And people still believe that we’re just a big ole rainbow-loving bunch. :-/

Although I wish she hadn’t asked such predictable questions, I’m delighted Ifill didn’t let all the hullabaloo affect the way she did her job.

As I mentioned in my post, she is a true professional, one of the best our industry has.

I thought Palin did a pretty well for not knowing too much about the issues. She set the bar pretty low though. She has some pretty impressive political skills. I find it quite amazing that someone no national TV experience before a month ago plays it so well in front of such a large audience.

Biden was solid as I thought he would be. I would have liked to see him be more aggressive in challenging Palin. Although, when you’re ahead in the polls, it’s better to play it safe.

Style wise: Is it me or her bangs too long? I just want to clip about 1/2 inch and even them ouch.

Go Obama/Biden!!

alicia

http://todaystyle.today.com

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/01/gwen.ifill/index.html

Anyway. She wrote a book entitled “Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama”. The public hasn’t even read this book, nor have critics, so essentially no one knows exactly what’s in the book beyond a ridiculously general description. But that’s beside the point. Basically certain people are claiming she shouldn’t be moderating the debate because she’s a supporter of Obama and will thus show her bias in her moderating duties tonight.

This is ridiculous. I think that most people in the country have, by now, decided who they support. What were they supposed to do, find someone with no opinion at all? She is a journalist who has a very solid reputation and no past history that would imply an unprofessional performance tonight. Why the controversy? Is it the book? Is it her support for Obama? For enforcing the moderation rules in previous debates? Why is this even an issue? I really wouldn’t care if someone who wrote a book about McCain and the political history surrounding him was the moderator. Since when are people not allowed to have opinions? Since when does having an opinion limit your ability for critical thinking, your ability to be fair and professional?

I also love how there’s no complaining about her being a woman…if you’re going to imply that her support of Obama means that she has liberal political views and will thus bash on the conservative candidate, why can’t we just even the score and say that her being female means that she will be harsh with the male, liberal candidate?

I am so tired of all of this stupidity. People are just trying to preemptively come up with excuses for Biden’s predicted win, or Palin’s mistakes that lead to her loss. What if Palin wins and Biden loses? Then what scrutiny will Ifill’s performance be under? Will she suddenly have become the “perfect person” to have moderated the debates, as far as McCain supporters are concerned? I am so sick of everything that is going on I can’t wait until this is all over. Whatever happens is going to be a disaster anyway. Whoever gets elected has quite a bit on their hands, half of which they won’t have much direct responsibility for, but will face blame regardless. If McCain wins and things go well, at least he has the luxury of the blame going to his own stupidity, or his ties to the Bush administration or his party in general. If Obama fails, it won’t just because of the typical claims of stupidity, or because he’s a Democrat-everything from his race, his culture and the different ideologies that stem from that. And If it was Hillary, it would have been just like this comic.

White people, males especially have a lot of autonomy in the country, whether they want to admit or not. This is not a 50 years ago issue. When you’re white in America, there’s alot you get to take for granted-you get to be the standard to which others are compared. You get to be the first thought when someone says “American” They don’t have to tack on “white” like you have to with Asian American or Black/African American to it in order to come up with a mental image for them. I never really wished I was “white” or anything when I was younger, but I was always envious of White autonomy. I always felt like they could do pretty much anything they wanted without being put up to this huge magnifying glass or it seeming unusual. Besides maybe being a rapper or something, they are just allowed to be themselves most of the time. They can be good at things or bad at things, fail and succeed, and not have their performance indirectly reflect a group of people on a larger scale. I realize that of course individuals are all subject to some kind of scrutiny on a personal level but socially it’s undeniably different. Sure, it’s ultimately a personal choice if you have this mindset that you have to be/are a constant representative of your race or gender-no one forces that- but circumstances are generally such that to do different or productive things, it’s hard to abandon that notion because you are going to be a de facto representative half of the time.

I really don’t know how I got all the way there but basically I can’t wait until November 4th passes so we can at least argue about different things.

Let’s see what happens tonight.