My Effort to Point Out what Might not be Fair If you have a book coming out on January 20, 2009 (Presidential Inauguration Day) that 'highlights' one of the presidential candidates - and you are scheduled to moderate a 'what administration will end-up in the White House' debate; additionally you have somewhat indicated your allegiance to a political party, you may not be the best suited person to moderate the Vice Presidential Debate. Right? Particularly, understanding that the author stands to make millions if her favored candidate is sworn in on the 20th. Or, could I be just biased myself? Paranoid?
What do you think?
Can Gwen Ifill be unbiased?
http://news.aol.com/elections/article/bias-charges-for-debate-moderator-ifill/196918?icid=100214839x1210879965x1200616041
Written by Brian E. Payne. Inspired by something that can be accomplished/obtained in this world if only we try: FAIRNESS.
33 comments:
Reader Responds:
it is my understanding that a chapter of the book will deal with obama as in "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," which according to ms. ifill is not even written yet.
mccain was aware of the book before he agreed to ms. ifil moderating, and from what i have seen gwen does not interject her opinions into whatever matter, or situation is on the table.
i think she can be fair......
AND, this is just a set-up to excuse palin's poor performance should the expected trainwreck happen. :-)
-SM
Reader Response:
100% AGREED
-LS
Reader Response:
What is the problem? Ask a question and let them answer. My common sense would lead me to believe that the questions are not her questions but questions posed by some sort of panel or round table. Please listen to more than just 750am.
-EJ
Response from fellow blogger Freedom:
As I watched the Presidential debate, the moderator who presided over that debate was only there to ask the questions that were already given to the moderator for the candidates. That person pretty much as I just stated asked the questions to the candidates and gave them a chance to respond. He pretty much let the candidates go at it and made sure that the candidates did not go over their minutes. He did not interject his opinions.
However, I do agree that Ms. Ifill should have seen this for what was, which was another way to spark controversy surround the Obama campaign. I think she should have been elated to be chosen for the postion of moderator, but humbly passed on presiding over the debate. As you stated when money and fame is involved one will or can lose all perspective and lose focus of the bigger picture. Moreover, fall for the okey doke!
Just my Humble opinion.
-Freedom
Reader Response:
Out of all the years of Presidential and Vice Presidential debates.....why is this the first year that I have EVER heard of the moderator potentially not being fair and maybe not able to ask non bias questions to the candidates? Well, I guess the seed has been planted in some black folks head (fox news and 750am listeners) that this black, well accomplished, professional women just might ask the black, well accomplished, Presidential nominee some bias questions. I promise you....If you look for it.....it will show up. NIGGAZ!
-EJ
Fellow Blogger, Freedom responds:
Talk about bias. FOW NEWS and the white media that is sparking this dialogue as a decoy like one responder suggested. In case home girl fumbles the ball and Obama's VP run the ball into the end zone repeatedly like a piece of cake!
-Freedom
Reader agrees with EJ:
Agreed and thank you EJ.
-MTP
Reader Response:
My take on it is when they feed you lemons, make lemonade. She is STILL going to moderate tonight, and as far as I'm concerned, all the ignorant azzes did was give her PUBLICITY for her book, which I might add as some of you already mentioned isn't even finished yet and isn't slated to come out until January (inauguration day). Mo' money, mo' money, mo' exposure, mo' exposure!!! Let's google Jim Lehrer and find out what he's written or talked about, bet you'll find some interesting, biased stuff there!
This is all just another ploy to distract everyone from the real issues in tonight's comedy show...I mean, debate.
-JL
Reader Response:
Thanks EJ for making an excellent point!! It’s a shame how American Society has conditioned us to be suspicious of anyone who is black and has the audacity to not “Stay in our place” Nobody has ever questioned whether or not any other moderator in the past was partial to either party nor has anyone ever doubted the ability of said moderator(s) to stay impartial when asking questions that he/she was supplied with by someone else.
Again, thanks for being the SANE voice of reason.
-DM
Reader Response:
Just another reminder, you are still BLACK in AMERICA. Despite all of her accomplishments this is brought out because she is black and it helps to build an excuse for the dimwitted Sarah Palin. It's all a smoke screen for the okey doke that most of America WILL fall for.
-Ajames
Muata Responds:
I guess we all agree Ifill will be unbiased.
Also, from my understanding the McCain/Palin camp have not issued a statement in opposition. If they do not, do we all know what the headline will be tomorrow when she gets knocked out tonight:
'Ifill was biased and she is in the Obama and Biden Tank'
It appears from reading the responses from everyone: WE ARE NOT STUPID.
And, Anita, thanks for pointing out that MOST of America WILL fall for the "smoke screen". Yes, they will. They have for years. Look around! And, guess what: these head in the sand red voters will not change. Isn't that obvious. Here we have great voices of reason (journalist) e.g. Tavis Smiley, Roland Martin, Tim Wise, etc. And they still will not listen. What will it take to turn some of these red states blue. Pharaoh was stubborn until death. Will America have to perish before they learn? Pharaoh's empire had to????
-Muata
Reader Response:
Hey Guys,
My take on the situation is that it is a ploy to direct attention from the fact that Palin is not Vice Presidential material. I agree with Freedom that Ifill should have humbly passed on presiding over the debate in an effort to divert the controversy. However, since she will moderate, I feel she is more than capable of leaving her personal opinions out of it. It will be interesting to watch.
-EFJ
Reader Response:
Really and Truly, this debate and if the moderator will be unbiased, should not be an issue. We have a huge problem facing us right now.
Consider this:
How selfish is it of John McCain and the republicans that back and advise him, to chose Sarah Palin as his running mate only to try to win this election, knowing full well that she is not qualified to be the Vice President of this Country as evidenced by everything that she has said thus far. Not only that, there is a huge chance, that if elected, that she could Very Possibly become President of this country. It would be bad enough having John McCain as President. But Imagine SARAH PALIN AS President of the United States. How Scary is that?
America should have this weighing heavily on it's mind as opposed to if the moderator is going to be biased. Palin has already proven that she is not qualified, we don't need a debate to prove that. Although, I am looking forward to seeing it, and the spin that the Republicans will put on the outcome.
Racism and Partisanship...... Is it worth the fall of a Nation?
-AJ
Reader Response:
Interesting dialogue and good points all around but IN MY PERSONAL OPINION, this issue of whether or not Ifill should moderate is a Smoke Screen but I don’t think it has legs and will make a bit of difference on the opinions on the debate tonight. If Palin falls flat just as she has done with Katie Couric and Charles Gibson, that can not and will not be pinned on a moderator. If that’s all it takes to shake up a person in position of power (a moderator with a different opinion that is), then I would argue that the person wasn’t prepared for said position to begin with and most Americans, except those who won’t vote for Obama no matter what, will see that.
-DM
Muata Responds to AJ:
It was very selfish. Didn't that act alone prove to you that THEY don't care about you, me, etc.?
What can we do to gain independence from this corrupt system? Let's discuss that. Then act on the ideas.
-Muata
Muata responds again to AJ:
I have said and believe that America and its white ultra conservatives will cause this nation to perish before they relinquish all their control. Can't we recognize that? They killed your ancestors to maintain an evil system. They have created a situation within their public schools where black children are treated like handicaps. We need to stop looking for the answer within government. They are not there. Didn't this bailout crap prove that they don't give a damn about the average man/woman? Yeah, we live here but we do not have to take part in this monkey side show. We need to do it another way: alone and without their bullshyt. We don't need this government. And, please don't say that we can't do it without them. Just come over to my neighborhood and witness the Indian explosion. Some of these government officials don't give a hoot about us!
-Muata
Reader DM responds to Muata:
You and I have similar feelings about being repulsed by this country and having thoughts of just moving away. Honestly, if I had the capital to do it, I probably would move out of the country. These thoughts are not new to me and not because of an economic crisis. I have being saying for YEARS how disgusting it is how American Society values celebrities and yet don’t invest in education or health care. I’ve been saying for YEARS to some of my closest friends and colleagues that there will come a day that American Society will fall just as other great historical societies that were ruled by gluttonous motives.
I think this is only the beginning for us and it scares me to see where we are heading.
-DM
Reader EJ responds to Muata:
The one thing this bail out plan proves is that we all need each other. Black, white, rich and the poor. It is impossible to live in this society with total independence from each other.
-EJ
Muata responds to DM:
You do realize that the RIGHT has blamed and criticized Katie and Charles? They have actually convinced people that the questions asked where not "fair". Yep, that is out there. My point: those far to the RIGHT which is most of America have fed into the smoke screens. They refuse to see that Palin is not qualified. Why? Republican Loyalty. It is idiotic -but that is their security. These are the same people who put Bush back into office. We are up against stubborn ignorance. That type of ignorance is extremely difficult to defeat. It is dangerous too. We do still live in a nation based on lies.
-Muata
DM responds to Muata:
You proved my point. Those people are not being convinced! They were never going to vote for Obama anyway and just need anything to hold on to for justification. In other words, some people in this country are a lost cause. I’ve always known that. But for the rest of the country that chooses to use 2 brain cells, I don’t think this SMOKE and MIRRORS act is going to have the impact that we are making it out to be.
-DM
Reader Ajames responds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S27yitK32ds
I don't know if you have seen this speech about the bailout from a congress woman from Ohio, but she puts it in laymen's terms. A shame some of the folk in the Red states can't absorb what is blatant.
-Ajames
Reader EJ responds to Muata and DM:
I agree with both Derrick and BP....but lets acknowledge that a change is coming. Just look at the youth of today. I see white, black, Mexican, Asian, and Spanish teens listening to the same music, going to the same clubs, dressing in the same manner, dating each other, and basically co existing. Now when you add in the parents of these youths...you then start to see division. I truly believe that the next generation of leaders will have a multi cultural upbringing that will lend to a change in politics and government. The objective is not to win over ever bigot and raciest in this society, but to outnumber them. I defiantly see that as a possibility especially with the Obama campaign.
-EJ
Reader DM responds to Muata:
As much as it pains me to say it, we all do need each other. We (Blacks in America) have not established any type of systems that guarantees us financial independence from American government and/or society. We can even get our ish together as a people to support one another on basic things yet along defect from society. I would like to think that we don’t need another race but the simple fact is, we (Blacks and other races including whites) are dependant on our government and on Banks, hell, this whole gas shortage scare has proven that we (AMERICA) are even dependant on foreign oil.
It’s a great thought that we can be self sufficient but we are a long way from that.
-DM
DM Responds to EJ:
Agreed that the younger generation is meshing together more so than ever, but my concern is not cultural unity more so financial strife, lack of education and health care. This country may be becoming more diverse but it also is showing more and more third world tendencies.
-DM
Reader MTP responds to DM:
I agree Derrick, the whole conversation is moot. Their all types of extremists everywhere who already think all kinds of things that they cannot be convinced to change their minds on, stubborn ignorance is a universal disease not only indigenous to white Americans, hell I'll admit to stubbornly holding certain opinions without the benefit of logical proof myself. The point is why waste the spit it takes to curse them? Instead do what you can with who you can. If lies and smoke screens could really triumph over the truth in the long term then would Barak even be where he is right now?
-MTP
Muata Responds to GROUP:
The Nation of Islam. Buford HWY - the Mexican end. Buford HWY - the Asian end.
Jehovah's Witness. Mormons. My neighborhood, the Indians. Other religious sects
throughout America. We can do it if we try. We do it now in our on way.
I have to be honest: I am so irritated right now (at this moment as I type)that
we are not even moving toward self-suffiency chatter in this dialogue. I am also frustrated that we are not in agreement that we can do it without them. We can live here and be free from their control. First, we have to believe it. It appears we can't even get there. Sad. Sad. Every other ethnic group who is crapped on in America find a way to economically free themselves to some degree but we still think and believe we can't do it without them. Remember, Washington Drive in High Point. Remember, Auburn Avenue? Remember Rosewood, FL. Remember the black city in Oklahoma they blew-up? Those areas were free to some degree from these evil-doers. We had our own. Businesses. Banks. Integration jacked us up. So much so that we black intelligent folk still talking like those slaves who dissed Harriet Tubman.
-Muata
Reader Ajames responds to Muata:
You are right Brian we have been independent before. Sad thing now is we have advanced to the point that we don't care to band together. Our standing together isn't as crucial to buy into as it was during Rosewood days. For example I'm sure you all have seen e-mails showing what our ancestors went thru for us to have the right to vote. When that struggle was going on you didn't have 600,000
(number of unregistered voters) blacks in Atlanta that weren't in the same mindset as Dr. King. Everyone pushed together to get the right to vote regardless of their level of education or social status.
We are victims of the advancements made through integration. The comforts from our government have made too many of us ok with living in projects. Ok with redlining in the loan process, after all you got approved for your home so they not turning all of us down, right?The majority of us don't feel oppressed any more so there isn't a drive to have our own.
-Ajames
Reader MTP responds:
I think we can look at this from two vantage points. Can we live without other cultural groups on a national or international level? Probably not, the world is becoming more and more global which means that interdependence has to be the theme not dependence or independence. But can we do it on a local level? There's no reason why you can't. I think the first step is to realize that it's possible within yourself though, and then to recognize that it's a process that has to be created as you go. The reason that I moved to Atlanta was quite honestly because I was tired of feeling controlled by whitey. Since I've lived here I've worked in either all black or predominantly black environments only, I've lived in all black neighborhoods, my son has never had more than one or two token 'other' cultures in his classes, he plays on an all black soccer team etc etc etc. Most of my family think I live in a 'bubble' that doesn't resemble the real world, but it resembles the one I wanted to live in.
I think when you say that 'we still think we can't do without them' you're adding them into your own paradigm of the world, I certainly don't think that. I know I can do without them and have proven it to myself (at least on a local level). If you don't want to deal with 'them' anymore then choose to shop at black stores only, choose to buy gas in black neighborhoods, choose schools for your children that are predominantly black make different choices....but realize that the process is still in creation. There are still plenty of societal holes that need to be filled in. 1) For instance we need small businesses trainings (explaining that you can't ALWAYS get the hook up just because I look like you, but you support me and I'll support you and how about basic CUSTOMER SERVICE), 2) we need to create our own banks again we did it before and no it won't be as powerful as others are but we've got the blueprint if we pick up a history book 3) We need to stop thinking that the height of being an entrepreneur is to sell your business to the highest bidder (that's how we lost control of our own hair care and our own magazines) we need conscious entrepreneurs whose highest desire is to see a community that can be self-sufficient 4) We need to keep our homes looking like we have pride in them ( who wants to raise their child in a neighborhood full of people who won't even cut their grass much less pick up trash? I know other people do this too but we're talking about building something for US so can we stop using the 'they do it too' excuse?)
Those are just a few things you can do. What I'm basically saying though is that we need to stop waiting, what the heck are we waiting for? If something bothers you make a different choice and make it a building choice... anybody can point out the cracks in my building but can you loan me some mortar?
Where I'm from the old folks used to get on my last nerve saying: "Okay now you can complain for five minutes but then either do something or shut up."
-MTP
Reader Response:
I do agree we are capable of being self-sufficient within this society, however we don't seem to respect ourselves enough to come together and do so. I have no answers, just very aware of a country where people who look like me seem to be more like craps in a barrel than a supportive community among other supportive communities and how sad it makes me.
-SM
Muata Responds:
Lord! We have had a wonderful discussion! I pray we ACT now.
-Muata
Reader Response:
What I saw during the "debate" disturbed me so that I couldn't sleep. I know that I can rant and rave, non-stop, about matters that concern me but my diatribe regarding Sarah Palin is about more than me. After going through the Bush years we should have learned a lesson. We cannot allow anyone that has no grasp of the human condition, or even cares that there is such a thing as human suffering, be put in a position of power.
Sarah Palin spent an hour and a half dancing around every question asked and Gwen Ifill never called her on it for fear of being labeled an un-objective moderator. How do we let the media pass this off as a debate? Palin spent the entire time making statement after statement without being challenged by Ms Ifill. Was it the ploy John McCa in and his bunch of hoodlums put out the re prior to the "debate" that Gwen would "have a bias" towards Sarah Palin that led to this fiasco? Did that tie Gwen's hands? Was Biden so caught up in the media frenzy surrounding how he should treat Palin that it rendered him ineffective?
It is amazing how we sit around and let the powers to be and the media blow us off without being called on it by anyone that matters. It is as if all of the free thinkers in this country have decided that there is nothing that they can do about it: that protest is useless or dangerous. Have we become so afraid of those we elect that we give up our freedoms so willingly? Have we become so afraid that we will put our country in the hands of men and women who put perks for their friends and contributors ahead of the good of the people in our country?
What we call politics in America today is becoming more and more like a totalitarian state.
“When in the Course=2 0of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
The men who wrote those words would disown us. We do a disservice to our forefathers and piss on their graves. We have become20a nation of cowards who allow ourselves to be led by the ruthless whose only motivation is power and avarice…shame on us.
-Unknown
Muata Responds to Reader Unknown:
my thoughts exactly. he so right. we, the people, are not doing what the forefathers and our ancestors demand that we do when placed under this hammer. we are allowing this sham. we can only blame them so much. just review the constitution. it calls for forceful action when and if what is presently occuring in the united states transpires.
ifill and most moderators of these CIRCUSES they call debates are not helping the process when these politicians are granted a pass. thursday night was not a debate. it was for palin a time for her to read her surrogate father's (McCain) platform. for biden it was a decent night - but he failed to be who he really is: a nice but aggressive pit-bull. he treated her like a 'lady' when he should have been treating her like an opponent!
-Muata
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