Birthday Fundraiser Day Six: It's a Dead Man's Party

(h/t Vault of the Atomic Space Age)

Once the Party Formerly Known As The Party Of Lincoln decided to outsource its decision-making to Fox News, Hate Radio thugs and unaccountable crackpot billionaires I suppose it was inevitable that their quadrennial presidential cow-chip throwing contest would get so deeply weird that these champions of unfettered capitalism would...

...unite together in the finest, Industrial Workers of the World tradition to use the power of collective bargaining.

To get rid of "debates" with "gotcha questions".

"Gotcha questions" like basic arithmetic and "stuff you did in the past":

GOP tells NBC next debate suspended over ‘gotcha’ questions

(CNN) — The Republican National Committee says it is suspending its February debate with NBC News amid anger over CNBC’s handling of this week’s debate in Boulder, Colorado.

NBC said in a statement it will “work in good faith to resolve this matter.”

RNC chairman Reince Priebus sent an open letter to NBC News chairman Andrew Lack on Friday declaring that they are “suspending the partnership” because the CNBC debate had been conducted “in bad faith.”

“While debates are meant to include tough questions and contrast candidates’ visions and policies for the future of America, CNBC’s moderators engaged in a series of ‘gotcha’ questions, petty and mean-spirited in tone, and designed to embarrass our candidates,” Priebus wrote, echoing the complaints lodged by many candidates.

“What took place Wednesday night was not an attempt to give the American people a greater understanding of our candidates’ policies and ideas,” Priebus added.

Priebus said that while he understood “NBC does not exercise full editorial control over CNBC’s journalistic approach… the network is an arm of your organization, and we need to ensure there is not a repeat performance.”

CNBC and NBC News are divisions of NBCUniversal, a media company owned by Comcast. They operate out of two different buildings and have different management teams, but they do collaborate on news gathering and reporting.

As chairman, Lack oversees NBC News and MSNBC, but not CNBC.

NBC was scheduled to host a GOP debate February 26 in Houston with both Telemundo and National Review as partners. Telemundo is a Spanish-language broadcaster owned by NBC, and National Review is a conservative publication.

Priebus’ letter said the RNC would ensure that National Review remains part of the debate, but didn’t mention Telemundo. “We still fully intend to have a debate on that day, and will ensure that National Review remains part of it,” Priebus wrote.

Three hours after the letter was released, RNC communications director Sean Spicer said the party hasn’t heard from Lack yet.

But NBC News said in a statement: “This is a disappointing development. However, along with our debate broadcast partners at Telemundo we will work in good faith to resolve this matter with the Republican Party.”

The letter from Priebus is a move to assert control over the debate process at a time when Republican campaigns seem poised to wrest control from the RNC’s hands.
...

As usual, I am betting that the most interesting angle to this story is what's going on behind the scenes. Specifically, I am wondering how NBC will increase it's already astronomical wingnut groveling quotient to further appease the Right.

Maybe a weekly "Point/Counterpoint" segment on "Meet the Press" featuring Mark Levin debating Sean Hannity over whether Barack the Kenyan Usurper destroyed Murrica on his own, or whether he was just the dupe of the Great Liberal Media Conspiracy.

Or maybe they'll just give a tape-loop of Rush Limbaugh playing "Barack the Magic Negro" over and over and over again its own show on MSNBC:

Whatever Andy Lack decides, I'm sure it'll be impressive. After all, if NBC has gotten really good at one thing over the last 15 years --

-- it's relentlessly pandering to the worst people in America.

So Happy Halloween, citizens!

And if you are inclined to kick a little into my tip jar during the waning hours of my birthday fundraiser, click the link below.