‘Cause He Likes to Skin His Humps
After Tim Russert’s rather light interrogations of Hillary Clinton in last night’s debate, Media Matters opinion-dispenser Paul Waldman fell into a reverie about Russert’s what-sort-of-tree-would-you-be questioning:
I have a fantasy that at one of these moments, a candidate will say, “You know what, Tim, I’m not going to answer that question. This is serious business. And you, sir, are a disgrace. You have in front of you a group of accomplished, talented leaders, one of whom will in all likelihood be the next president of the United States. You can ask them whatever you want. And you choose to engage in this ridiculous gotcha game, thinking up inane questions you hope will trick us into saying something controversial or stupid. Your fondest hope is that the answer to your question will destroy someone’s campaign. You’re not a journalist, you’re the worst kind of hack, someone whose efforts not only don’t contribute to a better informed electorate, they make everyone dumber.
Waldman, of course, is a partisan liberal and an idiot. Why else would he refer to a group of politicians that includes Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards, and Bill Richardson as “talented” and potential Presidents?
These debate formats are mostly ridiculous, but that’s what’s offered. We don’t have or need the time to spend on Mike Gravel or UFOlogists like Kucinich and Richardson, so it only makes sense that Hillary would come in for the most scrutiny. I don’t care what someone —such as Richardson— thinks because he’s not a serious candidate. But I want Hillary to take her lumps. If she can’t handle Russert, how does Waldman figure she’ll do against our actual enemies? She got smoked on the mere question of driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants; her answer was to not answer, basically. Bad move on her feet. Liberal craphounds demand that Bush never flub a line, but Hillary simply got caught out. Nice to know in advance of the coronation, eh?
Russert’s not the problem, despite what the Big Money drone says. He asks good questions. Yeah, I don’t the like the goddamned Buffalo stuff, either, but don’t let the egomania fool you: he nails ‘em left and right. He may try to pull a Larry King or Barbara Walters kind of inkblot question sometimes, but he’s one of the only Big Media interviewers who is still must-watch with me.
The real problem is that the liberal ninnies are finally having to come around to the realization that the fix is in —and has been for a while now: Hillary will be the Democrats’ nominee in 2008. The only purpose her primary opponents serve now is to toughen her up for the general election. That can only happen if all of the doubts about her character and actual ideology are exposed and mulled over now instead of a year from now.
So, at that, Russert and the other “gang” members from last night are actually doing Hillary a favor —by not killing her, but making her stronger.
