Yesterday, I posted a question asking whether Gwen Iffil could be fair in this debate, given her upcoming book. After watching this debate I am pleased to say, yes she can.
I don't apologize for asking the question and I am thrilled with the answer.
A rare political post from me - I generally leave them to Peter.
There is a vice-presidential debate tomorrow. It is being moderated by Gwen Ifill. In theory, a moderator of a debate is supposed to be a neutral party. But I am questioning her ability to do so. She has a book coming out - being published by Random House. The title is "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama" . The description on the Random House site describes it as follows:
In THE BREAKTHROUGH, veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.
This book is set to be released on January 20, 2009 aka Inauguration Day. Obviously, this book will sell much better if Obama actually wins the election, providing Iffel a financial stake in the outcome. I know that everyone has a personal stake in the election, but how impartial can you be if you will benefit financially from a specific candidate winning?
For the record, I would be against a moderator who had written a McCain book.
Here's a promotional video released on YouTube by Random House.
What do you think? Can Ifill be a neutral party, or does her upcoming book taint the debate and open it up to criticism?
First off: the "Should You Vote?" test. For the record my score was 97% and Peter scored a 94%. They show you a series of pictures of people and answer 2 simple question about each picture. Who is this person and what is their job. And they're multiple choice.
Second: So NYC's banned artificial trans-fats and the FDA is requiring companies to publish the amounts of trans-fats in all food items that have more than 0.5g. This New York Times article (registration required- sorry), talks about an interesting side effect of the trans-fat obession and fears. Natural trans-fats. Turns out there are natural trans-fats found in beef, milk, butter, cheese, etc. Commercial bakeries are having to cut butter our of their products and replace it with margarine/palm oil because consumers are demanding trans-fat free foods. Weirdest fact? Scientists think that the natural trans-fats are healthy but the artificial ones aren't. And I'm sorry, but I'm with the baker, it's not a croissant if there's no butter in it.
