Tim Russert once again drowned the Democratic candidates with gotcha questions during the debate last week, from the cost of John Edwards's hair cut to questions about Kucinich's municipal management nearly 30 years ago to questions based on false premises like the question about social security.
Here are a few posts that have been written on the blogosphere on this issue:
here,
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1941289here,
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/meet-villagers-by-digby-from-you-cant.htmland here
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh092807.shtml.That had to be expected from Timmy, so nobody should be either surprised or outraged. He has been doing that for years now.
However, what struck me was the fact that, for nearly every single question, the candidates, and particularly the major ones, accepted the premises of the questions:
the Daily Howler has the example of the question about Social Security and Medicare, where the problem should not have escaped to at the very least those candidates who were in the Senate because they ALL have made speeches on exactly this issue:
The problem is not Social Security, it is the financing of Medicare.
How can we trust candidates who do not have the courage to challenge the faulty premises the questions are based on. Come on. You will have to resist to lobbyists, your own advisers, sometimes your spouse while you are president. How can you be expected to do so if you do not challenge the guy who is asking questions to you.