"Journalism is Dead"

Excellent post by Cassy Fiano chronicling the Gwen Ifill disgrace. It goes without saying that if this "fair and impartial" debate moderator had written a book about John McCain -- set to hit the bookstores on Inauguration Day, no less -- the dinosaur media would be apoplectic over it. Is there really anyone in America who believes our media is fair and unbiased?

That said, I believe McCain is doing the right thing by touting Ifill as a professional, rather than whine about conflicts of interest. Not only do his surrogates (talk radio, bloggers, etc.) make a much better case, taking the high road in this instance eliminates the appearance of sour grapes on the part of the campaign. Now, if only they would allow Sarah to open her remarks tomorrow night by congratulating Ifill on her book and then constantly referencing it in her answers. That would be the smart thing to do, but judging by the McCain camp's missteps so far, I'm not betting any money that they will actually employ this tactic.

BTW, where are the ads naming Franklin Raines, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Chuck Schumer, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and Harry Reid as the purveyors of our current financial crisis? They are just as bad, if not worse than Ken Lay, yet nary a peep from the drive-bys and not much scolding from the McCain camp, either. Hey John, we're about a month away from showtime -- time to step it up! Just pretend these guilty Dems are really Republicans; that should excite you about excoriating them with a devastating ad campaign.

And for God's sake, let your VP candidate be herself tomorrow night!