YES, I know, the debate hasn't happened yet. But, there is very little point in waiting for events to happen before you report them when your name is CNN. Following their lead, or rather, attempting to get a jump on them, I have sent the following e-mail to CNN chastising them for declaring Bush the winner.
My 2¢ to the medium:
Subject: Pre-emptive strike
I thought I would take this opportunity to express my outrage at your having declared Bush the winner of the first presidential debate this coming Thursday. I will be busy on Friday, and in the spirit of our 43rd president's pre-emption doctrine, I felt it was necessary to criticize you now -- and not wait until you actually reported the Bush victory as "News". I have based my knowlege of your future reporting on "Newscast veterans for truth" third-hand accounts, and convenient predictions from "experts" I selected myself.
I hope you will understand my disgust and displeasure with the way you have reported the events and issues which should have been the focus of said debate. Yes, I agree with one point, Bush has a better speaking style - at least for the "average" voter. Sigh. Snake oil salesmen used to be known as charasmatic also. I suppose I should thank you for even allowing the portion of the debate featuring Kerry to be aired, you could have just had Bill Schneider or Jeff Greenfield speak over Kerry's responses, telling us why he's not connecting to the voters.
I thought the best part of the debate was when John Kerry systematically broke down the Bush administration's rationale for going into Iraq, and linking it to the war on terror, thus proving the fallacy that has been the Bush philosophy. Apparently you thought the best debate moment was when George Bush smirked at the camera and said, "My opponent thinks that terrorism is cool." I was particularly offended by Mr. Greenfield's referring to this as Mr. Kerry's "Hippy" moment.
Rest assured, I will be following up with critiques of the other presidential debates, as well as your reporting that Bush has won the election (I hope you will hold off until November for this report.)
Sincerely (really),
[PBJ Diddy]
P.S. - Do YOU GUYS miss Ted Turner as much as I DO?