The war or the economy

Little else matters besides the war and the economy, so TV journalists should be focusing on these two items, right?

Wrong.

I agree with what Thomas Jefferson wrote in his letter to John Norvell in 1811: “The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them, ….”

Bottom line from Jefferson: If you stay away from cable news and presidential debates, you will be just as smart, if not smarter, than those who don’t.

There’s so much to learn from these candidates, but the media is bent on asking the worst questions.

I want the 18 minutes back that I spent watching Tim Russert ask Barack Obama about Jeremiah Wright on “Meet the Press” Sunday. What a waste.

Just because Russert or Chris Matthews asks a question forcefully doesn’t make it hard.

The lame questions moderators ask make matters worse. Case in point: flag-pin apparel.

Thank goodness Obama declined Hillary Clinton’s request for more debates. Obama is right: We’ve had enough, and watching the last one on ABC was like watching a pageant in which everyone loses.

Bill Maher was right when he said that people watching “Deal or No Deal” learn more about the economy than those who watched the debate on ABC .

I know college students are smarter than the TV reporters, but unfortunately, it never shows.

The media seems to pigeonhole college students into an archetype, where it’s their role to ask “the global warming question.”

In John Stewart-style, softballs from college students come off as, “What will you do to curb global warming? Please be as vague as possible.”

Here are some questions for George Stephanopoulos to use in the unfortunate event that he be allowed to moderate another debate.

— What kind of judge would you appoint to the Supreme Court? What kind of judges would you put in the lower courts?

John Paul Stevens will not be a member of the Supreme Court in the not-too-distant future. He’ll either die or step down. His replacement will determine if the Supreme Court will maintain its position of center-right or ultra-right.

— The executive branch gained a lot of power during the past eight years. Will you restore the power of the presidency to the way it was prior to George W. Bush?

The way Clinton touts the “good ol’ Clinton years,” someone needs to ask her if she stands by the Telecommunications Act or the Defense of Marriage Act, both of which her husband signed into law.

John McCain needs to define his philosophy on the role of government. Republicans despise government, yet they are eager to apply for high office. It’s like hiring a vegan to be the chief executive of Outback Steakhouse.

Perhaps all this primary election stuff is just a dress rehearsal for the general election, where the majority of questions will focus on the economy and the war, but who knows? Maybe the economy will be fixed and the war will be over by November.