I know this doesn’t involve a serious political event, but sorry, I just can’t resist noting this item from TPM’s David Taintor:
During an ostentatious, boxing-themed promotional event Thursday, the satellite television provider Dish announced that Glenn Beck and Eliot Spitzer will face off in a head-to-head debate before a live audience on Oct. 2 in Denver, Colo., one night before the first actual presidential debate.
The promotional kickoff at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City came a day after Beck’s new network, TheBlaze, premiered on Dish. Beck has an exclusive deal with the satellite TV provider. Both TheBlaze and Current TV, where Spitzer hosts a primetime program, will be available à la carte on Dish for $5 a month starting later this month. The “War of the Words” debate featuring the two gabbers will appear on Dish’s channel 102 and will also stream on Facebook.
The deeply substantive character of this debate is obvious:
After Dish President and CEO Joe Clayton made a few remarks on how the liberal and conservative networks round out the menu of programming options voters will need to make an informed decision in November, the lights dimmed and Michael Buffer took the mic to intone his famous line: “Let’s get ready to rumble!”
Oh brother.
I don’t know if this is a simple act of commercial exploitation of the presidential debates, or is shrewdly provided to give more carnivorous political types a bloody mess of red meat before the inherently more restrained event the next evening. Color me disinclined to give Dish a half-sawbuck to watch this particular show.
