I also wanted to register a thought about the debate, and actually, it is not about the candidates.
When I learned the venue would be the Kodak Theater, I was dismayed, because I thought it would open the door for the debate to be characterized by certain people as an exercise in foppish Hollyweird liberalism. The building is, after all, a temple to glitz, as it was constructed expressly as a home for the Oscars.
But as CNN’s cameras kept finding a celebrity to cut away to, my silent dismay gave way to more extreme reactions – an eye-roll (Jason Alexander), a contemptuous snort (Pierce Brosnan), and finally, the moral outrage normally associated with witnessing violent crime (Topher Grace). I became very ashamed of L.A. Why did we always have to make everything so goddamned silly?
Then I calmed down. I realized every debate audience thus far has probably been liberally sprinkled with the town’s elites, and that actors and their cohorts are the elites of Los Angeles (for better or worse, mostly worse), and the only reason they were noticeable is that they’re, well, noticeable. And who am I to question Topher’s motives?
But did CNN have to cut away to them so much? There’s a time and a place, CNN. Why do you always have to make everything so goddamned silly?