Today’s photo of the day shows the Detroit Pistons dealing with the frosty can of WHUPASS opened up on them by my Philadelphia 76ers.

Today’s video of the day shows Barack Obama responding to the beatdown he received last Wednesday during his debate with Hillary Clinton. Peep how he “brushes his shoulders off” at the 2:25 mark! Thoughts?

“I’m getting ready to be the next Morgan Freeman. Denzel Washington, I’m coming!”  – Flavor Flav discussing his new minstrel show sitcom.

Marc Lamont Hill

Melissa,

Is it me or was last night’s ABC debate the most ridiculous one yet? Flag pins? Jeremiah Wright? Bosnia? If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that the debate was moderated by Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter rather than Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous.

Like me, many Americans turned on the debate expecting a respite from the stale political conversations that have been circulating since the Texas/Ohio primary. Instead of talking about substantive issues, however, the bulk of the debate time was spent rehashing the same foolishness that has fed the 24 hours cable news machine for the past five weeks.

Equally frustrating was the disproportionate amount of time spent challenging Barack Obama. It seemed as if the first 45 minutes of the debate were spent forcing him to explain (for the millionth time) his feelings about Jeremiah Wright and his “bitter” remarks about Pennsylvania voters. On the rare occasion when questions were asked of Hillary Clinton, they were in relation to Barack’s sore spots: “What did you mean, Senator Clinton, when you said that Jeremiah Wright wouldn’t have been your pastor?” While similar pile-ons have been committed against Clinton, like the NBC debate with Tim Russert and Brian Williams, such behavior is both unprofessional and unproductive.

Of course, Hillary Clinton took full advantage of the softballs being lobbed her way. In desperate need of a rhetorical knockout, Hillary dominated the debate by helping ABC’s dynamic duo press Obama on tabloid topics like his relationship with William Ayers, the former member Weather Underground member and current education professor at University of Illinois Chicago. Fortunately, Obama was able to shut that conversation down by pointing out that President Clinton pardoned two members of the Underground members during his presidency. Such moments were rare, however, as Obama seemed less focused, confident and, ahem, articulate than normal.

What did you think Melissa? Were you as annoyed by the debate as I was? Do you agree that your boy Barack got the three-way smackdown? Most importantly, what effect will the debate have on the upcoming primaries?

Melissa Harris-Lacewell

Marc,

Behind the scenes, Hillary Clinton’s campaign has been pushing a tenuous connection between Barack Obama and a Vietnam-era radical.

What Does 9/11 Have to Do with 60’s Radicals? Ask Hillary Clinton
By Robert Parry

While nearly all politicians shade the truth now and then, some utterly disdain the truth, a category that includes George W. Bush and increasingly Hillary Clinton, as she made clear again in Wednesday night’s debate on the strange topic of Vietnam-era Weather Underground leader William Ayers.

Since last year, the Clinton campaign has been pushing the supposed Ayers connection to Barack Obama as an attack “theme” to take down his candidacy. But Clinton went even further in the debate suggesting that Ayers had reveled in the 9/11 attacks — a false claim clearly meant to inflame Americans against Obama.

Ayers, now a graying college English professor living in Chicago, did support Obama’s state senate campaign and served with Obama on a board of the Woods Fund of Chicago, a philanthropy that gives out grants aimed at alleviating poverty.

I first heard this Ayers connection from a Clinton operative in December when it already was circulating in media circles. However, mainstream journalists generally dismissed it as a cheap-shot case of guilt by a tenuous association. It got little traction.

But Clinton surrogates didn’t give up, taking the Ayers attack line to right-wing talk radio and the Internet where it was kept alive. The Clinton’s campaign’s doggedness was rewarded as the issue surfaced prominently in Wednesday night ’s debate in Philadelphia.

ABC News moderator George Stephanopoulos, whose national career was launched when he served as a top spokesman for President Bill Clinton, framed the Ayers question much as the Clinton campaign and the right-wing media have, suggesting some dangerous association between Obama and a mad bomber.

For the rest of the story, click here.