RochesterConservative.com

I didn’t watch the debate last night… I’ve got better things to do than watch CNN, like watch my grass grow even though it’s covered in a layer of frost. The big story about the debate, of course, is over the questions and the people who were asking them.

There was Brig General Kerr, who sits on two of Hillary Clinton’s campaign steering committees. Not only did he get his question in about gays in the military, he was flown to the event on a ticket bought by CNN to ask a follow up question where he started a diatribe, forcing them to cut his mic. Clinton assures us that he isn’t an employee of her campaign. Of course, that flies in the face of her campaign’s press releases. Wait, it’s a Clinton so it depends on what the definition of the word “is” is. I guess he’s not an employee because he isn’t paid. That just makes him a member of the campaign.

There was Journey, the “undecided voter” who is concerned about abortion right, but can be seen in another video wearing a John Edwards shirt.

” Log Cabin Republican” David Cercone, asking yet another question about homosexuality, who has already endorsed Obama.

LeeAnn Anderson, another “undecided voter” who wanted to know what the candidates will do in the face of the toy recall problem to bring jobs back to America… she just happens to be a union activist for a union that has already endorsed John Edwards.

Yasmin something or other wanting to know what the candidates will do to repair our image in the Muslim world. Well, she just happens to be an intern for CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations…

How about  Adam Florzak, who asked a question about Social Security but quit his job with Caterpiller to work for Dick Durban?

Mark Strauss who begged Ron Paul to run as an independent? Supports Bill Richardson and took part in CNN’s Democrat debate earlier this year.

Ted Faturos who asked about farm subsidies? Former intern for Jane Harmon.

David McMillan who asked why Republicans don’t draw more black support? Writer of skits on youtube about a “blind black republican”. He supports Edwards.

How about the guy who sarcastically head up a bible and asked if any candidates believed what it said?

Now… I don’t have a problem with Democrats asking Republicans questions in a debate… I’ve got no problems with Republicans asking Democrat questions in a debate. What I have a problem with is CNN portraying these questions and questioners as if they were neutral sources, implying that the Republican party is far right of the mainstream. The questions that I’ve seen replayed on Fox clearly do their best to frame the Republican position, regardless of the position of the candidates, in a negative light so that the answer themselves become tainted by the framework they were presented in. It’s the the age old trick of asking a question like “If you found out candidate X beats his wife, would you be more or less likely to vote for them?” They don’t say candidate X beats his wife but the question isn’t there to seek an answer, it’s setup to plant an idea about a candidate… in this case, the entire Republican party.

CNN has shown itself, once again, to be the Clinton News Network. They lobbed up a bunch of softball questions a couple weeks ago for the Democrats and never questioned Hillary about her flip-flop on licensing illegal aliens. They also had James Carville on immediately after the debate to promote her some more.

Is the media biased? We certainly know one outlet who is. Did they vet the questions and questioners at all or did everything seem unbiased because the people at CNN are so biased themselves?

Want to see if our local media is biased? I eagerly await the Friday Op-Ed page in the D&C. Will they mention it at all? Will they simply say that every American has the right to ask the candidates questions and gloss over that this entire debate seems to be something out of Pravda? Then again, they do seem to take their editorial cues from the NY Times who have already come out on their website pretty unfavorably against CNN.  Will they find yet another way to bash Bush and Cheney over it even though they weren’t anywhere near the debate. Inquiring minds want to know.

*Thanks to Michelle Malkin and Jason Coleman for doing the leg work on these guys.