Monday, December 15, 2008

Would You Shut Up & Let Them Debate!

On Sunday, Meet the Press nearly featured a really great debate about health care between Gov Granholm (D) of Michigan & former Gov Romney (R-MA). Unfortunately, David Gregory cut them off.

The core question was the magical $2000/car extra labor cost. Both governors were articulate, knowledgeable and passionate about the issue. Gov Romney was making the union-busting argument based on the idea that American car companies can't be competitive due to all the salary & benefit costs. Gov Granholm was making the counter-argument that non-American companies have a leg-up due to government health-care and related government support. The debate, which I was very interested in, started there...

And then got quashed, dismissed really, by David Gregory. Actually, I thought his moderation style was rushed and lacking style. I don't like his presence in the least. But, I digress...

In a world of cable news & talking heads, there's never really any time for actual discourse. Everything is spun and filtered. Everything is presented in Sesame Street speed. Countdown (which I love), O'Reilly (boo), & all those shows is still just about listening to pundits ramble. Blah, blah, blah! Once and a while I want to hear people with "actual" knowledge & passion about an issue engage in healthy discussion. More importantly, I was really impressed with both of the Governors and wanted to hear where this was going.

The problems with the "big 3" are broader than the UAW, but the way that this is handled is going to have lasting ramifications for the American labor force. So, I don't get why these two had to be cut short so we could listen to David Gregory talk to two other reporters about how Obama's transition team is or isn't managing the Blagojevich question.

Maybe my real problem is that I'm a big enough dork to watch Meet the Press.

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