An "Ifill" Of Wingnut Whining

(And by the way, I also posted over here recently.)

From what I can determine based on watching the videos of last week’s vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and “Governor Hottie,” I believe that moderator Gwen Ifill did a good job, primarily because I barely knew she was around (in contrast, think of the stage–hogging presences of Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos in the past, and though I know the man is dead and I should leave him alone, think of Tim Russert also for similar reasons). And I give Ifill credit for keeping her composure while the member of Alaska’s AIP kept blowing off her questions.

But of course, what would the Palin-McBush campaign be without more whining about “the media” (particularly funny when Governor Red High Heels has yet to hold a press conference since she was named to the ticket; McBush and his people are dumb, but they’re not that dumb). And the flashpoint is that Ifill wrote this book about race which features the Democratic candidate for president quite prominently (so of course, Ifill is automatically biased, right? And how dare she defend herself when slammed by “Mr. Nappy Headed Hos” himself here).

Well, I would like to hear at least as much attention paid to this post as has been paid to those who have maligned Ifill once more (yes, I know, I can dream); Think Progress tells us the following…

These claims (of liberal media bias) fly in the face of reality. The multinational corporations that run the mainstream media — GE (NBC), Time Warner (CNN), Walt Disney (ABC), News Corporation (FOX), and Viacom (CBS) — stand to benefit hugely under a (John) McCain presidency. The centerpiece of Sen. McCain’s economic plan — actually, the whole plan — is large tax cuts for corporations. It would deliver $1.44 billion in tax cuts to the five largest media companies, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

I will point out in fairness, though, that according to the information here, CBS and ABC are strictly forbidden to give donations to political candidates or engage in political activity. NBC, MSNBC and MSNBC.com say they don't discourage or encourage campaign contributions, but they require employees to report any potential conflicts of interest in advance and receive permission of the senior editor.

And the individual slated to moderate tonight’s second debate between John W. McBush and Barack Obama (and if we don’t see fire from Obama over the last few days of sliming from the Palin-McBush campaign, we never will) is Tom Brokaw, who allowed McBush campaign manager Steve Schmidt to repeat the lie unchallenged that McBush called for Don (“The Former Defense Secretary We Had”) Rumsfeld to be canned; Brokaw also communicated some phantom polling result that gave McBush a slight lead over Obama here.

Let’s see how much Brokaw forces himself into the questioning and give and take of what should be a McBush slime fest, unfortunately; I think Obama should put him down hard a time or two just to show people he can do it and then otherwise let McBush rant. Of course, if Brokaw front-loads the questioning with “urgent topics” such as flag lapel pins and supposed reform of the capital gains tax (to say nothing of a certain African American preacher and former ‘60s radical), then we’ll know for sure that the fix is in.