In the V.P. Presidential debate held last week in St Louis, MO the true cause for our disaster economy, endless unjust war and our country’s overall lack of resemblance to the U.S.A of lore was on display for the entire world to see. And yet no one seemed to notice.
One of the most obvious cases of obstruction of justice masquerading as democracy in action took place there in front of millions.
The cause of which I speak, which has lead to this a failure in democracy, was the complacency of the media or in this case mediator Gwen Ifill to do her job & expose the VP candidate Sarah Palin as the truly dangerous fundamentalist pig in sheep’s clothing that she is along with her anything but Maverick running mate John McCain.
The brazenness with which she avoided topics she didn’t feel necessary to respond to even when asked a direct question even though she is seeking the 2nd highest ranking position in the most powerful nation on the planet was typical at best, criminal at worst .
Even more disappointing was the failure of the Ms. Ifill who was admittedly handcuffed by the standard the media are held to, to ask tougher follow up questions & insist she not ignore the topic at hand once presented with a specific subject. While she did attempt to reign in Palin’s assault on the hearts & minds of ordinary Americans once or twice, it proved to be too little too late as the true believers watching at home were probably already mesmerized by her lack of candor & loose approach with the facts.
Sen. Biden several times alluded to the record of McCain not being in confluence with the “Maverick” image of the past & also of McCain being in nearly full support with the disastrous policies of Bush Jr. not just in 2001 but also still remains so today and Gov. Palin refused to respond to those queries. Instead she talked about whatever she damn well pleased even at one point going so far as to say she would not respond and that she wanted to talk straight to the American people.
How does ducking questions about your running mate’s obvious sullied & spurious past amount to straight talk ?
Biden to his credit did attempt to refute any misleading statements Palin made about Obama including the one where she said Obama voted 94 times against tax breaks for Americans which was revealed on air to be untrue.
The problem does not rest alone on this stewardess posing as a VP candidate. The fact is that there is zero expectation that the moderator in this case, the media in every other is not only expected but required to make sure the candidates are allowed to frame the debate in any way they see fit and respond only to the questions they feel safe to answer. It was obvious that while Biden did attempt to go back to previously covered subjects, Palin would often veer off into territory which had nothing to do with the subject at hand. These were obviously from her pre-arranged notes probably presented to her backstage by Karl Rove himself.
In a true democracy the media would be the representative for the people who would defend against politicians who aren’t fit to answer tough questions about their records or policies. This failure of the media to insist upon straight answers from those in power is the reason we have a failed democracy. The politicians do not represent the interests of the people because we do not insist upon it.
For instance, McCain does in fact have a long history of supporting deregulation, as Senator Biden attempted to point out several times, which has played a large part in our present financial crisis. This should have been made more apparent during the debate. McCain also has a long history of siding with Bush on key issues including tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% and support for the war. Don’t the Americans who don’t pay much attention throughout the year deserve to at least know these things now prior to an election when it is most important ?
What would these debates look like if someone with balls, who did not fear for losing their job, and who has a history of challenging politicians in interviews were given that job ?? Say someone like Bill Maher. Would our democracy improve if politicians were not allowed to wiggle out of tough questions? If they were exposed for who they were then only politicians like Obama would be allowed to lead & we would be living in an entirely different America.
The only journalists who were ever allowed into the room with President Bush are those who had already acquiesced to the system & had proven themselves more than willing to go along.
