Last night's presidential "debate" truly was a low point in American politics.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who turned it off in disgust after watching 40 nauseating minutes in which not a single issue -- not the war, not the economy, not gas prices, not global warming, not health care, not the collapsing dollar -- was brought up.

Apparently, in the minds of Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, such issues are of less import than a flag lapel pin or whatever the latest specious complaint making the rounds of the idiotnet happen to be.

Of course, it seems pointless to add to the braying chorus of complaints about our media -- which, if there is an objective behind the vapidness, one sometimes suspects must be exactly the point.

Watching Gibson and Stephanopoulos, it was clear that the template for modern journalism has been set by what Matt Yglesias has called the Unbearable Inanity of Tim Russert:

[T]he balls Russert favors may be hard, but the pitches he throws aren't curveballs, which go someplace useful. They're sillyballs, which go somewhere pointless. Russert has created a strike zone of his own where toughness meets irrelevance.

Substitute Gibson and Stephanopoulos ("who's more patriotic?") for Russert, and you've pretty well captured last night's debate -- not to mention most of modern punditry.

Check out these comments on the ABC News website to get a sense of the depth of betrayal felt by many Americans who tuned in last night. Or watch this video of the audience jeering Charlie Gibson at the end.

By far, one of the most depressing things I have ever witnessed in this hollow farce we now call politics.

It's quite amazing that when a President issues only his 4th veto in six and a half years, it doesn't even warrant a headline -- never mind a red font or a siren -- on Drudge.

But I guess that's in line with the marching orders:

The White House sought as little attention, with Bush casting his veto behind closed doors without any fanfare or news coverage. He was discussing it later Wednesday during a budget speech in Lancaster, Pa.

Now that Rupert Murdoch owns the Wall Street Journal, you can rely on sound, current financial advice like this:

This is mendacious even by FOX News standards.

Reporter Courtney Keely reports from Baghdad to tell us that the surge is working. "It is exciting to be walking through a marketplace in Baghdad, something I've never been able to do!" she says, with all the vacuity of a tourist. Never mind the phalanx of American troops guarding her, the Blackhawk helicopters providing cover overhead, or the fact that the Iraqis she speaks to tell her that the market itself has too few people as is a total failure. What matters is that she's able to walk through Baghdad wearing a flak jacket and helmet! Just like a stroll at any American farmer's market! And it's exciting!

(Via Crooks and Liars).