This semi-regular feature is usually about some deceitful narrative the propaganda news media are pushing in recent days, but there’s a high-stakes presidential debate next week and it’s better that we use this installment to anticipate what will happen then.
CNN, the debate’s host network, said Saturday that both President Biden and former President Trump had agreed to the terms for participating, but the announcement included this alarming detail: “[A]s in the past, the moderators ‘will use all tools at their disposal to enforce timing and ensure a civilized discussion …’”
It was already the case that the candidates will have their mics muted during the opposing candidate’s time, eliminating interruptions of one another. So, what other “tools” will remain at the disposal of CNN’s miserable choice for moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, so that they might “enforce timing” and, more insidiously, “ensure a civilized discussion?”
The way things are supposed to happen is the moderators ask questions and allow the candidates equal time to answer. Even with the new stipulation that a mic is turned down when it’s outside of a candidate’s allotted time, the basic concept shouldn’t change. But that’s surely not how this is going to work. By “enforce timing” and “ensure a civilized discussion,” what CNN means is that Tapper, Bash, and the countless producers in their ear pieces will cut off both Trump and Biden at their discretion, though for sharply different reasons.
Trump will have his audio killed because his plan is undeniably
