By my unofficial and admittedly incomplete count, there were nearly as many tweets sent about the questions and commentators during the ABC New Hampshire GOP Debate as there were about the candidates' answers. One candidly blunt tweet was, "Does Diane Sawyer know these debates are not about her?"
Not completely unexpectedly, ABC News spent the vast majority of the debate asking questions about the hard-core left's favorite topics and encouraging dissension and attacks among the Republican candidates. Diane Sawyer, George Stephanopoulos and Josh McElveen spent more time on gay marriage and gay adoption than on energy policy or jobs.
The answers were relatively unimportant because ABC News was determined to be in the spotlight at the expense of extracting relevant information and informing voters. If ABC News is so Hell-bent on being irrelevant, then the GOP should oblige and just skip their future debates.
This is my unofficial take on the debate questions. I tweeted a lot and didn't take exact notes, and for those reasons, the wording may be off a little. These are; however, the true gist of the questions:
Diane: Senator Santorum, Congressman Paul called you a Poopy Head and a bedwetter. Would you like to call him some names now on national TV?
George: Governor Romney, Senator Santorum is an extremist because he holds the same position on gay marriage as President Barack Obama, may he reign forever. In your own words, tell us why Senator Santorum is crazy.
Josh Whats-His-Name: While I impress you with my 1960s radio DJ voice, Senator Santorum, tell me why you hate gay people? Oh and then tell me why you hate any other Republican candidate of your choice. Do you think any of your GOP rivals might be secretly gay?
Diane: Governor Romney, why should a loving couple which is gay - is there any other kind, really? - not be allowed to adopt children while the Catholic Church is halted from assisting in adoption because it is a homophobic institution?
George: Governor Huntsman, I'm going to incorrectly invoke the landmark Griswold v. Connecticut decision, would you please arch your eyebrow in that reassuring way of yours as I try really hard to look smart? I should be up on stage instead of all of you anyway.
Josh Whats-His-Name: Governor Huntsman, did you notice how deep I can make my voice? But that's not your real question. Your real question is this: Speaker Gingrich is a bad man. Tell me why I'm right in 60 seconds or less. Oh and be sure and drop in some Mandarin Chinese, would you? Thanks.
Diane: Speaker Gingrich, aren't we amazingly clever?
George: Speaker Gingrich it's not polite to point out that we are not clever and encourage the audience to laugh at us. You are, after all, our guests and to add insult to injury you are just a bunch of lowly Republicans. In light of the fact that you are an adulterer and you made money in Washington just like everyone else, explain why Governor Romney is a hypocrite.
Josh What's His Name: Congressman Paul, you hold the same simpleton foreign policy positions as our liberal heroes and demi-gods. Sadly for you, you're a libertarian and a Republican; therefore, please restate your positions so we can have another candidate ridicule them. We're afraid to do it ourselves.
Diane: Governor Romney, don't you just love Congressman Paul's foreign policy? Please entertain us by attacking him.
After seventy-three minutes of excruciatingly self-serving questions that a group of winos with delirium tremens could have bested in their addled sleep:
Diane: We have run out of ways to discuss homosexual issues, so we have a couple of minutes to discuss the economy. President Obama just created 200,000 jobs this month. Governor Romney, isn't President Obama, may he reign forever, brilliant?
George: Considering that President Obama, may he reign forever, has such a brilliant energy policy, tell me how you could do better . . . let's see . . . I call on . . .
Governor Perry: Oooh, me! You barely called on me. Me! I know the answer! Me! Me!
George: Did anyone hear something? You, Governor Huntsman. You're a terribly important candidate; all my friends tell me you are. You may answer the question.
Josh What's-His-Name: Who hasn't attacked anyone lately? Oh, Congressman Paul, tell us why Senator Santorum is not a conservative.
Diane: Speaker Gingrich, you say you're going to cut spending, right? Where on Earth could you possibly get the money with which to cut the budget? No, it doesn't matter that this question makes no sense. Answer it anyway.
George: Speaker Gingrich, we had counted on you losing your temper to increase our ratings. What are you thinking? Please remember that all of these other people on stage hate you. Could you please lose your temper and say something snarky and quotable?
Josh What's-His-Name: Governor Perry, Speaker Gingrich is not being cooperative. Please say something memorable and dumb.
Diane: Well it appears no one is being particularly cooperative and we certainly don't want to raise any issues such as the federal debt, the job-destroying healthcare package, unemployment, home foreclosures, the trade deficit, China's rising power, North Korea, income tax reform, the massive reduction in our military and certainly not jobs or the current outrageous scandals of the Obama Administration. The debate is over. Stick around while our paid analyst lapdogs pretend we actually conducted a debate tonight.
Maybe that wasn't quite the way it happened word-for-word, but it's closer to the truth than the carefully sanitized waste material you'll see in the mainstream media's synopsis in the morning paper. The American people deserve a better media. Sadly, these talking heads will influence the ill-informed in November. Perhaps the ill-informed are ill-informed because they watch ABC News. After watching the performance of tonight's panel, I believe this is true.
Written by Ken Carroll
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| Diane Sawyer, expression enigmatic Image via Wikipedia |
Not completely unexpectedly, ABC News spent the vast majority of the debate asking questions about the hard-core left's favorite topics and encouraging dissension and attacks among the Republican candidates. Diane Sawyer, George Stephanopoulos and Josh McElveen spent more time on gay marriage and gay adoption than on energy policy or jobs.
The answers were relatively unimportant because ABC News was determined to be in the spotlight at the expense of extracting relevant information and informing voters. If ABC News is so Hell-bent on being irrelevant, then the GOP should oblige and just skip their future debates.
This is my unofficial take on the debate questions. I tweeted a lot and didn't take exact notes, and for those reasons, the wording may be off a little. These are; however, the true gist of the questions:
Diane: Senator Santorum, Congressman Paul called you a Poopy Head and a bedwetter. Would you like to call him some names now on national TV?
George: Governor Romney, Senator Santorum is an extremist because he holds the same position on gay marriage as President Barack Obama, may he reign forever. In your own words, tell us why Senator Santorum is crazy.
Josh Whats-His-Name: While I impress you with my 1960s radio DJ voice, Senator Santorum, tell me why you hate gay people? Oh and then tell me why you hate any other Republican candidate of your choice. Do you think any of your GOP rivals might be secretly gay?
My most retweeted debate-related tweet: In case you forgot why you do not watch ABC news, ladies and gentlemen: Diane, George and some dude named Josh - @KenInEastman
Diane: Governor Romney, why should a loving couple which is gay - is there any other kind, really? - not be allowed to adopt children while the Catholic Church is halted from assisting in adoption because it is a homophobic institution?
George: Governor Huntsman, I'm going to incorrectly invoke the landmark Griswold v. Connecticut decision, would you please arch your eyebrow in that reassuring way of yours as I try really hard to look smart? I should be up on stage instead of all of you anyway.
Josh Whats-His-Name: Governor Huntsman, did you notice how deep I can make my voice? But that's not your real question. Your real question is this: Speaker Gingrich is a bad man. Tell me why I'm right in 60 seconds or less. Oh and be sure and drop in some Mandarin Chinese, would you? Thanks.
Diane: Speaker Gingrich, aren't we amazingly clever?
George: Speaker Gingrich it's not polite to point out that we are not clever and encourage the audience to laugh at us. You are, after all, our guests and to add insult to injury you are just a bunch of lowly Republicans. In light of the fact that you are an adulterer and you made money in Washington just like everyone else, explain why Governor Romney is a hypocrite.
Josh What's His Name: Congressman Paul, you hold the same simpleton foreign policy positions as our liberal heroes and demi-gods. Sadly for you, you're a libertarian and a Republican; therefore, please restate your positions so we can have another candidate ridicule them. We're afraid to do it ourselves.
Diane: Governor Romney, don't you just love Congressman Paul's foreign policy? Please entertain us by attacking him.
After seventy-three minutes of excruciatingly self-serving questions that a group of winos with delirium tremens could have bested in their addled sleep:
Diane: We have run out of ways to discuss homosexual issues, so we have a couple of minutes to discuss the economy. President Obama just created 200,000 jobs this month. Governor Romney, isn't President Obama, may he reign forever, brilliant?
George: Considering that President Obama, may he reign forever, has such a brilliant energy policy, tell me how you could do better . . . let's see . . . I call on . . .
Governor Perry: Oooh, me! You barely called on me. Me! I know the answer! Me! Me!
George: Did anyone hear something? You, Governor Huntsman. You're a terribly important candidate; all my friends tell me you are. You may answer the question.
Josh What's-His-Name: Who hasn't attacked anyone lately? Oh, Congressman Paul, tell us why Senator Santorum is not a conservative.
Diane: Speaker Gingrich, you say you're going to cut spending, right? Where on Earth could you possibly get the money with which to cut the budget? No, it doesn't matter that this question makes no sense. Answer it anyway.
George: Speaker Gingrich, we had counted on you losing your temper to increase our ratings. What are you thinking? Please remember that all of these other people on stage hate you. Could you please lose your temper and say something snarky and quotable?
Josh What's-His-Name: Governor Perry, Speaker Gingrich is not being cooperative. Please say something memorable and dumb.
Diane: Well it appears no one is being particularly cooperative and we certainly don't want to raise any issues such as the federal debt, the job-destroying healthcare package, unemployment, home foreclosures, the trade deficit, China's rising power, North Korea, income tax reform, the massive reduction in our military and certainly not jobs or the current outrageous scandals of the Obama Administration. The debate is over. Stick around while our paid analyst lapdogs pretend we actually conducted a debate tonight.
Maybe that wasn't quite the way it happened word-for-word, but it's closer to the truth than the carefully sanitized waste material you'll see in the mainstream media's synopsis in the morning paper. The American people deserve a better media. Sadly, these talking heads will influence the ill-informed in November. Perhaps the ill-informed are ill-informed because they watch ABC News. After watching the performance of tonight's panel, I believe this is true.
Written by Ken Carroll
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