CNN IS the News

Much like when Dan Rather and 60 Minutes became a news story, CNN and its YouTube debate IS the story.

NRO spells it out:

Shortly before Wednesday night’s CNN/YouTube Republican debate, host Anderson Cooper defended the innovative format in which “ordinary citizens” were invited to submit their own questions by uploading videos to the Internet.

“Obviously people are cautious about any type of new technology,” Cooper told The Politico. “But this is not that new. This whole Internet thing has been around for a while, if I understand. I think the candidate that rejects it looks out of touch and foolish.”

The day after the debate, it was revealed that at least six of the questioners were Democratic activists rather than typical voters, whose opinions and concerns were supposed to be represented. The question for CNN — which was solely responsible for selecting the questions — is: Who looks foolish now?

...Republicans were reluctant to participate in last night’s debate, and CNN proved them right. Both they and the viewers had to endure two hours of inanity and stilted questioning. We learned a little something about the candidates in the exchanges Wednesday night, but we learned much more about CNN.

Yes, we learned a lot.