10/01/2008 02:43:38 PM EST

Gwen Ifill Is Too Biased to Moderate a Debate? Please!!

posted by Dond

Apparently, Gwen Ifill will have a new book coming out next January entitled "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama." And this somehow disqualifies her from acting as a moderator in the debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin? Because . . .?

Email Print
Google Technorati del.icio.us digg reddit Facebook
Let me see if I understand this correctly: Gwen Ifill -- a highly respected African-American journalist, moderator of one of PBS's marquee daily news programs, and a seasoned observer of the American political scene -- has somehow damaged her credentials as an objective and thoroughly professional news anchor by taking a book-length look at a subject about which she is probably one of the country's leading authorities.

I need someone to explain to me how Tom Brokaw, creator of the grotesque and fatuous "Greatest Generation" franchise, is not similarly disqualified for his pro-military bias, for fetishizing warriors like John McCain to the point that Mr. Brokaw's on-air "reporting" has degenerated into essentially a series of unconvincing rebuttals to any news item even vaguely favorable to the Obama campaign.

It looks as if you get a free pass if you're white, old, clearly on the right side politically, and well-paid (even if you've been put out to pasture by your parent network), but you don't if you're black, female, and actually still capable of doing your job as a journalist.

< Ground Game Prevails | Open Thread >
 Display:
Gwen Ifill Is Too Biased to Moderate a Debate? Please!! | 30 comments (30 topical, 0 hidden)
gwen ifill is too boring to moderate debates (1.50 / 1)

take a walk down memory lane, and relive the travesty that was the edwards-cheney "debate" in 2004.

gwen ifill was stupefyingly boring, and i don't think she is capable of anything else.

the only saving grace this circus-season is the anticipation of what "charlie" palin will do.

by neo on 10/01/2008 03:17:12 PM EST

Ms. Excitement (none / 0)

Luckily, Ifill will not be required to provide the electricity.

In any other debate, Biden would be considered exciting (for a politician), but tomorrow night we might need Ifill just to catch our breath.

by ProfRich on 10/01/2008 03:53:59 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Is Bill O Reilly busy? (1.00 / 1)
Maybe he can moderate the next debate - it would be about the same as Ifel doing so... What a Joke - I can't believe McCain would agree to her even if there were no book deal... :)

by bobo1 on 10/01/2008 03:54:56 PM EST

Palin is going to talk (none / 0)
regardless of who moderates the debates. That means she is going to fuck up.

cmon bobo Tx  Ifel is a godsend, the conservatives can immediately cry bias.


by Chinese Democracy on 10/01/2008 09:36:20 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Back Away From The Bottle (none / 0)
If you think Gwen conducts herself in the way that Bill or any of the other right-wing authoritarians comport themselves then I would have to say you need to truly engage in some deep reflection an introspection.  The comparison is as filthy rags and is unworthy of serious analysis.

by kylewis on 10/01/2008 09:46:01 PM EST

[ Parent ]
That would be fun (none / 0)
I'd actually love to see Billo interview Sarah.  He asked tough questions of Obama, and Obama shined.  You didn't see Obama complaining about "gotcha" questions.  She would have failed MISERABLY.

but maybe not in an official presidential debate

by desertpear on 10/01/2008 10:28:49 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Anything to get out of the debate, right? (none / 1)
You know McPalin is looking for ANY possible reason to pull out of the debate.  Palin's performance could be the dagger in McCain's campaign heart.  McCain's "suspension" last week was part of the plan.  They've been looking for a way out, and now they have one.  If this doesn't work, look for Palin's baby to come down with a serious condition, or for the bailout to fail (yet again) and for another suspension while McCain rides in to save the day.

Worse case scenario for McPalin, they get Gwen to "step aside" and the replacement moderator would need time to prepare, giving Palin more time to cram for her final exam.

You know she couldn't name ONE newspaper or magazine or news program she would watch/read/listen to before McCain picked her for Veep in the Couric interview, right?  Not one magazine.  Not one Newspaper.  Not one TV station.  I would have at least mentioned some of the obvious sources that would be impossible to confirm (you know, CNN, FOX News (shudder), Time, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, etc, etc, etc).  She could have said she read the Onion for her news and looked better than saying nothing (at least we would have confirmed that she can read).

by Kang the Conqueror on 10/01/2008 03:20:16 PM EST

Have We Seen the Last of Palin? (none / 0)
I don't think so. What terrifies me is that Sarah Palin is exactly the kind of cipher the right wing needs now that George Bush has been thoroughly discredited and used up. She doesn't know anything, doesn't reflect on anything, doesn't waste any time developing an intellectual perspective, doesn't read, doesn't think -- she's perfect. The right wing can groom her any way they want. And I'm betting this is just what they do over the next four years.

by Dond on 10/01/2008 03:25:40 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Naaah (none / 0)

While you are right that she was being groomed as the New Reagan, these assclowns rolled her out way to early.  She was clearly not ready even for a Reagan/Bush level of competence.  And now that she has been exposed, they can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.

Four years from now she will be out of the governor's mansion, working as a "political analyst" for Fox.  Her specialty will be critiquing the outfits of the two women running for president in 2012.

by ProfRich on 10/01/2008 04:09:15 PM EST

[ Parent ]
You are selling her short (none / 0)

She didn't say she read NO papers.  She said she read ALL the papers.

This is a vicious sexist smear that I demand you retract.

by ProfRich on 10/01/2008 04:07:00 PM EST

[ Parent ]
You misunderstand me, good sir (none / 0)
I know she said she read "all of 'em."  The thing is, when she was asked for a SPECIFIC EXAMPLE, just to name ONE newspaper she had read, she couldn't do it.  You could see the "deer in headlights" look.  I'm sure she was trying to think of a "big city" newspaper (of course big city in Alaska means 9,000 people).

It's too bad they print the "Kids Jumble" deep in the newspaper behind the comics.  Had it been printed on the front page, she might have actually seen the newspaper's name or some actual real news.

by Kang the Conqueror on 10/01/2008 04:46:17 PM EST

[ Parent ]
I'm just sick of all the sexism (none / 0)

How unreasonable is it to expect Sarah Palin to know the names of Supreme Court Cases or newspapers or what Hamas is or remember the platform she is running on.

SHE IS JUST A GIRL, PEOPLE!!!!

When will all you latte sipping arugula eating sexist liberals get that through your heads!

Expecting women to know something about politics or the world is sexism.  Got it?

by ProfRich on 10/01/2008 05:03:59 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Palin's Answer (none / 0)

I don't think that Palin doesn't read any news.

I think she was just embarassed to say that she gets her news from the National Enquirer and Field & Stream.

by rbruck on 10/01/2008 04:28:32 PM EST

[ Parent ]
I'm not so sure about that (none / 0)
She wasn't embarassed to say she saw human footprints inside a dinosaur's.

by reba on 10/01/2008 09:25:09 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Rush talked about this a lot today. (none / 0)

It's all just a weak attempt to soften what I'm sure will be a crushing blow.  It sounds like Ed Schultz's inside sources may have been right on about Palin's mock debate performance.

Soon they'll just say that debating itself is liberally biased.

by Spencer on 10/01/2008 03:30:38 PM EST

This is very sexist (none / 0)
...if a liberal pushed this argument (ironically).  However, when the Repubs push it, it's quite ok.  Fucking jerks.

by TJD on 10/01/2008 03:49:48 PM EST

As I posted at Crooks & Liars... (none / 1)
Ahem...

"WTF?? Don’t these Republican operatives ever watch Washington Week or Ifill’s fill-ins on Newshour? She couches everything in Republican framing, repeats some of their most outrageous claims with little regard to facts…why would they be worried? I already figured she would softball Palin and skewer Biden - it’s what she does! Just because she’s black, don’t expect her to act any differently than she always does, and that is tip the scales toward Conservatives at any given opportunity."

by MedfordTim on 10/01/2008 04:01:32 PM EST

Ifill Will be Perfect Then (none / 0)

We need to make sure that everyone bends over backwards to be fair to Palin.

McCain is the one we're after.

by rbruck on 10/01/2008 04:31:10 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Fair to Palin (none / 0)

Even in these discussions everyone sometimes uses Republican framing without even realizing it.   Fair? That really raises the hackles.  Fuck her if she can't keep up.  To be fair they only need to ask them both the  same questions.  The job she's applying for isn't the head of the PTA, or even governer of Alaska.  I hope to Christ they don't dumb down the questions so this mediocre woman can skate through it.  I'd rather see her run off the stage crying than have that happen.

by bfaul on 10/01/2008 06:13:33 PM EST

[ Parent ]
It figures (none / 0)
The moderator just happens to be black and this is the one time that WILL influence how low-info voters view this debate.

My guess is that 15-25% more people will respond to polls by saying that the moderator was biased in favor of Obama.

I know, I know, she's a woman too, but race trumps sex in this sex.

by Tom Hanc on 10/01/2008 08:56:16 PM EST

[ Parent ]
15 to 20% (none / 0)
will say its biased no matter what.  Its sexist.. its  gotcha politics.. etc etc etc. To be expected.


by Chinese Democracy on 10/01/2008 09:31:40 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Sure (none / 0)
That's the rabid base. My point is that an additional 15-25% (numbers pulled out of my ass) will say the moderator was biased in favor of Obama simply because she's African American.

Not that they'll SAY that out loud or even necessarily outright think it, but that they'll be influenced even subconsciously by it.

by Tom Hanc on 10/01/2008 09:54:53 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Think about it (none / 0)
Apparently, Jerome Corsi has a new book out entitled "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality." And this somehow disqualifies him from acting as a moderator in the debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin? Because . . .?

by Twba on 10/02/2008 07:04:09 AM EST

Because . . .? (none / 0)
Because Corsi is an idiot, which anyone who followed the Swiftboat campaign in 2004 knows. Because literally dozens of reputable reviewers have gone through Corsi's book and found dozens and dozens of mistatements, use of rumor and right wing blog-ravings as supporting "evidence," outright lies, subtle and not so subtle distortions, and just plain nonsense.

Because, if you can't tell the difference between a reputable journalist and a fascist hyena like Corsi, you need more help than anyone on this site can give you.

by Dond on 10/02/2008 08:54:26 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Right (none / 0)

You find dozens and dozens of indefensible, unretracted lies in Ifel's work and we could have had a conversation.

But the bigger answer to your question is that the Dems would never consent to Corsi.

See, here is how it works.  A moderator is suggested.  Both parties have to agree.  McCain agreed to Ifel.  If she is such a terrible choice the story isn't that the debate is rigged.  The story is that the McPalin campaign is staffed by morons.  

Now that I think about it: a woman's name is proposed.  McCain does no research whatsoever, approves said woman and then ends up looking like a fool for not vetting said woman.  See a pattern?

by ProfRich on 10/02/2008 09:28:41 AM EST

[ Parent ]
I hate whan you badmouth... (none / 0)
Cindy McCain.  Just because Johnny-boy called he a (c-bomb) doesn't mean you can too.

Honkey.

by Kang the Conqueror on 10/02/2008 09:31:11 AM EST

[ Parent ]
I guess he is oh for three then (none / 0)
Cause he obviously did a pretty shitty job vetting his first wife.

by ProfRich on 10/02/2008 10:08:43 AM EST

[ Parent ]
If Rove is to be believed (none / 0)
He didn't do such a great job vetting his black baby's momma, either.

by Kang the Conqueror on 10/02/2008 10:55:09 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Who? (none / 0)
The name is spelled "Ifill."

by Dond on 10/02/2008 10:30:39 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Nice false equivalency (none / 0)

Your logic would follow that Corsi was in the tank for Obama cause he wrote a book about Obama.

What the rational world is saying is that the mere act of writing a book that deals with someone (the book is about black politicians, not Obama.  So presumably she's in the tank for Alan Keyes too.) means you love that person.

The truth is a little more complicated than that.  Books can be pro-, anti- or take a neutral academic or journalistic tone.  Considering Ifel's career, we can assume she is journalistic.   When we look at Corsi's "career" we see he is a idiotic right wing hatchet man who is obsessed with pointless footnotes.

I understand being a conservative this is WAAAAAAAY too much complexity for you to process but don't you worry your pretty little head about it.  The rational folks have spit the bit and you and your neocon pals can wander the desert for the next 40 years while we try to clean up your mess.

by ProfRich on 10/02/2008 09:23:14 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Gwen Ifill Is Too Biased to Moderate a Debate? Please!! | 30 comments (30 topical, 0 hidden)
 Display: