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Has there ever been a debate moderator as puerile, as relentlessly focused on trivia, as dogged in his pursuit of the "gotcha" moment as George Stephanopoulos?

I sincerely doubt it.

Aided and abetted by comoderator Charlie Gibson, the host of This Week chewed up nearly an hour of clock time probing, poking, and prodding the Democratic candidates on such nano-topics as "Bittergate," the tired Reverend Wright fracas, why they won't commit to a hypothetical joint ticket, and on and on -- long before the first substantive question, on Iraq. (Of course, it was asked by one Mandy Garber of Pittsburgh, not by either of the moderators.)

Not until 9:04 p.m. ET was there a question about the economy.

Something is very wrong with the priorities of the U.S. television media.