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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (59705)	4/17/2008 10:59:23 AM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543068

I was surprised at Gibson too; that his not his signature style at all. I get the impression they were reacting to the headlines in the pundit world instead of sitting down and asking what voters were really interested in. ABC should adopt the Jennings test. Is this how Peter would have done it? Now there was a class act. The embarrassing barrage of shameful reviews this morning should resonate throughout media circles. Good.

To: JohnM who wrote (59705)	4/17/2008 12:55:35 PM
From: Katelew	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543068

Frankly, I'm rethinking that. I lay in bed this morning thinking the same thing!! There was one question in particular, might have been the first one to Obama by Gibson, the tone of which struck me. I kept trying to remember the exact wording. But the words plus the tone, I thought were very insulting....as in personally insulting. It carried, I thought, condescension and sarcasm....not at all appropriate for a political debate. The whole debate was definitely a departure from previous ones. I suspect that was the point...to set themselves apart since policy issues are old hat. The gotcha questions were basically OK, IMO, but there was a tone to many of the questions I found objectionable.

To: JohnM who wrote (59705)	4/18/2008 1:44:39 AM
From: cnyndwllr	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543068

John, re: "I keep trying to figure out what prompted ABC to do that? Nothing makes any sense. I'm not particularly a fan of either but I've always assumed they were serious news people." ABC has been pro business, pro war and all for the Bush Admins treatment of the business of networks for a long time. Just look at the Sunday show with George S. that prominently features George Will and, to a lesser extent, Cokie Roberts, and that invites every Bush Admin official whenever the Bush people want to spin something backwards while rarely asking them any tough questions. George S is an eager opportunist who rarely views political actions, and seemingly his own, other than in pragmatic terms. In that sense he's much like Chris Mathews, but without the nagging sense of conscience that turns Mathews red once in a while. Charlie Gibson, on the other hand, I've long viewed as deeply and quietly conservative. His voice rings with conviction when he constantly uses phrases asserting or assuming the validity of the silly view that the "surge is working." In the recent debate his "everybody's friend" demeanor slipped a few too many times and his apparently emotional disapproval of Obama oozed out of him like alcohol from a drunk off a two day binge. And, of course, the losers were both Clinton and Obama, along with those of us who would have liked to see some comparisons made to each of them and to McCain on policies. What makes it even sadder is the evident amount of effort they put into framing such questions as; "Would you say that Wright is as patriotic as you are?" Now if Obama says "yes" then his opponents can take that simple statement and run it into the ground screaming that Obama has admitted that he's no more patriotic than the man who said "God Damn America." If he says "no" then he's conceding that Wright is somehow deficient in patriotism and that too lends itself to that oft used Republican refrain that liberals associate with those whose patriotism is questionable. In one sense it's a good thing that people see that Gibson and Stephanopolis have their respective agendas. There aren't many good choices there other than PBS. Hopefully Katie will step aside soon and a true non-entertainer journalist will step in. Ed