"To paraphrase Junior Soprano, CNN is so far up the DNC's hind end, Howard Dean can taste hair gel."
UPDATES BELOW - CNN hits bottom and digs: All six debate questioners appear to be Democratic Party operatives. So much for "ordinary people, undecided voters". To paraphrase Junior Soprano, CNN is so far up the DNC's hind end, Howard Dean can taste hair gel.
In a nutshell, CNN's six "undecided voters" were:
A Democratic Party bigwig
An antiwar activist
A Union official
An Islamic leader
A Harry Reid staffer
A radical Chicano separatist
Wow. This looks "rather" like a scandal. Hot Air:
...You’d think the network’s audience might want to know who among the questioners has had a paid, formal relationship with the party.
...I went back to the beginning of the debate to see how Blitzer introduced the format. Did he offer any details on who’d be doing the questioning? Why, yes. After mentioning that the debate was sponsored by the national party — something likely understood by most viewers as a mere formality — he described them as “ordinary people, undecided voters.” Note: not even “undecided Democrats.” Just undecided.
Word on the street is that Hillary's staffers are extremely pleased with CNN's Wolf Blitzer for
his softball questioning of Sen. Clinton during Thursday's Las Vegas debate. Blitzer "was outstanding, and did not gang up like Russert did in Philadelphia. He avoided personal attacks, remained professional and ran the best debate so far."
Who were the questioners upon whom Blitzer called?
According to CNN, they were "ordinary people, undecided voters.” Like these folks:
Plant #1: LaShannon Spencer, whom Blitzer introduced as an "undecided voter", was tagged by
Dan Riehl: in truth, she served as the
political director of the Democratic Party of Arkansas.
Plant #2: Khalid Kahn, who expressed concern about profiling and the Patriot Act, asked "[m]y question is that -- our civil liberties have been taken away from us. What are you going to do to protect Americans from this kind of harassment?"
Classical Values notes that Mr. Kahn is the
president of the Islamic Society of Nevada, who has hosted
conferences like this one (with guest speakers like
Muzzamil Siddiqi). In fact, Kahn in no stranger to CNN, appearing on a show called
Keeping the Faith in Sin City.
Plant #3: Suzanne Jackson -- mother of a three-term Iraq war veteran -- is aso
a well-known antiwar activist. She appeared in the
Las Vegas Review Journal protesting -- with a poor monkey, no less -- outside of Harry Reid's office in May.
Plant #4: Maria Luisa -- the UNLV student who asked Hillary Clinton whether she preferred "diamonds or pearls" --
wrote that CNN forced her to ask the "frilly" question instead of a pre-approved query regarding the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility.
Update: Andy writes to point out the eerie similarities between
Maria L. Parra-Sandoval and "Maria Luisa." Regarding Ms. Parra-Sandoval, the UNLV website states:
This spring she will serve as the political communications intern for Senator Harry Reid in Washington, D.C. Currently a junior at UNLV, Maria is... is an immigrant on a quest to become a United States citizen.
In other words, she's not even eligible to vote, unless the Democrats changed the rules when I wasn't looking.
Update II: rumors are flying of a
fifth plant. An anonymous commenter at
Gateway Pundit writes that the "50-ish lady who 'asked" her memorized question was a union offical. Gee, lucky she got in!" Judy Bagley, a 27-year cashier at Fitzgerald's was quoted in
RGT Online (a gaming magazine) in an article about Culinary Workers Union Local 226's collective bargaining agreement.
Update III: Judy Bagley was definitely a
fifth plant. An anonymous email alerts me to this portion of the debate transcript:
Obama: Well, first of all, Judy, thank you for the question, and thanks for the great work you do on behalf of the culinary workers, a great union here.
Update IV: an anonymous email alerts me to a possible
sixth and final plant. George Ambriz is an Executive Director of the
¡Sí Se Puede! Foundation and is a recruiter at UNLV. His bio states:
George joins our team from Douglas, Arizona, having earned his associate’s degree in administration of justice from Cochise College in 2000. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in political science and criminal justice from Western New Mexico University. He is currently completing a master’s degree in ethics and policy studies at UNLV. He plans to pursue doctorate and law degrees, practice corporate law, and become active in politics.
Care to guess which party's politics George is active in?
Original posting and all credit to Doug Ross at his blog "Director Blue" at http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2007/11/cnn-plants-questions-to-protect-hillary.htmlRead more at: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1927565/posts