Gawker: Debates

Non-Racist Whites Simply Don't Like Obama's Race

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:21:06 EDT

John McWhorter—Bill Buckley-esque NY Sun columnist and bizarre racial thinker—has taken his bizarre racial thinking act over to the New York Times for a day, presumably because conservative black academic columnists are hard to come by in New York City on a holiday weekend. In a video debate on the Times' website, McWhorter advances the novel theory that Barack Obama doesn't have to worry about racism; just his race. Here's an example of a statement that he says is not racist: "I won't vote for a black person because he's a radical type and would bring in Farrakhan." And hey, how come black people can hang around each other and it's okay, but white people can't? It's because "white people aren't allowed to be diverse." Okay! The other guy is, frankly, no match for McWhorter's secret redefinitions of words that negate their own meaning. The baffling debate, after the jump.

[NYT]

Is Hillary Clinton Even A Feminist?

rebecca — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:41:44 EDT

Hillary Clinton says she cares about women's issues, but when it comes to supporting actual women, she's just as useless as a Victoria's Secret push=up bra. She doesn't want to do a North Carolina debate, allegedly because of Passover, but really because she doesn't want to detract attention from the Pennsylvania primaries. But what about li'l Katie Couric, who is set to host the debate? CBS is aggressively pursuing another debate so Couric could prove her gravitas with real life presidential candidates. Too bad no one likes when women do anything first, or otherwise. [NYP]

Katie Couric Can Only Host Debates About After-School Snacks

rebecca — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:17:07 EST

After 20 or so primary debates, you might have thought that li'l Katie Couric, anchor of the CBS Evening News, would get a chance to moderate one, but you'd be wrong. Practically every other telegenic person in broadcasting has but Katie. There are a bunch of justifications, like CBS News is cheap, CBS News writers' labor dispute, and scheduling conflicts. But these are just excuses. The real reason is that if Katie Couric ever hosted a DNC debate, there would be two vags on stage too many. (Campbell Brown doesn't count as a girl, since she's a real DC journalist, as evidenced by her requisite interest-conflicty marriage to a political operative.) [NYO]

Hillary Clinton Is Funny! (And Why She Shouldn't Be)

Pareene — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:35:33 EST

Hillary Clinton, who generally comes off way as more prepared and well-spoken than Barack Obama in their televised debates, has, naturally, received quite a bit of flack for her occasional attempts to crack jokes. These jokes—"change you can Xerox" and "no one asks me if I want a pillow"—are mostly harmless, but her delivery is terrible. Despite this, her family and friends insist she is actually a funny person. And they're right. In the clip above, she is very funny. The only problem is that she's also sarcastic, in the real sense of the word, and not the Michelle Obama sense of the word. That is maybe the worst possible way to differentiate yourself from Barack Obama, who inspires sarcastic people with his earnestness. We, with help from Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres, shall explain why.

In the clip above, Senator Clinton mercilessly savages Barack Obama's cheerful message of vague Hope with a genuinely funny routine mocking his stump speech. The only problem with that tack is elucidated by Jon Stewart, when he takes the routine to its logical conclusion: HILLARY CLINTON KNOWS THIS WORLD IS MADE OF SHIT, AND YOU ARE JUST LYING TO YOURSELF IF YOU THINK WE CAN CHANGE IT. Not a very helpful strategy for convincing people to vote for you! And that's the problem with genuine sarcasm. It's off-putting, and mean. Comedy hurts.

Hillary Clinton clearly is funny, but she must do her damndest to hide that fact if she wants to save her campaign. Especially because when she tries to be light-heartedly funny, she comes off as self-pitying, over-rehearsed, and repetitive. As in the pillow joke, which she thought was sooo clever, she used it twice:

Ugh.

Snide Advertising: The Debate

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:32:17 EST

Richard Rapaport is VERY concerned about the rise of "snide advertising." It's eating a hole in our national soul! The ennui, the decline of sophistication, the "nanny-nanny boo-boo that passes for wit these days." Some might say that advertising never had a golden age of wit and sophistication, but Rapaport argues in a long Ad Age piece that the current trend is one that historians will look back on with disdain. Is our entire society becoming less civil, right down to the way we sell things to each other? It's an important issue. Below, Gawker chief Nick Denton's analysis of this controversial topic:

CNN, 'LATimes' And Politico To Host January Debates

Maggie — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:10:37 EST

The final two presidential debates before Super Tuesday will be co-hosted at the end of January by CNN, the Los Angeles Times and Politico. Apparently, nobody relayed news of this partnership to LA Times media critic Tim Rutten, who, over the weekend, called CNN "corrupt" and "incompetent" for botching last week's "debacle masquerading as a presidential debate." Awkward! Also, we think it would make some damn fine television if Politico reporter Ben Smith was allowed to ask Rudy Giuliani a question on live TV, such as "How much do you hate me for writing about your mistress slush fund and exposing the blueprints for your presidential campaign?" [LAT]

Leona Helmsley Didn't Hate All The Gays, Just The Homosexual Ones

abalk — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:00:09 EDT

As the recollections of late hotelier Leona Helmsley start pouring in, the New York Post does its best to illustrate the impenetrable nature of her character in the form of an unintentional point-counterpoint between columnists Andrea Peyser and Cindy Adams. The issue in question? How Leona felt about the gays.

Peyser:

In 2003, a leather-loving freak named Charles Bell sued Leona - claiming she'd fired him as Park Lane Hotel manager because he was gay. Which, in the homosexual-heavy hotel biz, would be like firing an interior decorator for having good taste.
[...]
Two years earlier, a much-younger man, Patrick Ward, tricked Leona into believing he was her boyfriend. With great mortification, she discovered Ward was gay. Of course, he sued her, too.

The back-to-back scandals gave Leona a rep as a homophobe, when she was nothing of the kind. I tend to think she was misunderstood. Or an easy target. Perhaps she just never cared what anyone thought of her.

Perhaps! Cindy?

I maintained a Palm Beach apartment where my fragile, wheelchair-bound mother went every winter, accompanied by loving people to care for her. Leona had a lavish spread nearby which, with all her problems, she couldn't visit. Although it wasn't necessary or requested, she insisted my mother use her facilities. This satisfied no need for us. It actually was bothersome because mom had to be transported there. Anyway, possibly motivated by a sense of control, Leona kept insisting. My little group finally went.

When Mrs. Helmsley's monitors reported to her that mom's small coterie of caretakers and their friends were gay, she went ape. She screamed: "Remove them. I will not have homosexuals in my cabana. Throw the whole bunch out!!!"

Startled, reeling in disbelief, they began falling all over themselves to grab up their clothes and gear because Leona had actually summoned marshals. These marshals came onto the property and physically removed my mother.

Wow, the issue seems so murky and difficult to determine. We'd turn to Gail Collins over at the Times to settle the whole thing, but her encomium somehow doesn't once mention the gays, so we're over it.

I'M MOURNING WOMAN WORLD LOVED TO HATE
UNKNOWN STORIES OF QUEEN OF MEAN [NYP]
The Leona Chronicles [NYT]

Will Ana Marie Cox Be The "Anderson Cooper Of The MySpace Debates"?

Doree Shafrir — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:10:22 EDT

An actual radio listener says that this morning on WNYC, Wonkette founder and current Washington editor for Time.com Ana Marie Cox hinted that she might be one of the hosts of MySpace's Presidential Town Halls, those attempts to "engage" young people in the political process. (Good luck with that!) Anyway, they'll be visiting college campuses this fall. The kids can even submit questions via MySpace instant messenger! And watch the MySpace webcast! Fancy! Cox, we hear, will most likely be hosting along with the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, who writes the politics blog The Fix for WP's website. He's not quite as pretty as Ana, and probably doesn't hate Eric Alterman as much, but we suppose he'll do. Calls to MySpace were not returned.