 | Media Activism: Call ABC And Tell Them Off for Debate Inanity |
Call ABC’s comment lines at (212) 456-7777 and (818) 460-7477 (Thanks to Watergate Summer for the suggestion) or make a comment online at ABC if you are inclined to complain to ABC for frittering away the first 50 minutes of what is probably the last presidential debate of the primary season with thoroughly inane questions on both Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s personal lives, questions that had already been answered by both camps before the debate, questions that added nothing new even to the discussion of those gaffettes. 50 minutes focusing on silly little gaffes instead of asking policy questions about the things that really matter, like fixing the nation’s health care, bringing peace to America or Iraq, addressing the economic crisis we face, and stopping the destruction of our nation’s constitution.
Even after that point, debate questions weren’t designed to create open, thoughtful questions. They were frankly stupid “YES OR NO, DAMMIT!” questions for issues that are most honestly answered in shades of gray… and when either candidate tried to answer with some nuance, the moderators would hop in and demand a YES or a NO, as if life, morality and politics are as simple and binary as an afternoon matinee of The Incredibles or Lord of the Rings.
And then the moderators of the debate had the gall to complain at the end of the debate that gosh, there just wasn’t any more time to go into substantive matters. Then they broke at the end of the hour for five straight minutes of commercials for toilet paper and other crap, and came back for twenty seconds and had to break back away when the audience started yelling taunts at Charles Gibson, who said “Uh oh, the crowd’s turning on me!” before the cameras switched off.
What an irresponsible waste of an opportunity to have a serious policy discussion. Instead we got the Entertainment Tonight version. What’s next? Asking Hillary Clinton about her struggles with cellulite? Asking Barack Obama if he were a Life Saver, what flavor he would be and why?
Barack Obama partisans are also upset that most of the negative questions went to Obama. Well, of course they did. Barack Obama is the front-runner, and that’s what front-runners get. To my eye, both candidates were ill-served by the format and subject matter of the questions: inconsequential, shallow, incurious, dichotomous bullcrap.
Drivel, drivel, drivel. Aaaaaaaagh!
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I think this is the worst Debate I have seen in my fifty years on this earth. You could see that they were Clinton supporters. Well OBAMA as far as I can say he was a winner and will be the next PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Comment by Janet — 4/17/2008 @ 11:27 am
My husband never waited for the second half of the debabte as he was so disgusted with the repetition of the personal attacks the interviewers persisted with. Newspapers and TV had done enough to drag both candidates through the mud in the previous weeks. The American people are interested in the specifics of how each would address the problems facing our nation.
There may be many factors and circumstances in the future that would necessitate a change in the remedy a candidate would propose at that time. Opposing candidates and the press are too eager to play “Gotcha” if a respone sounds as if it is conditional and therefore not definite enough. Should we hold the winner in the future to those positions declared now,-no matter what?
Isn’t it more important to consider how the candidate approaches problems, the clarity and logic in trying to understand problems, as well as what his/her ethics
are, and also the candidate’s past effectiveness in the community and government.
Shame on ABC for not giving Americans
enough credit and thinking the first hour of the debate was giving us what they thought we wanted. We are not that shallow!
Comment by Annette Smith — 4/17/2008 @ 3:16 pm
Don’t let ABC get away with this:
http://www.petitiononline.com/abc41608/petition.html
Comment by Edward Rotchford — 4/17/2008 @ 4:12 pm
I have e-mailed, not only Hill, but ABC about the disgusting mess that was supposed to be a debate last night! OMG! ABC sounded and acted more like Fox News than anything else on the airwaves! I was never in my life more repulsed by the display of Swift Boat tactics by Hill and ABC than I was last night! Almost as inane as Chris Mathews
roasting Barack because, “He’s uncomfortable in a diner…” Just the empty-headed thinking that got us 8 years of lies, war and $114 a barrel oil!
After all, Chris loved Bush because, “He’s the kind of guy you’d love to have a beer with…”
Maybe while you’re stuck for your third tour in Iraq? Our media is totally rotten, except for Keith Oberman!
Mary Pishney
Comment by Mary Pishney — 4/17/2008 @ 4:42 pm