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If You Thought The Debate Sucked...

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If you like this story, digg it!

Then let ABC know how you feel.

ABC switchboard:  212-456-7777  or 818-460-7477 (the ABC operator gave me that one)

Or tell them here

Thanks to Atrios for the contact info. 

Even if you don't like Obama, you can at least tell them that the constitutional quotes were a moronic waste of time.


 

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The debate was so slanted they didn't even seem to be concealing it. The mocking jokes, Hillary's conspiratorial laughter etc. After reading on Kos that Steph had been prepped by...of all people... Sean Hannity (?) I was skeptical. But it was so oooobvious. Charlie Gibson actually argued with Obama about whether lowering CapGain taxes caused increased revenue increases. The period in question was the tech boom. He argued with him!!! What kind of a moderator injects himself into the debate?

And then the Coup de Grace. They get some analyst I have never seen or heard before after the debate is over to give an obviously pre-prepared proclamation that Hillary had taken Barack to the woodshed without being rude. The crowd actually booed at Gibson right after that.

At least when the republicans are slanted on Fox they bother to put up a dummy to pretend to represent the other side. ABC didn't even bother. This was a naked two hour coordinated assault on Obama, 3 vs. 1. What a fucking outrage.

by hazmat on 04/17/2008 01:34:30 AM EST


You're right, it was ridiculous.  Check out Ed Rendell's totally unbiased analysis.  I love how he acts like the first questions don't matter, when he has to know that that's all the media is going to cover.

Rachel Maddow was pissed on MSNBC after the fact, and she's not even an Obama supporter.

I didn't know that about Hannity, but I'll certainly check it out.  I wouldn't be surprised, they mentioned that Weather Underground bull, and that's one of Sean's babies.

by Spencer on 04/17/2008 01:57:16 AM EST

[ Parent ]
How do you come to the conclusion that Rachel Maddow is not an Obama supporter? Have you listened to her (or any Progressive show) lately?

I like Maddow, she is smarter than anyone on radio, but she is still among the Obama minions... No doubts about that... She doesnt have to come out and say it - its very obvious...

Thanks...

:)

by bobo1 on 04/17/2008 09:04:26 AM EST

[ Parent ]

You are wrong.  I listen to.every minute of Maddow's show (becuase it is the most information packed talk show I have ever heard).

She is not an Obama supporter. Like myself, she is just a realist.  The primary is over.  Obama won.  She accepts that.  She gives her analysis with that understanding.  Actually, she goes out of her way to continue including Hillary as not to offend her supporters.  She barely addresses the silly pointless bickering between the two (mostly to point out how silly and pointless it is) and focuses on the general election and the war.

To call her an Obama supporter is wrong and shows a complete lack of understanding of her point of view as well as where we are at in the primary season. 

by ProfRich on 04/17/2008 10:23:26 AM EST

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We should call Rachel "DOCTOR Rachel Maddow" the way the Rondroids insist on calling him "DOCTOR Ron Paul."  At all times.

by jarett on 04/17/2008 09:27:01 PM EST

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As she says, she is a doctor (though not that kind of doctor, PhD PoSci Oxford).  Ron Paul is THAT kind of doctor.  Or at least he practices his love of his women patients as a OBGYN.

by ProfRich on 04/18/2008 12:06:11 AM EST

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And Dr. Paul has  PhD in stone fucking crazy from Racist Piece of Shit U (he played point gaurd)

by ProfRich on 04/18/2008 12:07:33 AM EST

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Stephanopolis (yeah i probably spelled his name wrong, but fuck him so, whatever) was part of the Clinton White House. I know that hasn't stopped him from attacking both Clintons or allowing himself to be puppeted (is that a word?) by right wingnuts for their talking points but maybe it played a part.

Alternate theory: They've bought into the argument that Obama will be thought of as an elitist and they want to be seen by the public as their champion in attacking him.

On completely unrelated sidenotes:
 
Man, does it suck to be too busy to keep up or post these days, hope to be back on a regular basis not to long from now (yes i saw the message nobias, no i didn't check out the post but will be sure to keep up with any upcoming ones).

And... I never thought of myself as someone who needed credit for stuff but... I e-mailed you the links to Obama's 2004 Charlie Rose interview before YESTERDAY'S show, Cenk & Dave, not even a mention? (Disclaimer: I was pointed to those links in a post on Firedoglake, and the clip w/the relevant comments was cut by TalkingPointsMemo so I didn't actually do any real research deserving of credit. Nevertheless, I'm sure I will still be outraged enough to e-mail the guys about it in the morning.)

Sorry for the temp thread hijack, talk to u all again someday.

by Weapon X on 04/17/2008 01:55:58 AM EST


How did a guy named Weapon X not jump in to our Marvel geekfest?

by ProfRich on 04/17/2008 01:58:28 AM EST

[ Parent ]
but i did have a slightly extended chat a week or two ago with a couple other Turkletons (I'm still sticking with that as the term for us viewers) about comic books. I'm sure we outgeeked many people and drove them out of chat. This was while the chat room was on the page during rolling postgame or something.

Rest assured, I will chime in if and when I see anything comic-geek related (comic-geek-related? proper grammar is beyond my reach at this late hour)

by Weapon X on 04/17/2008 02:03:15 AM EST

[ Parent ]

He should have been there, it was a good time.  But I'm sure it'll happen again.  I'm too much of a geek not to drag it kicking and screaming into another topic innappropriately.

And Weapon X, never mind the hijack, just please CALL OR EMAIL ABC.  They need to hear how much they suck.  Hope you're back more regularly soon BTW.

by Spencer on 04/17/2008 02:05:01 AM EST

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I will definately call from work tomorrow, along with my scheduled phone calls to senators re:FISA.

Thanks for looking up and posting the info, that takes the laziness aspect out of it and helps immensely.

by Weapon X on 04/17/2008 02:12:12 AM EST

[ Parent ]

Isn't Charlie Gibson the douche bag who thought college professor make 200k+?  And that most Americans benefited from the tax cut on the rich?

That guy is trying to call Obama an elitist? 

That is like bobo trying to call Ken a conservative.

by ProfRich on 04/17/2008 02:00:01 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Great point about Gibson, I didn't remember that it was him who made those observations.

As for bobo, as annoying as he (she?) can be, I think he actually fancies himself to be someone who is stimulating us to think more deeply about issues. Unfortunately, he plays an absolutely awful devil's advocate. If it wasn't a presidential election season I would offer to play devil's advocate for a month or two just to show him how it is actually done. This, of course, would be conditioned on him watching and learning and not making asinine posts/comments in the meantime.

bobo thinks he's doing us all some huge favor by being contrarian and cynical and therefore strengthening our liberal/democratic arguments. Or something. It would be an interesting take on things if he didn't suck at it so badly.

by Weapon X on 04/17/2008 02:09:54 AM EST

[ Parent ]
My comment above is purely speculation based on the comment & posting history of bobo along with what he says in chats. I have no actual telepathic  ;ability or any other special insight into his mind.

Its often contradictory and/or illogical, which does normally indicates a Republican, but not always anti-liberal. Mostly its just stuff that is contrarian to what the majority of progressives are promoting/supporting. It's also more cynical toward middle America, which he lectures us of constantly. I don't know where bobo's from but I'm in suburban Chicago. Its not exactly Hickville, I know, but I would be quite amused if an East/West Coast resident is lecturing us on what middle America thinks.

by Weapon X on 04/17/2008 02:18:25 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Did the subject of me hijack a thread without me actually commenting on it...?

Looks like some people are preoccupied with my essence, so I'll throw in my 2 cents in on the debate and its effects (even though I wasnt going to...)

I will start by saying that I did not watch it in its entirity... I was busy... But in seeing the clips off CNN and watching this particular board, I can say 2 things...

Man ABC really pissed you guys off!!!  It was either really that bad or you Obama supporters cant take the heat... Im not quite sure of which, but the few clips I saw showed a bumbling Obama completely on the defensive and not looking his best... The blogs at the other political sites are rambling with anti Charlie Gibson folly as if Brit Hume or Billo had taken his body...

The other thing I will say to it is Bravo... its about time somebody took Obama to task for his crap... It might not have benefitted Hillary and it might not have even been pretty (or fair) but this will actually be a good thing for Obama come November... He needs to shed some of his protective platitudes and tread a bit less lightly around issues... If this sort of debacle debate helps him, then maybe he'll be alright (even by me)...
 
In short...

He needs to look more real and less contrived - This will help him with the general Independent and Moderate electorate... I think perhaps this debate helped him in doing so, even though you guys will whine that it is unfair...

So there it is Weapon X and others, my contrarian 2 cents - if you want my opinion in the future, just go ahead and ask!

Thanks  :)

by bobo1 on 04/17/2008 08:46:23 AM EST

[ Parent ]
You may come to the same conclusion regardless, but its hardly worth discussing.

About Obama bumbling I just don't see it. This idea seems to be in the blogosphere, even among Obama's most ardent supporters, but Obama addressed every slanted gotcha question concisely and accurately, as he always does. After scanning over the transcript this was still my impression. I dunno maybe I need to watch it twice (not gonna happen) to get this but in terms of substance he performed admirably as usual. George W couldn't deliver a performance like that under that kind of pressure. And man can you imagine Bill Clinton? He's demonstrated very little discipline lately. Anyway, I just don't see it.

by hazmat on 04/17/2008 10:51:39 AM EST

[ Parent ]
No, bobo is actually just a republican.

by ynp7 on 04/17/2008 10:56:33 AM EST

[ Parent ]
granted I've only been watching the member blogs closely for a few weeks, but I've never seen bobo1 do anything more than make intensely anti-obama statements. How exactly is that republican? Maybe you guys can fill me in on some history I'm not aware of.

by hazmat on 04/17/2008 11:13:25 AM EST

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The top of the homepage is full of headlines and links discussing how awful the debate was.

http://www.huffingtonpost.c om/ (this link my not work but I'll try anyway)

by ihavenobias on 04/17/2008 11:29:00 AM EST


Man, that debate really put my feet to sleep.  I spent most of it online playing Halo and nailing some kids with a fuel rod gun who kept calling me "noob".

by bfaul on 04/17/2008 11:33:58 AM EST


I can only hope our dollar does not sink as low as the so called moderators of last nights debate did,then that would really start a run on the banks!!Never have so few sank so low.Edward R Murrow must have wept all night,but he must have done a lot of that for a long time now.

by WD40STEELWHEELS on 04/17/2008 12:06:31 PM EST


Man, so how much of the presidential candidates' money ends up in the pocket of these giant media conglomerates?  And in return the candidates get 30-second ads and this type of obscenely ridiculous "coverage"??

by desertpear on 04/17/2008 01:56:52 PM EST


Those of you who think this debate was just fine and didn't seem to notice the questions were utter crap anyway.

Imagine if Hillary was running against McCain in the general and they had a debate and Hillary had to sit through an hour of questions on Monica, travelgate, shootng Vince Foster in the head, Snipergate, getting booed in PA, how much cleavage she shows, whether her tears were sincere, if she actually believes a woman could be CinC and so on all the while Grampa Death got to sit there with his tiny little arms and his big creepy ass smile like a little Tyranasourus Rex (but much deadlier) and enjoy the free ride and soaring polls.

Would you think that debate was OK?

I know Hillary people have a real hard time giving Obama a break on anything but dear God, do you really believe the Weathermen and flag lapel pins are legitimate debate questions or do you just believe it was good for your girl? 

by ProfRich on 04/18/2008 12:26:39 AM EST


chirp. chirp.

by hazmat on 04/18/2008 02:43:45 AM EST

[ Parent ]

"while Grampa Death got to sit there with his tiny little arms and his big creepy ass smile like a little Tyranasourus Rex (but much deadlier)"

I'd love to be a fly on the wall and watch the tyrannosaur rage when the press isn't in the room.  I'll bet it's something to see. 

by bfaul on 04/18/2008 11:19:49 AM EST

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