Obama Refused to Let Two Stooges from ABC Define him

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Fri Apr-18-08 06:51 PM
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Obama Refused to Let Two Stooges from ABC Define him

Edited on Fri Apr-18-08 07:44 PM by Time for change

Thursday’s Democratic debate in Philadelphia may have been the most outrageous hit job ever perpetrated against a presidential candidate and the American people by moderators of a Presidential debate. ABC clearly had two purposes in moderating this debate: First, to destroy or hurt Barack Obama’s candidacy as much as possible; and second, to move the dialogue in our country as far to the right as possible, by spewing out right wing talking points and surreptitiously lecturing the candidates and the American people about them.

But Obama didn’t let them get away with it:

Attempts to destroy Obama’s candidacy

Bringing up Reverend Wright again
If there is anything that is likely to destroy the candidacy of a black man running for President of the United States it is stirring up racial resentment by painting him as an “angry black man” or at least associating him with one. Previous attempts to destroy Obama’s candidacy by associating him with Reverend Jeremiah Wright having failed, Charlie Gibson decided to give it one more try. He decided to try a new angle: make it seem that Obama had lied when he claimed not to have previously heard the remarks by Reverend Wright that started the controversy:

GIBSON (to Obama): More than a year ago, you rescinded the invitation to him (Wright) to attend the event when you announced your candidacy. He was to give the invocation. And according to the reverend, I'm quoting him, you said to him: "You can get kind of rough in sermons. So, what we've decided is that it's best for you not to be out there in public." … But what did you know about his statements that caused you to rescind that invitation? And if you knew he got rough in sermons, why did it take you more than a year to publicly disassociate yourself from his remarks?

Obama explained again that, though he had long been aware that Reverend Wright sometimes made controversial remarks, he had never previously heard the remarks that precipitated the recent controversy. And Obama again condemned those remarks.

GIBSON: But you did rescind the invitation to him.

OBAMA: But that was on something entirely different, Charlie… I wasn’t aware of all these statements… The church is a community that extends beyond the pastor. And that church has done outstanding work for many, many years…

Then Stephanopoulos stepped in to challenge Wright’s patriotism, twice (which Obama defended) and ask Obama how he would handle the inevitable attacks against him regarding the Wright issue if he won the Democratic nomination – the implication being that this is a very important issue that warrants continuous national attention.

Implying that Obama is patronizing to Pennsylvanians
Most of us are probably familiar with Obama’s remarks regarding the bitterness of many Americans toward their government and how that has affected some of their attitudes. Obama has repeatedly explained how his remarks on that subject did not fully reflect what he meant to say. But ABC could not resist another opportunity to drive in the knife:

GIBSON: But we've talked to a lot of voters. Do you understand that some people in this state find that patronizing and think that you said actually what you meant?

What a cowardly and dishonest ploy! Instead of taking responsibility for his own views on the subject, Gibson claims that these are the views of Pennsylvanians. It would have been far more accurate for Gibson to have noted that his expressed views are in fact NOT the opinion of most Pennsylvanians, since Obama’s poll numbers have risen in Pennsylvania since he made those remarks. Obama explained it again:

OBAMA: The point I was making was that when people feel like Washington's not listening to them, when they're promised year after year, decade after decade, that their economic situation is going to change and it doesn't, then, politically, they end up focusing on those things that are constant like religion…. It would be pretty hard for me to be condescending towards people of faith since I'm a person of faith and have done more than most other campaigns in reaching out specifically to people of faith….

But hey, why let him get off so easy? Stephanopoulos then picked up on the subject, quoted McCain as saying that this is going to be a killer issue in November, and then gave Senator Clinton the opportunity to lambaste Obama some more on the subject (which she was happy to do).

Obama doesn’t wear the American flag enough
Of all the inanely stupid issues to bring up at a presidential debate, I can’t think of one that tops accusing someone of not wearing the American flag enough. If it’s true that Obama wears the American flag less than other U.S. Senators (Who counts such stupid things?), I doubt that 1% of Americans would be aware of it if our national news media didn’t harp on it.

Again ABC resorted to the dishonest and cowardly ploy of attributing knowledge of and views on this issue to voters rather than to themselves. First, they play a tape featuring a “voter”:

VOTER: Senator Obama, I have a question, and I want to know if you believe in the American flag. I am not questioning your patriotism (yeah, right), but all our servicemen, policemen and EMS wear the flag. I want to know why you don't.

Then Gibson volunteered his own opinions on the issue, again attributing them not to himself but to others:

GIBSON: It comes up again and again when we talk to voters. And, as you may know, it is all over the Internet. And it's something of a theme that Senators Clinton and McCain's advisers agree could give you a major vulnerability if you're the candidate in November.

Obama responded by making a point that should be obvious to any person over the age of ten – that there are more important ways to measure one’s love of their country than by how often they wear the American flag:

OBAMA: I could not help but love this country for all that it's given me. And so, what I've tried to do is to show my patriotism by how I treat veterans….

And he goes on to mention several other things that should be more important to Americans than how often their President wears the American flag.

Associating Obama with terrorism
The lie that Obama is a Muslim has probably been refuted enough that few Americans believe it. So, ABC needed to find another way to associate him with terrorism. The best they could come up with was to note that Obama had held a meeting in the house of William Ayers and was said by his campaign to be “friendly” with Ayers. Here is Stephanopoulos’ characterization of that organization and of Ayers:

STEPHANOPOULOS: They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol, and other buildings. He's never apologized for that. And, in fact, on 9/11, he was quoted in the New York Times saying, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough."

The Weather Underground was a former anti-Vietnam War organization, which was on the FBI’s ten most-wanted list during the Hoover days. Whether their activities ever killed anyone is not clear to me. Ayers and his wife turned themselves in during the 1980s, and all charges against them were dropped. Anyhow, Stephanopoulos’ characterization of Ayers is clearly misleading at best. Here is what Ayers himself had to say about his supposed advocacy of terrorism:

I heard Sean Hannity tell Senator John McCain that I was an unrepentant terrorist… extolling bombings against the U.S. and even advocating more terrorist bombs. Senator McCain couldn’t believe it, and neither could I. I’m often quoted as saying “I have no regrets”. That is not true. I’m sometimes asked if I regret anything I did to oppose the war in Vietnam, and I say “No, I don’t regret anything I did to stop the slaughter of millions of human beings by my own government.” Sometimes I add, “I don’t think I did enough”. This is then elided: “He has no regrets for setting bombs and thinks there should be more bombings”…. Terrorism is never justifiable, even in a just cause. I’ve never advocated terrorism, never participated in it, never defended it. The U.S. government, by contrast, does it routinely…

Obama had this to say to Stephanopoulos:

OBAMA: So this kind of game in which anybody who I know, regardless of how flimsy the relationship is, that somehow their ideas could be attributed to me, I think the American people are smarter than that.

Obama might have added that Stephanopoulos had totally mischaracterized Ayers. But how was Obama expected to have researched the background of everyone he’s ever associated with, in preparation for this debate? If that’s the best they can do to associate Obama with terrorism – he had a meeting in the house of someone who has denounced terrorism of any kind much more clearly than anyone in the Bush administration ever did – they’re skating on pretty thin ice.

Characterizing Obama on presumed inconsistencies on the 2nd Amendment and gun control
Apparently ABC believes, or pretends to believe, that it is inconsistent for someone to believe in the Constitutional right to bear arms, and yet simultaneously believe that there are circumstances where government may legitimately put restrictions on guns in the interest of public safety. They apparently don’t understand that, just as our Constitutional right to free speech doesn’t give us the right to libel, to purposely incite others to violence, or yell “fire” in a crowded theatre, there are some things that are not black and white:

GIBSON: Both of you, in the past, have supported strong gun control measures. But now, when I listen to you on the campaign, I hear you emphasizing that you believe in an individual's right to bear arms. Both of you were strong advocates for licensing of guns. Both of you were strong advocates for the registration of guns. Why don't you emphasize that now…?

Oh, horrors! – a politician emphasizing one aspect of an issue without emphasizing other aspects of the same issue. Obama countered Gibson by explaining the elementary logic that our government has the responsibility to protect people against violence. So Gibson went further and claimed that “You favored a ban on handguns”. Obama responded:

OBAMA: No, my writing wasn't on that particular questionnaire, Charlie. As I said, I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns. We can make sure that criminals don't have guns in their hands. We can make certain that those who are mentally deranged are not getting a hold of handguns. We can trace guns that have been used in crimes to unscrupulous gun dealers that may be selling to straw purchasers and dumping them on the streets.

Trying to make Obama seem like a marginal candidate who can’t win a presidential election
Making Obama seem like a marginal candidate who isn’t a serious contender for the presidency is problematic for ABC, since he’s virtually wrapped up the Democratic nomination, and most national polls have him running ahead of the Republican nominee. The debate moderators would seem downright stupid (and biased) if they directly implied that Obama is unelectable. So instead they tried to get Senator Clinton to do that for them, by asking her several times whether she thinks Obama is electable.

That put her in a bind of course. She would like to convince the Super Delegates that Obama is unelectable. But she risks offending voters by saying that in public. So she tried to evade the question. But the moderators kept on pushing her, so finally she said that yes, yes, yes, Obama can win.

But nice try, George and Charlie.

Pushing right wing talking points

The Iraq War must be pursued
To push the Iraq War, ABC’s first ploy was to again put forth an “ordinary American” who recognizes the wisdom of keeping American troops in Iraq indefinitely, as long as things are not going well:

MANDY GARBER: They (Clinton and Obama) keep saying we want to bring the troops back. But considering what's happening on the ground, how is that going to happen?

Then Gibson bopped in to make several implications: that we have made “gains” in Iraq; that we need to stay there indefinitely to protect those gains; and that Bush’s sycophantic generals know best how long we should stay there:

GIBSON: If the military commanders in Iraq came to you on day one, and said, this kind of withdrawal would destabilize Iraq, it would set back all of the gains that we have made, no matter what, you're going to order those troops to come home? General Petraeus was in Washington. You both were there when he testified. Saying that the gains in Iraq are fragile and are reversible. Are you essentially saying: I know better than the military commanders here?

Obama set him straight by giving him an elementary lesson in U.S. government:

OBAMA: Because the Commander-in-Chief sets the mission, Charlie. That's not the role of the generals. And one of the things that's been interesting about the president's approach lately has been to say, "Well, I'm just taking cues from General Petraeus." And, unfortunately, we have had a bad mission set by our civilian leadership… But it is time for us to set a strategy that is going to make the American people safer. We will not have permanent bases there (when Obama is President)…. We are overstretched in a way – we do not have a strategic reserve at this point.

Affirmative action is a major problem for poor white working people
With all the economic problems affecting poor, working and middle class Americans today, you would think that debate moderators would pick some of the most important ones for debate discussion – like affordable health care, the housing crisis, or unaffordable education costs for so many American children today. Well, ABC has a pretty good idea of what our major economic problems are: affirmative action and high taxes for the wealthy:

STEPHANOPOULOS (to Obama): As president, how specifically would you recommend changing affirmative action policies so that affluent African-Americans are not given advantages and poor, less affluent whites are?

Yep, we have to do something about those affluent African-Americans in order to get our economy back in order. But in fairness to George, I’m sure that emphasizing the importance of solving our affirmative action problems wasn’t his only motive in asking that question. I’m sure that he also felt that it would be good for our country to stir up a little racial animosity towards our black Democratic nominee. Obama tried to broaden the issue a bit:

OBAMA: The basic principle that should guide discussions not just of affirmative action, but how we are admitting young people to college generally, is how do we make sure that we're providing ladders of opportunity for people? How do we make sure that every child in America has a decent shot in pursuing their dreams? And race is still a factor in our society. And I think that for universities and other institutions to say, "You know, we're going to take into account the hardships that somebody has experienced because they're black or Latino or because they're a woman"...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Even if they're wealthy?

Raising taxes on the rich is bad for a sluggish economy

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator McCain signaled that the No. 1 one issue in the general election campaign on the economy is going to be taxes…. And if the economy is as weak a year from now, as it is today, will you continue – will you persist in your plans to roll back the President Bush's tax cuts for wealthier Americans?

When Clinton responded that yes, she would raise taxes on the wealthy to approximately the rate they were paying during her husband’s administration, Stephanopoulos responded, “Even if the economy is weak?”

Hmmm. He may as well have simply given us all a lecture on the wonderful benefits of trickle down economics.

Raising taxes on capital gains decreases government revenues
Gibson repeatedly hammered away at the folly of increasing taxes on capital gains:

GIBSON (to Obama): You have, however, said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax. As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, "I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton," which was 28 percent. It's now 15 percent. That's almost a doubling, if you went to 28 percent…But actually, Bill Clinton, in 1997, signed legislation that dropped the capital gains tax to 20 percent.... And George Bush has taken it down to 15 percent…. And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased; the government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down…. So why raise it at all? …. But history shows that when you drop the capital gains tax, the revenues go up.

Ok, I realize that the effect of capital gains taxes on the economy is somewhat controversial – and I’m no economist. But Gibson presented this as if it’s established fact, and it isn’t at all. Here is what Justin Fox, TIME’s business and economic analyst, had to say about the subject, in an article titled “So, uh, when did Charlie Gibson turn into a supply side nut job?”

Yes, capital gains tax cuts invariably result in a revenue increase the next year, because investors aren't idiots: If they see a cut coming, they're likely to delay capital-gains-generating transactions until after the tax rate drops. But I don't know of any serious economist who thinks that cutting the capital gains tax rate increases revenue over time. Here's a chart of the last 12 years of capital gains tax revenues:

I would add to that discussion the fact that trying to make the case that George Bush has done anything to boost our economy is suspect indeed. There are many different economic indicators, and short-term government revenue is just one. Decreasing taxes on capital gains well below the income tax rate facilitates a widening income gap, which has already reached record levels under George Bush’s economic policies. That is undoubtedly good for some people, but many believe that it has toxic effects on society as a whole, through such mechanisms as shifting political power to a narrow wealthy elite. This is what Obama had to say about it:

OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness. We saw an article today which showed that the top 50 hedge fund managers made $29 billion last year – $29 billion for 50 individuals. I also want to make sure that our tax system is fair, and that we are able to finance health care for Americans who currently don't have it, and that we're able to invest in our infrastructure and invest in our schools.

Obama defines his positions

To prove that they were capable of asking at least one question that neither attacked a Democratic candidate nor introduced right wing talking points, Gibson asked as the last question, “What are you going to do about the price of gas”, and he gave each candidate one minute to answer.

One might think that, with such a concerted effort by the debate moderators to attack Obama (and Clinton too, to a lesser extent) and to introduce their right wing talking points, that Obama would have had little or no chance to discuss issues of importance to the American people. But he still managed to define, in general terms, what his campaign is about, despite all the obstacles. I’ve noted some of that above, in Obama’s responses to the attacks on him and the moderators’ pushing of right wing ideas. Here are some more examples of issues that Obama managed to force into the conversation:

Obama on fairness

OBAMA: And we're seeing greater income inequality now than any time since the 1920s. I’m talking about how we need to restore a sense of economic fairness to this country, because that's what this country has always been about, is providing upward mobility and ladders to opportunity for all Americans…. One of the centerpieces of my economic plan would be to say that we are going to offset the payroll tax, the most regressive of our taxes, so that families who are earning – who are middle-income, individuals making $75,000 a year or less, that they would get a tax break so that families would see up to a thousand dollars' worth of relief. Senior citizens who have earnings of less than $50,000 wouldn't have to pay income tax on their Social Security. And middle-class homeowners who currently don't itemize on their tax filings, they would be able to get a deduction the same way that wealthy individuals do.

Obama on regulation of special interests

OBAMA: Special interests have come to dominate Washington… We're now seeing a deteriorating housing market. That also is a consequence of the lack of oversight and regulation of these banks and financial institutions that gave loans that they shouldn't have. And part of it has to do with the fact that you had $185 million by mortgage lenders spent on lobbyists and special interests who were writing these laws. The tax code has been written on behalf of the well-connected. Our trade laws have – the same thing has happened….

And most importantly, I believe that change does not happen from the top down. It happens from the bottom up. And that's why we decided we weren't going to take PAC money or money from federal registered lobbyists, that we were not going to be subject to special interest influence but, instead, we're going to enlist the American people in the project of changing this country. It's going to be absolutely vital we form a new political coalition in this country. That's what we've been doing

Obama on health care

OBAMA: What the American people want are not distractions. They want to figure out, how are we going to actually deliver on health care? … That means health care for everyone, no exceptions. Nobody left out.

Obama on fiscal responsibility

OBAMA: And you can't take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children and our grandchildren, and then say that you're cutting taxes, which is essentially what John McCain has been talking about. And that is irresponsible. I believe in the principle that you pay as you go.

Obama on education

OBAMA: I'm against No Child Left Behind as it is currently operating, and I would end it, because we can do so much better to have an education system that really focuses in on kids who need extra help. Let's make college affordable again. I think our job should be to try to create the conditions that enable people to live up to their god-given potential.

Obama on foreign policy

OBAMA: John McCain wants to continue…George Bush's foreign policy… Our foreign policy is in a shambles. We are involved in two wars. I'm speaking forcefully about how we need to bring this war in Iraq to a close, because I think it is not serving our national security.

Obama on energy policy

OBAMA: We've got to investigate potential price gouging or market manipulation. I have strongly called for a windfall profits tax that can provide both consumers relief and also invest in renewable energies. I think that long-term, we are going to have to raise fuel efficiency standards on cars because the only way that we're going to be able to reduce gas prices if we reduce demand.

Some final words about our corporate news media

Our national corporate news media have been screwing the Democrats and our country for years. They receive free licenses from the federal government and in return they have the responsibility to provide news in “the public interest”. Yet they don’t care at all about that sacred responsibility. Instead, they use their privilege to provide slanted news that ensures that pro-corporate Republicans will stay in power and in return will enact legislation that ensures ever more accumulation of wealth and power to themselves.

ABC “News” in particular has been doing this sort of thing for quite some time: When the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” (SBVFT) came out with their transparently phony allegations against John Kerry, right before the 2004 Presidential election, they posted nearly a hundred links to the story during one 17 day stretch. They mocked the Downing Street Memo (“The left is unappeasable on the issue of the Downing Street Memo”) and Cindy Sheehan. They dismissed stories of Ken Starr’s conflict of interest during his investigation of Bill Clinton. They ignored the Jeff Gannon story and the news of Karl Rove’s role in the CIA leak investigation. They put positive spin on Bush’s handling of the Katrina disaster. Right before the 2006 elections they aired a so-called “docudrama” that blamed Bill Clinton for the 9-11 attacks. And as the story of Tom DeLay’s corrupt activities began to emerge, they had this to say:

There is an iron triangle of liberal interest groups, Democratic congressional staffers, and media jackals… who have never identified with or liked Tom DeLay (and what he stands for) and are enjoying every minute of their conspiring to bring him down. Almost every accusation swirling around DeLay involves actions by him that have exact analogues among other members of Congress of both parties.

The list goes on and on. The main difference between ABC and FOX News would appear to be that ABC does a better job of pretending to be a real news organization, rather than a propaganda machine for the Republican Party.

The Democrats have undergone the torture of a thousand cuts by the corporate media over the last several years. They are in a terrible dilemma because, given the great power of our corporate news media, attacking them poses great risks. Yet, Democrats may have no reasonable alternative choice other than to come out swinging against the corporate media. The Republicans are the Party of the corporations, the wealthy and the powerful. A great deal of their power rests with the slanted news of the corporate news media, without which they would either have to begin to adopt a pro-people agenda or they could not win another election.

It may be that Democrats now have an opportunity to go over the heads of those who provide biased news to our country, directly to the people, to expose our corporate media for what they are. Barack Obama may have an opportunity to do that like no other politician in recent memory, given his record setting campaign funding, comprised disproportionately of small donations. If his recent performances, including Thursday’s debate, are any indication, he’s not going to take this lying down.