After viewing the ceremony, he remarked that he thought this was the end of the “American Century” and the beginning of the “Chinese Century”.

What?

You sit in your easy chair mesmerized by the spectacle of a blaze of fireworks, music, well-auditioned flag bearers and card-flippers………..and you’re ready to declare this the “Chinese Century”??

America may not have had its best face on recently, but I hardly think that the Chinese have much to crow about either – have you considered the violent suppression of opposing viewpoints?  The oppression of Tibetans and their religious leader, the Dalai Lama?  The human violations in Darfur?  The censorship of free press and the Internet?  The tainting of food products (and pet products, no less) bound for the U.S.?

The Chinese Century?

Hardly.

Was it just me, or did it look like a astonishingly bizarre beauty pageant, with each of the candidates seeking to look the most Presidential?

In the end, it was actually Gordon Brown who appeared the most Presidential.

Sigh.

It wasn’t really a debate between Democratic Candidates, as much as it was a littany of “gotcha” moments between moderators and Candidates.

Any real substantive issue was not covered until well into the 1st hour of the program.  Instead, the moderators seemed hell bent on examining every gaffe, mis-statement, controversy thus far in the campaign season.

This is not a Republican or a Democratic issue.  This is a media issue.  It was a bad night for American Journalism, and this is definitely not the kind of debate I want to see in the General Election.

Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I for one, am interested in the issues of the day, and how they impact our Country.

Or maybe I’ve just found myself in some weird parallel universe.