At GOP Debate, CNN Sucks Up to Candidates, Letting Racism and Misogyny Slide

CNN moderator John King apparently thought it his job not to challenge the candidates too terribly hard, lest he be derided as a member of the media elite. So "elite" was one thing King proved he certainly was not -- at least not in the realm of debate moderators.

Now pulling ahead of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the national polls, former U.S. senator Rick Santorum saw his position in the debate line-up change, occupying the center stage with Romney.

Santorum has not failed to make news in the last several weeks, as his opposition to the use of birth control has come to light, not to mention the resurfacing, thanks to Right Wing Watch, of a 2008 speech he delivered at Ave Maria University in which he claimed that Satan, "the father of lies," had set his sights on the United States, and that explained why universities were teaching bad things and why mainline Protestant churches were no longer really Christian.

Then there were the remarks that Foster Freiss -- the primary donor to the Red, White and Blue Fund, a Santorum-allied superPAC -- made to MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell last week about birth control. (Freiss said that a Bayer aspirin held by a woman between her knees made for an adequate form of contraception.)

Contraception Issue Evaded; Racist 'Expert' Citation Overlooked

King did ask the candidates about contraception, saying, "Since birth control is the latest hot topic, which candidate believes in birth control, and if not, why?" The audience booed heartily, and King took note of the lack of popularity of the question inside the Arizona hall. But he didn't press any of candidates to actually answer the question, and none of them really did...

No Questions on Santorum's Smear of Obama's Faith, or Romney's Sheriff Anti-Immigrant Sheriff Scandal...

A Shout-Out to Arpaio; No Questioning of Santorum's Theological Rationale for Iran Strike...