So, the Associated Press, in their continuing series of stupid questions for presidential hopefulls, most recently asked “what’s your favorite joke.” Seriously. They forwarded this question to every candidate in hopes of a response. Well… they forwarded the question to those candidates with whom they were uninterested in doing a personal interview.
There were three ways to answer this question, really. You could give this question the full attention it deserves — which is absolutely none. You could pander. Or you could use the question to make a point.
Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani — arguably two of the more moderate-liberal candidates running for office — both gave the question its due consideration. Hillary said, “I’m not telling.” Giuliani poked fun at how very stupid the question was by saying, “probably the most recent one that made me laugh.” Good for them.
McCain pandered a bit, along with Huck, Romney, and the rest of the Dem. candidates — while also showcasing the reasons why they are in politics and not standup comedy. If the AP wanted to prove that most politicians have very bad senses of humor, this question did an admirable job.
But Fred(!), as usual, stood out from the crowd. The Thompson camp, in two words, took a ridiculously stupid question and used it to make a valid and necessary point about the primary process, the media, and his own views on campaigning. Thompson’s favorite joke? “Presidential debates.”
Anyone who witnessed the crime against American intellect that was the CNN-YouTube debate would readily agree with this assessment. As the debates progress, we see that the mainstream media is not interested in the exchange of ideas, but in elititism, and in promoting their own ideals. In two words, Thompson pointed out the hypocracy of media-moderated presidential “debates.” And as usual, the media didn’t get the joke.
Society for Independent Thinking 