George Stephanopoulos: Water Boy

Did anyone see the Clinton-Obama debate last night? What a fucking joke! Seriously, when whether or not one wears an American Flag lapel pin actually becomes the litmus test for being President of the United States, I am going to threaten to move to Canada. Yet, this is the kind of petty, small-minded questioning Barack Obama had to put up with for the first 50 minutes of the two hour debacle, -er, I mean, debate.

[Disclosure: I am an Obama supporter]

Leading the charge last night? George Stephanopoulos (or as I like to call him, Steffy, and sometimes even - with apologies to my main man, 'Dre Agassi - Steffi Graft). I know what you're thinking: where do I know that name? Oh, that's right, he was the White House press secretary during Bill Clinton's first term. Oh, and what's this?


Yeah....... How 'bout that?

What's that phrase? Um..... conflict of interest? Maybe that explains why he lobbed the question about William Ayers at Obama that was fed to him by Fox News' own Sean Hannity. Obama's response I thought was brilliant:

And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values, doesn't make much sense, George.

And then when Hillary couldn't help herself and piled on, Obama deftly pointed out that Bill Clinton had pardoned two convicted members of the late-1960's / early-1970's Weather Underground movement (of which Ayers was a member and to which Clinton was trying to tie Obama through guilt-by-association).

Jeremiah Wright, "Bitter-Gate," Ayers, and fucking flag lapel pins. George Stephanopoulos - still carrying the Clintons' water after all these years.

UPDATE: Obama has a fact-check page up on just how tenuous the connection is between Ayers and Obama, here.

UPDATE 2: A far more thorough and intellectual critique offered by a journalist, here.

UPDATE 3: A decidedly less intellectual critique here, although this is so funny, it almost makes the whole sorry-ass event worth it: