Comments on: Revenge Is a Dish Best Served on Live TV http://jaypgreene.com/2008/09/30/revenge-is-a-dish-best-served-on-live-tv/ With Help From Some Friends Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:32:08 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Greg Forster http://jaypgreene.com/2008/09/30/revenge-is-a-dish-best-served-on-live-tv/#comment-2188 Greg Forster Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:37:29 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1063#comment-2188 I'm afraid it's not a question of the moderator. The whole tradition of American public debate has been thoroughly wussified. If a moderator actually tried to ask a question like this, it would be viewed as a ghastly <i>faux pas</i>. If things are different in Canada, it's because you're still connected to the English tradition of parliamentary debate that we, alas, have lost. I’m afraid it’s not a question of the moderator. The whole tradition of American public debate has been thoroughly wussified. If a moderator actually tried to ask a question like this, it would be viewed as a ghastly faux pas. If things are different in Canada, it’s because you’re still connected to the English tradition of parliamentary debate that we, alas, have lost.

]]> By: Alsadius http://jaypgreene.com/2008/09/30/revenge-is-a-dish-best-served-on-live-tv/#comment-2184 Alsadius Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:36:37 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1063#comment-2184 This is why I like watching Canadian debates - our usual moderator, Steve Paikin, actually asks questions like that. I remember the last provincial election debate he moderated, where one of the leaders actually did a visible double-take at the question, it was that nasty and unexpected. A debate shouldn't be a stump-speech version of Dueling Banjos, it should be about being put in a room where you have no choice but to grin and bear it as someone stomps on your gonads in front of millions of people and asks you the questions you've either been desperately avoiding or haven't even considered. If the American debates don't do that, perhaps it's time to get a slightly more vicious moderator. This is why I like watching Canadian debates – our usual moderator, Steve Paikin, actually asks questions like that. I remember the last provincial election debate he moderated, where one of the leaders actually did a visible double-take at the question, it was that nasty and unexpected.

A debate shouldn’t be a stump-speech version of Dueling Banjos, it should be about being put in a room where you have no choice but to grin and bear it as someone stomps on your gonads in front of millions of people and asks you the questions you’ve either been desperately avoiding or haven’t even considered. If the American debates don’t do that, perhaps it’s time to get a slightly more vicious moderator.

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