Absurd questions anger Biden in Orlando

I've heard and written about probably hundreds of interviews of all of the presidential candidates since the primaries began nearly two years ago, but the one in the video above has got to be one of the more outrageous ones I've heard during this election cycle. During an interview with WFTV Channel 9's Barbara West in Orlando, Florida, Biden did a pretty good job of keeping his cool - better than I could have.

Biden fielded a litany of absurd questions ranging from the Obama campaign's alleged influence over ACORN (including an inquiry asking if Biden was "embarrassed" by his campaign's alleged association with the group); whether Obama is a "socialist"; and then West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with his "spreading the wealth" comment. Following those queries, a clearly frustrated Biden asked, "I don't know who's writing your questions."

To be clear, I have absolutely no problem with tough questions being asked of any of the four candidates - too often, they all attempt to set up interviews with fluff, feel-good questions that inform voters of nothing. Some terrific examples of just this are Sarah Palin's interviews with Katie Couric & Charlie Gibson, which she bombed anyway. Biden answered more tough questions during the five-minute interview in the video above than Palin has since she joined the ticket.

Following the interview, the Obama campaign canceled a Jill Biden interview for the following day. Of course, the right-wingnuts decried this "censorship" of the media, but doesn't even hold up for a nanosecond.

A few weeks ago, McCain kicked New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd off his campaign plane for questions he didn't like, and there are numerous other occasions of media censorship during the Bush years justified by media treatment it wasn't thrilled with. Anyone remember Bush saying to Dick Cheney during the '00 campaign, "There's Adam Clymer, major league asshole from the New York Times"? Or how about Jeff Gannon, the conservative plant from Talon News, who Bush called on in 2005 during a press conference when the questions got tough? (He wasn't even smart enough to be low key, asking Bush a question that included a comment that the Democrats are "divorced from reality") Or how about the Bush administration signing conservative pundits to lucrative contracts using TAXPAYER MONEY to push its agenda in 2005? (Are you listening, Armstrong Williams?)

Getting back to the interview with Biden, for those of you who think that Channel 9's Barbara West is some impartial, tough journalist, watch how she handled an interview with John McCain on Oct. 14. I heard more softballs tossed at McCain during that tongue bath than I've heard tossed at Obama in the last six months.

Pretty hilarious that the very same media that McCain more than once has called "his base" is now the mortal enemy, totally in the tank for Obama.

Riiight.

"Hard-hitting" questions dog the president at press conference

Hat tip to Crooks & Liars for bringing my attention to this one.

This brief transcript dramatically illustrates just what is wrong with the press in this country. I'm tired of the whole "liberal media" vs. "conservative media" camps; regardless of where you stand, few can argue that Bush has received a "pass" from many members in the media - specifically during the run-up to the war, but also since the 2004 election.

Following a speech to the annual gathering of the Associated General Contractors of America, these are the four questions that Bush was asked:

1. "In May of 2006, my second cousin was on his second tour in Iraq. Corporal Cory Palmer, he’s in the Marines, he was on patrol in a Humvee, and they ran over a roadside bomb. He and many others in that Humvee perished. What do I need to do, what does the media need to do to help you, so that my second cousin, and others like him, have not died or been injured in vain?"

2. "I'd like to know, like a lot of other people in this room, we have family members — we have family members who are actively involved in the security of this country in various ways. From them, we've received positive information that we consider credible, who say about the success and the good things that are happening as a result of us being in Iraq. I would like to know why and what can be done about we, the American people, receiving some of that information more from the media."

3. "What do you pray about, and how we can we pray for you?"

4. "You talked about the terror of 9/11, and what I wanted to share with you, my wife and I had our first child two months after 9/11. We named her Grace, because we felt that the world needed some grace at the time. And what I wanted to (inaudible) is the fact that our appreciation and keeping my family and also the families of America safe for the past five years."

Sickening. Just sickening. Every question doesn't have to be a "gotcha" question, but this is the quality of questions the media asks our president these days? Just despicable.

By the way, the answer to question one should have been: "Heh heh heh, keep asking questions like that one! NEXT!"

With Gonzo-gate, Karl Rove being investigated, Gonzo getting subpoenaed yesterday, the War in Iraq, the funding of the war, Bush's second veto, etc., these are the questions that Bush fields? His aides were no doubt high-fiving aboard Air Force One on the way back to Washington.

These questions are so ridiculous, I would not be surprised if there were a few "plants" put in the audience by Karl Rove. It's not like it hasn't been done before by this White House. As I read the above questions, I kept thinking of Jeff Gannon.

Nice job, "liberal media" - keep cheer leading disastrous leadership.