Wasn't it Russert's job as debate moderator to give candidates equal time?

[KittyWampus]

Isn't that sort of the today's debate moderator?

Breaking in and making sure everyone gets at somewhere equal time?

All he seemed to do is ask a question of Hillary, or ask another candidate about some comment they made attacking Hillary and then go back to Hillary for a response.

[Evergreen Emerald]

1. this was no debate: this was a coordinated attack on Clinton

Richardson and Biden went up in esteem in my book--they saw this for what it was and called them on it.

[ccpup]

2. he was obviously gunnin' for Hillary

last night. Hardly her fault -- although that's not what you were implying -- and, quite honestly, very frustrating to watch! His pathetic, ham-handed, stumbling game of Gotcha! got r-e-a-l old r-e-a-l quick.

[jojo54]

5. Agreed !! eom

[bullimiami]

3. i believe russerts job is to pander to the powerful and attack anyone who challenges them.

[malaise]

4. That debate was disgraceful

GE at work.

[zabet]

8. Exactly!!!

Pus-ert is a GE butt-plug.
:puke:

[watrwefitinfor]

6. No, you misunderstand.

His job is to take care of the interests of the ruling class.
At least, whichever branch of them has bought and paid for his services.

Carry on.

Wat

[screembloodymurder]

7. He's a neo-con! He works for the dark side.

Controlling the public's opinion of Hillary is in their interest, but should she win, she's controllable. 20 yrs of Bush/Clinton and counting. Do you think that's an accident?

[tom_paine]

9. That's not Russert's job.

Russert's job is to speak lies to the powerless.

Russerts job is to afflict the destitue and comfort the powerful.

Russert needs no "Thursday Morning Bushie Propaganda Co-oridnation Meeting" to know what his job is.

And he does his job well for his Bushie masters and the Aristocracy.

[madrchsod]

10. it`s not a debate

it`s a dog and pony show led by a corporate ringmaster....

[KharmaTrain]

11. Nope...It's His TV Show

The candidates know damn well that these made-for-TV dog and pony shows are as much about show than they are about politics. This isn't about winning votes as much as getting ratings. In exchange for getting some valuable face time on these debates, each candidate agrees that the forum will be controlled by the network or other sponsor and that they should prepare accordingly.

Timmeh gets to play judge and jury in these "debates"...using parsed and misleading questions and attempting to be the BMOC among all these grovelling candidates. It's his game and if you don't like it, then don't watch.

[KittyWampus]

12. you seem to have the perspective. It's not really a Dem Debate. It's the Russert Show

sigh

Edit- although in that case we should put the word "debate" in quotation marks.

[KharmaTrain]

16. They Paid The Bills...It's Their Show

Look at how much this network puts into these "events". There's the costs of transporting their shows and techs to these things...they're not doing it because they want to be a "good citizen"...they want eyeballs to watch. The "way" to attract the most eyeballs is to create a "drama"...some element of suspense or anticipation. It's the "grudge match" game that way played out by Tweety and others in the debate run-up. It's the endless talking point gotcha questions by Timmeh that were supposed to create that "moment"...the candidate twitching or hemming or hawing or getting out the one-line zinger. It's truly political theater...played for ratings and network egos.

What's worse is the need of all these networks to push for these debates...adding gimmicks like YouTube and "Lightning Round"...turning it into a reality game show. It's a shame that our public airwaves and public discourse has truly turned into Roman circuses.

Cheers...

[peace13]

13. Candidate time has never been equal in this series of shows. n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

14. Nah. That's how our candidates get sElected for us, don't ya know? eom

[Highway61]

15. The whole think is a joke

Fucking Rocky and Bowinkle would have more substance than that debate last night.

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. No, it was not his job to give equal time to each candidate

The more important candidates recieved more time time.

[Le Taz Hot]

18. No, his job as debate moderator is to

give the most time to the corpro-fascist's pick for the Democratic "nominee" and marginalize the rest. Obama and Edwards' extra time was for show -- the illusion of choice. He did EXACTLY what he is paid to do.