Of what was likely the last and certainly the most unwatchable of the Obama-Clinton debates, Tom Shales of the Washington Post had this to say: "It was another step downward for network news--in particular ABC News, which hosted the debate from Philadelphia and whose usually dependable anchors, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, turned in shoddy, despicable performances."

"For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with."

In the course of Shales' astute appraisal of the two-hour parade of idiocy he wrote,

"...Gibson brought up, yet again, the controversial ravings of the pastor at a church attended by Obama. 'Charlie, I've discussed this,' he said, and indeed he has, ad infinitum. If he tried to avoid repeating himself when clarifying his position, the networks would accuse him of changing his story, or changing his tune, or some other baloney."

No doubt about it, the infamous YouTube clip of Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. shows a man who's stark raving mad. Not mad in the sense of insane, but mad as in very angry. His anger stemmed from the long series of events leading up to the seizure of American airliners and the destruction of two towers, resulting in the deaths of 3,000 innocent people.

Rev. Wright was the very essence of Rev. Wrong in discussing the horrendous events of 9/11 in such a politically incorrect way. The universally approved method--indeed, the only one permitted when dealing with 9/11 either from the pulpit, the printed page or anywhere else in public--is to proceed as if there was no history leading up to the attack. You're supposed to act as if the destruction of the twin towers was an unanticipated attack, launched by pure evil against pure good. Any other interpretation of the events of that terrible day are made at the peril of one's livelihood, the loss of elections, friends or a respectable place in one's community.

Barack Obama finds himself in an impossible position for a man of honor, if such an old-fashioned expression has a place in the digital age. The social and political status quo demands that he repudiate, no excoriate the former pastor of his church for whom he obviously has enormous respect. Obama most likely privately believes Rev. Wright's "God damn America" remark was excessive, but that the historical reasoning, which motivated him to utter the curse is plausible, maybe even correct.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton keeps pressing Obama to explain why he did not resign from Trinity Church. Aside from having emotional ties to Trinity where he was married and his were children baptized, Obama can't betray and repudiate a man and an institution whose social, political and religious message is deeply reflected in his mind and his heart if not in his political speeches.

One of the few places in American life where taboo speech may be uttered is black churches. There you can openly discuss topics you wouldn't dare talk about under normal circumstances and those topics, as we know, often have nothing to do with race but a lot to do with foreign policy.

If Rev. Mr. Wright's Trinity Church is a free-speech zone, ABC News is not. The on-air, paid personalities are barely more than automata and the guests submit to gag rules. Thus the candidates find themselves in debates in which it's more important to bite your tongue than to use it.

Although this is the first campaign in more than a generation to have a candidate who speaks with eloquence and an elevation of spirit, it has become a vile affair. It has become a campaign of silent mendacity, of deception by omission, of misdirection by mum's the word. It is a campaign of people trying to shout through their muzzles, of unuttered truths and persistent lies.

UPDATE: At a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, Obama came out swinging about last night's widely panned ABC debate. See the video below.

Comments (29)

1. "Welcome to the party, pal"----John McClane "Die Hard"

   Yes, Mr von Hoffman, I think we're all (except the Republicans and the Hillary Cult) aware that last night's "event" was not a debate or really worthwhile.

   Also not much point in complaining...it's just the nature of the Media Politics we have, and Obama and Hillary are well aware of it.

   As for Jeremiah Wright, try as you might, what he said...DOES NOT SELL to the vast majority of Americans and Obama rightly needed to distance himself from it and KEEP distance from it if he becomes President.

   Dare we remember....Lani Guinier?

   Posted by Mask at 04/17/2008 @ 3:57pm

2. Check out the article "Barack's "Underground" Friends" http://savagepolitics.com/?p=291

   http://www.savagepolitics.com brilliant writing plus it offers a great community in which to discuss. The editor actually takes time to answer and the political humor section is awesome!!!

   Posted by elsylee at 04/17/2008 @ 4:08pm

3. Lani Guinier, who was in favor of proportional elections and thought black elected officials were short-sighted for cutting deals with Republicans to create more "majority minority" districts to maximize the number of minority elected representatives while ensuring the election of more arch-conservative Republicans who represented virtually no people of color and could treat their interests and concerns with utter contempt?

   That Lani Guinier?

   Posted by cka2nd at 04/17/2008 @ 4:16pm

4. Posted by CKA2ND 04/17/2008 @ 4:16pm

   Yes and the same one whose "cumulative voting" plans were easily portrayed as "affirmative action voting" with "minority votes" counting more in some scheme to achieve "true democracy".

   Let me ask you, with all the "What he said wasn't wrong, he just was a bit excited" apologia for Jeremiah Wright....should Obama embrace him and appoint him to an Ambassadorship or something???

   Posted by Mask at 04/17/2008 @ 4:32pm

5. man...i missed like 2/3 of it, thinking it was coming on msnbc...then LORD ALMIGHTY! I FOUND OUT IT WAS ON FOX LITE (abc)...

   imagine my amazement! and chagrin!

   i thought barry o cleaned house. it was like a football game where the 12 - 2 team everybody in the league is gunning for showed up against frustrated mediocrity. and boy was frustrated mediocrity out to put the o-train down!

   but the o-train just kept scoring, making few mistakes, and slowly, paciently, put the other team down in a quietly effective, workmanlike manner.

   heehee - obama is so "alpha good", the bozos gotta resort to picking on anyone he's ever talked too!!!! LOL - PATHOS!!!!

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/17/2008 @ 4:33pm

6. How can anyone think that debate was not slanted- Georgie S as a moderator- lest we froget who he used to work for- never saw the KID before the Clintons wet nursed him to Fame. undoubtable He Owes them something. At teh very least as many soft balls as he can Pitch to Hillary and digs to Obama. ABC should be fined for such blanant bias and Spin

   Posted by Purple girl at 04/17/2008 @ 5:06pm

7. '...a date which shall live in infamy...' -- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1941

   '...the young man's name was Emmett Till...' -- NY Times, 1955

   '...President Kennedy has just died...' -- Walter Cronkite, 1963

   '...We bring you live coverage from the Olympic village in Munich...' -- ABC Sports, 1972

   'The universally approved method...is to proceed as if there was no history leading up to the attack. You're supposed to act as if the destruction of the twin towers was an unanticipated attack, launched by pure evil against pure good. Any other interpretation of the events of that terrible day are made at the peril of one's livelihood, the loss of elections, friends or a respectable place in one's community.' -- Nicholas Von Hoffman, 17 April, 2008

   Posted by HonestLiberal at 04/17/2008 @ 5:15pm

8. Posted by PURPLE GIRL 04/17/2008 @ 5:06pm | ignore this person

   they did that neocon propaganda 9/11 film that pissed off bill clinton. never trusted them since.

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/17/2008 @ 5:39pm

9. fox lite...

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/17/2008 @ 5:39pm

10. Rio is like that insane homeless man who runs into a restaurant screaming at his invisible friend.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/17/2008 @ 6:58pm

11. Gee guys lighten up. Biased? This is what we meat out to Rebublicans the time so deal with it.

    Posted by Dutchboy at 04/17/2008 @ 7:01pm

12. I took Elsylee's advice (posted above) and visited "Savagepolitics.com" to experience some of its "brilliant writing" and analysis. I never got past the first paragraph. Five ungrammatical errors in the first 2 sentences is enough to turn me off and make me very suspicious of the writer's intellectual acumen. My advice: don't waste your time. At least the writers on this site, as well as those on Huffington Post, Daily Kos, AlterNet, et al., are functionally literate.

    Posted by Hollie at 04/17/2008 @ 7:01pm

13. This is what we meat out to Rebublicans the time so deal with it.

    Posted by DUTCHBOY 04/17/2008 @ 7:01pm | ignore this person

    it's "mete out"...a strictly vegetarian construct.

    Posted by emile duBois at 04/17/2008 @ 7:26pm

14. "senator clinton was in her element" -- b. obama

    LOL.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/17/2008 @ 7:27pm

15. Posted by RIO BRAVO 04/17/2008 @ 7:05pm

    you wouldn't want peace to break out, now would you?

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/17/2008 @ 7:29pm

16. Posted by EMILE DUBOIS 04/17/2008 @ 7:26pm

    He who lives by the Spell Check, dies by the Spell Check, JOHANNES!

    heheh

    Posted by Mask at 04/17/2008 @ 7:29pm

17. Posted by RIO BRAVO 04/17/2008 @ 7:05pm

    What's your proof that I am a communist Rio? Please give me proof.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/17/2008 @ 7:39pm

18. Posted by RIO BRAVO 04/17/2008 @ 7:05pm

    Does it make you feel good to know that you are nothing but a running joke?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/17/2008 @ 7:42pm

19. Posted by FROSTY ZOOM 04/17/2008 @ 7:29pm

    Rio doesn't like peace. He is a person that thrives on violence and killing. He is the type who would murder people if he knew he could get away with it. He's as insane as any murderer.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/17/2008 @ 7:45pm

20. Posted by CCCOMFO1 04/17/2008 @ 7:39pm

    CCC, anybody to the Left of Joe Lieberman is a "Communist" to RIO "Cotton Hill" BRAVO.

    And even Joe might be a little "pinko"....heheh

    Posted by Mask at 04/17/2008 @ 7:55pm

21. Posted by MASK 04/17/2008 @ 7:55pm

    Good point.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/17/2008 @ 8:05pm

22. Pardon the "multi-post" all, but am leaving a message for Frankgrits re: (but all are welcome to view) his good old "Dubya's Pre-war Fireside Chat" on my ISP at:DUBYA

    Posted by leftofcenter at 04/17/2008 @ 8:13pm

23. Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 04/17/2008 @ 8:13pm

    wow! i'm into tetrabromocyclohexane, too!

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/17/2008 @ 9:38pm

24. When Obama was a baby, sleeping in the car, he and his grandmother drove by a suburb in South Dakota where a lady was watching a tv show, a commercial ran, simultanously running in millions of homes, including one where a man, somewhere in some other state was mowing the lawn, as a plumbing truck passed by, a squirrel yawned, a phone rang and a middle school soccer game had to be called off due to rain. So if you elect Obama, you're voting for biblical floods.

    Posted by winyahn at 04/17/2008 @ 10:28pm

25. If there is another debate, we may find out that someone at Obama's gym owns a copy of "The Anarchists Cookbook." Or perhaps they'll unearth a photo of Obama's college roommate wearing a Che Guevarra t-shirt.

    Posted by TripLBee at 04/18/2008 @ 11:05am

26. Posted by TRIPLBEE 04/18/2008 @ 11:05am

    maybe the next debate will be held in a bowling alley.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/18/2008 @ 12:40pm

27. better yet,

    a bowling alley bar. crown royal and rolling rock.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/18/2008 @ 1:27pm

28. or maybe a white russian....

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/18/2008 @ 1:29pm

29. Posted by FROSTY ZOOM 04/17/2008 @ 9:38pm

    It's great on cereal! Yum...

    Posted by leftofcenter at 04/18/2008 @ 2:59pm