1, October 2020
US presidential debate commission to adopt new rules in wake of ‘disgraceful’ first round 0
The presidential debate commission says it will soon adopt changes to its format to avoid a repeat of the disjointed first meeting between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.
The commission said Wednesday the debate “made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues.”
One possibility being discussed is to give the moderator the ability to cut off the microphone of one of the debate participants while his opponent is talking, according to a person familiar with the deliberations who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The next presidential debate is a town hall format scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami.
Moderator Chris Wallace struggled to gain control of the 90-minute debate in Cleveland because of frequent interruptions, primarily by Trump.
Wallace, of Fox News, pleaded for a more orderly debate, at one point looking at Trump and saying, “the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that.”
“Ask him, too,” Trump said.
“Well, frankly, you’ve been doing more interrupting than he has,” Wallace said.
Biden on Wednesday called the debate “a national embarrassment.” But despite some suggestions that the final two presidential encounters be canceled, both campaigns said they expected their candidate to attend.
ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, who moderated one of the three debates between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016, said Wallace was put in nearly an impossible situation. Faced with the same behavior, she said she might have called a full stop to the debate for a moment to recalibrate.
She never had the option, technically, to cut off the microphone of a candidate four years ago, she said. It also wasn’t in the rules that were agreed to in advance by the candidates and commission.
“To say, ‘he’s not going to follow the rules so we aren’t, either?’ It’s an unprecedented situation,” Raddatz said. “That was so out of control.”
Twitter was ablaze with criticism for Wallace early in the debate for losing control of the proceedings. That was illustrated by MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, who tweeted “what is Chris Wallace doing? He has no control over the debate. He asks a question and let’s Trump continue yelling. This is a disgrace.”
By the time he was on “Morning Joe” the next morning, Scarborough had cooled off. He called on the debate commission to act.
“While it was extraordinarily frustrating, I think all of us need to walk a mile in his shoes before saying the morning after, ‘he could have done this, he could have done that,’” Scarborough said.
Some of the president’s supporters felt that Wallace was too hard on their candidate. Trump himself suggested he was also debating Wallace, “but that’s no surprise.”
Wallace even got some criticism from opinion personalities on his own network. “Trump is debating the moderator and Biden,” prime-time host Laura Ingraham tweeted during the debate.
Another Fox colleague, Geraldo Rivera, expressed more sympathy.
“The guy signed up to moderate a debate and he ended up trying to referee a knife fight,” he said.
Wallace, host of “Fox News Sunday,” was not immediately made available for comment by Fox.
Wallace is the only presidential debate moderator this cycle with prior experience, after receiving praise for handling the final Clinton-Trump debate in 2016. The other two moderators are Steve Scully of C-SPAN and Kristen Welker of NBC News.
Scully moderates the Miami debate, which will be a town hall format where citizens get to ask questions. That format may make interruptions more difficult.
“Having prepared for these, the town hall is a completely different event in the debate Olympics,” tweeted David Plouffe, an adviser to former President Barack Obama. “If Trump brings the same nastiness to Florida, it will be doubly painful to watch but it will be doubly painful for him politically.”
The Nielsen company’s estimate on how many people watched Tuesday’s debate was expected later Wednesday.
(AP)
1, October 2020
Southern Cameroons Crisis: Happy Independence Day! 0
It is that time of the year again and Southern Cameroonians are celebrating. Southern Cameroonians are a special breed. They have set so many precedents that are still a marvel to many people around the world.
Cameroon’s English-speaking minority has not only challenged the brutal regime in Yaoundé by taking up arms to fight a so-called “professional” military without support from any other country, it has also been celebrating its independence without a country.
Across the globe, citizens of a country celebrate their independence when a country exists, but Southern Cameroonians are not waiting for the French Cameroon army of occupation to pack and leave before they celebrate. They are doing it in flesh and in spirit across the globe.
Despite the repression unleashed by the French-supported Yaoundé government, Southern Cameroonians are determined to obtain their independence. The cohabitation with their Francophone counterparts has not been a beautiful marriage and for four years, they have been seeking a divorce that is hard to obtain.
The country’s English-speaking minority complained of marginalization four years ago, and instead of paying heed to the anger and frustration, the crime syndicate that rules Cameroon unleashed unprecedented violence on innocent people, forcing many to pick up arms to defend themselves.
The government thought the fighting would end after a few days, but to its dismay, Southern Cameroonian fighters who had only hunting rifles have put up a good show.
They have kidnapped army soldiers, killed and beheaded thousands of them and humiliated Cameroon’s “professional” army by winning many battles.
This has infuriated the so-called government in Yaounde and since the crime syndicate does not negotiate, it has continued to count on its tricks and military violence, hoping that it will one day put an end to the conflict that has become more complicated with the passage of time.
Though the country’s economy has collapsed and millions have been displaced, the corrupt Yaounde regime is still depending on its old ways to sustain the status quo.
The government does not seem to have learned any lessons. It is stuck in its old ways and this is understandable.
Those ruling the country clearly belong to the past and due to their ages; they are being referred to by the population as “living ancestors”.
The only language these living ancestors understand is violence. The word negotiation does not exist in their vocabulary.
But there are many things they have to know before they quit this world. Cameroon will never be the same again due to their mismanagement of the country.
The government’s institutional and systemic marginalization of the English-speaking minority has created a nasty situation that will linger long after their death.
Southern Cameroonians no longer feel at home in a union in which they are considered as second-class citizens.
They want to walk away from this abusive relationship and the majority of Southern Cameroonians holds that only a total and unconditional divorce will give them the happiness they deserve.
While the government still prioritizes brutality, it does not know that its military violence is gradually granting Southern Cameroons its independence.
The killings and burning of homes will not serve a purpose. The people have made up their minds and they are being propped by a rich and vast Diaspora which is willing and ready to give the Yaounde government a running for its cash.
The fighting in the country’s two English-speaking regions has been going on for four years and some five thousand Southern Cameroonians have been killed by the Yaounde military and their thugs. But this is not deterring the fighters on the ground. The boys are determined and they are hellbent on delivering the goods.
The Diaspora is making good on its promise. It had promised to create a nightmare for the government and for four years, it has been as good as its word.
The arms and money have been flowing into Southern Cameroons and many army soldiers have beaten the dust.
Bombs have been going off and this ugly situation has kept those in Yaoundé up all night, with many government officials regretting why they had not prioritized genuine dialogue right from the beginning.
Key elements of the government like the country’s territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji and the defense minister, Beti Assomo, have all aged prematurely. Southern Cameroonians have succeeded to run down their health and the erectile dysfunction that is stalking them has transformed them into bitter ministers.
Southern Cameroonians have not sent them to their graves, but theirs is the kingdom of insomnia and many of they will only be having sex with their eyes. The Southern Cameroonian crisis that is playing out in the country’s two English-speaking regions has finally made its way into the homes of the country’s ministers, with sources close to some of these officials saying that there is tension in many homes.
Despite the killings and pressure from the Yaoundé government, Southern Cameroonians are not bowing anytime soon. They have developed a Spartan mentality and they are not yielding despite the loss of life.
While they mourn the death of their fellow Southern Cameroonians, they do so with the understanding that their memories will be kept alive and that they will be those heroes who will be celebrated once the army of occupation packs and leave their territory. Happy Independence Day!
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom and Irene Nanyongo in Canada