Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 09/26/24

The debate I’d like to see. Fox News anchor Bret Baier told radio host Hugh Hewitt that it appears to him former President Trump is disinclined to do another debate with Vice President Harris whether it’s on CNN or Fox. I find that disappointing since I’d really like to hear the Veep get pressed on answering some of the questions the American people deserve to have answered.  It certainly didn’t happen during that blatantly biased ABC debate. Her sitdowns with CNN’s Dana Bash, Oprah Winfrey and MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle were hardly hardball interviews. Agree with Trump or not, he has taken questions from sometimes openly hostile journalists.

Though CNN was relatively fair during Trump’s face-off with President Biden just a few months ago (when the goal to some seemed to be to grease the skids for getting the president off the ticket), many conservatives expect this round would be something to closer to what happened on ABC.  Of course, many on the Democratic side are trained to see Fox News as so called “Faux News.” It seems Trump is also wary of a Fox News debate because he sees Bret Baier and his likely co-moderator Martha MacCallum as being too fair. He’d like to have somebody on his side – like the Democrats are used to.

I’d like to circle back to an idea I proposed in this space a couple of weeks ago. Why not have a two-hour debate co-moderated by CNN and Fox News – but instead of the two networks trying to appear unbiased let the CNN side of the table aggressively question Trump while the Fox News side aggressively questions Harris. Also have it earlier than the ridiculously late Oct. 23rd date suggested by CNN.

Here are 10 questions I’d like to see Vice President Harris answer:

1. During the Trump Administration, the Middle East was relatively quiet, Iran was on its heels due to sanctions and the Abraham Peace Accords were negotiated. Today, the region is on fire with fears of all an out regional war – if not World War – breaking out. Why should you be trusted turn things around?

2. You, and other democrats, continue to falsely imply that President Trump was including white supremacists when he said there were “very fine people on both sides” of the Confederate statue issue in Charlottesville. The fact is he specifically – at the time – said he wasn’t talking about neo-Nazis and white nationalists who he said should be “condemned totally.” Will you right now admit that he has been grossly misrepresented on this issue and, if you won’t, why won’t you?

3. Do you regret supporting a bail fund for 2020 rioters – and how does that square with being a tough prosecutor?

4. You say you are now opposed to banning fracking after supporting doing so in the past and point out that you were the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act but the New York Post points out that new leases were only begrudgingly in the bill to garner the vote of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin who later accused your administration of going back on its word. How do you respond to him?

5. You say that nowhere in America is it legal to end the life of a full-term baby but, while they may not be explicitly allowed, the Daily Signal points out that almost two dozen states have no explicit limits on abortion on when abortions can be performed for broadly defined health reasons. They note that in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent abortion data report, more than 4,000 babies were aborted after 21 weeks’ gestation in 2021. At that stage—if given proper medical care—many premature babies can survive. Moreover, the Daily Signal points out that Minnesota – the home state of Gov. Tim Walz, your V.P. pick – had a 2015 law that required doctors to report whether abortions resulted in the live birth of a baby. In 2021, it happened at least five times but no measures were taken to keep them alive. In 2023, Gov. Walz stripped out that reporting requirement as part of an abortion law that has no limitations on how late in a pregnancy it may happen. How do you respond to such data – and do you favor any explicit limits on abortion at all?

6. In your role of, what was called at the time, border czar, what specific recommendations did you make to President Biden to stem the tide of illegal immigration?

7. Accepting that President Putin is the aggressor in Ukraine, do you think the Biden-Harris Administration played any role in provoking the war – for instance through the way it handled the withdrawal from Afghanistan?

8. You say you the last person in the room when President Biden made his decision to leave Afghanistan the way we did. Do you think the withdrawal was managed correctly?

9. Have you ever personally reached out to the families of the 13 American soldiers killed during that withdrawal?

10. If you lose this election, will you – as you expect President Trump to do – accept the results without challenge and call on your supporters to do so, as well?
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Pope Francis suggests that America’s choice in the 2024 amounts to choosing “the lesser of two evils.” As the Catholic website Crux puts it: Referring to pro-choice candidates and anti-migrant candidates, the pope said, “Both of them are against life, both the one who throws out migrants and the one who kills children.” I think a fairer way of putting that by the Crux writer would be “pro-choice candidates and pro-border candidates” as, for the most part, those holding the latter position hold no animosity toward immigrants. They just believe that nation’s need boundaries – just as individuals do. Maintaining such boundaries is not an “evil” and has nothing to do with being anti-immigrant. Rather, it’s a moral position that seeks an orderly and legal immigration process that protects all involved. I wonder how many undocumented immigrants Vatican City is willing to take.
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CBS ousts Jeff Glor amid mass Paramount Global job cuts. Sad news. The former CBS Evening News anchor who, after a two-year stint and little network promotion, was more or less demoted in 2019 when he was replaced by the flashier, more opinionated Norah O’Donnell and was named co-host of the low-profile CBS Saturday Morning program (where he lifted the ratings). Glor was excellent in both posts but it was at the Evening News desk where he excelled and belonged. He delivered the news in a solid, engaging old school manner that was refreshingly free of gratuitous bias. Given that CBS recently announced the removal O’Donnell from that seat due to ratings that were lower than his, the network would have been wise to return him to the post with better promotion this time.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.