The Garden

I just caught a few minutes of one of the Democratic primary “debates” on CNN tonight. Unfortunately no debate was to be found. This was to be expected of course since the general public has literally no interest in witnessing anything resembling an intelligent exchange of ideas. And the Govermedia has no intention of ever providing such a forum.

What the public gets is a highly produced spectacle of expensive stage props, professional film crews and seasoned media personnel creating an illusion of “democracy in motion”–none of which is meant to spread enlightening, substantive or pertinent information.

The Democratic “debates” (as well as anything else on mainstream TV passing itself off as a “debate”) are nothing more than sedatives for the masses. They create their sense of authority and importance through their carefully managed studio productions involving professional sound and lighting crews, computer animations and script writers. Nothing they give you is meant to better your life or your mind. Nothing. Television, fulfilling its role as THE soporific of choice for American minds, has already conditioned the public to such an extent that people–intelligent people–confuse the spectacle for substance. The calculated presentation is all that is necessary to convince the populace that this is what a debate is.

A debate involves a careful exchange of ideas between at least two sides. It involves a central question or issue that both sides comment on successively. It is not a “round robin” of mini-lectures amongst a group of eight people where they answer yes or no questions followed by a few comments. Debates engage the topic directly and take the time they need to do it. They do not sacrifice substance for style. They risk being “boring” to ensure completeness. They also adhere to the idea that debates are supposed to be about the ideas; never about the debaters.

CNN’s “presentation” was not a debate. Not even close. They jumped from topic to topic, simply allowing each candidate to essentially restate their platform in a question and answer format. The candidates did not face each other. They faced Wolf Blitzer and the stage audience. They were under no obligation to address each other or respond to what anyone else had said. There was no commitment to a single subject nor to the resolving of any dispute. The audience was submerged in a sea of opinions without any thread of reason.

CNN won this one.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 at 11:16 and is filed under Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.