Posted on 12/14/2007 10:50:50 AM PST by khnyny
JOHNSTON, Iowa -- A third of the way through Thursday's final presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson made a plaintive plea to moderator Carolyn Washburn: Can't we please talk about the Iraq war?
"We're losing sight that that's the most important, fundamental issue affecting our country," he urged. "This is the number one issue affecting not just this country but Iowa caucusgoers."
"Thank you," Washburn replied primly. "I want to take on a new issue." She then led the candidates into a discussion about flex fuels and the corporate carbon tax.
Washburn, the earnest and schoolmarmish editor of the Des Moines Register, stunned the political world when she announced, at the beginning of the Republican debate on Wednesday, that she did not want to talk about Iraq and immigration, at least not in any "concentrated" way. She continued that policy Thursday with the Democrats, asking not a single question about Iraq. The words "terrorist," "Iran," "Pakistan" and "al-Qaeda" didn't get even a single mention.
What did viewers get instead?
"Tell us your New Year's resolution for 2008," Washburn proposed. Groans emanated from the media room down the hall. Hillary Clinton said she would exercise more. Barack Obama said he would be a better father. Richardson pledged to lose weight.
Here's a resolution for Washburn: Try not to moderate any more presidential debates.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
"Alas for Washburn, she didn't take the advice, for she proceeded to ignore all elephants in the room: She not only avoided the salacious (Clinton's apology to Obama after one of her advisers suggested that he may have sold drugs), but also skipped over the reality that the nation is at war.
This created a scene reminiscent of the "Fawlty Towers" episode in which innkeeper Basil Fawlty, trying not to offend his German guests by mentioning the war, keeps blurting out war references inadvertently: "So, that's two egg mayonnaise, a prawn Goebbels, a Hermann Goering, and four Colditz salads.""
LOL.
Here's a resolution for Washburn: Try not to moderate any more presidential debates.I've got a better one for Washburn: go ask the Wizard for a brain.
I wonder if the readers of the Des Moines paper realize what an air head is shaping their news?
I wonder if Iowa’s citizens realize how ridiculous this woman made the entire state look in each debate.
I love Fawlty Towers. Hillary reminds me of Manuel, who would say “I know nothing, Mr Fawlty”.
I see Hillary more like Sybil Fawlty: She has a distinctive conversational tone and braying laugh, which her husband compares to “someone machine-gunning a seal.”
She was a shill for Clinton.
She probably has a diploma, so she doesn't think she needs a brain. Typical Lieberal!
You look at her, you listen to her droning insipid stupid voice, and it makes it a little more understandable that Iowa has so many voters who (at least for now) are supporting Huckabee.
When even the Post calls it a cackle, you know she's in trouble.
Rush commented that the best response Obama could have given was, “Hillary, the real question is why is it that so many former Clinton advisers are now working for me?”
Oh man, that is a good line! And a valid question...
I remember specifically that one of the Clinton bureaucrats working with Obama is a Clinton era Secretary of the Navy. Consider that Huillary talks about her national security cred all day, but this guy would rather work with Obama. (I know, not much of a difference between clueless Dem candidate #1 and clueless Dem candidate #2, but still instructive).
Here’s a good article:
Obama luring ex-Bill Clinton aides
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/10/25/obama_luring_ex_bill_clinton_aides/
When Deval Patrick called on a sea of nearly 10,000 people to support Barack Obama for president, he became only the latest in a series of high-profile officials from Bill Clinton’s administration endorsing, advising, or working for Obama, Hillary Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination.
Clinton enjoys the backing of much of her husband’s political machine and her own ultra-loyal staff from the 1990s, and both groups have helped build an air of inevitability about her winning the nomination. But a significant group of former Clinton advisers and officials have gone the other way.
Former energy and transportation secretary Federico Peña, former commerce secretary William Daley, foreign policy gurus Anthony Lake and Susan Rice, former Navy secretary Richard Danzig, and women’s advocate Betsy Myers are among those who served Bill Clinton but have taken Obama’s side. Patrick, who was assistant attorney general for civil rights, endorsed him at rally on Boston Common on Tuesday night.
In interviews this week, half a dozen Obama supporters with Clinton roots said they see the 46-year-old, first-term Illinois senator as the face of the future and the best hope for the party. While they don’t directly criticize Clinton, they said that another Clinton presidency would not represent enough of a change in American politics or its image in the world. Some also said she is too divisive to beat the Republican nominee or to govern effectively.
No, not much difference. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb.
Richard Danzig - former Sec. of the Navy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.