Except, perhaps for CNN. So much has been written on this by so many today that it's hard to keep up. In case you missed it, a couple of weeks ago CNN held a Democratic debate in which, strangely enough, some of the "undecided John Q Public" questioners had interesting ties to the Democratic Party as activists, and to Hillary Clinton in particular. Several of the questions were designed to either make Sen. Clinton look good or her oppostion look bad. CNN claimed ignorance.
Last night CNN had their chance to host the Republican candidates. Who should show up in the audience asking questions, but ... Democratic activists with direct ties to candidates Clinton, Edwards and Obama. After the previous uproar CNN can hardly plead ignorance now. Jay Tea discusses the latest CNN controversy at Wizbang with his usual clarity.
A few weeks ago, during the most recent Democratic debate, it was uncovered that a lot of the questioners CNN picked had were Democratic party officials and apparatchiks. The justification at the time was "oops -- we didn't know!" and "well, it's for the Democratic primary, so of course it's going to be a lot of Democrats asking the questions."
Now that lightning has struck twice at CNN and we have a new slate of Democratic appartchiks and activists asking questions of Republicans, the new narrative seems to be "well, they were valid questions, so it really doesn't matter who asked them."
...CNN, by [applying] completely contradictory standards for its questioners at debates, betrays its bias: the Democrats get to stack their questions to make their candidates look good; the Republicans find themselves having to squirm...
And it's Fox News that is biased? Give me a break. CNN needs to treat this process with honor and impartiality. If they're unable to do so then say so, step aside, and give other more honorable news organizations the floor. Rigging the deck in the Old West could get you shot. Today, CNN, it'll simply get you and your biases ignored to the tune of even lower ratings.
Others:
Kevin Aylward
Power Line
Allahpundit
Newsbusters
... and oh so many more.
