Argh. Want to know who is enjoying the primary race more than anyone? The corporate media, who, I think it's safe to say, want to control democracy by framing the debate. Need proof? Look at this "Meter Question" from The Chris Matthews Show. After repeating how the electorate is stubbornly and willfully ignorant of Barack Obama's background (Is he a *gasp* Muslim? What a shame he had to disavow his pastor, because the fact he calls himself a Christian doesn't really count.), the question that Chris Matthews poses his panel of "experts" is will Barack Obama be viewed in November as "inexperienced" or "un-American."

Download Download (h/t Heather)

MATTHEWS: David, you don’t agree, you think the un-American thing could be a lethal problem. BROOKS: Specifically, what I mean by that is, ‘is he like me? Does he get what I get?’ And that’s a question of resilience. Why doesn’t he talk about fighting? Has he suffered? Has he struggled the way I’ve suffered? This guy seems to have led a charmed life, why do I think he understands me? And I think that’s [unclear] Hillary’s [unclear] strength. MATTHEWS: I agree with you, that’s a fair thing to ask. Is he one of us in the broadest sense?

Excuse me? So by virtue of a foreign name, it's alright to question whether you're un-American. Great. Hang it up, Yuichi. Fuggedaboutit, Consuela. Don't even think about it, Salim. According to Tweety and Bobo Brooks, your name disqualifies you from running for the presidency.

And don't you love Brooks' characterization that Obama has led a charmed life? A man born of a mixed-race marriage at a time when it was illegal in some states, abandoned by his father and raised by his grandparents and getting to Harvard on scholarship. Nah, he doesn't understand struggle at all. And I'm curious, would this have been a fair thing for Bobo to ask of George W. Bush, the legacy admittance to Yale who didn't even bother to show up for his National Guard duty to help his father run for Senate? Or are the struggles that he's gone through too obvious for comment?

Oh yeah, they asked a question about McCain that wasn't exactly the news his campaign wants to hear. Don't blink or you'll miss it.