Another sign that the GOP is coming apart at the seams is their continuing discussion about how to do their debates differently in the next presidential cycle. They want many less of them. They don’t want them hosted by unfriendly news outlets, which means that Fox News and maybe ABC News are the only outlets in the running. Now there are thinking of letting shock jock radio hosts like Limbaugh, Hannity, and Mark Levin host a debate. I sat with Duncan at the ACORN debate and I agree that it was pretty good. I don’t agree that a debate hosted by radio shock jocks would be good. At least, it wouldn’t be good for the candidates or their party. The difference is that ACORN was a community organization dedicated to helping people on the margins of society. Limbaugh, Hannity, and Levin are charlatans and entertainers. The ACORN debate featured questions that you won’t hear Wolf Blitzer ask because he doesn’t use a check cashing joint, take out tax rebate advance loans, or have a ballooning mortgage he can’t afford. His neighborhood isn’t riddled with bullets, either. The cops didn’t stop and frisk his son.
But a shock jock debate would be all about the right’s manufactured heat fever dreams. In other words, it would be about lies that Republicans are afraid to admit are lies. The whole point would be to keep everything safe within the bubble where those lies are never challenged. But to anyone who hadn’t marinated in that bubble for the last five years, it would appear like a lunatic asylum having a lecture series.
Bad idea.
