A Presidential Pageant
by digby
Kevin's talking about an alleged Japanese conspiracy theory here, and if you're curious about such things, I urge you to click over. (It's interesting!) I just wanted to highlight this:
[I]t would be interesting to see someone debate him on this subject. Not in a live debate, mind you, which I consider about the worst possible medium ever invented for getting at the truth, but in a printed debate. Bring your best evidence. Show us your tables and your charts. Take the proper time to both make and respond to arguments.
He's talking about an academic debate, but I think this is true for political debates as well. Presidential debates as we know them are ridiculous. Perhaps if people really did want to see Lincoln Douglas style debates, or even modern Oxford style debates, they might be useful. But what we call political debates in this country are poor substitutes for American Idol sing-offs, which is what a lot of people really want. And they don't inform us very well either.
So, maybe we should ask the candidates to do a beauty pageant for TV and stage a written debate to assess their official positions. It's true that Rick Perry would probably come off much better if his staff could write his answers for him, but is there any doubt that while he might very well win the swimsuit competition, he would certainly whiff the live Q and A?
I think we can imagine it:
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