nation is 3 trillion dollars in debt; the economy is in recession; we have a war built on lies that has no achievable goals and has dragged on longer than WW II; the world is facing a global warming crisis -- and two ABC media putzes paid millions of dollars for their "seasoned punditry" spend nearly an hour asking inane, irrelevant, insulting-to-the-intelligence questions of two presidential candidates.
It was appalling, as if the entire viewing audience of the Philadelphia debate were participating in a national gaper's block, watching the collision of a brain-dead corporate media collide with the weary Democratic presidential primary.
As BuzzFlash reader Jeannine Otchis of Maui, Hawaii noted:
The reason is obvious for anyone watching or listening to what ABC loosely called a debate with Senators Obama and Clinton. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence knew this was, as it has been referenced, a tabloid episode of "gotcha." Ratings over substance.
The hypocrisy and bias of George, a crony and former darling of Bill Clinton, was so obvious. His charade of being neutral is like telling the chickens in the hen house that the fox is a rooster. The chicken is smart enough to know better. The issue of the flag pin question to Obama was so mind-boggling, considering neither Hillary, George, nor Charlie were wearing one nor are regularly seen wearing one. Why did Charlie avoid any relevant questions regarding that Bush and some of the highest members of his administration choreographed torture? Instead, Charlie thought capital gains tax more important to the welfare of our democracy.
My comment to Charlie is: "Get real. Take you head out of where you sit."
Where I live gas is now $4.18. Soon choices will be made between driving to see a doctor or to go do food shopping. The Medicare part D is decimating savings.
I could go on and on about the missed opportunities of Charlie, George and ABC in this faux presentation that was neither a debate nor entertainment. "Shame on all of you."
Unfortunately the Republicans and the Clinton campaign have chosen to emphasize negative distractions that emphasize fear, dirtying up the character of their opponents, and innuendo, which feeds into the "guilt by association" frame that we saw for nearly an hour on ABC during the Philadelphia debate.
This is a media technique that keeps the working class voters and poor from becoming informed about the pressing issues facing America's future. It is a way for the media that represents the entrenched status quo to preserve the status quo of wealth by trivializing a presidential campaign into ludicrous side issues that have nothing -- nothing at all -- to do with governing a nation and world facing such serious problems.
George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson served their nation poorly and were unpatriotic -- lapel pin or not -- in acting as if they were actually moderating a meaningful debate. Their actions make them BuzzFlash Media Putzes extraordinaire, for continuing to pretend that meretricious games of "gotcha" amount to meaningful journalistic discourse.
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