FLASHBACK: 1993 Stephanopoulos Criticizes The Tactics of 2008 Stephanopoulos
By SilentPatriot Friday Apr 18, 2008 8:29am
HuffPo has dug up a doozy from 1993 of George Stephanopoulos decrying the same vapid and petty "side issues" he and Charlie Gibson dedicated half of Wednesday's Democratic debate talking about.
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Transcript via HuffPo:
STEPHANOPOULOS: What he's going to do in this campaign is focus on what's important to the American people, on the jobs and the education. That's what the American people care about. They want to move into the future. They don't want to be diverted by side issues, and they're not going to let the Republican attack machine divert them.
Check. Mate. What a difference 15 years makes.
Does it surprise anyone that the establishment media back then, in this case Sam Donaldson, focused on the same petty "character issues"? Me neither.
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Has George grown bitter over the years?
How can you compare the statements of George Campaign Spokesman to George Reporter?
Uhh... this was on Dan Abrams last night.
To paraphrase the blue collar comedian guy: you really know you've completely sold out when....
Now that he's practically bunkmates with Dennis Miller...
I hope some media with a freaking conscience start calling out this goddamn hackery for what it really is: open support for fascism.
Dan Abrams read a letter from Rove that amounted to a veiled threat, no doubt.
These fucking hacks on abc demonize both democrats, but focus mainly on the frontrunner. Then all the 'surveys' say mcAsshat is in some sort of virtual tie, despite the fact that all surveys show the dem beating the repug.
IT'S MORE THAN OBVIOUS!
THE DEMOCRATS ARE RUNNING AGAINST THE REPUBLICANS AND THE MEDIA!
And people are tired of it!
Phoney bastard!!
Good work C & L! Thank God for the internets!!!
Great find, great post. Us voters are left with either voting for competent psuedo-criminals masquerading as republicans or voting for incompetents governoring masquerading as democrats. No wonder that voters registering as Independents are the fastest growing "party". Bob Herbert's, "The Road Map to Defeat" lays out the reality of democratic presidential politics, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/opinion/19herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinio... . Immediate prescription? Senator Clinton should get out now. By incompetently managing a campaign she's also revealed that she would incomptently govern. She cannot win the electoral college. She and Bill only appeal to the true believers. Obama, and the democrats, have a small, closing opportunity to win. But based on the democrats 40 year track record it is more likely than not that they will blow this election coastal wing-nut be damned, again. No wonder the media are fawning to McCain. They forsee his corination as they lay the groundwork for it.
Georgie-Porgie, puddin' and pie
Kisses ass and tells a lie
Takes a job on the teevee
And now pisses on both you and me.
He was overrated back then. This guy is/was/has been/forever will be a hack.
BaScOmBe against BullShit @ 6:
I said the very same thing for the past 25 to 30 yrs.
The media is anti Democratic Party and there is no "Liberal Media".
That is a contrived myth eminating from the bowels of the right wing establishment. Witness how this mainstream media destroys great Democratic candidates. It happens every election cycle.
While we're at it, can someone tell MSM that broadcasting an entire Catholic Mass is not news whether the Pope is there or not.
Ya saw this on Colbert Report the other night, it was so sweeet.
Stuffinenvelopes is a shill for the DLC. He is just mailing it in.
Well you know that now he is doing the bidding of his corporate masters. If you are not willing to spread their corporate lies you will not get the big corporate pay check. That is how it is in America today. there is not one person on the TV network news that would not suck their bosses dick for thet paycheck so telling a pack of bald faced lies is no problem for any of them.
They are just prostitutes without a consience!
I just went to the comments section for Georgie's show and posted this:
I have nothing else to say to the MSM. They are irrelevant.
Well, I've taken "This Week" off my DVR list. I had figured that since Georgie had worked for the Clintons his program should be a little more left leaning. I've been wondering for a long time why that didn't seem to be the case. It took a while - but now I get it.
Olberman had an excellent segment last night on the questions he would like to see George ask McCain on Sunday (seeing as he likes to take questions suggestions and all).
Yes, Thank God for the internet and Comedy Central. I am kind of surprised no mention here about Hillary trashing us progressives.
I guess Stopenoughofthis is now part of the Republican Party attack machine.
Well STEPHANOPOULOS is part of the Republican attack machine. What's so funny is how when STEPHANOPOULOS and Gibson were being boo'd STEPHANOPOULOS looked at Gibson like Gibson was the problem.
STEPHANOPOULOS is a real Clinton.
A "gotcha" moment worthy of Big-Head Tim!
You know,
I was never sure about George, you know, on that show with that Medusa Cokie and that vampire Will, but I gave him the benefit of the daoubt.
I thought that he was being "extra" careful to appear objective because of his Clinton/Dem credentials, so I kind of gave him a pass when the biased and vile insanity would ensue on his program... I figured he was aiming for what the American public thinks is "balance".
But enough is enough. He has completely sold-out and it is impossible to redeem himself. He stands naked in his record, and even I, a democrat, a Greek, and a sporadic member of his father's church, have had quite enough.
Please George, go away, you are a disgrace.
If you start out sold-out, fine, then you are a bad person, we know these people, these are the people we are fighting.
But, if you start out right, and THEN sell-out, you are a much bigger and poisonous enemy, you are a corrupter and a hypocrite.
Lastly, I'd recommend a boycott of ABC, but let's not forget, this ABC, it's a redneck network if there ever was one, a channel I NEVER watch anyway...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 years, a multi million dollar paycheck and his lips on the teat of the power elite.
Stuffy sucks.
-GSD
Of course in 1993, he wasn't taking marching orders from Sean Hannity.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/17/steph-hannity-audio/
He was and idiot then, he's an idiot now. Somebody told him he was smart and he believed them. Now he says whatever it takes to make a buck.
What else is new?
EliteLemming @ 12:
I second your emotion about the coverage of the Pope. Jeez, enough already!
As for George Stephan-and-so-forth, I guess his knowledge and opinions depends on who is signing his paycheck.
that big bird's batshit crazy, george snuffleupagus does not exist.
When has ABC had any quality news programs? It was an afterthought because NBC and CBS cared about news. ABC was the "3rd" network, started for entertainment purposes only. Their whole company simply tried to catch up to the others in those early days. They showed faux how to do it.
Actors, they are all simply actors. They are not good actors, they need to wear earsets to get questions from the political operatives in the back room.
ABC was once nothing. It remains so.
I don't think it's entirely correct to blame stephano....whatever for his line of questioning. He is just the frontman for the media machine behind the scenes that really determines the line of questioning and confronting the issues. I mean these whole "debates" are like a carefully scripted primetime series. The actors and the people behind the scenes have carefully planned out what is to be said and whether real issues will be ignored.
Sort of like how 1994 Dick Cheney said that toppling Saddam Hussein would be a bad idea.
What a difference several years makes indeed.
SassySandy @ 18:
Yeah, she falsely claimed that MoveOn did not support the war in Afghanistan. I'm sure we'll see it mentioned here later.
BaScOmBe against BullShit @ 6:
'News Election Service' -> 'Voter Election Service' -> 'National Election Pool' -> 'change the name scams the same inc'
how would you like your election results served up? quick sexy and twisted OR boring slow and correct !
StirFry @ 31:
I hope we do because her words have me fuming.
I have been watching the mass the pope is conducting to see if Steffie and Gibson show up to ask forgiveness. I have it on mute. They are still noshows.
The lady with the question was a plant!
You guys are really flogging this horse aren't you?
Where was the outrage when it was just Hillary getting treated like a Democrat?
Last night you had nine stories up on this issue, and two more today.
I guess it all depends on whose pony is being gored.
myiq2xu @ 36:
So you think it's okay for the media to represent us this way. You must be one of the dumbed down if you don't think this should be discussed.
pissed off patricia @ 33:
pissed off patricia @ 33:
Her Afghanistan accusation was a Karl Rove talking point.
This was the moment of Zen on the Daily Show the other day, pretty sure he found it first =)
The poor lady who was the plant was exactly the kind of person Obama was talking about when he used the word bitter. Her life is going to financial shit so she clings to "patriotism" and pisses on Obama about a damned flag pin. She avoids asking why we don't have affordable health care for her husband and instead is bitter toward anyone who she feels isn't patriotic. She wants everyone to pledge allegiance to a flag pin made in China.
George Stephanopoulos hit a home run with his questioning of Obama and Hillary. Nobody remembers or cares about the previous 24 debates because they were bore-fests. They were filled to the brim with scripted, parsed responses to all the major policy issues. George took both candidates out of their comfort zone and asked them uncomfortable questions that forced Obama and Hillary to deviate from their reflexive litany of prepackaged campaign rhetoric. The ABC debate was the highest rated of the previous 24. The public loved watching the candidates squirm. The Hillary camp, the Obama camp, and the progressive media are apoplectic in the aftermath. That is a 100% sure sign than ABC News did a great job.
How does HuffPo get credit for having "dug up a doozy"?
I guess they watched Colbert's show 2 days ago.
Steppy is a absolute sellout..... that pathetic little shit knows who pays the bills.
Filthy Harry @ 13:
Yar, I saw it right here at C&L. Kinda surprised it wasn't mentioned yesterday.
Stephen Colbert “praises” ABC for a great debate -- starts around 3:20.
myiq2xu @ 36:
Yep. If it's the Unity Pony then crocodile tears flow. What do Dems expect? It's ABC-- Home of The Rat Empire. Have you forgotten what ABC and its affiliates did to John Kerry with the Swift Boat movie and all those phony reports from the "Washington Bureau"? Or was all that crap just on Sinclair owned ABC stations? Whatever. GOI.
Character issues are usually indicative of those who are bereft of them, namely the media.
But then that Bubba, he was a character wasn't he?
He used to be cute,
OOps. I entered the quote twice. I am going to have to quit, I have 3 little kittens and a mama all over the computer area. Afraid someone is going to get into something they shouldn't.
Is the date right? Donaldson mentioned "Governor Clinton" while talking about the campaign. Wasn't this vote in November of 1992, with Clinton taking office in January of 1993?
abob @ 41:
Uhh, the candidates both have answered the same questions many other times. How is it the moderators took them out of their comfort zone?
hey pat and ron read my comment at 26 one post back I'm diing for some feedback on what I think is away underrated aspect of the MSM "coverage".
abob @ 41:
It got high ratings because it was the last scheduled debate between these two candidates and as the election draws nearer, more and more voters want to see who they are and hear more from them. I would be curious to see how many viewers watched the entire debate.
I would not have minded at all if the moderators had gone at the candidates hard on major issues, that's what we expected. What we didn't expect were juvenile questions about subjects that had already been beaten to death and have no relevancy to the problems facing our country today. The time could have been used more wisely and much more substantive questions were left unasked and unanswered.
This little twerp is truly annoying. Whens the last time he brought up the viciousness and insanity of what we are doing in the Middle East?
A self promoting little ass.
41 abob
There's no such thing as campaign rhetoric.
It's just rhetoric.
Although certain campaigns tend to use the most effective elements of rhetoric whether it be: logos, pathos, and ethos, dependent upon the subject at hand.
They also tend to use and reuse the same logical flaws, arguments, and premises (warrants) if they prove effective. If at anypoint it ceases to be effective, because people see through them, they cease to be rhetoric, which is the art of effective communications.
EliteLemming @ 51:
Read mine at 34.
Obama better stop whining about getting picked on in the debate. He is asking us to make him the leader of the free world. He cant be bitching and moaning about being treated unfairly by the moderators. John McCain was treated unfairly when he was shackled in a tiger cage for 66 months; but he didn't cry like a pussy about that. Obama needs to man up.
abob @ 56:
Name something he is bitching about.
I was just doing some serious farting and it occurred to me that the facile embroglio that ABC started in that farcical debebate may actually end up doing more to unite the party than the party could itself.
Ron @ 55:
It was funny, but I'm concerned more about this *nudge nudge, wink wink* religious test for the presidency.
ysbaddaden @ 58:
Is that a Welsh thing?
I believe anyone Obama may have to deal with after he becomes president will be more serious and more knowledgeable than the moderators he had to deal with at ABC.
abob @ 56:
Oh, I think I finally get it now. Making up links to people who did bad things 40 years ago and obsessing about lapel jewelry will help level the playing field so that the Dems have an idea what it's like to be a 71 year old flip flopper with anger management issues who was a POW *40 years ago*.
EliteLemming @ 59:
Has there ever been a religious forum like this during any other presidential campaign? I gotta give McCain credit for blowing it off and not showing up. No one should have.
ysbaddaden @ 58:
Not acording to Hillary, abob, and myiq's1/2gumps...
Nothing like a good fart.
abob @ 56:
How do you know McCain never cried during that time. I sure as hell wouldn't blame him if he did.
AMERICAN IDOL
AMERICAN POLITICS
What is the difference?
The winner gets shuffled off by the ones who sponsor the competition and tell the contestants what they are doing for the term of their win. Contracts, Wars and other delightful enterprises. What a circus the Americans are in, what a joke.
It is so sad to see this wonderful country being handled by a childish media desperate to continue titillation and entertainment over logic, facts and reason.
There are three types of people in the world, the ones who make it happen the ones who say what the F*#@K happened and the ones who wish it happened.
America used to be one of these.
JJ
ysbaddaden @ 65:
How old are you? I'm curious.
The corporate media is populated with celebrities of great wealth who have nothing in common with the Average American. They have a lot in common with the pampered and priviledged ruling elites. Today's corporate media are merely courtesans licking the feet of the royal court.
JJ @ 67:
It's all been tweaked to control and contain the MTV generation.
ysbaddaden @ 54:
I am humbled by your erudition. Your ability to deliver a cogent linguistic lesson in a such concise post is very impressive indeed. Thanks for the education.
pissed off patricia @ 63:
Exactly, and the questions they asked...
MEACHAM: Do you believe God wants you to be president?
They should be getting just as much flak as Steffie and Gibson are.
ysbaddaden @ 65:
It could be dangerous this early in the morning.
EliteLemming @ 72:
I agree and probably the reason they aren't is because no one watched the damned thing.
abob @ 56:
What does McFraud being a POW have to do with this debate? Never mind Abob. I don't want you to answer.
Doesn't take long to lose the collective attention span.
It's no wonder people are so easily screwed.
George would have asked the question this way. Does God want you to be president and if so, what proof do you have that that is true?
Ron @ 73:
LOL... If you're over Thirty and drink, you never trust the first fart.
64 EliteLemming
The controversy of the debate was in it's National Inquirer school of questioning, not necessarily what was directed at any one candidate. Otherwise, the response ABC been receiving would indubitably be less. For example Hillary had to rehash yet again her Bosnia comments, which as I explained the other day may be due more with civilian confusion with military jargon, than any attempt to lie or self-aggrandize.
Will the next debates be moderated by The View?
Oh, I misspelled debate in my rhetorical comments because my dial-up is letting me type faster than the words appear.
What happened to this guy? I was around and involved back when he was cool.
What happened to the Clintons? They are not the same people I stood up for.
Times change, people change but DAMN why can't they change for the better.
KEEP HOPE FOR AMERICA ALIVE!
Obama 08
PS MY teenage kids said so.
A good example of how a perfectly great country.......is not anymore.
L.A. Confidential @ 76:
I'm paying attention. So what are we talking about?
This is fun. My husband is usually doing his work on this computer on Saturdays and so I can never get on line. I feel like a kid in a candy shop today.
George sounds like he is in the middle of contract talks. Rumor has it that he's looking to jump over to the dark sided channel. His audition went well. I think he'll do a great over there. No need to work. All that is needed is a good imagination, and the ability to make stuff up.
Since everyone's sick of the MSM corporate machine controlling the debates, shouldn't there be a push toward live internet debates ? Only questions submitted by the public with some sort of "unbias" filter on them would be allowed . File-sharing made the record companies take notice . It's time to make the MSM take notice .
I wish someone would point out that maybe this was the highest rated debate because there are a lot of people that don't have cable. This WAS the first chance for some to see the candidates debate and look what they got. This crapfest is what they will base their decisions on. It was an insult to voters and I for for one am sick and tired of them telling me what THEY think I want to hear.
pissed off patricia @ 78:
Hee-Hee. Good one, Patricia. That's hilarious. You got me pissin my pants laughing at the thought of it.
Embittered American named Janet @ 86:
Excellent point!
pissed off patricia @ 78:
No I think it would of went more like this...
How can you believe that God would allow you to be President when your pastor, Reverend Wright, hates America?
IQ strain @ 81:
It's called the Peter Principle. They reach their top level of competence, then regress.
Silent Patriot, swallow hard and put Stephanopolus out of business. Lets not respond - oh my - lets paint him with this brush for all to see and see that he doesn't work in entertainment ever again.
He should be teaching in a junior college somewhere.
And Charlie needs to be 'retired'.
Here are two career's that have - by their own demonstration - asked to be ended. I have seen better college productions, as have you.
They need to go - help them on their way - with a stink that follows them.
gee, abob, I guess you haven't had your coffee yet this morning...
Fred Phelps and the cretins at Westboro Baptist Church say that they know they're doing God's work because people hate them. They don't understand logic either.
You think that because a lot of people watched the show, it must have been a great show. I have 2 words for you: "reality television". Lots of people slow down for accidents on the freeway. Quite a lot also like to read the tabloids in the grocery store. I guess that makes those things great as well.
Somehow I don't think you'll be voting for Obama anyway, so I guess the question is simply: Are you a concern troll, or just a troll?
And, for the record, McCain wasn't in a tiger cage for 66 months. Damn those "liberal" facts...
abob @ 87:
Hey, don't blame me if you suffer with incontinence.
ysbaddaden @ 80:
I'm with you, I've said the same thing in simpler terms and guess not very clearly, but why you comin' at me man?
IQ strain @ 81:
Nothing happened. They were looking for support for the sake of power NOT agreement. They are the same swine today they have always been.
As a note, O'Bama isnt really any different. There are people that have implicitly connected him to King. Let us not forget that he is a Harvard lawyet NOT a southern methodist minister.
He has his good points - but even if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck - he is no Martin Luther King Jr.
He is a rich Harvard lawyer (like Kennedy), just like Bill and Hilary are Yale lawyers.
If you follow O'Bama - sorry, nothing personal in this - you are a fool. Let the republicans elected leaders. Democrats need to elect representation and NOT be sheep. If you elect O'Bama, you need to make certain that he represents rather than leads.
I suggest - although this wont be read, bloggers just arent in the business of a dialog with the public - that a coalition of the public (not bloggers) be at the convention to make it plain that leadership wont do. Prior to that, a 'will of the people' platform should be drafted as well.
anon @ 95:
So? What's your point? Other than your facts are off about Obama's wealth, what are you trying to say.
Anon @95
From your comments you believe yourself not to be a fool....or a sheep.
A high horse you are?
anon @ 95:
You got one thing right, Not be sheep. Just because republicans are sheep doesn't mean we have to be.
Lest we forget that ABC-TV is also the contractor of another great philosopher and purveyor of great wisdom, Glen Beck.
abob @ 56:
Welcome to Crooks and Liars, Don Imus! Have you been fired from your new gig for being a racist jackhole yet?
I find it fascinating that you feel that a Presidential debate should be comparable to torture. Of course, in the latter case the instigators are operating in an amoral black hole with complete disregard for human dignity or the rule of law, and in the former a civilized society is attempting to make an informed choice regarding their future leadership.
I also wonder, jackhole, if you think that McCain's campaign would survive ten minutes of the kind of flesh-ripping assaults that have been performed on the Obama campaign. But of course, recognizing that naked bias would require you to activate two of your three brain neurons for a sustained period of time.
anon, I'm not a sheep it's very clearly stated I'm a lemming. And I'm all for breaking out the torches and pitchforks, but I'm confused as to who the mindless mob attacks first.
i don't think its the 15 years that made the difference.
more like the 15 mil he has been given in the last few years.
all these talking heads that insist they are just echoing concerns of the "common folk" make millions more a year than the common folk do in decades, or even a life time.
pissed off patricia @ 96:
I consider millions a year to be rich even if it is common to you - apparently. I dont make that.
The poster was fooled by the Clintons. He should help his kids (and himself) from revisiting that territory. O'Bama, while as I said - has good points - is an opportunist. Like them all. He KNOWS that people have implicitly connected him to King and has - to my knowledge - said nothing. He is not King. King was killed helping garbage men. O'bama is in the pocket of Archer Daniel Midland. Anyone in that position is at risk of believing their own press. Remember Caesars slave - Bill didnt. O'Bama would be ok IF his feet are kept to the fire and isnt allowed to 'lead' the way Bill did. Bill lead the way to the destruction of the democratic party (which still hasnt recovered - unless you consider 2006 a success), the distruction of the US manufacturing base and the destruction of a free press in the US.
Elect 'leaders' like the republicans and you may as well just swallow the blue pill and get it over with.
Elect representatives and DONT idealize any of them.
I borrowed this quote from a post at Kos. Kind of reminded me of comment #56 on this thread.
"During the April 17 edition of Imus in the Morning, host Don Imus asserted that Sen. Barack Obama is "almost a bigger pussy than" Sen. Hillary Clinton. While discussing the April 16 Democratic debate, Imus said he thought that co-moderator George Stephanopoulos was "great" and that the debate was "fine," adding: "I thought Senator Obama was on the defensive most of the night. But they're both sissy boys or sissy girls, or whatever. Because they talk big when they're out on the campaign trail, wolfing on each other." News anchor Charles McCord interjected, "But then," and Imus continued: "And then when they show up at the debate, they fold up like a couple of cheap lawn chairs. I mean, I don't understand that. And he's almost a bigger pussy than she is."
EliteLemming @ 101:
Abob seems to think just republicans have to be sheep. I agree that they are, but they don't have to be. All they have to do is apply some common sense. Oh, sorry.
pissed off patricia @ 26:
ok, just a minute here!
didn't we just tell the media that we don't really don't give a shit about whatever they have to say. the broadcast of the mass was about using tha mass as a distraction away from the fact that the hitler-youth pontiff was the one who gave the order to keep transferring molesters around from parish to parish until the statute of limitations expired.
Just another fucking diversion. He's also testing the waters for his own influence on the 2008 election. BTW, the actual party at the WH for the pope was attended by everyone BUT the pope. Go figure why wubba would spend 75million of your tax dollars for a party NOT attended by the honoree. It's not like he didn't want to party, I'm sure.
These fucking hacks on abc demonize both democrats, but focus mainly on the frontrunner. Then all the 'surveys' say mcAsshat is in some sort of virtual tie, despite the fact that all surveys show the dem beating the repug.
IT'S MORE THAN OBVIOUS!
THE DEMOCRATS ARE RUNNING AGAINST THE REPUBLICANS AND THE MEDIA!
And people are tired of it!
This person (me) is totally digusted with the Democratic campaign. If I close my eyes and listen to Hillary - I hear the measured pauses - while she waits for the obligatory applause and I'm simply turned off! I'm not thrilled with Obama either. What is wrong with the electorate? We ignored two good men - Dodd and Biden and are left with a Bill/Hillary and an Obama Slate. I'm not sure if I can even bring myself to vote this time. All I can say is "thank God for the Blogs" - especially Crooks and Liars. the MSM sucks!
the fact is thier are vampires , really thier are ! you just cant see them in daylight!!!!
EliteLemming @ 101:
The party needs to be taken from the power brokers at the convention. I doubt it will happen, but it needs to.
That is where the deals will be made. Those deals MUST be made with the people and NOT power brokers.
Ron @ 57:
I thought I saw him flick something off his lapel and his shoulder!
Brother ABOB see through a very special lens that COLORS HIS JUDGEMENT
missmarple @ 107:
This person (me) is totally digusted with the Democratic campaign. If I close my eyes and listen to Hillary - I hear the measured pauses - while she waits for the obligatory applause and I'm simply turned off! I'm not thrilled with Obama either. What is wrong with the electorate? We ignored two good men - Dodd and Biden and are left with a Bill/Hillary and an Obama Slate. I'm not sure if I can even bring myself to vote this time. All I can say is "thank God for the Blogs" - especially Crooks and Liars. the MSM sucks!
they also ignored kucinich and edwards
Even if you don't have cable, you can get clips on YouTube, read about them in newspapers, get some analysis online.
The problem is that many Americans are lazy and they want things to be presented in a black and white, simple way. So any reasonable person would not base their vote on this fiasco debate, but millions will. If I didn't have cable and saw them debate for the first time, I would go online and check their websites, I would read the paper more often, etc.
ABC knew exactly what they were doing. The media has dumbed down the public so much, and it's not in their interest to have the real issues discussed. ABC is not here to serve the public, they're here to make money.
The only realistic solution I can think of is for PBS to broadcast the debates. They obviously don't care about ratings, and they don't have commercial breaks every 10 minutes.
As I said, the problem is not the media, the problem is the people. In a world where people think for themselves instead of acting based on their emotions, someone like McCain wouldn't even be discussed as a possible presidential candidate. But even if you have debates where real issues are mentioned, and people can clearly see that republican policies have failed miserably, and that McCain supports those same policies, he will still get at least 45% of the vote. Millions of Americans are complete idiots, and they keep voting against their own interests. Obama pointed at it in a very 'nice' way, but he should have said those people are a bunch of idiots. Wouldn't be politically correct, but it would be true. Maybe it would wake those people up.
Let's hope that with the relative ease to get information, this public will evolve into a more informed, more intelligent people in the next years, and that they start thinking. If things stay the same, we will elect another Republican.
pissed off patricia @ 61:
amen to that!
BaScOmBe against BullShit @ 111:
they also ignored kucinich and edwards
The candidates that presented the greatest 'real' threat were eliminated.
Kind a makes you think - doesnt it?
Embittered American named Janet @ 86:
My apologies. It needed a minor correction.
:)
abob @ 87:
We are humbled by your erudition. Your ability to deliver a cogent linguistic lesson in a such concise post is very impressive indeed. Thanks for the education.
anon @ 114:
The candidates that presented the greatest 'real' threat were eliminated.
Kind a makes you think - doesnt it?
I started to refer to Edwards as a halogram. He was there, then he wasn't. He was my first pick.
Ok.Let's see if I got this right. Hillary is a bitch Obama's a pussy McCain is either a stud or senile (depending on who's doing the blathering) Have I got that right? Now here's a real question......paper or plastic?
George learned well.
As I wrote and rewrote, I came to see how Clinton's shamelessness is a key to his political success, how his capacity for denial is tied to the optimism that is his greatest political strength. He exploits the weaknesses of himself and those around him masterfully...
All Too Human: A Political Education by George Stephanopoulos
abob @ 56:
... actually McCain was one of the few POWs at the Hanoi Hilton (tiger cage LOL) who signed all those anti-American statements that his captors made him sign. He tried to man up by claiming they never found out who his granddad was (like the Ho-Chi-Min gave a rat's ass), and he turned on people who returned earlier than him. Heck, he even dumped his 1st wife, who stood by him during his captivity, for a newer/richer model.
Just because he was a POW doesn't mean that he is above criticism, and that he is somehow owed the white house. In fact since you guys already shitted on another veteran (Kerry, heck even triple-amputee McCleland was fair game for you guys) the past election cycle... now GOPers you don't get to use the "vet card."
JeffS @ 112:
the point was made that this was the highest rated debate for a reason: many do not have cable. get it through your libertatian, social darwinist head that there are many people who do not pay $100+ dollars/month for cable.
That target demographic was treated to, bitterness, flagpins, wright, bosnia, both dems being called liars, one being called a traitor who loves people who hate america and all that complete with comercial breaks, 5/7 of which were for drug companies.
they knew what they were doing and who they were doing.
what are you bitter about?
abob @ 56:
Abob, You sneaking around liberal blog sites and leaving your excrement reminds me of something Larry Craig would do.
I can see you masturbating while reading responses to your right wing nonsense.
You guys are still trying to work the refs I see.
But you're being like Bobby Knight back in the early 80's, stomping around, walking off the court, throwing chairs and stuff.
There's a subtlety to it you just don't seem to be able to appreciate. Refs don't appreciate getting chewed out when the coach is just whining because his team is playing like shit.
cf: Rove, K.
dennis @ 123:
WTF are you talking about?
jnratliff @ 15:
That was a little over the line there pal. I think you owe the prostitutes an apology.................................
According to this, Steffie actually stood for something once.
I don't believe it. He's just an opportunist. Where's his twirly beanie cap?
*
Everyone has their price to abandon their principles, and Stephanopoulis just proves that point.
"I'm just a simple caveman pundit". Geez, has George had forehead surgery since '93?
Otay @ 127:
That's not abandoning principles, Otay. He was doing his job then and he's doing his job now. He wasn't a journalist then, and he's not working in the Clinton Administration now. Hasn't been for a very long time.
Just what are your principles here? If both candidates had come out smelling like a rose and the left wing blogs hadn't made it an issue because it looked like this thing was close to being over finally, would you still be on here carping about it? I somehow kinda doubt it. It's so easy to jump on a bandwagon to attack someone already being attacked, especially when you can view an irrelevant video tape from 12-13 years ago and say 'gotcha'. Not so easy to put yourself in his shoes. Not so easy to say when enough is enough.
Tell me Huff 'n Puff's principles here; obviously embarrassed to be the ones that broke the Bittergate story, unintentionally at that. Now they're covering themselves as much as they can, feverishly bailing out water from Obama's boat, faluty rivets and all. You don't see that connection at all, but it's there.
This 'doozy' of a video is about as weak and flimsy as your assertion about abandoning principles.
dennis @ 123:
You familiar with Claude LeMieux, dennis?
In hockey there's a certain type of player that the announcers call a "mixer". On the ice these players are referred to as "shit-disturbers". A "shit-disturber" is the guy who gets in your ear and chirps about your mom and/or your girlfriend, trying to get you off your game. When those tactics fail, he'll throw in elbows and give you little slashes when the refs aren't looking. Claude LeMieux was the King of the Shit-Disturbers.
But there was a day when LeMieux got paid back for all of his efforts. Instead of taking his payback on his feet, he curled up in a shell. It didn't help.
Don't be Claude LeMieux, dennis.
AndyKJongIl@130-
Not as familiar with Claude as I am Mario, but I did watch a lot of that series in '97. Scotty Bowman the coach then, right? I lived in Pgh when he coached the '92 Stanley Cup team. Jaromir Jagr had just joined the 'guins the year before I think it was, and was only 18 and had to stay with a family who happened to live on my street only 6-7 doors down. I never even knew it that whole season till he rode down our street, standing up in the limo he had rented, holding the cup up above his head. Was pretty cool to see.
But as to Claude Lemieux, maybe I am like him sometimes. And I've been bloodied a few times, I'll admit. Not as bad as he was there; but I don't think I've ever curled. I can't answer every shot that comes at me, if that's what you're referring to. But I'll admit when I'm wrong.
Actually, I give you a lot of credit for that call. That's very good, and better than most shots I've ever taken here. Made me think anyway.
People do what's in their self-interest. Now that Stephie is a media person, he goes for the tabloid issues that are going to boost ratings and sell shampoo. Nice hair, George!
motorfingaz Says: BaScOmBe against BullShit @ 6:
I hope some media with a freaking conscience start calling out this goddamn hackery for what it really is: open support for fascism.
Dan Abrams read a letter from Rove that amounted to a veiled threat, no doubt.
These fucking hacks on abc demonize both democrats, but focus mainly on the frontrunner. Then all the ’surveys’ say mcAsshat is in some sort of virtual tie, despite the fact that all surveys show the dem beating the repug.
IT’S MORE THAN OBVIOUS!
THE DEMOCRATS ARE RUNNING AGAINST THE REPUBLICANS AND THE MEDIA!
And people are tired of it!
I said the very same thing for the past 25 to 30 yrs.
The media is anti Democratic Party and there is no “Liberal Media”.
That is a contrived myth eminating from the bowels of the right wing establishment. Witness how this mainstream media destroys great Democratic candidates. It happens every election cycle.
Ah, the truth. Rare but refreshing. Thanks.
dennis @ 131:
First, that game was a week or two before the playoffs began in '97, although the Wings did beat the Avs in those playoffs, going on to win the Cup in 4 over the Flyers. And the bad blood stemmed from LeMieux boarding Draper- Draper requiring surgery on his cheek and eye-socket- in game 6 of the Conference finals in '96.
Claude has a brother, Jocelyn, who played most of his career for the Blackhawks. Jocelyn played a similar, chippy style of hockey, but he was much less an asshole. They aren't related to SuperMario, or at least not closely. My mom's cousins are LeMieuxs- it's not an uncommon name in Quebec.
I hope you got a chance to touch the Cup. I never have. But I got to try on a Canadien's championship ring from '57. That was sweeeeeeeeet! It wasn't like modern championship rings, which all look like your typical high school class rings (but with real jewels). It was the Canadiens' logo, the "C" lined with rubies and the "H" lined with diamonds. Awesome!
Andy K Jong Il@130
Truth be known, Ange, I'm more like the goalie that came to Claude LeMieux's defense. I hate it when people are attacked unfairly like they are here.
Ratface@133-
Here's the Rove letter to Dan Abrams.
Read for yourself if it was a veiled threat. If you're concerned about principles in journalism as I assume you are by posting on this particular thread, then this should put you over the edge. Rove provides a list of questions that would be basic to any investigative journalist that Abrams did not ask before he started jumping to conclusions. Dan Abrams should be held to a higher standard than the joker who precedes him does; he's supposed to do some homework before he makes accusations.
No?
2008 Stephanopoulus looks like a bizarro version of his earlier self. Is it me, or has his face become more angular? It shows up in his thought process, too. Strange.
Send him back to Htrae.
Deleted. Off topic. This thread is not about Senators Clinton and Obama. Feel free to express yourself on an Open Thread-Sitemonitor]
Step-and-fetch-opolis does what he's told to do. I, too, am taking "This Week" off my DVR list.
John @ 42:
HuffPo will claim anything if they think a negative can be attached to Sen. Clinton. The slant on that site is completely disgusting; there is no objectivity or honesty there.
So who cares what George said in 1993. Obama says one thing, does another constantly; he is actually going in reverse with all his backpedaling on Rev. Wright, Tony Rezko, bittergate, the last debate, etc., and his supporters and Obama cry foul everytime. I guess if he can change his postion, at will, so can George.
dennis @ 129:
Spot on analysis
dennis @ 129:
Let me point out a few little things:
I said nothing about whether he was still working in the Clinton administration.
True, he wasn't a journalist then. But he isn't a journalist now.
My principles would be to ask questions that actually have relevance. Sorry if I don't think that lapel jewelry, bowling scores or drinking OJ has relevance to being a good president; just like I don't think someone you can have a beer with makes a good president.
Of course I would be carping about stupid questions because a) there are many good questions that could have been asked instead and b) these types of questions are of the type "Have you stopped beating your wife".
If I had no reality-based facts to back up my assertions, I might resort to "You don't see that connection at all, but it's there" among other empty remarks about arguments being weak and flimsy; who needs a counterargument when you can just ad-hominem?
I fucking hate George Stephanopoulos...
Cocky self important idiot.
EliteLemming @ 94:
Sorry about that, chief.
I tried to respond earlier, but generally after a thread hits over fifty comments my dial-up no longer works.
I was agreeing with you. Unfortunately too many people who support one nominee or the other says it's my guy or bye. And, the other one's a spoiler. I was trying to widen the angle of my sight to look at the party as a whole, as I presumed you were too.
Schmuck!!
124 Ron
He's doing a sports analogy, something I'm tired of from TV pundits, equating referees with debate moderators.
The problem is the "moderation" that Stephanopolis and Gibson provided for the debates were more akin to calling a ball player out because his shorts are too baggy, or he keeps blowing kisses to his girlfriend in the stands.
Does Stephanopolis even own a comb
Or Beatle boots?
ysbaddaden @ 146:
Hehe. I was thinking the same thing. Was George Snuffleupagus a mod or a rocker?
Stephanopoulis did abandon journalistic principles as he's been in the field long enough to know what they are.
One of the first journalistic principles is know if or where you have a story, not merely passing off hearsay and rumors without identifying them as such.
I would've loved to hear a debate about health care, sinc the Obama plan is essentially the Clinton plan, without going as far.
Asking about Wright and Bosnia were okay. It became OVER-THE-TOP when they asked Obama about a lapel pin (when NO ONE was wearing one that night), Ayers, and the if he thought Wright was a patriotic. How can ANYONE speak to someone elses patriotism? Bush is selling the country to the Middle East and China, why doesn't anyone question his patriotism?
And why wasn't Hillary asked ONE QUESTION about Penn's meeting with the Colombians and why she would retain him on her staff if she is against the Colombian deal and he stands to make a lot of money off of it?
Otay @ 147:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEI2UUhVEn4
I always wanted to know what he wrote.
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