First of all: Did this second round of debates change anything?
Maybe. We’ll see the polls starting over the weekend. If anything, my guess is that Joe Biden may tick down, and Elizabeth Warren may tick up, although who knows these things? Will any of the second-tier people gain ground? Perhaps. But earth-shaking change seems unlikely; ratings seems to have been really low (8.7 million on the first night, I don’t yet know about the second), and we didn’t learn a lot about any of them that we didn’t know.
THE DAILY BEAST
I didn’t watch much on the first night.. the CNN moderation was SO BAD that I simply didn’t watch…
I watched more the second night and 2 things stand out: 1. the CNN interference was still bad and 2. the candidates on stage thought it more important to blast each other than to stand out taking the case to Donald Trump. The conversation today is how the candidates go after Obama and how poorly CNN managed the debate.
Instead of talking about the candidate that PROSECUTED their case against Trump. Maybe because the candidates don’t want to telegraph their strategy to take on Trump in the general election. I hope this is the case.
Loser: CNN, again
Poor CNN: They can’t catch a break.
“I called CNN a loser last night in large part due to the moderation: Hosts Jake Tapper, Dana Bash, and Don Lemon kept interrupting substantive debates in a vain effort to enforce the ludicrously short one-minute time limit. To their credit, this trio significantly improved on this score, getting out of the way a bit more and letting the candidates engage.”
How CNN Botched Both Democratic Debates
It took only two minutes to know that the second night of the Democratic debates on CNN would be very annoying. “Tonight!” a gravelly voiced narrator intoned over a video promo that introduced each candidate as though they were characters in some guilty-pleasure reality TV show. “A critical rematch! Former Vice President Joe Biden, aiming to reclaim his momentum. Sen. Kamala Harris: not backing down after clashing with Biden over race.” The presentation would have been a good fit for WrestleMania. Presidential politics: This time, it’s personal!
SLATE
Trump Rescinds Medals for Naval Lawyers Who Prosecuted War Crimes
President Trump has ordered the U.S. Navy to rescind achievement medals given to military lawyers who prosecuted Navy SEAL team leader Eddie Gallagher, who was accused of multiple war crimes, including shooting two Iraqi civilians and fatally stabbing a captive teenager in the neck. In July, Gallagher was acquitted on all but the least serious charge he faced—taking a photo over the dead body of a captive teenage combatant in Iraq—despite several of Gallagher’s fellow SEALs testifying as witnesses to the alleged murders. On Twitter, Trump blasted the prosecutors, adding, “I am very happy for Eddie Gallagher and his family!”
DEMOCRACY NOW
Kirby argued that rescinding the award so publicly “unnecessarily demoralizes and demeans the men and women who received those medals, as well as the superior officers who saw fit to award them.”Once again, he risks further politicizing the military,” Kirby added.
CNN
Here's A Thing... 